For what purposes do we process your data and what data is collected?

Whenever you visit our homepage, your browser will contact our web server to find the page you wish to visit. In this context, your browser will transmit personal data to us, such as your IP address (i. e. HTTP/S requests). The connection data will be processed by our web server to enable you to access and display our homepage.

Our web server will automatically store a log of the web pages you visit (the so-called “log files” or “session logs”). We use these log files to ensure the security of our homepage, in particular to prevent unauthorised intrusions into our homepage, and to help us exercise our legal rights and obligations to deflect such unauthorised intrusions.

The legal basis for processing your data when surfing our website regularly depends on the purpose of your visit. Insofar as you wish to inform yourself about our offers on our website and, if applicable, contact us for an purchase, the legal basis is Art. 6 para. 1 lit. b) GDPR (initiation of a contract). For general information purposes in other respects, the legal basis is our legitimate interest in operating a website for general information and communication purposes and for presenting our law firm, and your legitimate interest in viewing it (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f) GDPR). The processing of log files is based on our legitimate interests according to Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f) GDPR. Our legitimate interest is to protect our facilities and systems from attacks and, if necessary, to take legal action against attackers, as well as to further develop our websites for economic purposes.

Is there an obligation für you to provide your data and what happens if you decide not to?

Without the processing of the aforementioned personal data, you will not be able to view or visit our website.

Who is insolved in the processing of your data?

Our IT department has access to log files and will share them with our internal and external recipients, including the appropriate authorities, as necessary to exercise our legal rights regarding unauthorized intrusions into our website.

If external service providers have access to your personal data, we have taken legal, technical and organizational measures, and conduct regular checks to ensure that they comply with the provisions of the data protection laws. Furthermore, these service providers may only use your data in accordance with our instructions.

Will your data be transferred to a third country or an international organisation?

We do not transfer your personal data to any third country or international organisation in connection with your visit to our website.

How ling will your data be stored?

The log files are stored for one month. All other data is deleted immediately after the HTTP/S call has been executed. Form data is stored for as long as necessary to carry out the respective action.

What are “essential cookies”?

Essential cookies are necessary to make a given website work by enabling basic functions such as page navigation and access to secure areas of that website. Without cookies of this type, a website would not run properly.

For what purposes do we employ essential cookies?

We use essential cookies that are necessary to enable users to visit our homepage. They are normally placed only when you take an action to request certain services, e. g. by filling out one or several of our forms. No services that you may request can be performed without these essential cookies.

The cookies help us to process essential cookie data, for example your unique session ID, authentication data and the time of your login (the so-called time stamp). The data allow us to link a given visitor’s unique session to data on our server. The cookies serve as reference for the session created. Whenever an operation is performed on our homepage, our server will recognise your session ID and validate the operation.

On what legal grounds do we process your data?

The legal basis for placing essential cookies, accessing the data stored in them and processing the personal data associated with them is Art. 6, para. 1, lit. f, GDPR. In the latter case, the processing of essential cookie data serves our legitimate interest to enable our users to visit our homepage, and to help us further our business.

Are you obliged to provide your personal data, and what happens if you prefer not to?

Disabling essential cookies will compromise the performance of our homepage. For instance, some functions and features of the homepage may not be available to you after disabling them.

Who will your data be shared with, and who is involved in the processing of your data?

The essential cookies are processed by our servers and our IT service provider as our commissioned data processor.

Are your data transferred to a third country or to an international organisation?

We do not transfer your personal data to any third country or international organisation in connection with your visit to our website.

For what purposes do we process your data?

You have the option to contact us, e. g. via e-mail or via the contact form on our homepage, and to submit questions, suggestions or notes to us as well as to request advertising material and information material. In this context, we will process your personal data that are required for communicating with you (the “communication data”), e. g. name, address, e-mail, telephone number as well as the contents of the communication.

Any first contact by you necessitates the processing of your communication data, not least in order to enable us to respond to your query or to reply with clarifying queries of our own.

On what legal grounds do we process your data?

Your communication data are processed on the legal basis of Art. 6, Sec. 1, Lit. b, GDPR, if the exchange is connected with the initiation or fulfilment of a contract with you. Other than that, the legal basis depends on the specific purpose of the exchange. In most cases, Art. 6, Sec. 1, Lit. f, GDPR (our legitimate interest to engage in business correspondence or to communicate with customers or to reply to inquiries regarding data protection, for example) will apply.

Who will your data be shared with, and who is involved in the processing of your data?

The communication data are processed by the competent in-house department, and are not passed on.

Are your data transferred to a third country or to an international organisation?

No, your data will not be transmitted to any third country or to any international organisation.

How long will your data be stored?

Your personal data will be deleted once they are no longer required to handle the communication with you. The data may be stored for an extended period of time on the basis of Art. 6, Sec. 1, Lit. c, GDPR, i. c. w. the relevant statutory retention periods (in particular under commercial, tax and fiscal law). In the case for business correspondence, this tends to be the case six years after the end of the year in which the correspondence took place

Are you obliged to provide your data, and what happens if you prefer not to?

You are under no obligation to disclose your personal data to us. However, we will need the relevant data to be able to contact you and to reply to your inquiry.

Your Right

What does this mean for you?

Your Right to Object to Data Processing

You have the right to object to the processing of your personal data in certain cases.

Right to Information

You have the right to be informed whether and, if so, to what extent we process your data.

Right of Access

You have the right, subject to certain exceptions, to obtain confirmation as to whether or not we are processing your personal data. If this is the case you have a right to access your data.

Right to Rectification

If your personal data processed as by us are incomplete or inaccurate, you have the right to request the completion or correction of your data at any time.

Right to Erasure (“Right to Be Forgotten”)

You have the right, subject to certain exceptions, to request the erasure of all or some of your personal data if you believe that such processing should cease. However, there may actually be reasons why immediate deletion is impossible (e. g. if retention is mandatory on the grounds of legal or regulatory obligations).

Right to Restriction of Processing

The right to restriction of processing applies in the following cases. If you dispute the accuracy of your personal data, you can request that its processing be restricted while we verify its accuracy. If the processing of your personal data is considered unlawful, but you refuse to delete your personal data. If we no longer need the data for the purposes of its processing, but you need it for the establishment, exercise or defense of legal claims. If you object to our processing of your data on the basis of our legitimate interests.

Right to Data Portability

If the processing is based on your consent or a contract and is automated, you have the right to request that we provide your personal data in a machine-readable format.

Rights in the Context of Automated Decisions and Profiling

You have the right to object to decisions based solely on the automated processing of your personal data.

Right to Revoke Your Consent

If your personal data are processed on the basis of your consent, you have the right to revoke your consent with effect to the future at any time. Revoking your consent will not affect the lawfulness of the consent-based processing of your personal data prior to your revocation.