Data Protection

(This is only a non-binding courtesy translation of the sole binding German version of this data protection section)

Basic information on data processing

As a website operator, we take the protection of your personal data very seriously. We process personal data that is collected when you visit our website in compliance with the applicable data protection regulations. Your data will neither be published by us nor passed on to third parties without authorization.

I. Subject matter of data protection

The subject of data protection is personal data. This is information that relates to an identified or identifiable natural person.
We are not in a position to identify you, unless this document or other circumstances indicate otherwise.
Insofar as we obtain the consent of the data subject for the processing of personal data, Art. 6 para. 1 sentence 1 lit. a EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) serves as the legal basis for the processing of personal data.
When processing personal data that is necessary for the performance of a contract to which the data subject is party, Art. 6(1)(1)(b) GDPR serves as the legal basis. This also applies to processing operations that are necessary to carry out pre-contractual measures.
Insofar as the processing of personal data is necessary to fulfill a legal obligation to which our company is subject, Art. 6 para. 1 sentence 1 lit. c GDPR serves as the legal basis.
In the event that vital interests of the data subject or another natural person require the processing of personal data, Art. 6 para. 1 sentence 1 lit. d GDPR serves as the legal basis.
If the processing is necessary to safeguard a legitimate interest of our company or a third party and if the interests, fundamental rights and freedoms of the data subject do not outweigh the first-mentioned interest, Art. 6 para. 1 sentence 1 lit. f GDPR serves as the legal basis for the processing.
The personal data of the data subject will be deleted or blocked as soon as the purpose of storage no longer applies. Data may also be stored if this has been provided for by the European or national legislator in EU regulations, laws or other provisions to which the controller is subject. The data will also be blocked or deleted if a storage period prescribed by the aforementioned standards expires, unless there is a need for further storage of the data for the conclusion or fulfillment of a contract.

II. Data processing in the mandate

In the following, we present the circumstances and give you an overview of the processing of personal data by our law firm when carrying out client work.

1. Data collection and use

We process personal data that we receive from our clients or other clients in the course of our business relationship.
Furthermore, we process – if and insofar as this is necessary for the provision of our legal services – personal data that we have legitimately received from third parties (e.g., for the execution of orders, for the fulfillment of contracts or on the basis of consent given by you). This includes, for example, opponents, insurance companies, including legal expenses insurance companies, courts including the offices and other administrative bodies.
On the other hand, we process personal data that we are permitted to obtain and process from publicly accessible sources (e.g., debtor directories, land registers, commercial and association registers, press, media, Internet; registrars (e.g., DPMA)) or that are transmitted to us by third parties (e.g., opposing parties, authorities, insurers, hospitals, lawyers) in the course of the performance of our legal mandate in the context of legal correspondence.
Personal data at the time the master data is created, in the course of the assignment and its processing may include
Name, company, address/other contact data (telephone, fax, e-mail address, SAFE ID), date/place of birth, gender, nationality, marital status, legal capacity, residential status (rental/ownership), social security data, health data (including data relevant under social law), account data, payment transaction data, life and pension insurance data, employment, disability and long-term care insurance data, private and public health insurance data, insurance numbers, information from correspondence with third parties.
The use of digital processes to carry out the lawyer’s mandate, e.g., through electronic correspondence with legal expenses insurers, other insurers, hospitals, authorities, may involve commissioned data processing for which we conclude commissioned data processing contracts with the commissioned data processors.

2. What we process your data for (processing purpose / legal basis)

We process the aforementioned personal data in accordance with the provisions of the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the German Federal Data Protection Act (BDSG).

For the fulfillment of contractual obligations (Article 6 para. 1 sentence 1 lit. b GDPR)

Personal data is processed for the provision and processing (including invoicing) of legal services as part of the performance of our contracts with our clients or for the implementation of pre-contractual measures taken at your request.
The processing of personal data of third parties may also take place for the provision and processing of legal services within the framework of the respective service contract, insofar as these necessarily come into contact with the service contract, e.g., personal data of other lawyers, experts, witnesses, contact persons of third companies or authorities, etc.
The processing of personal data of third parties is otherwise carried out for the execution and processing of contractual relationships with such third parties, usually service providers or contractual partners from whom we obtain resources or whose services we use to carry out and maintain the lawyer’s business activities; exclusively for the initiation, establishment or processing of the relevant contractual relationship.
The purpose of the data processing depends on the respective order. It may, for example, relate to verbal or written advice, the drafting of contracts, official or judicial representation, the handling and conclusion of settlements.
It may also relate to the execution and handling of other contractual relationships with third parties whose services are used for the business operation of the lawyer’s activities.

As part of the balancing of interests (Article 6(1)(f) GDPR)

If necessary, we process your data beyond the actual fulfillment of the contract to protect our legitimate interests or those of third parties. Examples

Assertion of further legal claims and defense in legal disputes
Ensuring IT security and IT operations
Prevention of criminal offenses
Measures for building and plant security (e.g., access controls)
Measures to safeguard domiciliary rights
Measures for business management and further development of services and products
Measures to prevent conflicts of interest

Based on your consent (Article 6 para. 1 sentence 1 lit. a GDPR)

If you have given us your consent to process personal data for specific purposes (e.g., forwarding data to legal expenses insurers, other insurers, hospitals, authorities), this processing is lawful on the basis of your consent. You can revoke any consent you have given at any time. You can also revoke declarations of consent that were given to us before the EU GDPR came into force, i.e. before May 25, 2018. However, such a revocation will only be effective for the future. This means that the legality of data processing that took place before such a withdrawal remains unaffected by the withdrawal.

Due to legal requirements (Article 6 para. 1 sentence 1 lit. c GDPR) or in the public interest (Article 6 para. 1 sentence 1 lit. e GDPR)

In addition, as an advisory company, we may be subject to legal obligations (e.g., money laundering law or tax laws). The purposes of processing therefore also include any monitoring and reporting obligations to the extent required and necessary by law.

3. Who receives data?

Within our law firm, all departments that are necessarily entrusted with and come into contact with the fulfillment of contractual and legal obligations will have access to your data. This means that such data may also be processed by service providers or our vicarious agents if and to the extent that this satisfies the legal requirements for such processing and such processing is necessary.
When passing on data to recipients outside our law firm, it should be noted that as lawyers we are obliged to maintain confidentiality about all information and evaluations relating to the mandate within the scope of the lawyer’s contract of which we become aware. Such confidential information is therefore subject to special legal protection. We only disclose it to the necessary extent if this is required by law, if you have given your legally effective consent or if processors commissioned by us guarantee compliance with the confidentiality of the lawyer and the requirements of the EU General Data Protection Regulation / the Federal Data Protection Act. The recipients of personal data described below therefore either do not receive this data in the case of the lawyer’s mandate or only receive it under the above-mentioned restricted conditions.
Under these conditions, recipients of personal data may be, for example

Public bodies and institutions, legal expenses insurers, health insurance companies, hospitals, social security institutions, tax consultants, auditors, debt collection agencies, statutory and private pension insurers
Support/maintenance of EDP/IT applications, provider of telephone services (office services), data destruction, debt collection, postal service provider, operator of special means of communication, such as the electronic court and administrative mailbox or the Federal Uniform Lawyers’ Mailbox.

Other data recipients may be those entities for which you have given your legally effective consent to the transfer of data in individual cases or for which you have released us from the obligation of legal confidentiality in accordance with the agreement or consent.

4. Is data transferred to a third country or to an international organization?

Data will only be transferred to countries outside the EU or the EEA (so-called third countries) in exceptional cases if this is absolutely necessary in individual cases for the execution of the legal assignment due to a foreign reference and you have given us your legally effective consent or if there is another legal justification, such as an adequacy decision for the target country.

5. How long is data stored?

We process and store your personal data for as long as is necessary to fulfill our contractual and legal obligations. Depending on the nature of the contractual obligation, e.g., in the case of continuing obligations, it may be necessary to store the data for the entire period of the continuing obligation or any very lengthy legal proceedings, so that the retention period only begins with the termination of such a long-term contractual relationship.
If the data is no longer required for the fulfillment of contractual or legal obligations, it is regularly deleted, unless its – possibly temporary – further processing is required for the following purposes:

Compliance with retention periods under commercial and tax law from the German Commercial Code (HGB), Fiscal Code (AO), Money Laundering Act (if applicable) and social security regulations . The retention and documentation periods specified there are two to ten years.

Preservation of evidence and documentation for the defense against liability and enforcement of legal claims within the scope of the statute of limitations.
Retention of the options for checking for conflicts of interest.
According to §44 PAO and §50 BRAO, the retention period for lawyers’ (including electronic) files is 6 years.

According to §§196 ff. of the German Civil Code (BGB), these limitation periods can be up to 30 years, whereby the regular limitation period is three years and 10 years in the law of unjust enrichment.

III. Collection, use and storage of data when visiting our websites

We use IONOS SE, Elgendorfer Str. 57, D-56410 Montabaur, Tel: +49(0) 721 170 5522, Email: info@ionos.de, Web: https://www.ionos.de as our server hosting provider in the context of commissioned data processing, i.e. this company acts on our behalf to technically deliver the website to you. We remain the controller vis-à-vis you, so that we also refer to “we” in the following, although IONOS SE handles this technically for us.
When you visit our website, we receive your full IP address from your IT system. Only with this IP address can we transmit the data of our website to you so that the website can be displayed to you (Art. 6 para. 1 sentence 1 lit. b and lit. f GDPR). The temporary storage of the IP address by the system is necessary to enable the website to be delivered to your computer. For this purpose, your IP address may need to be stored for the duration of the session. Since you have requested the website, this is in our common legitimate interest. We must give your IP address to the internet provider in order to transmit the website data to you.
The full IP address is not stored beyond the processing for the transmission of the retrieved data.
There is no possibility of objection, as these processes are absolutely necessary for the operation of the website. Please do not visit our website if you wish to object.
Any use of your personal data will only take place for the stated purposes and to the extent necessary to achieve these purposes.
Personal data will only be transferred to state institutions and authorities within the framework of mandatory national legislation or if the transfer is necessary for legal or criminal prosecution in the event of attacks on our network infrastructure. Data will not be passed on to third parties for other purposes.

IV. Communication forms on our website, emails

When using communication forms on our website, the information listed there is transmitted to us and stored.
As a precaution, you consent to the following data processing: We use the data exclusively to answer your request and, if the request relates to a contractual relationship or a contractual relationship arises from it, to initiate and process the contractual relationship (Art. 6 para. 1 sentence 1 lit. a, lit. b, lit. f GDPR). Our legitimate interest lies in the fulfillment of your communication request. If you are already our customer or will become one in the future, we may collect, store, modify and transmit the data for the establishment, execution or termination of the contractual relationship without requiring your consent (Art. 6 para. 1 sentence 1 lit. b GDPR) and as long as we are permitted to do so by law. In other cases, e.g., processing with your consent, but also as long as the contractual relationship has not yet been established, we will not store your data for longer than 3 months and you have the right to object to the data transmitted to us via the contact form with your consent with effect for the future. You can exercise your right of revocation by sending a message to PLATZÖDER PATENTANWALTSGESELLSCHAFT mbH, attn. management, Inselkammerstraße 10, 82008 Unterhaching b. München, Germany.
Should you wish to contact us by e-mail, we would like to point out that the content of unencrypted e-mails can be viewed by third parties. We therefore recommend that you send confidential information in encrypted form or by post.

V. Applications

Your application data will be processed by us for the purpose of determining suitability in comparison with the needs of the law firm. With your application, you wish to enter into an employment contract with us, so that the legal basis is Art. 6 para. 1 sentence 1 lit. b GDPR. Insofar as special categories of personal data within the meaning of Art. 9 para. 1 GDPR are voluntarily communicated as part of the application process, their processing is also carried out in accordance with Art. 9 para. 2 lit. b GDPR (e.g., health data, such as severely disabled status or ethnic origin). Insofar as special categories of personal data within the meaning of Art. 9 para. 1 GDPR are requested from applicants as part of the application process, their processing is also carried out in accordance with Art. 9 para. 2 lit. a GDPR (e.g., health data if this is necessary for the exercise of the profession).
In the event of a successful application, the data provided by the applicants may be further processed by us for the purposes of the employment relationship (Art. 6 para. 1 sentence 1 lit. b GDPR in conjunction with § 26 BDSG). We will inform you again about data processing in the employment relationship when you are hired. Otherwise, if the application is unsuccessful, the applicant’s data will be deleted. Applicants’ data will also be deleted if an application is withdrawn, which applicants are entitled to do at any time. Subject to a justified revocation by the applicant, the deletion will take place after a period of six months so that we can answer any follow-up questions about the application and meet our obligations to provide evidence under the Equal Treatment Act. Invoices for any reimbursement of travel expenses are archived for 10 years in accordance with tax law requirements.

VI. Your rights to information, rectification, blocking, erasure, completion, restriction and data portability

In the following, we will inform you about those rights which, in our view, are only remotely relevant to the above-mentioned data processing. Please note that you may be entitled to further rights in the context of other data processing operations and under special laws, e.g., professional law. You have the right to

in accordance with Art. 7 para. 3 GDPR, to withdraw your consent once given to us at any time. As a result, we may no longer continue the data processing that was based on this consent in the future;

in accordance with Art. 15 GDPR, to request information about your personal data processed by us. In particular, you can request information about the processing purposes, the category of personal data, the categories of recipients to whom your data has been or will be disclosed, the planned storage period, the existence of a right to rectification, erasure, restriction of processing or objection, the existence of a right to lodge a complaint, the origin of your data if it was not collected by us, and the existence of automated decision-making including profiling and, if applicable, meaningful information about its details;

in accordance with Art. 16 GDPR, to immediately request the correction of incorrect or incomplete personal data stored by us;
in accordance with Art. 17 GDPR, to demand the deletion of your personal data stored by us, unless the processing is necessary to exercise the right to freedom of expression and information, to fulfill a legal obligation, for reasons of public interest or to assert, exercise or defend legal claims;
in accordance with Art. 18 GDPR, to demand the restriction of the processing of your personal data if the accuracy of the data is disputed by you, the processing is unlawful but you refuse to delete it and we no longer need the data, but you need it to assert, exercise or defend legal claims or you have lodged an objection to the processing in accordance with Art. 21 GDPR;
in accordance with Art. 20 GDPR, to receive your personal data that you have provided to us in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format or to request that it be transmitted to another controller
in accordance with Art. 7 para. 3 GDPR, to withdraw your consent once given to us at any time. As a result, we may no longer continue the data processing that was based on this consent in the future and
to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority pursuant to Art. 77 GDPR. As a rule, you can contact the supervisory authority of your usual place of residence or workplace.
If your personal data is processed on the basis of legitimate interests in accordance with Art. 6 (1) sentence 1 (f) GDPR, you have the right to object to the processing of your personal data in accordance with Art. 21 GDPR, provided that there are reasons for this arising from your particular situation or the objection is directed against direct advertising. In the latter case, you have a general right to object, which will be implemented by us without specifying a particular situation. If you would like to exercise your right of revocation or objection, simply send a message to the data in our legal notice

To assert your rights, please write to PLATZÖDER PATENTANWALTSGESELLSCHAFT mbH, attn. management, Inselkammerstraße 10, 82008 Unterhaching b. München, Germany.

We explain your rights and restrictions of your rights in detail as follows:

1. Right to Information

You can request confirmation from the controller as to whether personal data concerning you is being processed by us.
If such processing is taking place, you can request the following information from the controller:
(1) the purposes for which the personal data are processed;
(2) the categories of personal data being processed
(3) the recipients or categories of recipients to whom the personal data concerning you have been or will be disclosed
(4) the envisaged period for which the personal data concerning you will be stored, or, if specific information on this is not possible, the criteria used to determine that period
(5) the existence of a right to rectification or erasure of personal data concerning you, a right to restriction of processing by the controller or a right to object to such processing
(6) the existence of a right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority
(7) all available information about the origin of the data if the personal data are not collected from the data subject
(8) the existence of automated decision-making, including profiling, referred to in Art. 22 (1) and (4) GDPR and, at least in those cases, meaningful information about the logic involved, as well as the significance and the envisaged consequences of such processing for the data subject.
You have the right to request information as to whether the personal data concerning you is transferred to a third country or to an international organization. In this context, you may request to be informed of the appropriate safeguards pursuant to Art. 46 GDPR in connection with the transfer.

2. Right to Rectification

You have a right to rectification and/or completion vis-à-vis the controller if the processed personal data concerning you is incorrect or incomplete. The controller must make the correction without delay.

3. right to Restriction of Processing

You may request the restriction of the processing of your personal data under the following conditions:
(1) if you contest the accuracy of the personal data concerning you for a period enabling the controller to verify the accuracy of the personal data;
(2) the processing is unlawful and you oppose the erasure of the personal data and request the restriction of their use instead
(3) the controller no longer needs the personal data for the purposes of the processing, but they are required by you for the establishment, exercise or defense of legal claims; or
(4) if you have objected to processing pursuant to Art. 21 (1) GDPR pending the verification whether the legitimate grounds of the controller override your grounds.
If the processing of personal data concerning you has been restricted, this data – apart from its storage – may only be processed with your consent or for the establishment, exercise or defense of legal claims or for the protection of the rights of another natural or legal person or for reasons of important public interest of the Union or of a Member State.
If the restriction of processing has been restricted in accordance with the above conditions, you will be informed by the controller before the restriction is lifted.

4. Right to Erasure

a) Obligation to Erase
You have the right to obtain from the controller the erasure of personal data concerning you without undue delay and the controller shall have the obligation to erase personal data without undue delay where one of the following grounds applies:
(1) The personal data concerning you are no longer necessary in relation to the purposes for which they were collected or otherwise processed.
(2) You revoke your consent on which the processing was based pursuant to Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a or Art. 9 para. 2 lit. a GDPR and there is no other legal basis for the processing.
(3) You object to the processing pursuant to Art. 21 (1) GDPR and there are no overriding legitimate grounds for the processing, or you object to the processing pursuant to Art. 21 (2) GDPR.
(4) The personal data concerning you has been processed unlawfully.
(5) The deletion of personal data concerning you is necessary to fulfill a legal obligation under Union law or the law of the Member States to which the controller is subject.
(6) The personal data concerning you have been collected in relation to the offer of information society services referred to in Art. 8 (1) GDPR.
b) Information to third parties
Where the controller has made the personal data concerning you public and is obliged pursuant to Art. 17 (1) GDPR to erase the personal data, the controller, taking account of available technology and the cost of implementation, shall take reasonable steps, including technical measures, to inform controllers which are processing the personal data that you as the data subject have requested the erasure by such controllers of any links to, or copy or replication of, those personal data.
c) Exceptions
The right to erasure does not apply if the processing is necessary
(1) to exercise the right to freedom of expression and information
(2) for compliance with a legal obligation which requires processing by Union or Member State law to which the controller is subject or for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the controller
(3) for reasons of public interest in the area of public health pursuant to Art. 9 para. 2 lit. h and i and Art. 9 para. 3 GDPR;
(4) for archiving purposes in the public interest, scientific or historical research purposes or statistical purposes in accordance with Art. 89 para. 1 GDPR, insofar as the right referred to in section a) is likely to render impossible or seriously impair the achievement of the objectives of that processing, or
(5) for the establishment, exercise or defense of legal claims.

5. Right to Information

If you have exercised your right to rectification, erasure or restriction of processing vis-à-vis the controller, the controller is obliged to communicate any rectification or erasure of personal data or restriction of processing carried out to each recipient to whom the personal data have been disclosed, unless this proves impossible or involves disproportionate effort .
You have the right to be informed about these recipients by the controller.

6. Right to Data Portability

You have the right to receive the personal data concerning you, which you have provided to the controller, in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format. You also have the right to transmit this data to another controller without hindrance from the controller to which the personal data has been provided, where
(1) the processing is based on consent pursuant to Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR or Art. 9 para. 2 lit. a GDPR or on a contract pursuant to Art. 6 para. 1 lit. b GDPR and
(2) the processing is carried out by automated means.
In exercising this right, you also have the right to have the personal data concerning you transmitted directly from one controller to another, where technically feasible. The freedoms and rights of other persons must not be affected by this.
The right to data portability does not apply to the processing of personal data necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the controller

7. General Information on your Right to Object

You have the right to object, on grounds relating to your particular situation, at any time to processing of personal data concerning you which is based on point (e) or (f) of Article 6(1) GDPR, including profiling based on those provisions.
We will no longer process the personal data concerning you unless we can demonstrate compelling legitimate grounds for the processing which override your interests, rights and freedoms or for the establishment, exercise or defense of legal claims.
If the personal data concerning you are processed for direct marketing purposes, you have the right to object at any time to the processing of personal data concerning you for the purpose of such advertising; this also applies to profiling insofar as it is associated with such direct marketing.
If you object to the processing for direct marketing purposes, the personal data concerning you will no longer be processed for these purposes.
You have the possibility to exercise your right to object in relation to the use of information society services – notwithstanding Directive 2002/58/EC – by means of automated procedures using technical specifications.

8. Right to Revoke the Declaration of Consent under Data Protection Law

You have the right to withdraw your declaration of consent under data protection law at any time. The withdrawal of consent shall not affect the lawfulness of processing based on consent before its withdrawal.

VII. Links to websites of other providers

Our websites may contain links to websites of other providers. We would like to point out that this privacy policy applies exclusively to our websites. We have no influence on and do not check that other providers comply with the applicable data protection regulations.

VIII. Complaints, Responsible Body

If you have any complaints about data protection, you can contact Mr. Michael Platzöder at mail@platzoeder.eu or any data protection supervisory authority in the EU. At our registered office, the supervisory authority is the Bavarian State Office for Data Protection Supervision (BayLDA), Promenade 27, D – 91522 Ansbach, telephone: +49 (0) 981 180093-0, fax: +49 (0) 981 180093-800, e-mail: poststelle@lda.bayern.de.
Without prejudice to any other administrative or judicial remedy, you have the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority, in particular in the Member State of your habitual residence, place of work or place of the alleged infringement if you consider that the processing of personal data relating to you infringes the GDPR. The supervisory authority with which the complaint has been lodged shall inform the complainant on the progress and the outcome of the complaint including the possibility of a judicial remedy pursuant to Art. 78 GDPR.
The responsible body is us, i.e. the operator of this website in accordance with the legal notice.

IX. Your Questions and Update Notice

We will be happy to answer any further questions you may have about our privacy policy and the processing of your personal data. Please note that data protection regulations and data protection practices are subject to constant change. It is therefore advisable to inform yourself about changes to the legal provisions and our practice.
The privacy policy is currently valid and dated 09.05.2025.