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Privacy Policy

1. General Information About This Privacy Policy

The protection of your personal data, which Kanzlei Hess AG (“we,” “us”) collects and processes in the course of its business activities, is carried out in accordance with the Swiss Federal Act on Data Protection (FADP) and, where and to the extent applicable, the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

This Privacy Policy provides information on how and for what purposes we process your personal data and what rights you have in this regard. “Personal data” refers to all details and information relating to you as an identified or identifiable individual, and “processing” means any handling of such data, e.g., collection, storage, use, disclosure, and deletion.

2. Controller for the Processing of Personal Data

Kanzlei Hess AG, Mrs. lic.iur. Simone Hess Nielsen, Kernserstrasse 17, 6060 Sarnen, Email: info@kanzlei-hess.ch.

3. What Data We Process and for What Purpose

We primarily process personal data to provide, document, bill, and improve our legal services.

This includes contact details, background information, inquiry and mandate content, opposing parties and their representatives, as well as additional information for conflict of interest checks.

Communication with clients, courts, authorities, opposing counsel, and third parties is included. We also process documentation of advice and information disclosed to us as part of our services by or for clients, opposing parties, courts, authorities, and other parties involved in proceedings, or information we create in the course of our services.

The main categories and purposes are listed below.

Main Categories of Data We Process

  • Master data: Basic information such as name, contact details, personal data, photos, declarations of consent, and information about third parties.
  • Contract data: Data related to the provision of our services and contractual agreements, e.g., contractual services, performance data, pre-contractual data, processing information (e.g., invoicing), or financial data.
  • Technical data: Data generated when using our services (e.g., website), such as IP address, geographic information, and time of use.
  • Communication data: Data from communication between us and third parties (e.g., via email, phone, video call, letters, or other channels).
  • Other data: Particularly data arising in administrative or legal proceedings, photos, video or audio recordings that we create or receive and in which you are identifiable.

Purposes for Which We Process Data

  • Communication: To communicate with you, we process your data, including via electronic means, especially email and video calls.
  • Contracts: We process personal data in connection with contract conclusions and fulfillment. This also includes enforcing legal claims (e.g., in court or administrative proceedings), termination, bookkeeping, and recruitment.
  • Compliance with Laws, Orders, and Recommendations: We may process personal data to comply with legal obligations (e.g., tax, health regulations), or in investigations (e.g., by law enforcement or authorized private bodies).
  • Other Purposes: Such as administrative purposes (e.g., managing master data, bookkeeping), business development, protecting our rights, improving internal processes, protecting other legitimate interests, and more.

4. Where the Data Comes From
  • From You: You disclose much of the data yourself. Unless legally required, you are not obligated to do so. However, to use our services, you must provide certain data.
  • From Third Parties: We may obtain data from public sources (e.g., debt collection registers, the Internet) or from authorities (e.g., courts), your employer, business contacts, or other third parties (e.g., associations, opposing parties, clients).

5. To Whom We Disclose Your Data

We only disclose your personal data to third parties in connection with our contracts, website, services, legal obligations, or legitimate interests and for the purposes listed in section 3:

  • Service providers: We work with service providers at home and abroad who process data (i) on our behalf, (ii) jointly with us, or (iii) independently (e.g., IT providers, printers, banks, insurers, accounting services). This may include health data.
  • Contractual partners: Clients and other partners where contractual obligations necessitate disclosure. These recipients generally act under their own responsibility.
  • Authorities: We may disclose data to public offices, courts, or other authorities at home or abroad when legally obligated or if necessary to protect your or our interests.
  • Other parties: In cases where third-party involvement arises from the purposes listed in section 3.

All these recipient categories may involve third parties, who may also gain access to your data.

Service providers must sign a confidentiality agreement before engagement. Authorities and professional service providers (e.g., in healthcare) are subject to official or professional confidentiality obligations. These apply equally to their assistants.

6. How Long We Process Your Data

We process your data as long as required by our purposes, legal retention periods, or our legitimate interests in documentation and evidence, or for technical reasons (e.g., backups or document management systems).

7. Your Rights

You may request information about the processing of your personal data, request corrections, deletion, object to processing, request data portability or transfer, or withdraw consent where processing is based on consent.

8. Data Transfers Abroad

We primarily process and store personal data in Switzerland and the EEA. In exceptional cases — e.g., subcontracted services — data may be processed in any country worldwide.

If a recipient is located in a country without adequate data protection, we require them to comply contractually (e.g., through EU Standard Contractual Clauses). Exceptions may apply in foreign legal proceedings, overriding public interests, contractual obligations, with your consent, or for publicly accessible data.

Where service providers or authorities in lawful jurisdictions abroad must be involved in client cases, they are also bound by legal, professional, or official confidentiality.

9. How We Process Website and Digital Service Data

When using our website (incl. newsletter and other digital offerings), data is collected and stored. We may use cookies and similar technologies to recognize visitors and their preferences. Technical data may be linked to personal data. You can configure your browser to accept, reject, or delete cookies automatically.

We also use our own tools and third-party services (which may also use cookies) to improve the website (e.g., video or map integration), compile statistics, and serve ads.

Some third-party providers may be located outside Switzerland. For information on international data transfers, see section 8.

We inform you about the following tools:

  • Google Fonts (Google Ireland Limited)
    Google Fonts is a service from Google Ireland Limited that allows this website to display fonts. Personal data processed: trackers and usage data.
    Processing location: Ireland – Privacy Policy.
    Google complies with the EU-U.S. and Swiss-U.S. Data Privacy Frameworks and uses Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) since 2021.
    Contact: privacy-shield-google@google.com
    Info: https://poIicies.googIe.com/privacy?hI=de
  • Font Awesome (Fonticons, Inc.)
    Font Awesome is a service from Fonticons, Inc. used to display fonts. Personal data processed: trackers and usage data.
    Processing location: United States – Privacy Policy.
    Font Awesome covers international data transfers with SCCs from 2021.

10. Changes to the Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy is not part of a contract. We may update it at any time. The version published on this website is the current one.