DARK LIGHT

Data Protection

Privacy Policy

(Version 3.0; valid from 23.06.2024)

1. Object and Scope of Application

With this Privacy Policy, the sole proprietorship BYLAND.LAW ¦ Christoph Byland, Attorney at Law (hereinafter “BYLAND.LAW” or “we”) provides information about the nature, scope and purpose of the processing of personal data (hereinafter “personal data”) in the context of our professional activities and operations, including the operation of the websites under the URLs www.byland.law, www.bylandlaw.com, www.bylandlaw.ch and www.christophbyland.com (hereinafter “Websites”), as well as about the rights of the persons whose data we process as data controllers under applicable data protection law.

Other or additional data protection declarations and/or individual agreements with the data subjects, namely mandate agreements with our clients, may apply to individual activities and operations.

We process personal data carefully, responsibly and in accordance with the relevant data protection provisions, in particular the provisions of the Federal Act on Data Protection (FADP) and – if and insofar as applicable – the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the principles described in this privacy policy.

2. Controller and Contact Details

The controller for the processing of personal data (within the meaning of Art. 5 lit. j and Art. 19 para. 2 lit. a FADP and Art. 4 no. 7 GDPR) is BYLAND.LAW ¦ Christoph Byland, Attorney-at-Law.

Data protection requests from data subjects and supervisory authorities as well as declarations on the exercise of rights in accordance with Sectopm 9 reach us as follows:

By post: BYLAND.LAW, Technoparkstrasse 1, CH-8005 Zurich
E-mail: mail@byland.law

To the data protection representative in the EU pursuant to Art. 27 GDPR:
By post: Fairstand GmbH, Fössestrasse 97a, D-30453 Hanover
E-Mail: gdpr@yourlawzone.com

3. Processing of Personal Data

We process the personal data of you and other persons that we receive from them and other persons involved in the context of the client relationship with our clients and other contractual relationships with business partners or that we receive from them and other persons involved in the operation of our websites in accordance with Section 5 below. We also obtain personal data from reliable publicly accessible sources, such as the online databases of national and international trademark offices and the central company register of the Swiss Federal Commercial Register Office.

4. Purpose and Legal Basis

We use the personal data in accordance with Section 3 primarily in order to conclude and fulfill contracts with our clients and business partners, in particular in connection with the provision of legal services for our clients and the purchase of products and services from our suppliers and auxiliary persons (such as in particular retained lawyers and law firms or experts in Switzerland and abroad) and to fulfill our legal obligations in this regard in Switzerland and abroad.

In addition, we process personal data of you and other persons, insofar as this is permissible and necessary at our due discretion, also for the following purposes in which we or third parties have a legitimate interest corresponding to the purpose and/or based on your consent:

  • Ensuring compliance with legal and regulatory obligations, in particular due to statutory professional and ethical rules for lawyers.
  • Communication with our clients, especially in the context of preparing and conducting audio and video conferences.
  • Assertion of legal claims and defense in connection with legal disputes and official proceedings.
  • Prevention and investigation of criminal offenses and other misconduct (e.g. conducting internal investigations, data analysis to combat fraud).

5. Use of the Websites

The Websites are based on the latest version of the free content management system “WordPress”, which is constantly being further developed as an open source project. Only cookies that are essential for the operation of the websites (so-called technically necessary cookies) are used.
When accessing the websites, the user’s browser automatically transmits the following log data to the web server for technical reasons:

  • Date of access
  • Time of access
  • URL of the referring website (referrer URL)
  • Retrieved file
  • Amount of data transferred
  • Message as to whether the retrieval was successful
  • Browser type and version
  • Operating system and version
  • Host name of the accessing computer (IP address)

This data is stored in a log file and is used solely for the purpose of tracking unauthorized access attempts and access to the web server. Any further use of the log data is exclusively for statistical purposes in anonymized form.
Search terms entered into the search mask on the Websites are used exclusively by BYLAND.LAW to carry out the search request and are stored together with the log data and then deleted.

6 Order Data Processing

BYLAND.LAW is entitled to commission data processors based in Switzerland or the EU with the processing of personal data and to disclose the personal data obtained by BYLAND.LAW to them for this purpose, provided that these data processors offer sufficient guarantee that all requirements of the applicable law, in particular the law on lawyers and data protection, are met and contractually undertake to process the personal data only on behalf of and for the purposes specified by BYLAND.LAW and in compliance with other necessary regulations and requirements.

7 Data Security and Confidentiality

We take appropriate technical and organizational security measures to protect your personal data from unauthorized access by third parties and misuse, e.g. by encrypting data carriers and connections for the transmission of confidential content, anonymizing and pseudonymizing data.
We recommend sending sensitive and confidential messages and documents as encrypted e-mails via a reliable secure messaging platform (e.g. the IncaMail platform from Swiss Post or PrivaSphere Secure Messaging) to BYLAND.LAW. For the transmission of sensitive and confidential messages and documents using the IncaMail platform the easiest way to use our virtual IncaMail mailbox mailbox.
BYLAND.LAW assumes that people who nevertheless send us unencrypted e-mails agree to this type of communication, which is insecure from a confidentiality point of view.

8. Duration of Storage of Personal Data

We process and store personal data for as long as is necessary for the processing purpose for which we obtained it. As a rule, this is for the duration of our business relationship and thereafter as long as we have a legitimate interest in retaining the data (e.g. due to the applicable limitation periods, for the retention of documents and the generation of know-how). In addition, there may be a contractual or statutory retention or documentation obligation, e.g. in accordance with the Swiss Code of Obligations (OR) or the Swiss Value Added Tax Act (MWSTG). It is possible that personal data may be retained for the period in which claims can be asserted against us or insofar as we are otherwise legally obliged to do so or legitimate business interests require this (e.g. for evidence and documentation purposes). If the personal data is no longer required, it is deleted or anonymized as far as possible. Subject to an express written agreement with you, we are under no obligation to you to retain personal data for a certain period of time.

9. Rights of Data Subjects

In accordance with the applicable data protection law and to the extent provided for therein, you have the right to information, correction and deletion of your personal data, the right to restrict processing or to object to our data processing and the right to receive certain personal data for transmission to another controller (so-called data portability). Please note, however, that we reserve the right to assert the restrictions provided for by law, e.g. if we are obliged to store or process certain data, have an overriding interest in doing so (insofar as we can invoke such interests), are obliged to maintain confidentiality or need the data to assert claims. If the exercise of certain rights is associated with costs for you, we will inform you of this in advance.
Your consent to the collection and processing of personal data can be revoked at any time with effect for the future.
Requests for information, correction and deletion as well as a revocation of consent to data processing and a request for data transfer must be sent by post or e-mail to the respective contact address in accordance with Section. 2 above.
The exercise of the rights under this Clause 9 generally requires that you provide clear proof of your identity (e.g. a copy of your ID where your identity is otherwise not clear or cannot be verified). Please also note that exercising these rights may be in conflict with contractual agreements and may have legal consequences, such as premature termination of the contract or cost consequences. In such a case, we will inform you in advance, unless the corresponding legal consequences are already contractually and/or legally regulated.
As a data subject, you also have the right to enforce your claims in court or to lodge a complaint with the competent data protection authority. The competent data protection authority in Switzerland is the Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner (https://www.edoeb.admin.ch ).

10 Effective Date and Amendments

This privacy policy comes into force on June 23, 2024 and replaces the privacy policy dated September 1, 2023.
By continuing to use a Website after June 23, 2024, you agree to this privacy policy.
We may amend, supplement or update this privacy policy at any time at our own discretion and without prior notice. The current version is published on the webpage www.byland.law/en/dataprotection.