Privacy Policy
The protection of the personal data of our clients and other individuals is important to us. These terms and conditions explain how we process personal data in the provision of legal services within the law firm Brázdil & Brázdilová advokátska kancelária s.r.o., registered office: Trhová 992/1, Zvolen 960 01, ID No.: 50 492 934 (hereinafter referred to as "We"). If you have any questions, you may contact us by telephone at + 421 45/ 5 333 722, by e-mail at info@brazdil.sk or by post to our registered office. In processing personal data, we are primarily governed by the EU General Data Protection Regulation ("GDPR"), which also governs your rights as a data subject,[1] those provisions of the Personal Data Protection Act ("Act") that apply to us (in particular section 78), the Advocacy Act (section 18) as well as other regulations. We comply with the Code of Conduct adopted by the Slovak Bar Association ("SAK"), which further explains the processing of personal data by attorneys. The SAK Code of Conduct can be consulted at www.sak.sk or here.
Why do we process personal data?
The processing of personal data is necessary on our part in order to:
- to provide legal services to our clients and to practice law;
- comply with various statutory, union and contractual obligations; and
- protect the legitimate interests of us, our clients and others.
For what purposes and on what legal basis do we process personal data?
| Purpose | Legal basis under the GDPR | Related regulations |
| provision of legal services | the exercise of a profession the fulfilment of a legal obligation pursuant to Article 6(1)(c) GDPR, Article 13(1)(c) of the Act (in relation to special categories of personal data, additional conditions may be required pursuant to Article 9(2)(f) GDPR, Article 16(2)(f) of the Act | Act No. 586/2003 Coll. 513/1991 Coll., Commercial Act, Act No. 40/1964 Coll., Civil Code |
| provision of non-legal services | performance of a contract pursuant to Article 6(1)(b) of the GDPR, § 13(1)(b) of the Act alt. performance of a legal obligation pursuant to Article 6(1)(c) of the GDPR, § 13(1)(c) of the Act | Act No. 315/2016 Coll. No. 305/2013 Coll. on the Register of Public Sector Partners, Act No. 305/2013 Coll. Act No. 513/1991 Coll. Commercial Act, Act No. 40/1964 Coll. Civil Code, Act No. 116/1990 Coll. Act on the lease and sublease of non-residential premises |
| ensuring compliance with legal regulations and regulations of the Slovak Bar Association | the fulfilment of a legal obligation pursuant to Article 6(1)(c) of the GDPR, Article 13(1)(c) of the Act, the legitimate interest of lawyers or third parties pursuant to Article 6(1)(f) of the GDPR, Article 13(1)(f) of the Act, the public interest pursuant to Article 6(1)(e) of the GDPR, Article 13(1)(f) of the Act, or the defence of legal claims pursuant to Article 9(2)(f) of the GDPR, Article 16(2)(f) of the Act. | |
| purposes relating to the protection of legitimate interests | the legitimate interest of lawyers or third parties pursuant to Article 6(1)(f) GDPR, § 13(1)(f) of the Act | GDPR, Act No. 513/1991 Coll., Commercial Act, Act No. 40/1964 Coll., Civil Code, Act No. 301/2005 Coll. Criminal Procedure Code, Act No. 300/2005 Coll. Criminal Code, Act No. 160/2015 Coll. Civil Procedure Code, Act No. 161/2015 Coll. Civil Procedure Code, Act No. 162/2015 Coll. Administrative Procedure Code, Act No 71/1967 Coll. Administrative Procedure Code, Act No 372/1990 Coll. on offences |
| statistical purposes, archival purposes in the public interest and historical and scientific research purposes | Article 89 GDPR | Act No. 395/2002 Coll. on archives and registers |
| accounting and tax purposes | compliance with the legal obligation under Article 6(1)(c) GDPR, § 13(1)(c) of the Act | special laws on accounting and tax administration |
Who do we disclose your personal data to?
We disclose personal data of our clients and other natural persons only to the extent necessary and always under confidentiality of the recipient of the data, e.g. to public authorities (courts, administrative authorities), our employees, persons we entrust with the performance of individual acts of legal services, representing or cooperating attorneys, our accounting advisors, translators, the Slovak Bar Association (e.g. in the case of disciplinary proceedings), or providers of software or support of our office (including employees of these persons). Although we have a limited obligation to disclose your personal data to public authorities due to confidentiality[2], we are obliged to prevent the commission of a crime and we also have an obligation to report information in the field of prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing.
Which countries do we transfer your personal data to?
We do not intend to transfer your personal data across borders to third countries outside the European Economic Area (EU, Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein). We use secure cloud services from a verified provider with servers located exclusively in EU jurisdictions.
What kind of automated individual decisions do we make?
We do not perform automated individual decision-making.
How long do we keep your personal data?
We retain personal data for no longer than is necessary for the purposes for which the personal data is processed. When storing personal data, we follow the recommended retention periods in accordance with the Resolution of the Presidium of the Slovak Bar Association No. 29/11/2011, e.g.:
- The incoming mail book and the outgoing mail book, when filled, shall be kept by the lawyer for ten years from the date of receipt or dispatch of the last item entered in the book;
- The inventory list shall be archived by the lawyer for ten years after it has been drawn up;
- If the lawyer maintains the client directory and the client file log electronically, he shall, at the end of the calendar year, make a hard copy of the client directory for the calendar year and store it in the office without time limitation;
- The shredding period of a client file is 10 years and runs from the date on which all conditions for depositing the file in the archive are met.
Attorneys are subject to state statutes interpreting attorneys' obligations under the Advocacy Act, under which there are certain circumstances that extend our retention periods or prevent us from shredding certain documents for obvious reasons. For example:
- A client file containing the original documents handed over to the lawyer by the client cannot be shredded;
- Client file logs and client file menus cannot be shredded;
- A client file or a part thereof which the lawyer is obliged to hand over to the State Archives may not be shredded;
- It is not possible to shred a client file if there is any proceeding before a court, a state administration authority, law enforcement authorities, the Slovak Bar Association, which is related to the content of the client file or the subject of which was the act or omission of the lawyer in providing legal assistance in the case to the client.
How do we collect personal data about you?
If you are our client, we most often obtain your personal data directly from you. In this case, the collection of your personal data is voluntary. Depending on the specific case, failure to provide personal data to clients may impact our ability to provide quality legal advice or, in exceptional cases, our obligation to refuse to provide legal advice. We may also obtain personal data about our clients from publicly available sources, from public authorities or from other persons. If you are not our client, we most often obtain your personal data from our clients or from other public or lawful sources, such as by requesting it from public authorities, obtaining extracts from public registers, obtaining evidence in favour of the client, etc. In such cases, we may obtain personal data about you without informing you and also against your will on the basis of our legal authority and obligation to practise law in accordance with the Advocacy Act.
What rights do you have as a data subject?
If we process personal data about you on the basis of your consent to the processing of your personal data, you have the right to withdraw your consent at any time.
Notwithstanding this, you have the right to object at any time to the processing of your personal data on the grounds of legitimate or public interest as well as for direct marketing purposes, including profiling.
As a client, you have the right to access your personal data as well as to have it corrected. If we process personal data in the provision of legal services, you have no right as a client or as another natural person (e.g. counterparty) to object to such processing under Article 22 of the GDPR. If the personal data relates to a client (regardless of whether the client is a legal entity or a natural person), other persons do not have the right of access or the right to data portability due to our legal obligation of confidentiality and by reference to Article 15(4) GDPR, Article 20(4) GDPR and Article 18(4) GDPR, Article 20(4) GDPR and Article 18(4) GDPR. "An advocate shall not be obliged to provide information on the processing of personal data, to allow access to or portability of personal data pursuant to a special regulation if this could lead to a breach of the advocate's duty of confidentiality under this Act." You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Office for Personal Data Protection or the Slovak Bar Association at any time.
Processing of cookies
Our website uses cookies and similar technologies (e.g., local storage, pixels) to ensure its functionality, store your preferences, and—provided you give us your consent—also to measure visitor traffic and carry out marketing.
1) Which cookies do we use?
We mainly use the following categories
a) Necessary (technical) cookies
These are required for the basic operation of the website (e.g., security, login, storing session settings, proper display of content). We store these cookies without your consent because they are strictly necessary to provide the service you explicitly request or to transmit communications.
b) Preference cookies (optional)
These allow us to remember your choices (e.g., language, display settings). They are stored only after you give your consent.
c) Analytics cookies (optional)
These are used to measure visitor traffic and improve the website (e.g., usage statistics). They are stored only after you give your consent.
d) Marketing cookies (optional)
These are used to personalise advertising and evaluate marketing campaigns, often also by third parties. They are stored only after you give your consent.
2) Legal basis
Necessary cookies: processing is based on the exemption for strictly necessary storage/access (without consent).
Preference/analytics/marketing cookies: processing is based on your consent (GDPR Art. 6(1)(a)). Consent is voluntary and may be withdrawn at any time.
3) How you give and withdraw your consent
When you visit the website for the first time, a cookie banner will be displayed, allowing you to:
- accept all cookies,
- reject all optional cookies, or
- set your preferences by category.
Optional cookies (preference/analytics/marketing cookies) are stored only after you actively make a selection in the cookie banner.
You can change or withdraw your consent at any time via the “Cookie Settings” link on the website (recommended location: the website footer).
4) Retention period and third parties
Some cookies are session cookies (they expire when you close your browser), while others are persistent cookies (stored for the period specified in the cookie settings).
Cookies may also be stored by third parties (e.g., analytics or advertising service providers). A specific list of cookies, providers, and retention periods is available in the Cookie Settings.
5) Browser settings
You can also delete or block cookies in your browser settings. Please note that blocking necessary cookies may affect the functionality of the website.
Changes to the privacy policy
Data protection is not a one-off issue for us. The information we are required to provide you with in respect of our processing of your personal data may change or cease to be up to date. For this reason, we reserve the right to modify and change these terms and conditions to any extent at any time. If we change these terms in a material way, we will bring this change to your attention, for example, by a general notice on this website or a separate notice by email.
[1] See Articles 12 to 22 GDPR: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/SK/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:32016R0679&from=EN
[2] Who are not regarded as recipients within the meaning of Article 4(9) of the GDPR