Data Protection

Articles 19 and 20 of the Federal Act on Data Protection (Data Protection Act, FADP) of 25 September 2020 oblige companies to inform (potentially) affected persons about the processing of personal data in the business, in particular about the collection of personal data. No consent to the privacy policy is required from clients or other contact persons. The following privacy policy is merely information about the type, scope and purpose of the use of personal data. I reserve the right to change the content of the following privacy policy unilaterally at any time and without notice.

Website

For technical reasons, certain data is generated every time my website is used and is temporarily stored in log files (log data), primarily the IP address of the terminal device, information about the internet service provider and the operating system of your terminal device, information on the referring URL, information on the browser used, the date and time of access and the content accessed when visiting the website. This data is used exclusively to operate the website and to ensure system security and stability.

My website does not use analysis or tracking services or cookies. However, we use services from specialised third-party companies that provide us with certain functions (in particular Open Street Maps and Google Fonts). For technical reasons, the services used record the IP address of the terminal device at least temporarily and set their own cookies.

Processing of personal data – from clients and for enquiries

The processing of personal data is necessary so that I can fulfil both my contractual obligations towards you or my clients and my legal obligations (e.g. retention obligations, see below). I process personal data (data that identifies natural persons directly or indirectly) which I receive within the scope of legal advice or representation from clients or third parties or which I collect myself. The person responsible for the processing of personal data described in this privacy policy is lawyer Annina Mullis, Zinggstrasse 16, P.O. Box, 3007 Bern.

You or the data subjects provide some of the personal data to me yourself when you or they contact me by post, telephone, email or other internet-based means of communication. This includes, for example, name and contact details as well as information about the role of the data subject at the company or organisation for which you or the respective contact persons work or in whose name you or they contact me. I also process personal data that I receive in my correspondence as part of case handling; namely with clients, any opposing parties, authorities and courts as well as their employees or other contact persons. This personal data includes, for example, name, contact details, date of birth, information on the employment relationship, financial situation, family circumstances, state of health, or ongoing civil, criminal or administrative proceedings. I also collect some personal data myself, for example from public registers or on websites.

I primarily process the types of personal data mentioned in order to provide, document and invoice my legal services.

I do not pass on any personal data to third parties without the consent of the data subject(s), unless this is necessary to achieve the purposes described in this privacy policy or in connection with the mandated case handling. Personal data may be passed on to the following categories: external service providers, clients, any opposing parties and their legal representatives, business partners with whom the provision of legal services may need to be coordinated, as well as authorities and courts.

Within the framework of fulfilling the mandate of my clients, I have an overriding private interest in the processing of personal data, which justifies this processing (Art. 31 para. 2 lit. a FADP).

The personal data processed by me is stored on servers in Switzerland.

With your consent or with the consent of the data subject(s) or if this is necessary for the fulfilment of a contract or for the enforcement of legal claims, I may transfer personal data to recipients who in turn process the personal data in other countries. Such recipients include clients, contact or auxiliary persons, any opposing parties, authorities or courts.

I only keep personal data (store, archive) for as long as is necessary to process the mandate relationship, as long as there is a legal obligation to retain and document it, or as long as I have an overriding private or public interest in doing so. Article 11 of the Cantonal Lawyers Act (KAG) of the Canton of Bern, according to which lawyer's files (client dossiers) must be kept for ten years, is decisive for the duration of the storage of client data, among other things.

I take proportionate and reasonable precautions to protect personal data from loss, unauthorised modification or unauthorised access by third parties. If you provide me with personal data via a third party – for example via your employees or other contact persons – it is up to you to inform them in a general way about the processing by legal service providers (such as me) or other external service providers.

Means of communication

I would like to point out that I use external IT services and cloud services with servers in Switzerland as part of case handling. Furthermore, I use digital means of communication which may be associated with data security risks: in particular, unencrypted emails are not a secure means of communication. Unencrypted email traffic generally does not meet the requirements for the secure transmission of particularly sensitive personal data or for communication under attorney-client privilege. Anyone who communicates with me by email does so at their own responsibility and I assume that persons who correspond with me by email agree to this type of communication and thus consent to the use of emails to answer enquiries. Wherever possible, I will refrain from unencrypted email correspondence. I am happy to offer various alternative communication options: email correspondence encrypted with PGP, secure communication via IncaMail or PrivaSphere, end-to-end encrypted communication via Threema, Signal or WhatsApp. Please inform me of any wish you may have for special security measures to protect our communication.

Rights of the data subject(s)

Data subjects have, in particular, the right to information about the personal data processed about them and the purpose of the data processing. They also have the right to rectification as well as to deletion or restriction of the processing of their personal data; the right to object to the processing; the right to lodge a complaint with a competent supervisory authority (Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner, FDPIC) as well as to the handover or transfer of the personal data provided by them. It should be noted, however, that conditions and exceptions apply to these rights. To the extent legally permissible or required, I may refuse requests to exercise these rights. In addition, personal data may have to be further stored or processed for legal reasons despite a request for deletion or restriction of processing.

Data protection questions can be sent in writing to the address listed or by email to mail[at]anninamullis.ch:

Annina Mullis
Zinggstrasse 16
P.O. Box
3007 Bern.

UID: XXX
Registered in the commercial register of the Canton of Bern
Registered in the lawyers' register of the Canton of Bern