USER GUIDE
PrivaGuard User Guide
Everything you need to make your website nDSG-compliant — step by step.
1. Getting Started
PrivaGuard helps Swiss businesses comply with the new Swiss Data Protection Act (nDSG/nLPD). Here's how to get started.
Create your account
Visit privaguard.ch and click "Get Started". Sign up with your email address. You'll receive a confirmation email — click the link to activate your account and access the dashboard.
What PrivaGuard does
PrivaGuard scans your website for cookies and trackers, generates a compliant consent banner, and provides tools to create privacy policies — all hosted in Switzerland. It automates the technical requirements of the nDSG so you can focus on your business.
nDSG vs GDPR: What's the difference?
The Swiss nDSG (new Data Protection Act) is similar to the EU's GDPR but has key differences. Under the nDSG, consent is not always required for data processing — but users must be informed. PrivaGuard is specifically designed for nDSG compliance, not just GDPR. This means simpler consent flows and fewer unnecessary pop-ups for your Swiss visitors.
2. Scanning Your Website
Start with a free compliance scan to understand your website's current state.
Run a free scan
Go to privaguard.ch and enter your website URL in the scan field. Click "Free Compliance Check". The scanner will crawl your site, detect cookies, third-party scripts, and tracking technologies. Results are ready in under a minute.
Understanding your results
Your scan results show each cookie and tracker found on your site, organized by category: necessary, functional, analytics, and marketing. Each item includes a severity level indicating its compliance impact. Red items require immediate attention, orange items should be reviewed, and green items are already compliant.
4. Google Consent Mode v2
If you use Google Ads or Google Analytics, Consent Mode v2 ensures you don't lose valuable conversion data.
What is Google Consent Mode v2?
Google Consent Mode v2 is a framework that lets your website communicate visitor consent choices to Google services. Without it, Google Ads and Analytics lose data when visitors decline cookies. With Consent Mode v2, Google uses behavioral modeling to recover approximately 80% of conversion data — even when visitors opt out.
How PrivaGuard handles it
PrivaGuard automatically integrates with Google Consent Mode v2. When you install the consent banner, it sends the correct consent signals to Google services. There's nothing extra to configure — it works out of the box.
What to expect
With PrivaGuard and Consent Mode v2, you can expect to recover approximately 80% of your conversion data through Google's behavioral modeling. This means your Google Ads campaigns will continue to optimize effectively, and your Analytics data will remain meaningful — all while respecting your visitors' privacy choices.
5. Consent RecordsStarter+
The consent audit log stores a record of every visitor's consent choices, providing evidence of compliance under the nDSG.
What is stored
Every time a visitor interacts with your consent banner, PrivaGuard records the event: a hashed version of their IP address (for privacy), their visitor ID, the consent choices they made (functional, analytics, marketing), and a timestamp. This data is append-only — it cannot be modified or deleted, ensuring a tamper-proof audit trail.
Filtering and search
In your dashboard, the Records tab lets you filter consent events by site, date range, and visitor ID. This makes it easy to find specific consent interactions — for example, to verify that a particular visitor gave consent before a certain date.
CSV export
You can export your consent records as a CSV file for compliance documentation. The export includes all filtered records with columns for date, site, hashed IP, visitor ID, and consent choices per category. This file can be presented to auditors or the FDPIC as evidence of lawful data processing.
6. Auto-RescanStarter+
Keep your compliance up to date with automatic scheduled rescans.
How auto-rescan works
On the Starter plan and above, PrivaGuard can automatically rescan your website on a weekly or monthly schedule. This detects any new cookies or trackers that may have been added to your site — for example, after installing a plugin or updating a third-party service.
Email notifications
When a rescan detects new tracking technologies on your site, you'll receive an email notification listing exactly what changed. No action is required on your part: PrivaGuard automatically updates the blocking of new scripts. The email is purely informational.
Configure in the dashboard
Go to the "Sites" tab in your dashboard and select your site. Under the rescan settings, choose your preferred schedule: weekly or monthly. You can also trigger a manual rescan at any time.
7. Privacy Policy GeneratorStarter+
Generate a legally compliant privacy policy tailored to Swiss law — in minutes.
The 6-step wizard
Navigate to the "Policy Generator" page from the top menu. The wizard guides you through 6 simple steps: your organization details, data collected, processing purposes, data recipients, international transfers, and cookie usage. Fill in each step and click "Generate" to create your policy.
Export and share
Once generated, you can preview your privacy policy directly in the browser. On the Starter plan and above, you can export it as a PDF and receive it by email. The policy is available in French, German, and English — choose your preferred language at export time.
8. Data Processing RegisterBusiness
The data processing register (Verarbeitungsverzeichnis) is required under nDSG Art. 12 for businesses that process personal data.
What is the register?
Under the Swiss nDSG (Art. 12), businesses must maintain a register of their data processing activities. This includes what data you collect, why you process it, who has access, and how long you keep it. PrivaGuard provides a digital register that makes this requirement easy to fulfill.
Adding processing activities
In your dashboard, go to the "Register" tab. Click "Add activity" to create a new entry. Fill in the required fields: processing purpose, categories of data subjects, types of personal data, recipients, retention period, and technical/organizational security measures.
Export as PDF
You can export your complete data processing register as a professional PDF document. This is ready to present to authorities or auditors if requested. The export includes all your processing activities with their full details.
9. Platform Integration
How to integrate the PrivaGuard consent banner on different platforms.
Integration snippets
Select your framework below to get the correct integration code. The PrivaGuard script must load before any analytics or marketing scripts on every page.
<script src="https://cdn.privaguard.ch/cmp.js" data-site-id="YOUR-UUID" defer></script>
10. FAQ
Frequently asked questions about PrivaGuard.