Last updated: October 15th, 2025
Wolky SA ("Wolky", "we", "our") is committed to protecting your privacy and treating with the utmost respect the sensitive information related to memorial services. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and protect personal data when you use our Wolky.ch platform (the "Service") dedicated to death notices, tributes, and memorial services in Switzerland.
It is designed to comply with the Swiss Federal Data Protection Act (FADP), the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), and other applicable laws. By using Wolky.ch, you agree to the collection and use of information in accordance with this Privacy Policy.
Given the sensitive nature of memorial services, we pay particular attention to protecting data relating to the deceased and bereaved families.
The data controller responsible for your personal data is Wolky SA, c/o Alessandro Soldati, Strada Regina 41, 6991 Neggio, Switzerland.
If you have questions or requests concerning your personal data, you can contact us:
At this postal address
Via our contact page at https://www.wolky.ch/en/contact
For privacy-specific requests, please include "Privacy Request" in your message
We only collect personal data necessary for providing our memorial services and operating our platform. Given the sensitive nature of these services, we treat all information with particular care.
Personal accounts: When creating an account, we collect your name, first name, and email address. If you create an account on behalf of a family to manage a death notice, we may collect additional information about your relationship to the deceased.
Professional accounts: If you represent a funeral home, newspaper, or association, we collect your organisation's name, business details (company address, identification number, VAT number), and your professional contact information.
Information about the deceased: For publishing death notices, we collect biographical information such as name, first names, maiden name, birth and death dates, place of residence, funeral ceremony information.
Memorial content: Photos of the deceased, tribute texts, condolence messages, shared memories, testimonials, and any other information you choose to publish to honour the memory of the deceased.
Family information: When necessary to establish the legitimacy of a publication, we may collect information about family relationships and persons authorised to manage the death notice.
Condolences and testimonials: Name, first name, email address, and content of condolence messages you publish.
Memorial donations: Information necessary for processing donations (donor name, amount, beneficiary association) in accordance with legal requirements.
Notification preferences: Alerts for new death notices in certain regions, memorial anniversary notifications, update subscriptions.
Information you provide in your user profile and preferences. We also collect data about your use of the Service, such as notices viewed, condolences posted, time spent on certain pages, and frequency of visits.
If you use our paid services (notice publication, premium condolences, donations), payment details are collected via our secure processor Stripe. Wolky does not store your complete payment card details; we only retain transaction records (last four digits, dates, and amounts) for billing history.
When you use Wolky.ch, our systems automatically collect certain technical data: IP address, browser type, device information, operating system, cookie identifiers. We also record information about how you arrived at our site and how you interact with our Service.
If you contact us (support, special requests, complaints) or subscribe to our newsletter, we collect the information you provide and maintain records of our correspondence.
Important: We do not intentionally collect sensitive medical data. Information about causes of death is only collected if voluntarily provided and necessary for publication.
Most information is provided directly during registration, creating death notices, posting condolences, requesting newspaper publications, or contacting support.
We automatically collect technical and usage data via cookies, server logs, and similar technologies during your browsing and use of features.
We may receive death notice information from public sources (civil registries, partner newspapers), partner funeral homes, or other legitimate sources to keep our database updated.
Our payment processor, authentication and analytics providers collect certain data and transmit the information necessary for service provision.
We process your personal data only for specific and legitimate purposes, with particular attention to the sensitivity of memorial information.
Legal basis: Contract performance
Creating and maintaining user accounts
Publishing and managing death notices
Processing condolences and testimonials
Managing the digital memorial garden
Coordinating with partner newspapers and funeral homes
Legal basis: Contract performance
Processing notice publication fees
Managing memorial donations
Billing premium services
Payments to partners (newspapers, associations)
Legal basis: Legitimate interest and consent
Transactional communications (confirmations, notifications)
Technical support and assistance to bereaved families
Newsletters and service information (with consent)
Emergency communications related to published notices
Legal basis: Legitimate interest and public interest
Long-term preservation of death notices for collective memory
Digital archiving of memorial content
Preservation of testimonials and tributes
Maintaining historical data integrity
Legal basis: Legitimate interest
Usage analysis to improve user experience
Development of new memorial features
Optimisation of notice search and navigation
Improving accessibility for bereaved families
Legal basis: Legitimate interest and legal obligation
Protection against fraudulent or inappropriate publications
Prevention of abusive use of memorial services
Maintaining platform security and dignity
Respecting the memory of the deceased
Legal basis: Legal obligation
Retaining transaction records
Responding to legal requests from authorities
Meeting accounting and tax obligations
Compliance with donation regulations
We treat your data with the utmost care, particularly given their sensitive nature. We never sell personal data relating to memorial services. We share certain data with trusted providers who help us deliver our services.
Stripe processes payments for notice publications, premium condolences, and donations. Your payment details are transmitted directly to Stripe. We only receive payment confirmation and basic details for record-keeping.
Our platform uses Clerk for secure user account management. Clerk manages your email address, encrypted password, and authentication tokens for secure logins.
We use Google Analytics with IP anonymisation to understand site usage and improve user experience. Data is processed in a privacy-respectful manner.
Our host Vercel provides analytics on performance and usage to help us maintain quality service for bereaved families.
We use PostHog to test and improve features, with pseudonymous identifiers to analyse usage without compromising privacy.
Brevo manages sending verification emails, important notifications, and newsletters. Only your email address and name are shared according to your preferences.
All our application data, including death notices and memorial content, are stored on secure AWS servers located in the European Union, with encryption and appropriate protection measures.
For publication in partner newspapers, we transmit only information necessary for publishing the death notice according to your instructions.
For memorial donations, we transmit to beneficiary associations the information necessary according to applicable regulations and your privacy preferences.
Legal Requirements: We may disclose data if required by law or in response to legitimate requests from authorities.
Business Transfers: In case of merger or acquisition, data may be transferred subject to equivalent protections.
Your data is primarily stored in secure AWS data centres within the European Union. This location ensures protection according to standards compliant with Swiss and European law.
Some providers (Google Analytics, Stripe, Clerk) may process data in the United States or other jurisdictions. We take measures to ensure their protection:
Use of approved Standard Contractual Clauses
Encryption in transit and at rest
Additional security measures according to risks
Given the sensitivity of memorial information, we implement enhanced measures:
Encryption:
HTTPS/TLS for all communications
Encryption of sensitive data at rest
Cryptographic protection of passwords
Access Controls:
Access restricted to authorised personnel only
Multi-factor authentication for administrative access
Data separation according to sensitivity levels
Monitoring and Backup:
Continuous monitoring of access and activities
Regular backups with loss protection
Alert systems for security anomalies
Staff Training: Our team is trained in best practices for protecting sensitive data and the specificities of memorial services.
In case of data breach, we will follow legal procedures to notify authorities and affected persons within required timeframes.
Essential Cookies: Necessary for proper site functioning, particularly to maintain your login session when viewing death notices or managing your account.
Preference Cookies: Remembering your preferences (region of interest for notices, display settings, notification preferences).
Analytics Cookies: Google Analytics, Vercel Analytics, and PostHog to understand site usage and improve experience for families and visitors. These cookies collect aggregated and anonymised information.
Communication Cookies: If you subscribe to newsletters, cookies may measure communication effectiveness (email opens, link clicks).
Google Analytics: ga, gid cookies for usage analysis (with IP anonymisation)
Clerk: Session cookies for secure authentication
Vercel Analytics: Performance cookies for site optimisation
Brevo: Tracking pixels in emails (only with subscription)
During your first visit, you can configure your cookie preferences. You can modify them at any time via your browser settings. Note that disabling certain cookies may affect access to basic functionality.
For Google Analytics, you can install the specific opt-out browser add-on.
Given the memorial nature of our services, our retention periods reflect the importance of preserving memory whilst respecting your rights.
Retained whilst your account remains active. After closure, deletion or anonymisation within reasonable time, except legal retention obligations.
Permanent preservation: Published death notices and associated memorial content are generally retained permanently to preserve collective memory and historical interest.
Family control: Families may request modification or deletion of notices via our contact form, with legitimacy verification.
Respectful archiving: Content may be archived in a way that preserves memory whilst respecting privacy of relatives.
Retained with the associated death notice to maintain integrity of tributes paid. Possibility of deletion upon legitimate request.
Retained according to Swiss legal obligations (typically 10 years) for financial transactions and donations to associations.
Aggregated analytics data: long-term retention (anonymised)
Support communications: several years to ensure service continuity
Technical logs: several weeks to months according to security needs
After retention periods expire, secure deletion or anonymisation of personal data.
Under Swiss and European law, you have specific rights concerning your personal data, with particular considerations for memorial data.
You may request a copy of data we hold about you, including information about processing purposes and recipients.
Correction of incorrect or incomplete data. You can update most of your information via your Wolky account.
Request deletion of your personal data, subject to our legal obligations and legitimate interest in memorial preservation. For death notices, requests are evaluated case by case.
Retrieval of your data in structured format for transfer to another service, when technically possible.
Opposition to processing based on legitimate interest, particularly for direct marketing. We will examine each request individually.
If processing is based on your consent (newsletters, optional cookies), you may withdraw it at any time.
Important: For data relating to deceased persons, close family members or legal representatives may exercise certain rights concerning published information.
You may lodge a complaint with the Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner (FDPIC) in Switzerland (https://www.edoeb.admin.ch). We encourage you to contact us first to resolve your concerns.
Contact us via https://www.wolky.ch/en/contact or the postal address in Section 2. For certain requests, we may verify your identity. We respond within legal timeframes, generally without charge except for manifestly unfounded requests.
We may update this Policy to reflect changes in our practices or legal requirements. Important changes will be notified by email or visible notice on the site.
The "Last updated" date indicates the latest modifications. We encourage you to regularly review this Policy.
For significant changes affecting your data, we will obtain new consent if necessary. Continued use of the service after update means acceptance of revised terms (to the extent permitted by law).
For any questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or your personal data:
Wolky SA, c/o Alessandro Soldati, Strada Regina 41, 6991 Neggio, Switzerland
Contact form: https://www.wolky.ch/en/contact
We are here to help and will handle all your questions with the respect and sensitivity appropriate to memorial services.
This policy reflects our commitment to protecting your privacy whilst preserving the memory of your loved ones with dignity. For any specific questions, our team is at your disposal.