Privacy Notice

 

This privacy notice (hereinafter referred to as "Privacy Notice") describes the principles according to which AffinityLaw AG and AffinityTax AG (hereinafter referred to as "AFFINITY LAW & TAX", "we or us" or "the Controller") process personal data that is collected and processed by us via the website www.affinity-group.ch and the domains www.affinitylaw.ch and www.affinitatax.ch, which refer to www.affinity-group domain) (hereinafter referred to as "the Website") or in any other way, e.g. in the context of a client relationship by Affinitylaw AG or AffinityTax AG. In particular, it informs you about what personal data we collect, for what purposes it is processed, to whom it may be disclosed, how long we retain it and what rights and options you have in connection with the use of your personal data. "Personal data" means any information about an identified or identifiable natural person, such as name, address, email address, online identifier or telephone number. "Processing" is any handling of personal data, such as obtaining, storing, disclosing or deleting.

This Privacy Notice applies insofar as the processing activities are not subject to other privacy statements or are provided for by applicable law. Please read this Privacy Notice carefully. By using our services, you consent to the collection and processing of your personal data in accordance with this Privacy Notice.

If you provide us with personal data of other persons, please provide their personal data only if you are authorized to do so in accordance with applicable data protection laws and only if the other person consents to you providing us with their personal data for the purposes of data collection and processing in accordance with our Privacy Notice.

 

CONTENTS

1.      Who is responsible for your personal data and contact details

2.      How we process personal data

3.      What personal data we collect and generate for what purposes

3.1.   Automatically transmitted personal data

3.2.   Personal data collected and generated through communication with us

3.3.   Personal data collected in connection with a client relationship

3.4.   Personal data collected in connection with employees of business partners, authorities or other organizations

3.5.   Personal data collected in connection with an application

3.6.   Personal data collected in connection with a link to our social media channels (LinkedIn)

3.7.   Personal data collected in connection with a link to Google Maps

4.      On what legal basis do we process personal data about you

5.      With whom we share your personal data

6.      Transfer of personal data abroad

7.      How long we store personal data about you

8.      No automated decisions including profiling with legal effect

9.      Data security and e-mail communication

10.    Third party Privacy Notice

11.    What are your rights

12.    Changes to our Privacy Notice

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 1.      Who is responsible for your personal data and contact details

 

The person responsible for the processing of personal data in accordance with this Privacy Notice is:

For legal advice mandates:                                      For tax advice mandates:

AffinityLaw AG Ormisstrasse 71 | CH-8706 Meilen  Olgastrasse 10 | CH-8001 Zürich  T Direct +41 79 376 81 62

AffinityTax AG Rüterwiesstrasse 24 | CH-8125 Zollikon  Olgastrasse 10 | CH-8001 Zürich  T Direct +41 79 761 09 06

 

AffinityLaw AG or AffinityTax AG determines the purposes and means of processing your personal data and is therefore responsible for the processing and use of your personal data in accordance with this Privacy Notice. For data processing that cannot be clearly allocated to either the legal or the tax consulting area, both companies are jointly responsible, unless otherwise communicated in the individual case or the responsible party is evident from the circumstances. If you have any questions or concerns regarding this Privacy Notice or the processing of your personal data, please contact us by e-mail for legal matters to r.arquint@affinitylaw.ch and for tax matters to b.stillhart@affinitytax.ch. 

2.      How we processpersonal data

Any personal data collected by us through the Website or otherwise will be processed in accordance with the provisions of applicable data protection laws. We collect and process personal data carefully and for the purposes described in this Privacy Notice. In accordance with applicable law, we may also use your personal data in ways other than those described in this Privacy Notice. In this case, we will provide specific privacy statements or notices at the time of collection and may seek your consent.

3.      What personal data we collect and generate for what purposes

We collect the following personal data through our website or otherwise:

3.1.  Automatically transmitted personal data

AFFINITY LAW & TAX collects and stores personal data that your browser automatically transmits to us in "server log files" when you visit our website. These may include the following personal data:

• Browser type and version;
• Operating systems used;
• Referrer URL (the previously visited website);
• Host name of the accessing computer;
• Date and time of the server request;
• Internet Protocol (IP) address;
• Amount of data transferred;
• Other similar personal data and information that serves to avert danger in the event of attacks on our IT systems.

These personal data are not merged with personal data from other sources. They are stored by us for a short time until they are automatically deleted after a period of basically three to six months.

This personal data is collected for the following purposes:

• to establish a connection with our server;
• to ensure stability and uninterrupted system security;
• to the protection and security of our systems, and
• for statistical purposes in the event of attacks on the network infrastructure on which the website is provided.

The data processing is carried out on the basis of our legitimate interests for the aforementioned purposes for the proper and secure functioning and management of our website and your consent to use our website.

3.2. Personal data collected and generated through communication with us

We collect Personal Data that you provide us through the Website or otherwise voluntarily, and therefore with your consent, by sending a message to our contact address, for example, by email, letter, telephone or other communication medium. This may include the following personal data:

• Name, first name, address, email address, phone number, gender, language, your employer, your position, other personal data about you;
• Your message or inquiry.

The communication of this personal data is always voluntary, based on your consent or in the context of a possible future client relationship with you. Please note that without the provision of the necessary personal data, we cannot advise you or not in the desired and required quality. 

We will use the personal data you provide us with to process and respond to your inquiry, or process it for the lawful purposes that arise from the circumstances. This may include the following purposes:

• To best respond to your questions or inquiries about our services, to ask you questions, and to provide additional information tailored to your inquiry or interests in connection with our services;
• To communicate with you (e.g., about our services) and to provide you with the best possible information you need from us before, during or after the termination of a contract;
• To comply with legal or other regulatory requirements and internal regulations;
• To establish, exercise and/or defend actual or potential legal claims, investigations or similar proceedings;
• For other lawful purposes, if such processing is evident from the circumstances or was indicated at the time of collection.

3.3. Personal data collected in connection with a client relationship

We collect and generate personal data when you, on your behalf or on behalf of your employer (as a person authorized to represent you), seek advice from us in the context of a client relationship. This may include the following personal data:

• Personal business information about you: In particular, this includes first and last name, employer, position, job title, business address, business email, business phone number, IP address, photo, other personal data about you;
• Personal private data and contact information, which may also include particularly sensitive data about you: In particular, this includes first and last name, home address, telephone number, e-mail address, age, date of birth, gender, marital status, religion, family members, number of children, photos, place of birth, nationality, certificates of inheritance, information about previous convictions, debt collection, work or residence permit, AHV number, financial information, salary statements, tax returns, payment information, information about your health, your privacy or medical certificates or personal data from publicly accessible sources (such as commercial register, land registers, press, Internet).
• Information in connection with an employment relationship: This includes, in particular, the employer, position, salary, bonuses, pension fund, insurance, CV, training, diplomas, certificates, employment contract, other documents that allow conclusions to be drawn about you (e.g. correspondence with the employer, minutes, presentations), promotions, target agreements, employer references, interim references, employee interview documents and other personal data that you provide to us;
• Information related to the relevant factual situation: this includes, in particular, information on the facts of the case, concluded contracts, draft contracts, deeds, legal documents, other information and documents for the determination of the relevant factual situation.
• Information related to the performance of our advisory activities: This includes, in particular, our advisory communications with you, our internal communications and external communications (e.g., with opposing counsel, business partners, government agencies or other entities), draft contracts and agreements of all types, deeds, declarations, legal documents, letters, memoranda, file notes and other business documents in the ordinary course of our legal and tax advisory activities.

The communication of this personal data always takes place within the framework of a contractual relationship mandated by you or your employer or voluntarily, based on your consent. Please note that without the provision of the necessary information, we cannot advise you or your employer or not in the desired and necessary quality.

We will process the personal data you provide to us for the proper performance and completion of a client relationship, or for the lawful purposes that arise from the circumstances. This may include the following purposes:

• For the establishment, management and termination of contractual relationships;
• For the fulfillment of the consulting activity mandated by you;
• For communication purposes, to communicate with you or with third parties (such as counterparties, authorities, business partners, auxiliary persons and other entities) and to provide you with the best possible information and advice that you require from us before or during a mandate relationship;
• For conducting videomeetings and -conferences, if you so wish;
• For processing payment for our services, e.g. for our consulting activities or in connection with participation in a seminar, webinar or other event provided by us;
• To comply with legal or other regulatory requirements and internal regulations;
• To establish, exercise and/or defend actual or potential legal claims, investigations or similar proceedings;
• For other lawful purposes, if such processing is evident from the circumstances or was indicated at the time of collection.

3.4. Personal data collected in connection with employees of business partners, authorities or other organizations

We collect and process personal data from you when you act as an employee of a business partner, government agency, institution or other organization (hereinafter referred to as an "employee of an organization") by email, telephone, postal mail, or otherwise in connection with the performance of a contract with the organization, with a client, or to comply with legal obligations. This may include the following personal data:

• Personal business information about you: Last name, first name, employer, position, business address, business email address, business phone number, IP address, photo, other personal data about you as an employee of the organization;
• Communication and correspondence with the employee of the organization.

We require this personal data for the proper establishment and performance of a contractual relationship or for the fulfillment of legal obligations and rights. Without this personal data, we are generally not in a position to provide our contractual and legal obligations in the desired quality or to enforce our rights.

We use personal data collected from the organization's employee to fulfill our contractual obligations and performance and our legal obligations, which may include the following purposes:

• To meet our contractual obligations to organizations;
• To communicate with the organizations and advise them in the best possible way;
• To enable organizations to fulfill their tasks;
• To comply with legal or other regulatory requirements and internal regulations;
• To establish, exercise and/or defend actual or potential legal claims, investigations or similar proceedings;
• For other lawful purposes, provided that such processing results from the circumstances or was indicated at the time of collection.

3.5. Personal data collected in connection with an application

We collect and generate personal data that you actively and voluntarily provide to us, with your consent and/or in advance of a potential employment contract with us, by sending us your application via our contact email address, by telephone or otherwise. This may include the following personal data:

• Information that you provide to us as part of the application process such as title, surname, first name, address, e-mail address, telephone number, date of birth, marital status, photo, language, CV, qualifications, employment certificates, school-leaving qualifications, training, further training, experience, your skills and abilities, other personal data about you;
• Personal data gathered during our interview and assessment process; 
• Publicly available professional personal data about you that is posted on business and employment-related social networks ("e.g. LinkedIn or XING"). 

We process this personal data for the following purposes:

• To process your application;
• To evaluate qualifications and personal experience;
• To provide you with information regarding your application and to make your application as supportive and effective as possible;

• To contact third party references provided by you to evaluate your past performance, if you agree.

After completion of the applicant selection process, your application data will be returned within three months or deleted if you were not successful in the applicant selection process.

3.6.  Personal data collected in connection with a link to our social media channels (LinkedIn)

On our Website, we link to our LinkedIn profiles from the social media channel LinkedIn, which is operated by LinkedIn Corporation, 1000 West Maude Avenue Sunnyvale, California 94085, USA. Only when you click on the LinkedIn button, a direct connection is established between your browser and the LinkedIn server. LinkedIn thereby receives the information that you have visited our site with your IP address. If you click the LinkedIn button while you are logged into your LinkedIn account, you can link the content of our pages on your LinkedIn profile. This allows LinkedIn to associate the visit to our pages with your user account. We would like to point out that we have no knowledge of the content of the transmitted personal data or its use by LinkedIn. The data processing is carried out solely in accordance with the data protection declarations and terms of use of LinkedIn, which you can access under the following link: www.linkedin.com/legal/privacy-policy.

The legal basis for the data processing results from our legitimate interest to make our website more attractive and to provide information about us and our services to a larger audience as well as based on your consent to connect with our LinkedIn page and to learn more information about us and our services. Regarding the transfer of personal data abroad, we refer to section 5 below.

3.7. Personal data collected in connection with the link to Google Maps

On our Website, we link to our business location to display and make it easier to find our location using Google Maps, a mapping service operated by Google LLC, 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA. This allows us to display interactive maps directly on our Website and enables you to conveniently use the map and navigation function.

By using Google Maps, information about the use of our Website, including your IP address, may be transmitted to a Google server in the USA and stored there. Google may transfer the information obtained through Google Maps to third parties if this is required by law or if third parties process this data on behalf of Google.

Google will not associate your IP address with any other personal data held by Google. Nevertheless, it would be technically possible for Google to identify at least individual users on the basis of the data received. It would be possible that personal data and personality profiles of users of the Website could be processed by Google for other purposes over which we have no control. 

It is possible to disable Google Maps and prevent data transfers to Google if you disable JavaScript in your browser. However, we would like to point out that in this case you will not be able to use the map display.

For more information about the purpose and scope of the data collection and its processing by Google, in addition to further information about your rights in this regard and settings options for protecting your privacy, please visit: https://www.google.de/intl/de/policies/privacy.

The legal basis of the data processing results from your consent based on your voluntary information for the creation of a map and our legitimate interests in the presentation of our location and an easy location of the place indicated by us on the Website..    

 

4. On what legal basis do we process personal data about you

The processing of your personal data for the purposes described may be based on the following legal bases:

• Your consent, only if it can be revoked at any time (e.g. videomeetings and -conferences);
• For the performance of a contract with you or for the intention to enter into a contract with you (e.g. for our consulting activities or participation in a seminar in which you are interested);
• To comply with a legal obligation (e.g., for tax purposes or for purposes of judicial investigations or proceedings); or
• For the purposes of our legitimate interests, such as maintaining and improving our internal business management, organization, operations, protection of systems and premises, prevention of fraud and other crimes, for statistical purposes, to ensure effective, efficient, secure and harmonized service, to comply with legal or other regulatory requirements and internal rules, and to establish, exercise and/or defend actual or potential legal claims, investigations or similar proceedings.

If the processing is based on your consent or our legitimate interests, you may withdraw your consent or object to this processing at any time by contacting us directly by email at the contact email addresses provided in section 1. Please note that the revocation of your consent does not affect the lawfulness of the processing prior to your revocation.

5.     With whom we share your personal data

We take reasonable measures to ensure that only our authorized personnel who have the necessary knowledge have access to your personal data to fulfill the purposes for which your personal data were collected.

We may disclose your personal data to the following possible categories of recipients in accordance with the purposes and legal bases for processing as described above:

• Service providers who process the personal data on our behalf and on our instructions (so-called processors, such as providers of IT services in the area of communication (e.g. e-mail providers and video conferencing), hosting and support, and accountants;
• Insurance companies, banks and other financial institutions;
• counterparties and their legal representatives;
• Our business partners and auxiliary persons (e.g. consulted lawyers and law firms or experts in Switzerland or abroad, our auditors);
• Other law firms (e.g. as a result of transfer of clients or in corporate transactions);
• Other persons or third parties within the scope of the usual legal and tax consulting activities;
• Other parties to potential or actual litigation;
• Administrative authorities, courts and other competent authorities;
• Industry organizations, associations and other bodies;
• Our social media channels (e.g. LinkedIn)

We select our partners and order processors carefully and only when we provide appropriate guarantees that they have suitable technical and organizational measures in place in accordance with legal requirements. In addition, we contractually ensure that our processors only process your personal data as we are permitted to do so. Furthermore, they can only process personal data on documented instructions from us. They are all subject to confidentiality requirements and may only use your personal data to the extent necessary to fulfill the purpose for which your personal data was collected or as required by law.

6.      Transfer of personal data abroad

The personal data we collect is processed and stored by us in Switzerland. If contractually or legally required or if you wish, we may also transfer, store and process your personal data at locations outside Switzerland, e.g. in countries where our business partners, auxiliary persons, authorities and other bodies are located. Data transfers to countries in the European Economic Area (EEA) are considered secure because they have an adequate level of data protection. If personal data is transferred to countries that do not ensure an adequate level of data protection (such as the USA and many other countries outside the EEA), we ensure adequate data protection by taking appropriate safeguards, such as contractual safeguards (e.g. based on EU standard clauses), or we transfer personal data based on your explicit consent (e.g., video meetings and conferences), in connection with entering into or performing a contract with you, or in connection with establishing, exercising or enforcing legal rights. You may request more information about our reasonable security measures by contacting us by email at the email addresses provided in section.

For the sake of completeness, we would like to point out that, from Switzerland's perspective, the USA does not have an adequate level of data protection. In the USA, for example, there are monitoring measures by US authorities which generally allow the storage of all personal data of all persons whose data has been transferred from Switzerland to the USA. In addition, we would like to point out that in the USA there are no sufficient legal remedies for the Swiss data subjects to obtain access to the data relating to them and to have it corrected or deleted, or that there is no effective judicial legal protection against general access rights of US authorities. We explicitly draw your attention to this legal and factual situation in order to enable you to make an appropriately informed decision regarding consent to the use of your personal data in the given case. This applies in particular to data processing to which we refer in this Privacy Notice (such as LinkedIn, see section 8), where the recipient of the personal data is based in the USA and the data processing is governed by the recipient's Privacy Notice.

7.     How long we store personal data about you

We will retain your personal data for as long as is necessary to fulfill the purposes for which your Personal Data was collected. For this reason, we will delete or anonymize Personal Data as soon as it is no longer necessary to achieve the purposes, but subject to (i) applicable legal or regulatory requirements to retain Personal Data for a longer period of time (e.g., for tax or accounting reasons), or (ii) where we have an overriding interest (e.g., an interest for evidentiary reasons to establish, exercise and/or defend actual or potential legal claims, investigations or similar proceedings, including legal process we may enforce to preserve relevant information, or where we have an interest in non-personal analysis).

On this basis, we usually process personal data in compliance with the following rules and obligations:

• The data automatically transmitted by you through the use of our website for the purpose of displaying, operating and ensuring the functionality of the website will be deleted within three to six months.
• The personal data you send us in connection with an inquiry (e.g. via e-mail address) will generally be deleted by us within three to six months, unless they are contract-related business documents and communications that are retained in accordance with the point below "For contract-related data" and the introductory principles (cf. first section of point 6).
• For contract-related personal data (including business records and communications), we store personal data for as long as the contractual relationship exists plus ten years after termination of the contractual relationship, unless (i) in individual cases a shorter or longer statutory retention obligation applies, (ii) retention is required for reasons of evidence or for another valid reason under applicable law, or (iii) deletion of the data is required earlier (e.g. because the data is no longer needed or we have to delete the relevant data);
• After completion of the applicant selection process, your application data will be returned within three months or deleted if you were not successful in the applicant selection process    
  
  

8. No automated decisions including profiling with legal effect

We will not make any decision about you based solely on automated processing - including profiling - that produces legal effects against you or similarly significantly affects you.

9. Data security and e-mail communication

We take appropriate technical and organizational measures to protect personal data against accidental or unlawful destruction, loss, alteration, unauthorized use, disclosure or access.

Unfortunately, the transmission of personal data over the Internet or by e-mail is not completely secure. Although we take reasonable security measures to protect your personal data, we cannot guarantee the security of your personal data transmitted to our Website or via e-mail; any transmission is at your own risk. For this reason, we advise you that e-mail messages containing sensitive personal data should not be sent unencrypted, otherwise you run the risk of lack of security and unsecured confidentiality on the Internet. In addition, you are free at any time to transmit your personal data to us by other means.

10. Privacy statements from third parties

Please note that if you click on the link to a third-party website (e.g. LinkedIn or Google), you will be redirected to a website that we do not control and our Privacy Notice will no longer apply. Your browsing and interaction on another website is subject to the terms of use and privacy policies and notices of those third-party websites. In addition, we also cannot guarantee the accuracy and timeliness of these links.

We encourage you to carefully read the terms of use and privacy policies and notices of other websites before submitting any personal data through this Website. We are not responsible or liable for the information content on such third party websites.

11. What are your rights

You can request information from us about whether personal data about you is being processed. In addition, you have the right to request the correction, destruction or restriction of personal data about yourself and to object to the processing of personal data. If the processing is based on your consent or our legitimate interests, you may withdraw consent or object to such processing at any time. In certain cases, you have the right to receive data generated by the use of online services in a structured, common and machine-readable format that allows further use and transmission.

Requests in this regard should be sent to us via the following e-mail address: for legal matters at r.arquint@affinitylaw.ch and for tax matters at b.stillhart@affinitytax.ch. We reserve the right to limit your rights under applicable law and, for example, not to disclose comprehensive information or to delete personal data.

If we reject your request or if you are not satisfied with our processing, you also have the right to file a complaint with the competent supervisory authority and to seek legal remedy

12. Changes to our Privacy Notice

This Privacy Notice may be changed from time to time and without prior notice. Any changes to this Privacy Notice will be effective when posted on the Site unless otherwise indicated. The most current version published on our Website will apply.