Privacy Notice

Schlüter Graf is committed to respecting and protecting your privacy. We comply with the European Data Protection Regulation (EU 2016/679) and the local laws applicable in the various countries in which we operate.

This Notice describes the types of information we may collect from you or that you may provide (“Personal Information”) on the schluter-graf.com website (“Website” or “Service”) and any of its related products and services (collectively, “Services”), and our practices for collecting, using, maintaining, protecting, and disclosing that Personal Information. It also describes the choices available to you regarding our use of your Personal Information and how you can access and update it.

By accessing and using the Website and Services, you acknowledge that you have read, understood, and agree to be bound by the terms of this Notice.

Who we are

Schlüter Graf Legal Consultants LLC, a limited liability company located at ONE by Omniyat, Office P501, Business Bay, P.O. Box 29337, Dubai, UAE (“Schlüter Graf”, “we”, “our” or “us”) is an international law firm and we control the collection and processing of any personal data that you provide to us in relation to our Website.

You can contact our data protection officer via email (dubai@schluter-graf.com) if you have an enquiry or question.

Personal Information we collect from you

We collect personal data directly from you as follows:

When you sign up to receive news services or register for one of our online services, we will ask you provide your contact and other relevant information, as well as your communication preferences.
When you register to attend one of our events, we will ask you to provide your contact, guest and other relevant information.
When you use our website or one of our online services we collect information about your visit and how you interact with our website.
When you request to use our legal services, we will ask for the information that we need to provide those services; this information includes contact details, billing information, information necessary to conduct pre-clearance checks and information relevant to the services we provide. Information provided by you may include personal data that relates to persons whose information is relevant to the instruction; for example when we advise on a business transaction or a regulatory investigation or represent you in a legal dispute.
When you apply for a job with us we will ask you for information relevant to your application.
If you visit our office we may collect information that we need in order to identify you and complete necessary security checks.

If you provide information to us about another person, you must ensure that you comply with any legal obligations that may apply to your provision of the information to us, and to allow us, where necessary, to share that information with our service providers.

Personal Information we collect automatically

When you open the Website, our servers automatically record information that your browser sends. This data may include information such as your device’s IP address, browser type, and version, operating system type and version, language preferences or the webpage you were visiting before you came to the Website and Services, pages of the Website and Services that you visit, the time spent on those pages, information you search for on the Website, access times and dates, and other statistics.

Information collected automatically is used only to identify potential cases of abuse and establish statistical information regarding the usage and traffic of the Website and Services. This statistical information is not otherwise aggregated in such a way that would identify any particular User of the system and we do not collect or store any personally identifiable information.

We will also receive information about you from Google Analytics, a web analytics service provided by Google, Inc. ("Google") whose servers are in the United States of America. Google Analytics uses cookies to help us analyse how users use our site.

This information is sent from your computer to us using a variety of cookies.

How we use your Personal Information

We act in the capacity of a data controller when we ask you to submit your Personal Information that is necessary to ensure your access and use of the Website and Services. In such instances, we are a data controller because we determine the purposes and means of the processing of Personal Information.

In order to make the Website and Services available to you, or to meet a legal obligation, we may need to collect and use certain Personal Information. If you do not provide the information that we request, we may not be able to provide you with the requested products or services. Any of the information we collect from you may be used to help us run and operate the Website and Services.

Processing your Personal Information depends on how you interact with the Website and Services, where you are located in the world and if one of the following applies: (i) you have given your consent for one or more specific purposes; (ii) provision of information is necessary for the performance of an agreement with you and/or for any pre-contractual obligations thereof; (iii) processing is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation to which you are subject; (iv) processing is related to a task that is carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in us; (v) processing is necessary for the purposes of the legitimate interests pursued by us or by a third party.

Note that under some legislations we may be allowed to process information until you object to such processing by opting out, without having to rely on consent or any other of the legal bases. In any case, we will be happy to clarify the specific legal basis that applies to the processing, and in particular whether the provision of Personal Information is a statutory or contractual requirement, or a requirement necessary to enter into a contract.

How we disclose or transfer your Personal Information

To maintain the highest level of privacy and to protect your Personal Information to the full extent, we do not share your Personal Information with third parties except as described below.

We may disclose your Personal Information to other associated Schlüter Graf legal entities for the purpose of our internal business processes (such as administration and billing) and for the purpose of providing legal advice and services. When we provide Personal Information to associated Schlüter Graf legal entities outside of the EU and EEA, we have in place an intra-group transfer agreement in the form approved by the European Commission. Where it is necessary to transfer data from any Schlüter Graf legal entity outside of the EU and EEA, we will comply with any transfer requirements applicable under local law.
We may disclose Personal Information relating to our clients, their employees and agents to other legal specialists including barristers, mediators, arbitrators, consultants or experts engaged in a matter. We may also disclose Personal Information to third party law firms for the purpose of obtaining foreign legal advice.
We may share Personal Information with our suppliers and service providers including event organisers and partners.
We may share Personal Information when necessary with law enforcement and regulatory authorities.
We may also share your Personal Information when you have consented to us doing so.

We will only transfer your Personal Information outside of the European region under the following circumstances:

where the transfer is to a country or other territory which has been assessed by the European Commission as ensuring an adequate level of protection for Personal Information
with your consent or
on the basis that the transfer is compliant with the GDPR and other applicable laws.

How we retain your Personal Information

We will retain and use your Personal Information for the period necessary to comply with our legal obligations, to enforce our agreements, resolve disputes, and unless a longer retention period is required or permitted by law.

We may use any aggregated data derived from or incorporating your Personal Information after you update or delete it, but not in a manner that would identify you personally. Once the retention period expires, Personal Information shall be deleted. Therefore, the right to access, the right to erasure, the right to rectification, and the right to data portability cannot be enforced after the expiration of the retention period.

How we protect your Personal Information

We secure information you provide on computer servers in a controlled, secure environment, protected from unauthorized access, use, or disclosure. We maintain reasonable administrative, technical, and physical safeguards in an effort to protect against unauthorized access, use, modification, and disclosure of Personal Information in our control and custody. However, no data transmission over the Internet or wireless network can be guaranteed.

Therefore, while we strive to protect your Personal Information, you acknowledge that (i) there are security and privacy limitations of the Internet which are beyond our control; (ii) the security, integrity, and privacy of any and all information and data exchanged between you and the Website and Services cannot be guaranteed; and (iii) any such information and data may be viewed or tampered with in transit by a third party, despite best efforts.

In the event we become aware that the security of the Website and Services has been compromised or Users’ Personal Information has been disclosed to unrelated third parties as a result of external activity, including, but not limited to, security attacks or fraud, we reserve the right to take reasonably appropriate measures, including, but not limited to, investigation and reporting, as well as notification to and cooperation with law enforcement authorities. In the event of a data breach, we will make reasonable efforts to notify affected individuals if we believe that there is a reasonable risk of harm to the User as a result of the breach or if notice is otherwise required by law. When we do, we will send you an email.

Links to other resources

The Website and Services contain links to other resources that are not owned or controlled by us. Please be aware that we are not responsible for the privacy practices of such other resources or third parties. We encourage you to be aware when you leave the Website and Services and to read the privacy statements of each and every resource that may collect Personal Information.

Your rights regarding your Personal Information

You have certain rights regarding how we use and keep your Personal Information. These are:

you can require us, to update or correct any inaccurate Personal Information, or to complete any incomplete Personal Information, concerning you. If you do, we will take reasonable steps to check the accuracy of, and correct the information. Please let us know if any of your information changes so that we can keep it accurate and up to date;
you can require us to stop processing your Personal Information for direct marketing purposes; if you withdraw your consent, we may not be able to provide certain products or services to you; and
you have the right to object to our use of your Personal Information more generally.

You may also have the right, in certain circumstances to:

be provided with a copy of any Personal Information that we hold about you, with certain related information. There are exceptions to this right; for example where information is legally privileged or if providing you with the information would reveal Personal Information about another person
to require us, without undue delay, to delete your Personal Information
to "restrict" our use of your Personal Information, so that it can only continue subject to restrictions; and
to require Personal Information which you have provided to us and which are processed by using automated means, based on your consent or the performance of a contract with you, to be provided to you in machine readable format so that they can be "ported" to a replacement service provider.

Contacting us

If you have any questions, concerns, or complaints regarding this Notice, the information we hold about you, or if you wish to exercise your above rights, we encourage you to contact us using the details below:

Data protection officer: Dounia Aghdoube (dubai@schlueter-graf.com)

We will attempt to resolve complaints and disputes and make every reasonable effort to honour your wish to exercise your rights as quickly as possible and, in any event, within the timescales provided by applicable data protection laws.

Changes and amendments

We reserve the right to modify this Notice or its terms related to the Website and Services at any time at our discretion. When we do, we will revise the updated date at the bottom of this page. We may also provide notice to you in other ways at our discretion, such as through the contact information you have provided.

An updated version of this Notice will be effective immediately upon the posting of the revised Notice unless otherwise specified. Your continued use of the Website and Services after the effective date of the revised Notice (or such other act specified at that time) will constitute your consent to those changes. However, we will not, without your consent, use your Personal Information in a manner materially different than what was stated at the time your Personal Information was collected.

Last updated on April 14, 2022