Data Protection and Privacy Statement Lexpert Partners AG
Version as of 31.08.2023
In this Data Protection and Privacy statement, Lexpert Partners AG(hereinafter referred to as the company, we or us) describes and explains how we collect and otherwise process personal data. This is not an exhaustive description,other data protection declarations or general terms and conditions, conditions of participation and similar documents may govern specific matters. Personal data is understood to be all information that relates to an identified or identifiable person.
If you provide us with personal data of other persons (e.g. family members,data of work colleagues), please make sure that these persons are aware of this privacy policy and only share their personal data with us if you are allowed to do so as well as if this personal data is correct
This Data Protection and Privacy statement is designed to meet the requirements of the EU General Data Protection Regulation ("GDPR")as well as the Swiss Data Protection Act ("DPA"). However,whether and to what extent these laws are applicable depends on the individual case.
1 Data Protection Officer
The Data Protection Officer is responsible for the data processing activities we describe here. If you have any data protection concerns, you can communicatethem to us at the following contact address:
Lexpert PartnersAG
Poststrasse 26
6300 Zug
+41 41 723 70 70
2 Purpose of Data Processing and Legal Basis
Lexpert Partners AG uses the data collected primarily to conclude and fulfill contracts with our customers and business partners, in particular in connection with the provision of financial services and the purchase of products and services from our suppliers and subcontractors, aswell as to fulfill domestic and foreign legal obligations.
a) In addition, in accordance with applicable law and where appropriate, we may process Personal Data for the following purposes that are in our (or, where applicable, a third party's) legitimate interest, such as
· Providing and developing our products, services and websites, apps and other platforms on which we operate;
· Communicating with third parties and processing their requests (e.g. applications, media inquiries);
· Advertising and marketing (including the organization of events), unless you have objected to the use of your data for this purpose (if you are part of our customer base and receive advertising, you can object at any time and we will blacklist you against further advertising mailings);
· Assertion of legal claims and defense in legal disputes and official proceedings;
· Preventing and investigating crimes and other misconduct;
· Ensuring our operations, including our IT, websites, apps and other applications;
· Acquiring and disposing of businesses, companies or parts of companies and other corporate transactions and the related transfer of personal data, as well as corporate governance measures and compliance with legal and regulatory obligations and internal regulations of the company.
If you provided us with your consent to process your personal data forcertain purposes (e.g. when registering to receive newsletters), we process your personal data within the scope of and on the basis of this consent, unless we have another legal basis if we need one. Consent given can be revoked at anytime, but this does not affect the data processed before the revocation.
3 Collection and Processing of Personal Data
We primarily process personal data that we receive from our customers and other business partners, as well as from other individuals in the course ofour business relationships with them, or that we collect from users in the operation of our websites, apps and other applications.
To the extent we are permitted to do so, we obtain certain personal data from publicly available sources (e.g. debtors' register, land register,commercial register, press, internet) or we obtain such information from affiliated companies of VT Wealth Management AG, from public authorities orother third parties (such as distribution partners, custodian banks, etc.).Apart from data provided to us directly by clients, the categories of data we receive about clients from third parties include, but are not limited to,information from public registers, data we receive in connection with administrative or judicial proceedings, information relating to the client's professional role and activities (e.g., for the conclusion and execution of contracts with your employer), personal data in correspondence and conversations with third parties, personal data provided to us by person sassociated with the customer (family members, consultants, legal representatives, etc.) for the conclusion or execution of contracts with the customer or with the customer's cooperation (e.g. powers of attorney), data relating to legal requirements such as. e.g. for anti-money laundering purposes, bank data, information about the customer that can be found in the media or on the Internet (if specified in the individual case, e.g. in connection with job applications, media reports, marketing / sales, etc.),addresses and any interests and other socio-demographic data (for marketing purposes), data in connection with the use of our websites (e.g., IP address,MAC address of your smartphone or computer, information about devices and settings, cookies, date and time of your visit, pages and content accessed,applications used, referring website, localization data).
It is our policy that we store this data for 12 months after the end ofthe processing purpose. This period may be longer if this is necessary for evidentiary reasons or to fulfill legal or contractual requirements.
4 Cookies/ Tracking and other relevant information about the use of our Website
We typically use "cookies" and similar technologies on our websites to identify your browser or device. A cookie is a small file that is sent to your computer or automatically stored on your computer or mobile device by the web browser you are using when you visit our website. This allows us to recognize you when your eturn to this website, even if we do not know who you are. In addition to cookies that are only used during a session and deleted after your websitevisit ("session cookies"), cookies can also be used to store usersettings and other information for a certain period of time (e.g. two years)("permanent cookies"). However, you can set your browser to reject cookies, store them for one session only, or otherwise delete them early. Mostbrowsers are preset to accept cookies. We use persistent cookies to help usunderstand how you use our services and content, and to provide you with customized offers and advertising (which may also occur on other companies'websites; however, we do not tell them who you are, if we even know, because they only see that the same user is on their site who was on a particular page on ours). Some of the cookies are set by us, and some are set by contractors with whom we work. If you block cookies, certain functionalities (such aslanguage selection, shopping cart, ordering processes) may no longer work.
We also include visible and invisible image elements in some of our newsletters and other marketing emails, where permitted, that allow us to determine if and when you have opened the email by retrieving them from our servers so that we can measure and better understand how you use our offers and tailor them to you here as well. You can block this in your email program; most are preset to doso.
Technical Data
Whenever you visit our website, your user-specific data (e.g. IPaddress, web browser, operating system) and technical data (e.g. URLs ofaccessed pages, execution of a search query) are collected and analyzed anonymously.
The aforementioned data is collected and processed for the purposes of system security and stability, error and performance analysis, and internal statistical purposes, and enables us to optimize our website.
When subscribing to our content or submitting a contact form/customerlogin, we process the data required to provide the requested service. Depending on the service, the following data may be processed: Email address, first name,last name, title, full address, subject and message.
Upon your consent to process your personal data for certain purposes(e.g. if you subscribe to a newsletter or make an inquiry), we process yourpersonal data within the scope of and on the basis of this consent, unless wehave another legal basis if we need one. Consent given can be revoked at anytime; however, this does not affect the data processed until revocation.
It is our policy that we store technical data for 6 months.
Communication Data
Whenever you contact us via the contact form, by e-mail, telephone or chat, by letter or by other means of communication, we collect the data exchanged between you and us, including your contact details and the marginal data of the communication. If we record or listen to telephone conversations orvideo conferences, for example for training and quality assurance purposes, we will notify you. Such recordings may only be made and used in accordance withour internal policies and legal requirements.
In principle, we store this data for 12 months from the last exchange with you. This period may be longer if required for evidentiary reasons, tomeet legal or contractual requirements, or for technical reasons. Emails inpersonal mailboxes and written correspondence are generally retained for atleast 10 years. Recordings of (video) conferences are generally retained for 24months. Chats, if available, are generally retained for 2 years.
Google Analytics and similar services
With the aim and intention of designing and continuously optimizing our website in line with requirements, we may use Google Analytics or similar services on our website. These are third-party services that may be located inany country in the world (in the case of Google Analytics Google Ireland Ltd (based in Ireland), Google Ireland uses Google LLC (based inthe USA) as a subcontractor (both "Google"), https://www.google.com/ ).The cookies used by Google Analytics are stored on your computer and thusenable an analysis of your use of the website.
The use of Google Analytics is based on your consent to the tracking ofyour surfing behavior on our websites and their analytical evaluation.
The information generated by the cookie about your use of this website is usually transferred to a Google server in the USA and stored there. These cookies may contain the following information, for example: IP address, number,date and time of visit, duration of visit, your access page from which you use the website (reference URL), pages visited on our website, browser type/version and operating system used. Google will use this information on our behalf because we have a legitimate interest in analyzing user behavior so that we can optimize the offer on our website as well as our advertising. Google uses this information to evaluate the use of our website, to compile reports on websiteactivity and to provide us with other services related to the use of thewebsite and internet usage. Likewise, pseudonymized usage profiles of the userscan be created from the processed personal data.
We may have activated the IP anonymization function on this website(so-called IP masking). This means that your IP address is shortened by Google within member states of the European Union, in other contracting states of the Agreement on the European Economic Area and in Switzerland before being transmitted to the USA. Only in exceptional cases will the full IP address be transmitted to a Google server in the USA and shortened there.
You may refuse the use of cookies by selecting the appropriate settings onyour browser. However, we would like to point out that in this case you may not be able to use all functions of this website to their full extent. You can alsoprevent the collection of personal data generated by the cookie and related to your use of the website (including your IP address) to Google and the processing of this personal data by Google by downloading and installing the browser plug-in available at the following link: https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/181881?hl=enAlternatively, or within browsers on mobile devices, you can prevent the collection of your personal data by Google Analytics by clicking on thefollowing link: https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/181881?hl=en to disable collection of personal data by Google Analytics for this website. In this case, a special opt-out cookie will be set on your device thatwill prevent the future collection of your usage personal data when visiting this website. If you delete your saved cookies, you will need to click thislink again. For more information on how Google Analytics handles user personaldata, please see Google's personal data protection statement: https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/6004245?hl=en .
Furthermore, it may be possible that Google reviews the user's use of thewebsite and may combine the personal data collected with other informationabout the user that Google has independently collected from other websitesvisited by the user and use it for its own purposes (e.g. to monitoradvertising) under its own responsibility based on its own privacy policy. Formore information on this and how Google processes personal data, please referto the relevant Google privacy statements: https://policies.google.com/?hl=en ; https://policies.google.com/technologies/partner-sites .
Social Media Plug-Ins
Lexpert PartnersAG may use so-called plug-ins from social networks such as Facebook, LinkedIn,YouTube, etc. on its websites. This is apparent to you in each case (typicallyvia corresponding icons). We have configured these elements so that they are deactivatedby default. If you activate them (by clicking on them), the operators of therespective social networks can register that you are on our website and whereand can use this information for their purposes. The processing of yourpersonal data is then the responsibility of this operator according to its dataprotection regulations. We do not receive any information about you from them.
5 Disclosure of Data to Third Parties and Transfer of Data abroad
In the course of our business and in accordance with the purpose of dataprocessing as explained herein, we may transfer data to third parties wheresuch transfer is permitted and where we consider it appropriate for them toprocess the data on our behalf or, where applicable, for their own purposes. Inparticular, the following categories of recipients may be involved:
· Our service providers (e.g. risk management &compliance, IT provider, accounting, CRM system, etc.)
· Domestic and foreign authorities, official bodies andcourts
· Other parties in potential or actual legal proceedings
Some recipients are located in Switzerland, others may be located in anycountry worldwide. In particular, you should expect that your data will betransferred to any country where Lexpert Partners AG is represented bysubsidiaries, branches or other offices, as well as to other countries inEurope and the U.S. where our service providers are located (such as Microsoft,Salesforce.com, etc.).
If a recipient of any such data is located in a country withoutsufficient legal data protection, we oblige the recipient to comply with dataprotection (for this purpose, we use the revised standard contractual clausesof the European Commission, which are available here: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dec_impl/2021/914/oj?),unless the recipient is subject to a legally recognized set of rules to ensuredata protection and we cannot rely on an exception. An exception may apply, forexample, in the case of legal proceedings abroad, but also in cases where thereis an overriding public interest or the performance of a contract requires thetransfer, if you have consented or if the data has been provided by you ingeneral and you have not objected to the processing.
6 Duration of Data Storage
All data, which includes personal data, will only be processed andstored for as long as is necessary to fulfill our contractual and legalobligations or the purposes otherwise pursued with the processing, inparticular for the duration of the entire business relationship and beyond thatdue to legal retention obligations and documentation requirements. It ispossible that personal data will be retained for the period during which claimscan be asserted against our company and insofar as we are otherwise legallyobligated to do so or if legitimate business interests require this (e.g. forevidence and documentation purposes). As soon as your personal data is nolonger required for the aforementioned purposes, it will be deleted oranonymized as far as this is possible. For operational data (e.g. system logs,logs) shorter retention periods of 12 months or less apply.
7 Data Protection
Lexpert Partners AG has taken appropriate technical and organizationalsecurity measures to protect your personal data from unauthorized access andmisuse. These measures include issuing instructions, training, IT and networksecurity solutions, access controls and restrictions, encryption of passwords,data storage and transfer, pseudonymization and controls.
However, we cannot guarantee the security of data transmission on theInternet. In particular, when transmitting data by e-mail, there is a certainrisk of access by third parties.
8 Rights of Person concerned
Under applicable law, customers have the right to access, correct anddelete their personal data, the right to restrict processing or to object toour data processing, in particular for direct marketing purposes, profiling fordirect marketing purposes and other legitimate interests in processing, and theright to obtain certain personal data for transfer to another controller (dataportability). Please note, however, that we reserve the right to assert legalrestrictions on our part, e.g. if we are obliged to retain or process certaindata, have an overriding interest (insofar as we can rely on such interests) orneed the data to assert claims.
We have already informed you of the possibility to object / revoke yourconsent at any time. Please also note that the exercise of these rights mayconflict with your contractual obligations and this may result in consequencessuch as premature termination of the contract and may be associated with costs.Should this be the case, we will inform you in advance, unless this has alreadybeen contractually agreed.
In general, the exercise of these rights requires that you can proveyour identity (e.g., by providing a copy of identification documents if youridentity is not otherwise apparent or can be otherwise verified). To exercisethese rights, please contact us using the details provided above.
In addition, every person concerned has the right to assert his or herrights in court or to file a complaint with the competent data protectionauthority. The competent data protection authority in Switzerland is theFederal Data Protection and Information Commissioner (https://www.edoeb.admin.ch/edoeb/en/home.html ).
9 Profiling and automated individual Decision Making
Personal data may be partially processed automatically in order toevaluate certain personal aspects (profiling). Profiling enables us inparticular to better inform and advise you about products that may be relevantto you. For this purpose, we may use evaluation tools that enable us tocommunicate with you and advertise to you as needed, including market andopinion research.
When initiating and conducting a business relationship, we do notgenerally use fully automated individual decision-making (such as pursuant toArticle 22 DSGVO). Should we use such procedures in certain cases, we willinform you separately about this and inform you of your rights in this regard,insofar as this is required by law.
10 Third Party Data Protection and Privacy Statements
It is important to note that if you click on the linkto a third-party website (e.g., Google or social media or other websites), youwill be redirected to a website that we do not control and our privacy policywill no longer apply. Your browsing and interaction on another website issubject to the terms of use and privacy statements and notices of those thirdparty websites. In addition, we also cannot guarantee the accuracy andtimeliness of these links.
We strongly encourage you to carefully read the termsof use and privacy statements and notices of other websites before submittingany personal data through this website. We are not responsible or liable forthe information content and data processing of such third party websites.
11 Changes and Amendments to the Data Protection and Privacy Statement
LexpertPartners AG may from time to time and when needed adapt, supplement orotherwise change this data protection declaration at any time without priornotice and without stating reasons. The current version published on ourwebsite shall apply. Insofar as the data protection statement is part of anagreement with customers, Lexpert Partners AG will inform the customers of thechange by e-mail or other suitable means in the event of an update.
