General information on data protection and declaration of consent to data processing

• 1. General

  • Data protection is a matter of trust, and your trust is important to us. We respect your privacy as well as your personality. We (hereinafter “Etude Fontana”) make it a point of honour to ensure that personal data is handled responsibly and in accordance with the law.
  • This General Data Protection Statement (“Statement”) describes how your personal data is processed.
  • By “processing” is meant in particular any operation relating to personal data – whatever the means and procedures used – including the collection, recording, storage, use, modification, communication, archiving, erasure or destruction of data.
  • Personal data refers to all information that relates to an identified or identifiable person.
  • By accepting the Declaration, you authorise us to process your personal data in accordance with the Data Protection Act and the Telecommunications Act as well as the following provisions.

• 2. Data processing within the framework of the mission of Etude Fontana

  • 2.1 In general

    • Etude Fontana collects, stores and processes the personal data of individuals and legal entities within the framework of the activities deployed by its statutory purpose.
    • Etude Fontana mainly collects data that clients or entities, in Switzerland or abroad (hereinafter “Clients”) send to it via the electronic platform of its website www.etude-fontana.ch. Etude Fontana may also collect data sent by clients by post to the association’s head office.

  • 2.2 Description of the services in which the data processing takes place

    • Etude Fontana offers an online consultancy service to Clients, giving them the opportunity to briefly outline the contours of the problem encountered. Applications are registered and processed by the Fontana Study Secretariat, if necessary with the assistance of staff members. A summary legal opinion setting out the applicable principles and the chances of success is sent to the Client who has filed an application. In case of interest, the Fontana Law Firm Secretariat then redirects the Client to a member of the Bar, bound by professional secrecy, who will be able to follow up the case on an individual basis and in strict observance of the lawyer’s professional secrecy. At this stage, Etude Fontana is no longer involved.
    • The strength of Etude Fontana is the networking of different cases, thus offering opportunities for cross-checking trends, opportunities for action and legal or non-legal solutions to the problems presented.
    • The data collected are in particular :
      • The identity of the Clients, the contact details;
      • The identity of third parties involved ;
      • The main documents produced ;
      • The Client’s explanations.

  • Data security

    • Etude Fontana takes all appropriate organisational and technical measures to protect personal data against loss and unauthorised processing and ensures, by means of contractual agreements, that the operators of the digital media on which personal data is stored have taken all appropriate organisational and technical measures to protect personal data against the same risks.

  • 2.2 Consent to data processing

    • By accepting this declaration, you expressly authorise Etude Fontana to process your personal data, whether sensitive or not, for the tasks necessary to achieve the social purpose of Etude Fontana, and in particular :
      • Communication to the staff in order to process the request made by the Client;
      • Communication to a lawyer member who is willing to take over the case on an individual basis, after obtaining your agreement;

• 3. Data transmission

  • Etude Fontana guarantees that your data will be treated confidentially and, in particular, will not be communicated to unauthorised third parties.
  • However, we reserve the right to process your personal data and pass it on to third parties if this is necessary or appropriate in order to comply with or monitor compliance with the applicable laws and legal requirements and to respond to requests from the relevant authorities. In such a case, you will be informed in advance of the transmission of data, unless prior warning is prohibited by the requesting authority.

• 4. Exclusion of liability

  • Without prejudice to the commitments set out in this declaration and the legal obligations arising from data protection, Etude Fontana shall not incur any liability whatsoever for the processing of your personal data or for any act directly or indirectly related to the processing of your personal data, except in the event of serious misconduct or fraud committed personally by Etude Fontana.

• 5. Your rights concerning your personal data

  • You have the right to receive free written information about your personal data that we process. You can send us your enquiry in writing, enclosing a copy of your identity card or passport, to our postal address. You also have the right to demand the correction of inaccurate personal data.
  • You can also request the deletion of your personal data insofar as we are not obliged by law and regulations to retain certain personal data.
  • Finally, you have the right to revoke your consent to the processing of your personal data and/or to object to the processing of your personal data at any time.
  • You can exercise your revocation and opposition rights by e-mail via the following e-mail address: info@etude-fontana.ch.
  • In addition, you can exercise your rights of revocation and opposition in writing to the following address: Etude Fontana Avocats- Rue Etraz 12 – CP 6115 – 1003 Lausanne
  • This declaration is subject to Swiss law, to the exclusion of its rules of private international law.