Birk Legal Ltd (business ID: 3568444-9)
Finlaysoninkuja 21 A, 33210 Tampere

Contact person for data protection matters:
Ella Kairtamo
+358 505733822, ella.kairtamo@birk.legal

You may, subject to the limitations set out in the applicable data protection legislation, exercise the following rights at any time in relation to your personal data processed by us:

Right to access: You have the right to request access to your personal data. This includes, for example, the right to be informed whether personal data about you is being processed, what personal data is being processed, and for what purposes.

Right to rectification: You have the right to request that inaccurate or incomplete personal data be corrected.

Right to restrict processing: You have the right to request the restriction of processing of your personal data in situations defined by law, for example where the accuracy of the data is contested.

Right to object: You have the right to object to certain types of processing of your personal data, for example when our processing is based on our legitimate interest.

Right to erasure (“right to be forgotten”): You may request that your personal data be erased if, for example, it is no longer necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, if the processing is unlawful, or if the data must be deleted to comply with a legal obligation.

Right to data portability: If your personal data, which you have provided to us, is processed automatically based on your consent or on a contract between you and Birk Legal, you may request that the data be provided in a structured, commonly used, and machine-readable format. You may also request that the personal data be transmitted to another controller, where technically feasible.

Right to withdraw consent: Where processing is based on your consent, you have the right to withdraw that consent at any time.

Please note that there may be situations where our statutory duties of confidentiality and other legal obligations prevent us from disclosing, deleting, or otherwise processing your personal data in accordance with your request, particularly where the data relates to our client matters.

If you have any questions or concerns regarding how we process your personal data, please contact us at any time. Furthermore, we have a legal obligation to ensure that your personal data is accurate and up to date. We invite you to assist us in meeting this obligation by informing us of any changes to your information or updates to your preferences by contacting us at ella.kairtamo@birk.legal.

If you wish to lodge a complaint with a national supervisory authority regarding our processing of your personal data, you may do so by contacting your local data protection authority. In Finland, the relevant authority is the Data Protection Ombudsman (www.tietosuoja.fi).

We may collect and process the following categories of personal data:

• Basic information, such as name, date of birth, contact details, title, professional position, and language preferences.

• Information required under our statutory obligations, such as those relating to know-your-customer (KYC), anti-money laundering, and conflict-of-interest checks, including identification or passport details, information on political exposure, and beneficial ownership.

• Interaction-related data, such as correspondence, visits to our premises, appointment bookings, and feedback.

• Assignment-related information, which varies depending on the case, and may include personal data concerning the client, their family members or other beneficiaries, employees, business partners, counterparties, and, where necessary, special categories of personal data relevant to the performance of the assignment.

• Data generated by Birk Legal in the course of our operations.

• Recruitment data, if you apply for a position at Birk Legal, including information necessary to assess your application and manage the recruitment process.

• Analytics data, if you have consented to our analytics cookies, as described below under How are cookies used on our website.

We collect personal data provided to us by, or on behalf of, our clients or other business partners directly, through emails, via the contact form on this website, and other documentation you provide to us.

In addition, personal data may be collected and updated from public sources, such as search engines, other public websites and social media as well as public registers (e.g. information relating to your contact details).

Some of the personal data may also be generated by us. This information includes correspondence between you and our representatives as well as information relating to meetings between you and our representatives.

We process personal data to provide and manage legal services for our clients. This includes identifying clients, completing anti-money laundering and KYC-procedures, conflict-of-interest checks, as well as managing and administering client assignments and business relationships.

Personal data is also processed for internal administrative purposes, such as reporting, payment processing, invoicing, collection, accounting, auditing, and business development. We may also process personal data for recruitment, marketing, and sales purposes.

Furthermore, we process personal data when necessary to establish, exercise, or defend legal claims, including responding to or pursuing legal actions.

If you consent to our analytics cookies, we also process analytics data to help us operate and improve our website.

Your personal data will not be subject to automated decision-making.

We may process personal data on the following legal grounds:

• Compliance with legal obligations applicable to Birk Legal.

• Performance of contractual obligations towards you or to take steps prior to entering into such a contract.

• Legitimate interests pursued by Birk Legal or a third party, such as operating and developing our business effectively, provided that such interests are not overridden by your interests, fundamental rights, or freedoms.

• Your consent, which you may withdraw at any time.

Birk Legal processes personal data lawfully and securely in line with the GDPR and the principles of integrity and confidentiality. We apply appropriate technical and organisational measures, including role-based access control with least-privilege, multi-factor authentication, encryption in transit and at rest where appropriate, and network security.

Access to personal data is limited to authorised personnel and, where necessary, to third-party service providers acting on our behalf, subject to confidentiality and need-to-know.

Original hard-copy contracts and other paper records are stored in locked premises with restricted access and are securely destroyed in accordance with our retention schedule.

We do not disclose personal data to third parties except (i) where required by applicable law or a competent authority/court order, (ii) where necessary for Birk Legal to comply with legal obligations, (iii) where necessary to establish or defend legal claims, (iv) in connection with the handling of a client’s assignment, for example to counsels, advisors or other parties involved in the matter, or (v) if Birk Legal is involved in a merger, acquisition or other corporate transaction. Some of these disclosures may involve recipients located outside the EEA.

Where necessary, personal data may also be shared with recipients acting as independent controllers, such as public authorities, courts, opposing parties and their counsel, auditors, banks, insurers, or other professional advisers. Only data strictly necessary for the relevant purpose may be disclosed.

If personal data is transferred outside the EU/EEA (for example to our cooperation offices or service providers), we ensure appropriate safeguards, such as an adequacy decision or Standard Contractual Clauses and, where relevant, supplementary measures.

We use cookies and similar technologies on our website to improve the quality, functionality, and security of your browsing experience. Cookies and similar technologies are small files or pieces of text that are downloaded to your device when you accesses a website. As this site is hosted and powered by Squarespace, you can find more information about the cookies dropped on your device here.

The necessary and required cookies are always used. They enable Squarespace, our hosting platform, to securely deliver this website to you.

The analytics and performance cookies are used on this website only when you acknowledge our cookie banner. We use analytics and performance cookies to understand website traffic, activity, and other data. If you consent to analytics cookies, the data collected may include, for example, information about your browser, network, and device; the web pages you visited before accessing this site; your IP address; clicks; internal links; pages visited; scrolling, searches, and timestamps. This data is also processed by Squarespace, our website analytics provider, to learn about site traffic and activity.

We retain personal data only for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes defined in this privacy policy, unless a longer retention period is required under applicable law. Such obligations may arise, for example, from specific legislation, accounting or reporting duties, or from the need to establish, exercise or defend legal claims, or to handle similar disputes.

Where personal data is necessary to perform conflict-of-interest checks, Birk Legal will retain the data for as long as required for that purpose.

Retention periods vary depending on the category of personal data and the related processing purpose. Once the data is no longer needed for the purposes specified above, it will be securely erased.

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Any changes will be published on this page, and the date of the latest update will be indicated at the top of the policy.