Personal Data Protection Notice

The Swiss School in Singapore (“SSiS”) collects and uses personal data about staff, students and families in accordance with the Singapore Personal Data Protection Act – 2012 (PDPA).

Personal Data We Collect

“Personal data” means any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person. A person is identifiable where they can be identified directly or indirectly, in particular by reference to an identifier such as a name, identification number, location data, an online identifier (including cookie identifiers, IP addresses, and device identifiers), or factors specific to the physical, physiological, genetic, mental, economic, cultural, or social identity of that person.

Depending on your relationship with us, we may collect:

Identification and contact details (e.g. name, address, email, phone number, passport/NRIC/FIN details)
Student information (e.g. academic records, attendance, assessments, disciplinary records)
Medical and health information (where relevant)
Special educational needs information
Photographs, video, and audio recordings
Financial and billing information
Employment-related data (for staff and applicants)

In addition to information you provide directly, SSiS collects personal data about you from the following sources: previous educational institutions (academic records shared during admissions); health professionals and medical providers (medical information relevant to student welfare); CCTV and security systems (access logs, footage); learning management and EdTech platforms (usage data, assessment results generated through platform interaction); public sources (where applicable, e.g., publicly available social media in a safeguarding context). Where data is collected indirectly, SSiS will provide this Notice to you within one month of obtaining the data, or at SSiS’ first communication with you, whichever is earlier.

Personal Data is initially collected through the admissions, recruitment, employment or engagement process, as applicable. Other Personal Data is collected’ during an individual’s relationship with SSiS, including through educational activities, school operations, communications, events, technology platforms and security systems.

Purposes for Collection and Use

SSiS holds personal data on its staff, parents and students for reasonable purposes. SSiS may collect, use, disclose and process any personal data provided, where reasonably required for the purposes set out below and as permitted under applicable laws for the following purposes, including, but not limited to:

(a) Student and Parent Administration

Processing applications and enrolment
Assessing eligibility and admissions decisions
Assessing, monitoring and reporting on student performance, attendance and disciplinary records
Providing extra-curricular activities, school trips, school camps and inter-school events / competitions
Communicating with parents and guardians

(b) Regulatory and Compliance Requirements

Applications to government authorities (e.g. Ministry of Education)
Application of students passes when necessary;
Application for Ministry of Education approval for Singapore Citizens;
application for subsidies with ‘”Bundesamt für Kultur”‘ (BAK);
Statistical studies and analysis, conducted either by SSiS or by a third party on SSiS’ behalf for internal statistical analysis and reporting to improve educational outcomes and school operations. Where this analysis is conducted by third parties on SSiS’ behalf, they act as data intermediaries under the PDPA and will have to enter into agreements or undertakings with SSiS to be contractually bound to use the data only for the specified purpose(s).
Compliance with legal and regulatory obligations

(c) School Operations

Timetabling, logistics, class allocation
Provision of services such as transport, catering, accommodation, and healthcare
Safety and safeguarding of students
School administration, EdTech, CCTV and accounting systems

(d) Marketing Communications and Community Engagement

School newsletters, yearbooks, and internal communications
Parent engagement platforms and school community activities
Distribution to the SSiS Parentsforum
Alumni relations and outreach activities
Publication of photographs, videos, or recordings on our website, official social media channels, and promotional materials in accordance with applicable consent preferences and school media consent procedures
Where required, separate media consent will be obtained for promotional use of photographs, videos, and media.
Where SSiS sends marketing or promotional messages to Singapore telephone numbers, SSiS will comply with the applicable Do Not Call Registry requirements under the PDPA unless an exemption applies.

(f) Employment Purposes (for staff)

Recruitment processes, payroll, leave, benefits, and HR administration systems

In particular, the school may:

Make available information to school-affiliated organisations or groups set up for the purpose of maintaining contact with students or for administration, fundraising, marketing or promotional purposes relating to the school, including alumni activities, subject to appropriate access controls and use restrictions.
Make use of photographs, videos or sound recordings of students in school publications, the school website and other official school communication channels, in accordance with applicable consent preferences and school media consent procedures.
Make personal data available to staff for planning activities and trips, both in and outside of Singapore.
Retain and use personal data after a student has graduated to provide references, educational history and alumni services.

Disclosure and Sharing Data with Third Parties

SSiS shares personal data with a variety of third parties for the purposes of the third party providing relevant service to SSiS. Example of these services include transport, catering, travel services, accommodation, medical and educational regulatory requirements.

SSiS will only share data for the purposes of eliciting a necessary service from these third-party organisations and not for commercial gain.

Overseas Transfer

SSiS may transfer personal data to countries outside Singapore for processing by third-party service providers.

Consent and Withdrawal of Consent

We process personal data on different legal bases depending on the purpose. Where we process data based on consent, you have the right to withdraw your consent at any time by contacting us at info@swiss-school.edu.sg or through any other official channels. Withdrawal of consent does not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before the withdrawal and does not affect processing carried out on other legal bases (such as contract performance or legal obligation), which may continue independently. Please note that withdrawal of consent may affect our ability to continue providing services.

Personal Data Retention

SSiS retains personal data only for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes for which it was collected, or as required or permitted by law. When no longer required, personal data will be securely deleted or anonymized.

Protection of Personal Data

SSiS undertakes to implement appropriate security measures to protect personal data against accidental or unlawful destruction or accidental loss, alteration, unauthorized disclosure or access, in particular when the processing of data involves the transmission or storage on or within a network. Where higher-risk categories of personal data, including child safeguarding, medical, counselling and immigration-related information are involved, SSiS applies enhanced safeguards.

Access and Correction Right

An individual has a right to ask for information about the data held about them, request for data to be corrected if it is incorrect or incomplete. Please send your request at info@swiss-school.edu.sg with the subject ‘PDPA enquiry’. SSiS will consider the request and respond within a reasonable period in accordance with the PDPA and the School’s procedures. The response may be to decline the request with reasons to provide a time scale in which the data will be supplied.

Access Right Exemptions

SSiS may decline or partially decline a data access request where an exception applies under the PDPA.

Cookies and Website Analytics

This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and analyze website traffic. We use analytics tools, such as Google Analytics, to understand how visitors interact with our website. This data helps us improve our website’s performance, usability, and content. Non-essential cookies, including analytics cookies, will only be activated where the user has provided consent through the website’s cookie preference mechanism. Where applicable, cookies may collect general usage and technical information, including pages visited, time spent on the website, general geographic location, device type, and browser information.

Individuals may choose to disable cookies through browser settings. However, some website features may not function properly if cookies are disabled. Information collected through cookies may be processed by third-party service providers such as Google. This may involve transfer of data outside Singapore. Where such data transfers occur, we take reasonable steps to ensure appropriate data protection safeguards in accordance with applicable data protection laws.

For data protection queries or requests, please contact our Data Protection Officer (DPO) Team at: info@swiss-school.edu.sg.