Privacy Policy

Dated as of: 17 January 2024

 

1. WHAT IS THIS PRIVACY POLICY ABOUT?

ADVORO (Advoro AG, Dufourstrasse 150, 9000 St.Gallen and Advoro Zürich AG, Bellerivestrasse 21, 8008 Zurich, (hereinafter “Advoro“, or also “we“, “us“) is a law firm domiciled in Switzerland (St.Gallen and Zurich). As part of our business activities, we obtain and process personal data, in particular personal data about our clients, associated persons, counterparties, courts and authorities, law firms, professional and other associations, visitors to our website, participants in events, recipients of newsletters and other bodies or their respective contact persons, applicants and current and former employees (hereinafter also “you“). We provide information about this data processing in this privacy policy. In addition to this privacy policy, we may inform you separately about the processing of your data (e.g. in the case of forms or contractual conditions).

If you disclose data about other persons (e.g. family members, representatives, counterparties or other associated persons) to us, we assume that you are authorized to do so and that this data is correct and that you have ensured that these persons are informed about this disclosure, insofar as a legal obligation to inform applies (e.g. by bringing this data protection declaration to their attention in advance) and that these persons have given their consent if legally required.

2. WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR PROCESSING YOUR DATA?

The data controller is responsible for the processing described in this privacy policy:

Advoro AG
Dufourstrasse 150
9001 St.Gallen
info@advoro.ch

3. FOR WHAT PURPOSES DO WE PROCESS WHICH OF YOUR DATA?

If you make use of our services, use https://www.advoro.ch (hereinafter “website“) or otherwise have dealings with us, we obtain and process various categories of your personal data. In principle, we may obtain and otherwise process this data for the following purposes in particular:

  • Communication: We process personal data so that we can communicate with you and with third parties, such as parties to proceedings, courts or authorities, by e-mail, telephone, letter or otherwise (e.g. to respond to inquiries, in the context of legal advice and representation and the initiation or execution of contracts). It is possible that we may send our clients, contractual partners and other interested persons information about events, changes in the law, news about our law firm or This may take the form of newsletters and other regular contact (electronically, by post, by telephone). You can reject such communication at any time or refuse or revoke your consent to such communication. For this purpose, we process in particular the content of the communication, your contact details and the marginal data of the communication, but also image and audio recordings of (video) telephone calls. In the event of an audio or video recording, we will inform you separately and you are free to inform us if you do not wish to be recorded or to end the communication. If we need or want to establish your identity, we will collect additional data (e.g. a copy of an identity document).
  • Initiation and conclusion of contracts: With regard to the conclusion of a contract, such as in particular a contract to establish a client relationship, with you or your client or employer, which also includes the clarification of any conflicts of interest, we may in particular obtain your name, contact details, nationality, powers of attorney, declarations of consent, information about third parties (e.g. contact persons, family details and counterparties), contract contents, date of conclusion, creditworthiness data, AHV number, tax information and all other data that we otherwise contact persons, family details and counterparties), contract contents, date of conclusion, creditworthiness data, AHV number, tax information and all other data that you provide to us or that we collect from public sources or third parties (e.g. commercial register, credit agencies, sanction lists, media, legal protection insurance or from the Internet). If you provide us with particularly sensitive data, you expressly consent to its processing by us. Particularly sensitive personal data is data relating to religious, ideological, political or trade union views or activities; data relating to health, privacy or racial or ethnic origin; genetic data; biometric data that uniquely identifies a natural person; data relating to administrative and criminal prosecutions or sanctions; and data relating to social assistance measures. We only process particularly sensitive personal data if this is absolutely necessary in order to provide our advisory services or to conclude and process contracts with our clients and business partners. In particular, this data is not used for advertising and marketing purposes or passed on to third parties without compelling necessity.
  • Administration and processing of contracts: We obtain and process personal data so that we can comply with our contractual obligations towards our clients and other contractual partners (e.g. suppliers, service providers, correspondence law firms, project partners) and, in particular, provide and demand the contractual services. This also includes data processing for client management (e.g. legal advice and representation of our clients before courts and authorities and correspondence) as well as data processing for the enforcement of contracts (debt collection, legal proceedings, etc.), accounting and public communication (if permitted). For this purpose, we process in particular the data that we receive or have collected as part of the initiation, conclusion and execution of the contract as well as data that we create as part of our contractual services or that we collect from public sources or from other third parties (e.g. courts, authorities, counterparties, information services, media, detective agencies or from the Internet). This data may include, in particular, minutes of meetings and consultations, notes, internal and external correspondence, contractual documents, documents that we prepare and receive in the context of proceedings before courts and authorities (e.g. statements of claim, appeals and complaints, judgments and decisions), background information about you, counterparties or other persons as well as other mandate-related information, proof of performance, invoices and financial and payment
  • Operation of our website: In order to operate our website securely and stably, we collect technical data, such as IP address, information about the operating system and settings of your end device, the region, the time and type of We also use cookies and similar technologies. For further information, please see para. 8.
  • Improvement of our electronic offers: In order to continuously improve our website and other electronic offerings, we collect data about your behavior and preferences, for example by analyzing how you navigate through our website and how you interact with our social media profiles.
  • Security purposes and access controls: We obtain and process personal data in order to ensure and continuously improve the appropriate security of our IT and other infrastructure (e.g. buildings). This includes, for example, monitoring and controlling electronic access to our IT systems and physical access to our premises, analyzing and testing our IT infrastructures, system and error checks and creating backup copies.
  • Compliance with laws, directives and recommendations from authorities and internal regulations (“compliance”): We obtain and process personal data to comply with applicable laws (e.g. to combat money laundering, tax obligations or our professional obligations), self-regulation, certifications, industry standards, our corporate governance and for internal and external investigations to which we are a party (e.g. by a law enforcement or supervisory authority or a mandated private body).
  • Risk management and corporate governance: We obtain and process personal data as part of risk management (e.g. to protect against criminal activities) and corporate governance. This includes our business organization (e.g. resource planning) and corporate development (e.g. acquisition and sale of business units or companies).
  • Job application: If you apply for a job with us, we obtain and process the relevant data for the purpose of reviewing the application, carrying out the application process and, in the case of successful applications, for the preparation and conclusion of a corresponding contract. In addition to your contact details and the information from the corresponding communication, we also process the data contained in your application documents and the data that we can additionally obtain about you, e.g. from job-related social networks, the Internet, the media and from references, if you consent to us obtaining references. We may also request credit information, extracts from debt collection registers and criminal records or, if necessary, obtain them ourselves.
  • Employees: If you are or have been an employee with us, we process the following information for the personnel file: signed/accepted contracts and regulations, sick days, insurance, date of hire/date of departure, skills, work history, technical and interpersonal skills, absences, vacation, salary, benefits and evaluations/qualifications. This information is kept for as long as required by The personnel file is subject to regular triage and unnecessary information is deleted from it.
  • Other purposes: Other purposes include, for example, training and education purposes and administrative purposes (e.g. accounting). We may listen to or record telephone or video conferences for training, evidence and quality assurance purposes. In such cases, we will inform you separately (e.g. by displaying a message during the video conference in question) and you are free to inform us if you do not wish to be recorded or to terminate the communication (if you simply do not wish your image to be recorded, please turn off your camera). In addition, we may process personal data for the organization, implementation and follow-up of events, in particular participant lists and the content of presentations and discussions, as well as image and audio recordings made during these events. The protection of other legitimate interests is also one of the other purposes, which cannot be listed exhaustively.

4. WHERE DOES THE DATA COME FROM?

  • From you: You (or your end device) provide us with the majority of the data we process yourself (e.g. in connection with our services, the use of our website or communication with us). You are not obliged to disclose your data, with exceptions in individual cases (e.g. legal obligations). However, if you wish to conclude contracts with us or make use of our services, for example, you must provide us with certain data . The use of our website is also not possible without data processing.
  • From third parties: We may also obtain data from publicly accessible sources (e.g. debt collection registers, land registers, commercial registers, media or the internet including social media) or receive such data from (i) authorities, (ii) your employer or client who either has a business relationship with us or is otherwise involved with us, as well as from (iii) other third parties (e.g. clients, counterparties, legal expenses insurers, credit reference agencies, address dealers, associations, contractual partners, internet analysis services). This includes, in particular, the data that we process in the context of the initiation, conclusion and execution of contracts as well as data from correspondence and discussions with third parties, but also all other categories of data in accordance with para.

5. TO WHOM DO WE DISCLOSE YOUR DATA?

In connection with the measures described in para. 3 we transfer your personal data in particular to the categories of recipients listed below. If necessary, we will obtain your consent for this or have our supervisory authority release us from our professional duty of confidentiality.

  • Service providers: We work with service providers in Germany and abroad who (i) process data on our behalf (e.g. IT providers), (ii) on our joint responsibility or (iii) on their own responsibility, which they have received from us or collected for (These service providers include, for example, IT providers, banks, insurance companies, debt collection agencies, credit agencies, address auditors, other law firms or consulting firms). We generally agree contracts with these third parties on the use and protection of personal data.
  • Clients and other contractual partners: This initially refers to clients and other contractual partners of ours for whom the transfer of your data arises from the contract (e.g. because you work for a contractual partner or they provide services for you). This category of recipients also includes entities with which we cooperate, such as other law firms in Switzerland and abroad or legal expenses insurance The recipients generally process the data under their own responsibility.
  • Authorities and courts: We may disclose personal data to offices, courts and other authorities in Switzerland and abroad if this is necessary for the fulfillment of our contractual obligations and in particular for the performance of our mandate, or if we are legally obliged or entitled to do so or if this appears necessary to protect our interests. These recipients process the data under their own responsibility.
  • Counterparties and persons involved: Insofar as this is necessary for the fulfillment of our contractual obligations, in particular for the management of the mandate, we also pass on your personal data to counterparties and other persons involved (e.g. guarantors, financiers, affiliated companies, other law firms, persons providing information or experts, etc.).
  • Other persons: This refers to other cases where the inclusion of third parties arises from the purposes set out in para. 3 This concerns, for example, delivery addressees or payment recipients specified by you, third parties in the context of representation relationships (e.g. your lawyer or your bank) or persons involved in official or court proceedings. We may also pass on your personal data to our supervisory authority, in particular if this is necessary in individual cases to release you from our professional confidentiality obligation. If we cooperate with the media and transmit material to them (e.g. photos), you may also be affected. As part of our corporate development, we may sell or acquire businesses, parts of businesses, assets or companies or enter into partnerships, which may also result in the disclosure of data (including your data, e.g. as a client or supplier or as their representative) to the persons involved in these transactions. In the course of communication with our competitors, industry organizations, associations and other bodies, data relating to you may also be exchanged.

All these categories of recipients may in turn involve third parties, so that your data may also become accessible to them. We can restrict the processing by certain third parties (e.g. IT providers), but not by other third parties (e.g. authorities, banks, etc.).

Particularly sensitive personal data will only be passed on if this is absolutely necessary in order to provide our consulting services or to conclude and process contracts with our customers and business partners or if we are legally obliged to do so.

We also allow certain third parties to collect personal data from you on our website and at our events, including on their own responsibility (e.g. media photographers, providers of tools that we have integrated on our website, etc.). Insofar as we are not decisively involved in this data collection, these third parties are solely responsible for it. If you have any concerns and wish to assert your data protection rights, please contact these third parties directly. We have explained your rights in para. 7 below. Information on the activities on our website can be found in section 8.

6.  IS YOUR PERSONAL DATA ALSO SENT ABROAD?

We process and store personal data mainly in Switzerland and the European Economic Area (EEA), but potentially in any country in the world, depending on the case – for example via subcontractors of our service providers or in proceedings before foreign courts or authorities. Your personal data may also be transferred to any country in the world as part of our work for clients.

If a recipient is located in a country without adequate data protection, we contractually oblige the recipient to comply with an adequate level of data protection (we use the revised standard contractual clauses of the European Commission, which are available here: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dec_impl/2021/914/oj? , including the supplements required for Switzerland), unless the recipient is already subject to a legally recognized set of rules to ensure data protection. We may also disclose personal data to a country without adequate data protection without concluding a separate contract if we can rely on an exemption clause for this. An exception may apply in particular in the case of legal proceedings abroad, but also in cases of overriding public interests or if the performance of a contract that is in your interest requires such a disclosure (e.g, if we disclose data to our correspondence offices), if you have given your consent, or if it is not possible to obtain your consent within a reasonable period of time and the disclosure is necessary to protect your life or physical integrity or that of a third party, or if it concerns data that you have made generally accessible and whose processing you have not objected to. We may also rely on the exception for data from a register provided for by law (e.g. HR), which we have legitimately obtained access to.

7. WHAT RIGHTS DO YOU HAVE?

You have certain rights in connection with our data processing. In accordance with applicable law, you may in particular request information about the processing of your personal data, have incorrect personal data corrected, request the erasure of personal data, object to data processing, request the disclosure of certain personal data in a commonly used electronic format or its transfer to other controllers.

If you wish to exercise your rights against us, please contact us; you will find our contact details in Section. 2. So that we can rule out misuse, we must identify you (e.g. with a copy of your ID, if necessary).

Please note that conditions, exceptions or restrictions apply to these rights (e.g. to protect third parties or business secrets or due to our professional duty of confidentiality). We reserve

the right to black out copies for reasons of data protection or confidentiality or to supply only excerpts.

8. HOW ARE COOKIES, SIMILAR TECHNOLOGIES AND SOCIAL MEDIA PLUGINS USED ON OUR WEBSITE AND OTHER DIGITAL SERVICES?

When you use our website, data is generated that is stored in logs (in particular technical data). We may also use cookies and similar technologies (e.g. pixel tags or fingerprints) to recognize website visitors, evaluate their behavior and identify preferences. A cookie is a small file that is transmitted between the server and your system and makes it possible to recognize a specific device or browser.

You can set your browser so that it automatically rejects, accepts or deletes cookies. You can also deactivate or delete cookies in individual cases. You can find out how to manage cookies in your browser in the help menu of your browser.

Neither the technical data collected by us nor cookies generally contain any personal data. However, personal data that we or third-party providers commissioned by us store about you (e.g. if you have a user account with us or these providers) may be linked to the technical data or to the information stored in and obtained from cookies and thus possibly to your person.

We also use social media plug-ins, which are small pieces of software that establish a connection between your visit to our website and a third-party provider. The social media plug-in informs the third-party provider that you have visited our website and may send the third- party provider cookies that it has previously placed on your web browser. For more information on how these third-party providers use your personal data collected via their social media plug-ins, please refer to their respective privacy policies.

We also use our own tools and third-party services (which may themselves use cookies) on our website, in particular to improve the functionality or content of our website (e.g. integration of videos or maps), to compile statistics and to place advertisements.

We may currently use offers from the following service providers and advertising partners in particular, whereby their contact details and further information on the individual data processing can be found in the respective privacy policy:

·  Google Analytics

Provider: Google Ireland

Data protection information: https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/6004245 Information for Google accounts: https://policies.google.com/technologies/partner- sites?hl=de

  • Server log files
    The provider of this website automatically collects and stores information in so-called server log files, which your browser automatically transmits to us. These are

    • Browser type and browser version
    • Operating system used
    • Referrer URL
    • Host name of the accessing computer
    • Time of the server request

This data cannot be assigned to specific persons. This data is not merged with other data sources. We reserve the right to check this data retrospectively if we become aware of specific indications of unlawful use.

· Contact form    

If you send us inquiries via the contact form, your details from the inquiry form, including the contact data you provide there, will be stored by us for the purpose of processing the inquiry and in the event of follow-up questions. We will not pass on this data without your consent.

· Google Maps

This website uses Google Maps. This allows us to show you interactive maps directly on the website and enables you to use the map function conveniently. When you visit the website, Google receives the information that you have accessed the corresponding subpage of our website. This occurs regardless of whether Google provides a user account through which you are logged in or whether no user account exists. If you are logged in to Google, your data will be assigned directly to your account. If you do not wish your data to be associated with your Google profile, you must log out before activating the button. Google stores your data as usage profiles and uses them for the purposes of advertising, market research and/or the needs-based design of its website. Such an evaluation is carried out in particular (even for users who are not logged in) to provide needs-based advertising and to inform other users of the social network about your activities on our website. You have the right to object to the creation of these user profiles, whereby you must contact Google to exercise this right. For more information on the purpose and scope of data collection and its processing by Google, as well as further information on your rights in this regard and setting options to protect your privacy, please visit: www.google.de/intl/de/policies/privacy.

· Use of Google reCAPTCHA

We use “Google reCAPTCHA” (hereinafter “reCAPTCHA”) on our websites. The provider is Google Ireland Limited, Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland, hereinafter referred to as “Google”. The purpose of reCAPTCHA is to check whether the data input on our websites (e.g. in a contact form) is made by a human or by an automated program. For this purpose, reCAPTCHA analyzes the behavior of the website visitor based on various characteristics. This analysis begins automatically as soon as the website visitor enters the website. For the analysis, reCAPTCHA evaluates various information (e.g. IP address, time spent on the website by the website visitor or mouse movements made by the user). The data collected during the analysis is forwarded to Google. The reCAPTCHA analyses run completely in the background. Website visitors are not informed that an analysis is taking place.

Data processing is carried out on the basis of Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR. The website operator has a legitimate interest in protecting its website from abusive automated spying and SPAM. Further information about Google reCAPTCHA and Google’s privacy policy can be found at the following links: https://www.google.com/intl/de/policies/privacy/ and https://policies.google.com/terms?hl=de.

· Google Tag Manager

Google Tag Manager is a solution with which we can manage so-called website tags via an interface and thus, for example, integrate Google Analytics and other Google marketing services into our online offering. The Tag Manager itself, which implements the tags, does not process any personal user data. With regard to the processing of users’ personal data, please refer to the following information on Google services. Usage guidelines: https://www.google.com/intl/de/tagmanager/use-policy.html.

· Use of Adobe Fonts

We use Adobe Fonts for the visual design of our website. Adobe Fonts is a service provided by Adobe Systems Incorporated, 345 Park Avenue, San Jose, CA 95110- 2704, USA (Adobe), which gives us access to a font library. To integrate the fonts we use, your browser must establish a connection to an Adobe server in the USA and download the font required for our website. Adobe then receives the information that our website has been accessed from your IP address. Further information on Adobe Fonts can be found in Adobe’s privacy policy, which you can access here: Adobe Fonts

Some of the third-party providers we use may be located outside Switzerland. Information on the disclosure of data abroad can be found under point. 6. In terms of data protection law, some of them are “only” processors on our behalf and some are controllers. Further information on this can be found in the data protection declarations.

9. HOW DO WE PROCESS PERSONAL DATA ON OUR PAGES IN SOCIAL NETWORKS?

We operate pages and other online presences on social networks and other platforms operated by third parties and process data about you in this context. In doing so, we receive data from you (e.g. when you communicate with us or comment on our content) and from the platforms (e.g. statistics). The providers of the platforms can analyze your use and process this data together with other data that they have about you. They also process this data for their own purposes (e.g. marketing and market research purposes and to manage their platforms), and act as their own data controllers for this purpose. For further information on processing by the platform operators, please refer to the privacy policies of the respective platforms.

We currently use the following platforms, whereby the identity and contact details of the platform operator can be found in the privacy policy:

· Instagram

www.instagram.com

Privacy policy: https://privacycenter.instagram.com/policy

· LinkedIn

www.linkedin.com

Privacy Policy: https://de.linkedin.com/legal/privacy-policy

We are entitled, but not obliged, to check third-party content before or after its publication on our online presences, to delete content without notice and, if necessary, to report it to the provider of the platform in question.

Some of the platform operators may be located outside Switzerland. Information on the disclosure of data abroad can be found in Section 6.

10. WHAT ELSE NEEDS TO BE CONSIDERED?

We do not assume that the EU General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR“) is applicable in our case. However, should this be the case in exceptional cases for certain data processing, this section shall also apply exclusively for the purposes of the GDPR and the data processing subject to it. 10.

We base the processing of your personal data in particular on the fact that

  • they as described in 3 is necessary for the initiation and conclusion of contracts and their administration and enforcement (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. b GDPR;
  • it is necessary for the protection of our legitimate interests or those of third parties as described in 3 in particular for communication with you or third parties, to operate our website, to improve our electronic offers and registration for certain offers and services, for security purposes, for compliance with Swiss law and internal regulations for our risk management and corporate governance and for other purposes such as training and education, administration, evidence and quality assurance, organization, implementation and follow-up of events and to safeguard other legitimate interests (see section 3) (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR);
  • it is required or permitted by law on the basis of our mandate or our position under the law of the EEA or a member state (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. c GDPR) or is necessary to protect your vital interests or those of other natural persons (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. d GDPR);
  • you have separately consented to the processing, g. via a corresponding declaration on our website (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a and Art. 9 para. 2 lit. a GDPR).

We would like to point out that we will process your data for as long as it is necessary for our processing purposes (see Section 3. 3), the statutory retention periods and our legitimate interests, in particular for documentation and evidence purposes, require it or if storage is technically necessary (e.g. in the case of backups or document management systems). If there are no legal or contractual obligations or technical reasons to the contrary, we generally delete or anonymize your data after the storage or processing period has expired as part of our normal processes and in accordance with our retention policy.

If you do not provide certain personal data, this may mean that it is not possible to provide the associated services or conclude a contract. As a matter of principle, we indicate where personal data requested by us is mandatory.

The procedure described in para. 7 applies in particular to data processing for the purpose of direct marketing.

If you do not agree with our handling of your rights or data protection, please let us know (see contact details in Section. 2). If you are in the EEA, you also have the right to lodge a complaint with the data protection supervisory authority in your country. A list of authorities in the EEA can be found here: https://edpb.europa.eu/about-edpb/board/members_de.

11. CAN THIS PRIVACY POLICY BE CHANGED?

This privacy policy is not part of any contract with you. We may amend this privacy policy at any time. The version published on this website is the current version.