PETERKA & PARTNERS Privacy Policy

PETERKA & PARTNERS offices in Prague, Bratislava, Kyiv, Sofia, Bucharest, Moscow, Warsaw, Budapest, Zagreb, and the company PETERKA & PARTNERS SERVICES, s.r.o., with its registered seat at Karlovo náměstí 671/24,110 00 Prague, Czech Republic, ID (IČO) 03079929 are the joint controllers of personal data (hereinafter together referred to as “PETERKA & PARTNERS”, “we” and/or “us”).

When controlling and processing personal data (“personal data”) we apply the GDPR. As the case may be, we also apply related national legislation as well as professional and ethical rules related to our activity in the countries where we have our offices.

We include the contacts in our database in order to be able to send them invitations to our events, newsletters, legal alerts and/or other information. We consider it useful for them and we also use the contacts for other purposes specified below.

Please find below brief information about:

• what personal data we collect;
• the purposes for which personal data are used and the legal basis for it;
• persons having access to personal data;
• the rights and guarantees the GDPR provides to data subjects.

PETERKA & PARTNERS collects the following data of data subjects:

• name and surname;
• title;
• job position;
• phone number(s);
• e-mail address(es);
• other data that may be necessary in certain cases or relevant to provision of legal services (e.g., address, date of birth, information necessary for compliance with anti-money laundering obligations (nationality, ID card and/or passport numbers, residency card number, etc.) or other data the data subjects choose to share with us.

The personal data are used for:

• provision of our legal services;
• fulfillment of legal obligations based on agreements or other arrangements and laws;
• managing and coordinating our relationship with our clients, potential clients and business partners;
• replying to the questions or requests of data subjects;
• requiring feedback on our offers, and other information or communication, including on the legal services we provide;
• providing with legal alerts, brochures, publications by PETERKA & PARTNERS, invitations to our events, as well as presenting special offers of our services;
  and;
• for other legitimate business purposes including developing our business activities, relations with our clients, potential clients, business partners and cooperating persons and entities, providing the clients with information about our services, protecting the interests of our offices, protecting the interests of our clients, fulfilling the obligations imposed on us by the applicable legislation or authorities, if it is justified under the laws on the performing of the legal profession of the country in which we operate.

If a data subject refuses to provide us with some or all of the personal data necessary for the respective purpose stated above, we may not be able to provide the respective service (e.g., to give legal advice) or to fulfill our respective statutory requirements (e.g., to enable the data subject to exercise his/her rights under the GDPR).

We process personal data based on legitimate interests pursued by PETERKA & PARTNERS for the performing of our business activity, for the performance of an agreement to which the data subject is a party, in order to take steps at the request of the data subject prior to entering into an agreement and/or for compliance with legal obligations (e.g., fulfillment of anti-money laundering obligations, providing information to supervisory authorities, etc.). We process special categories of personal data when the processing of those data is necessary for the establishment, exercise or defense of legal claims (ours or those of our clients). We usually do not process personal data relating to criminal convictions and offenses; such processing, however, could be necessary in relation to the nature of the legal services provided by us. Such processing would be justified under the laws on the performing of the legal profession of the country in which we operate. Although PETERKA & PARTNERS usually does not process data on the basis of a data subject’s consent, this legal ground for data processing could be applied in certain cases, as well.

We obtain personal data directly from the data subjects or, from other persons, including our  (current or former) clients, potential clients, business partners, cooperating entities and individuals, employees as well as their representatives or other persons acting on their behalf. We also obtain personal data from publicly accessible sources or public authorities when providing legal services to our clients and protecting their interests.

PETERKA & PARTNERS stores the data in general for no longer than 25 years, when such period can be justified, or for a shorter period when required by the applicable legislation (for example, the PETERKA & PARTNERS office in Bulgaria stores personal data processed for the fulfilment of anti-money laundering obligations for 5 years) or when the legal interest requires a shorter period. In the latter case, when there is/are an indication(s) of potential legal claim(s) or liability, the period will be extended accordingly. When the processing is based on a data subject’s consent, the data will be stored for as long as there is valid consent for the processing. 

The data is accessible to those PETERKA & PARTNERS branches, to their management, employees and contractual partners, which need them for fulfilling legal obligations, for providing their services and/or for performing their business activities. The term “contractual partners” means providers that, based on commercial arrangements with PETERKA & PARTNERS, participate in the provision of legal services to PETERKA & PARTNERS clients. The term also means providers of services in favour of PETERKA & PARTNERS or any of its branches in order to fulfill contractual and legal obligations (such as tax advisors, accountants, IT service providers, servicing organizations and all other entities from the PETERKA & PARTNERS group).

Based on the applicable legislation or requests of public authorities, the data may also be accessible to public authorities.

By contacting PETERKA & PARTNERS via e-mail at personalprivacy@peterkapartners.com, data subjects may exercise the following rights provided by the GDPR, i.e.:

• request access to their personal data, which means the data subjects are entitled to ask information about whether we process their personal data and receive copies of the set of personal data. However, there are certain exemptions, meaning that data subjects may not always receive all of the information we process;
• request rectification of their personal data if the data subjects consider the personal data to be inaccurate or incomplete;
• request erasure of their personal data from our database in certain circumstances (e.g., when the personal data are no longer necessary for the stated purposes, the personal data have been unlawfully processed, etc.). We cannot erase personal data which we are legally obliged to keep;
• cancel (withdraw) their consent to the processing of the personal data. This will not affect the lawfulness of processing based on consent before its withdrawal;
• request a restriction on the processing of their personal data, which means the data subjects can limit the way we use their personal data if the personal data subject is concerned about the accuracy of the personal data or how the personal data are being used. We can still use restricted data in certain circumstances (e.g., personal data needed for legal claims or to protect another data subject’s rights);
• request a transfer of their personal data to another controller, when the personal data have been provided by the data subject and the personal data are held electronically;
• object to the processing of their personal data, in which case we will cease using the personal data for the particular purpose unless we have overriding legitimate grounds to do so. The data subjects are always entitled to object to the processing of their personal data for direct marketing purposes.

If we, upon the request of a data subject, erase his/her personal data from our database, we will keep only the information that may be necessary for protecting our legitimate interests as defined above or for public authorities.

If we are required to transfer data to another controller, rectify data or provide access to personal data, we may first require further information in order to verify the identity of the data subject.

We keep the data and information provided confidential, in particular in accordance with the laws governing the legal profession in the countries our offices are located, our Ethical Code, and contractual arrangements. We do not trade the data, nor we do make it commercially available to any other third party.

Personal data may be transferred to third countries, where PETERKA & PARTNERS offices are located, namely to Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine. In such cases, the transfer shall be subject to appropriate safeguards (e.g., standard contractual clauses).

We have implemented organizational, administrative, technical and physical measures to protect data from being disclosed to third parties, such as using usernames and passwords to protect personal data stored in an electronic form and preventing unauthorized access to data carriers by depositing data in locked cabinets which may only be accessed by authorized persons.

If a data subject is of the opinion that his/her rights related to the protection of his/her personal data were breached, he/she may submit a complaint to the supervisory authority of their respective countries for the protection of personal data. A list of the data protection authorities competent within the EU is available through the following link. Data subjects may also opt for the judicial route and enforce their data protection-related rights through a lawsuit.

By contacting us at the e-mail personalprivacy@peterkapartners.com you make ask us any questions that you wish related to our Privacy Policy.