At a Glance
- Who: the International Rainwater Harvesting Alliance (IRHA), a Swiss non-profit association based in Geneva, is responsible for your data.
- What: only what we need: your contact details, your subscriptions, your event registrations and, for donors, your donation details.
- Never sold: we never sell, rent or swap your data, and we do not use advertising or tracking cookies.
- Where: mainly in Switzerland and the EU. A few services are based in the United States, and we only use them with recognised safeguards.
- Your choice: you can unsubscribe, ask what we hold about you, correct it or have it deleted at any time: secretariat@irha-h2o.org.
This policy applies to the website irha-h2o.org (English and French), our newsletters and campaigns, our events, donations and all other contacts with IRHA. It follows the Swiss Federal Act on Data Protection (FADP) and, where it applies to people in the European Union, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
Who We Are
International Rainwater Harvesting Alliance (IRHA)
Association under Articles 60 ff. of the Swiss Civil Code · UID CHE-162.780.092
International Environment House II, Chemin de Balexert 9, 1219 Châtelaine (Geneva), Switzerland
+41 22 797 41 57 · secretariat@irha-h2o.org
For any question about your data, write to secretariat@irha-h2o.org with “Privacy” in the subject line. Requests are handled by our Director.
What We Collect and Why
Visiting our website
When you visit irha-h2o.org, our hosting provider automatically records technical data in server log files: IP address, date and time, page visited, browser and operating system. We use these data only to run the website securely and fix errors, and our host deletes them automatically after a short period. We do not use analytics or advertising tools without your consent (see Cookies).
Contacting us
When you email or call us, we use your name, contact details and message to answer you and follow up on your request.
Newsletter, campaigns and the rain card
- If you subscribe to our newsletter or tick the box when you create a rain card, we store your email address, your name if you give it, the lists you joined and the date. We send you news about rainwater, our projects, events and calls for support, including fundraising campaigns.
- Our emails measure whether a message was opened and which links were clicked, so that we can improve them. You can avoid this by not loading images.
- Every email contains an unsubscribe link, and you can also write to us at any time.
- The rain card itself is created in your browser: your message, first name and place are not sent to us, unless you choose to share the card yourself.
Events and webinars
When you register for an event, we collect your name, email, organisation, country and your answers to the registration questions. We use them to organise the event, send you the joining link, reminders and follow-up material (for example a summary brief), and to report anonymised attendance figures. Online events use a video-conferencing service; your name and image may be visible to other participants and some sessions may be recorded, in which case we tell you in advance.
Donations
When you donate, we process your name, address, email, amount, date and payment method to receive your gift, thank you, send tax receipts and keep our accounts as required by Swiss law. Online payments are handled by RaiseNow AG (Zurich) and the payment method you choose (TWINT, credit or debit card, Google Pay); IRHA never sees or stores your full card details. The donation form shows RaiseNow’s own legal and privacy information. As required by ZEWO, our bank details are also published on the donation page if you prefer a bank transfer.
Members, partners and supporters
For members of the Alliance, partners, funders, volunteers and experts, we keep professional contact details and a record of our exchanges in our contact database to manage the relationship, invite you to activities and meet our reporting duties.
Job, internship and volunteer applications
We use your application only for the recruitment concerned. Unsuccessful applications are deleted within six months unless you agree that we keep them longer.
Social media
We have pages on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube. When you interact with them, the platforms process your data under their own privacy policies; we only see what the platform shows us. Links to our pages on this website are simple links and do not transfer data until you click them.
Legal Basis
Under Swiss law, we process your data in line with the principles of the FADP: lawfully, in good faith, for clear purposes and no more than necessary. Where the GDPR applies, we rely on:
- your consent (newsletter, campaigns, photos and stories), which you can withdraw at any time;
- the performance of a contract or your request (event registration, donation, membership, applications);
- a legal obligation (accounting and tax records);
- our legitimate interest in running our association, answering enquiries and keeping our website secure.
We do not take decisions about you by automated means only, and we do not create profiles that have legal or similarly significant effects on you.
Who Receives Your Data
We share data only with service providers who process it on our behalf and under our instructions, with our auditor, and with authorities when the law requires it. We never sell or rent your data. Our main service providers:
| Provider | Purpose | Where data is stored |
|---|---|---|
| Infomaniak Network SA | Website hosting, email and file storage (kDrive) | Switzerland |
| Odoo SA | Contact database, newsletters, events and online forms | EU (France and Belgium; backups in France, the Netherlands and Sweden) |
| RaiseNow AG | Online donations | Switzerland and EU |
| Payment providers (TWINT, card schemes, Google Pay) | Payment processing | Switzerland, EU and other countries depending on your card |
| Zoom Video Communications | Online events and webinars | United States (Swiss-US Data Privacy Framework) |
| Google (YouTube) | Videos shown on some pages, in privacy-enhanced mode | United States (Swiss-US Data Privacy Framework) |
| CARTO and OpenStreetMap | Background tiles of the interactive maps on some pages | EU and United States |
| Google (Analytics), Meta and LinkedIn | Website statistics and campaign measurement, only with your consent | United States (Swiss-US Data Privacy Framework) |
| Dropbox and Google Drive | Internal document storage of the secretariat | United States and EU (Swiss-US Data Privacy Framework) |
| Unifid SA | Statutory audit of our accounts | Switzerland |
For project reporting, we share only aggregated or anonymised figures with our funders, unless you have agreed otherwise.
Data Abroad
Most of your data stays in Switzerland and the European Union, which the Swiss Federal Council recognises as offering adequate protection. When a provider is in the United States, we only use companies certified under the Swiss-US Data Privacy Framework or, failing that, we rely on the standard contractual clauses recognised by the Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner (FDPIC). For our field projects, we may exchange contact details with our partner organisations in the countries where we work (for example Nepal, Senegal, Sri Lanka, Cambodia or Uganda), only as needed for the project and with the protections of our partnership agreements.
Cookies and Embedded Content
Cookies are small files stored in your browser. We use them as little as possible and sort them into three groups:
| Group | What and why | Duration | Your choice |
|---|---|---|---|
| Necessary | pll_language remembers whether you read the site in English or French. Staff who log in also receive WordPress login cookies. | 1 year (login: session) | Always active, as the site needs them |
| Statistics | Google Analytics measures, in aggregated form, how many people visit which pages, so that we can improve the site. IP addresses are shortened and no advertising profile is created. | Up to 14 months | Only with your consent (not in use today) |
| Marketing | Social media pixels (Meta, LinkedIn) measure whether our campaigns reach people and may show you IRHA messages on these platforms. | Up to 6 months | Only with your consent (not in use today) |
At present, our website uses only necessary cookies. Statistics and marketing cookies will only ever be activated after you accept them in a cookie banner, and you will be able to change your choice at any time with a “Cookie settings” link at the bottom of every page. You can also block or delete cookies in your browser.
Embedded content
- Videos: YouTube videos load only when you scroll to them or click play, in privacy-enhanced mode: YouTube sets no cookies until you play a video.
- Maps: the interactive maps load their code from the unpkg service and their background from CARTO and OpenStreetMap, which receive your IP address.
- Donations: the donation form is provided by RaiseNow (loaded through the jsDelivr service) and follows its own privacy information.
- Fonts: our fonts are hosted on our own server; no data is sent to Google when they load.
How Long We Keep Data
| Data | Kept for |
|---|---|
| Newsletter and campaign subscriptions | Until you unsubscribe; inactive addresses are removed after 3 years without any opening or exchange |
| Event registrations | 2 years after the event, then anonymised for statistics |
| Donations and accounting records | 10 years, as required by Swiss accounting law (Art. 958f Code of Obligations) |
| General correspondence | As long as needed for the matter, then archived for up to 5 years |
| Applications | 6 months after the decision, unless you agree to a longer period |
| Website log files | A short period, then deleted automatically by our host |
| Statistics and marketing cookies | See the cookie table above |
Security
We protect your data with appropriate technical and organisational measures: encrypted connections (HTTPS), access limited to the staff who need it, personal accounts with strong passwords, providers bound by data processing agreements, and regular reviews of who has access. If a data breach is likely to cause a high risk to you, we will inform the FDPIC and, where needed, you, as required by law.
Your Rights
You can at any time, free of charge:
- ask whether we process data about you and receive a copy (right of access);
- have incorrect data corrected and data deleted, unless we must keep it by law;
- object to processing and withdraw your consent, for example by unsubscribing;
- receive data you gave us in a common electronic format (data portability).
Send your request to secretariat@irha-h2o.org. We may ask you to confirm your identity. We answer within 30 days. If you are not satisfied, you can contact the Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner (FDPIC) or, if you live in the EU, the data protection authority of your country.
Children
Our website and rain card are open to everyone, including school classes. Children under 16 should ask a parent or teacher before giving us an email address. The rain card can be created and downloaded without giving any personal data.
Photos and Stories
We share photos, testimonies and stories from our projects only with the informed consent of the people shown, or of a parent or guardian for children, and in line with our Ethical Charter. We credit photographers and partners, avoid images that could harm the dignity or safety of anyone, and remove an image on request. Stories sent to us (for example “Share Your Rain Stories”) are published only with your permission.
Changes
We may update this policy when our activities or the law change. The version in force is always published on this page, with its date. Important changes will be announced in our newsletter.
Related documents: Data Protection Statement, December 2025 (signed by IRHA management, PDF) · Ethical Charter, December 2025 (PDF)
Legal Notice
Publisher: International Rainwater Harvesting Alliance (IRHA), association registered in the Geneva commercial register, UID CHE-162.780.092, seat in Vernier (Geneva). International Environment House II, Chemin de Balexert 9, 1219 Châtelaine, Switzerland. secretariat@irha-h2o.org · +41 22 797 41 57.
Represented by: Han Heijnen, President, and Marc Sylvestre, Director.
Content: we check our information carefully but cannot guarantee that it is always complete, accurate and up to date. We are not responsible for the content of external websites linked from this site.
Copyright: texts, photos, illustrations, mascots and logos on this website belong to IRHA or to the credited photographers and partners. You may share them for non-commercial purposes with the credit “© IRHA” or the credit shown; please ask us for any other use.
Our statutes, ZEWO certification and other official documents are available on our About Us page.