Privacy statement

How zwitsernet.nl handles personal data when you visit it.

1. Who is responsible

The controller for the processing described here is:

• Stichting ZWITSERNet
• Address: Bilderdijkstraat 9, 2311 XD Leiden, Netherlands
• Chamber of Commerce (KvK) number: 42112087
• Email: [email protected]

Stichting ZWITSERNet has not appointed a data protection officer, as this is not required for an organisation of its size and activities. For all privacy questions, write to [email protected].

2. Hosting and data that arises when you open the page

The site is a set of static files. It has no database, no login, no contact form and no analytics of its own. It is hosted on Cloudflare Pages.

Like any web server, Cloudflare processes the technical data your browser sends in order to deliver the page: IP address, the requested address, date and time, referrer, user agent and language setting. zwitsernet does not receive, store or evaluate these server logs.

Cloudflare acts as a processor. It processes this data under its Data Processing Addendum, which is part of Cloudflare's terms of service. Cloudflare is based in the United States. Transfers to the United States are covered by the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework, under which Cloudflare is certified, and by the EU Standard Contractual Clauses in that addendum.

We do not have access to server logs. Cloudflare keeps them for a limited period for security and operation, as described in its privacy policy.

3. The LinkedIn feed

The “Latest Updates” section of the home page shows recent posts from the zwitsernet LinkedIn page. The embedding is produced by a third-party service, SociableKit, which in turn loads post content, images and player components from LinkedIn (Microsoft).

The feed loads automatically when the section comes into view. When it does, your browser contacts LinkedIn and the other services listed below, and those services place cookies on your device. What follows describes that process as measured on 16 September 2026, in a browser with no existing cookies: three page loads with the feed active and three with it blocked.

When it loads

Opening the page and leaving it untouched produces 23 requests and sets no cookies. The feed sits in the lower third of the page and only begins to load once it scrolls into view. Scrolling down through the page produces a further 197 requests and sets nine cookies.

Cookies placed by the feed

All nine are set by third parties under their own domains. None is set by zwitsernet.nl, and none is placed on this domain. Their purposes are described in the policies linked at the end of this section.

You can remove these cookies at any time through your browser settings, and block third-party cookies there if you prefer. Doing so may keep the feed from displaying.

Third-party hosts contacted

With the feed active, fourteen third-party hosts are contacted. With the feed blocked, one remains: the SociableKit script itself. The total number of requests rises from 29 to roughly 220.

Where to read their policies

• LinkedIn: privacy policy and cookie policy
• SociableKit: privacy policy
• Cloudflare: privacy policy

These parties process the data their services collect on their own account. zwitsernet has no insight into what they do with it, and no control over it. Requests about that data have to be addressed to them directly.

4. Fonts

The site uses two typefaces: Inter for the running text and Zodiak for the headings. Both are served from this domain, from the folder fonts/. Opening the site, or this page, does not by itself cause any request to Google or to any other font service. This was measured again on 26 October 2026: this page loads three files from that folder (the stylesheet, Inter and Zodiak) and nothing from anywhere else.

The LinkedIn feed is different. The SociableKit script inserts a link to a Google Fonts stylesheet into the page at runtime, asking for Inter. The site's Content Security Policy allows stylesheets from this domain only, so the browser refuses that link before any request is sent. In the measurement nothing reached fonts.googleapis.com, and the browser logged the refusal. The widget then uses the Inter that is already served from this domain.

The posts themselves are embedded as frames from LinkedIn. What happens inside those frames is governed by LinkedIn's own policy, not by this site's. In the measurement the frames fetched the Roboto typeface from fonts.gstatic.com and loaded Google reCAPTCHA from www.google.com and www.gstatic.com. Those requests carry your IP address and user agent to Google. They happen only once the feed has loaded, as described in section 3, and never on this page.

5. What is stored in your browser

zwitsernet.nl itself sets no cookies. It uses two entries in local storage, both of which stay on your device and are never transmitted:

Neither contains an identifier. Both persist until you clear your browser's site data. Session storage is not used.

6. Heidi, the assistant

Heidi answers questions about zwitsernet from a fixed set of information shipped with the page. Everything happens in your browser: what you type is not sent to a server, not stored, and not passed to any third party. Closing the page discards the conversation.

7. The membership form

The “Join zwitsernet” button opens a form provided by Google (Google Forms). It opens in a new tab, on Google's own domain. Nothing from Google is loaded into this site, and no request goes to Google until you click the button.

The form asks for:

• name;
• email address;
• affiliation (university, institute or organisation);
• city;
• a short motivation;
• one optional checkbox for invitations to events.

Purpose: admission to the network. The board reads the responses and gets in touch with you. Only if you tick the checkbox are the details also used to send you invitations to events by email. You can stop those at any time by replying to any such email.

Google processes the form and its responses on its own account as well. How it does so is described in the Google Privacy Policy.

We keep your form responses for as long as you want to hear from us. You can ask us at any time to delete them by writing to [email protected]. We review the list once a year and delete entries that are no longer needed.

8. Your rights

Under the AVG (GDPR) you have the right to:

• ask what personal data is processed about you, and receive a copy;
• have inaccurate data corrected;
• have data erased;
• have processing restricted;
• object to processing;
• receive your data in a portable form;
• withdraw consent at any time, where processing rests on consent.

To exercise any of these, write to [email protected]. We answer requests within one month. For complex requests this can be extended by up to two further months; we will tell you if that happens.

Most of the data described in section 3 is processed by LinkedIn, SociableKit and the bot-detection provider on their own account. Requests about that data have to be directed to them.

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Dutch supervisory authority, the Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens.

9. Changes to this statement

This statement describes the site as measured on 16 September 2026. Section 7 was added on 30 September 2026, when the “Join zwitsernet” button began to open the form. Sections 1, 2, 3, 7 and 8 were completed on 26 October 2026, and section 4 was rewritten the same day after a new measurement of the fonts. It will be revised whenever the site changes in a way that affects what is described here. Version 1.1, 26 October 2026.

Image credits: portrait of Didier Meuwly by André Zimmerer.