Privacy Policy

§ 1. Data controller

1. The controller of your personal data is adwokat (attorney-at-law) Michał Sochański, who runs Kancelaria Adwokacka Sochański i Wspólnicy (Sochański & Partners Law Firm), ul. Silniczna 5/16, 25-515 Kielce, Poland, tax ID (NIP) 9591872238 (“the Controller”, “I” or “me”).
2. For any matter relating to personal data, you can contact me by e-mail at adwokat@sochanski.com, by telephone on +48 698 184 481 or by post at the law firm’s address.
3. I have not appointed a data protection officer (Article 37 GDPR).
4. This policy explains what data I process when you use the sochanski.com website (in its Polish, English and Ukrainian versions) and when you contact me via the contact form, by e-mail or by telephone. “GDPR” means Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 (General Data Protection Regulation).

§ 2. Contact form

1. The contact form sends: your name and surname, e-mail address, telephone number (optional), the type of matter selected from the list, your message and the address of the page from which it was sent. Your name, e-mail address and confirmation that you have read this privacy policy are required.
2. The message is delivered by e-mail to adwokat@sochanski.com. The website does not store the content of the form in any database.
3. I process this data in order to reply to your enquiry and – if you so wish – to prepare and conclude a contract for legal services (Article 6(1)(b) GDPR) and otherwise on the basis of my legitimate interest in handling correspondence and in establishing, exercising or defending any legal claims (Article 6(1)(f) GDPR).
4. Any information you give me in connection with your matter is covered by legal professional privilege (Article 6 of the Polish Act of 26 May 1982 on the Bar – Prawo o adwokaturze). If you provide special category data, such as information about your health, I process it only to the extent necessary to assess and handle your matter (Article 9(2)(f) GDPR). A short description of your matter is enough in your first message.
5. To protect the form against spam and abuse, the server processes the IP address of the person using the form. It is stored only as a cryptographic hash together with the time of the attempt and is used solely to limit the number of messages sent per hour (Article 6(1)(f) GDPR – website security).

§ 3. Contact by e-mail and telephone

1. When you write to an e-mail address given on the website (adwokat@sochanski.com or biuro@sochanski.com) or call +48 698 184 481, I process the data you provide – usually your name, e-mail address or telephone number and information about your matter – for the purposes and on the legal bases described in § 2(3) and (4).

§ 4. Cookies and similar technologies

1. On your first visit a banner is displayed in which you decide which categories of cookies you agree to:
   • necessary – these keep the website and the contact form working; they are always on;
   • analytics – visit statistics (Google Analytics) and click maps (Hotjar);
   • marketing – measuring the effectiveness of Google Ads.
2. Until you give your consent, the website does not load Google Tag Manager or any analytics or marketing tools. They are started only after you consent to analytics or marketing cookies. The website uses Google Consent Mode, which informs Google’s tools of your choice.
3. Analytics and marketing tools set their own cookies in your browser and collect, among other things, browser identifiers, your IP address, information about your device and browser, the pages you visit and how you use them, how you arrived at the website (e.g. by clicking an advert) and the fact that the contact form was sent – but not its content. The legal basis is your consent (Article 6(1)(a) GDPR and Article 399 of the Polish Electronic Communications Law of 12 July 2024 – Prawo komunikacji elektronicznej).
4. Your choice is saved in your browser’s storage (localStorage) for 12 months – this is necessary to remember it. After that time the banner will be shown again.
5. You can change or withdraw your consent at any time in Cookie settings (the link is also in the footer of every page). Withdrawing consent does not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before its withdrawal. You can delete cookies that have already been stored in your browser settings.

§ 5. Google map on the “Contact” page

1. The “Contact” page (in every language version) contains an embedded Google Maps map showing how to reach the law firm. When you view that page, your browser connects to Google’s servers, which receive, among other things, your IP address and information about your browser; Google may also use its own cookies in accordance with its privacy policy. The legal basis is my legitimate interest in showing you how to reach the law firm (Article 6(1)(f) GDPR).
2. Links to Google Maps on other pages open Google’s service only when you click them.

§ 6. Hosting and security

1. The website runs on a server in the European Union provided by Hetzner Online GmbH (Gunzenhausen, Germany). Hetzner processes data on my behalf as a processor.
2. The website’s fonts and scripts are served from the same server – the website does not use Google Fonts or external content delivery networks (CDNs).
3. Your connection to the website is encrypted (HTTPS).

§ 7. Recipients of data and transfers outside the EEA

1. Your data may be received by:
   • Hetzner Online GmbH – website hosting;
   • Google – the law firm’s e-mail (Google Workspace), Google Maps on the “Contact” page and, once you have consented, Google Tag Manager, Google Analytics and Google Ads; in the European Union Google’s services are provided by Google Ireland Limited (Dublin, Ireland);
   • Hotjar Ltd (Malta) – once you have consented to analytics cookies;
   • public authorities – only where required by law and with due regard to legal professional privilege.
2. Google may also process data in the United States. Google LLC participates in the EU-US Data Privacy Framework, which under the European Commission’s decision of 10 July 2023 ensures an adequate level of data protection (Article 45 GDPR). Where a provider transfers data to other countries outside the European Economic Area, it uses standard contractual clauses approved by the European Commission (Article 46 GDPR).

§ 8. How long data is kept

1. I keep correspondence (contact form, e-mail) for as long as necessary to reply and to establish whether I will take on your matter and, if we do not work together, until any potential claims become time-barred.
2. If we conclude a contract, I keep the data for the duration of the contract and then for the period required by law (including tax law) and until the limitation periods for claims have expired.
3. Data collected on the basis of consent is processed until consent is withdrawn and, in analytics and advertising tools, for the period set in the tool concerned. Your choice in the cookie banner is remembered for 12 months.
4. The hash of the IP address used to protect the contact form is used for no longer than one hour.

§ 9. Your rights

1. You have the right to:
   • access your data and obtain a copy of it;
   • rectification of your data;
   • erasure of your data;
   • restriction of processing;
   • data portability – where processing is based on consent or a contract and is carried out by automated means;
   • object to processing based on legitimate interest;
   • withdraw your consent at any time.
2. To exercise your rights, write to adwokat@sochanski.com or by post to the law firm’s address. Some rights may be limited by the duty of legal professional privilege or by other legal obligations.
3. You have the right to lodge a complaint with the President of the Personal Data Protection Office (Prezes Urzędu Ochrony Danych Osobowych, ul. Stawki 2, 00-193 Warszawa, Poland) if you consider that I process your data unlawfully.

§ 10. Final provisions

1. Providing your data is voluntary. However, without your name and e-mail address I cannot reply to a message sent via the contact form.
2. I do not make decisions about you based solely on automated processing, including profiling, which produce legal effects concerning you or similarly significantly affect you.
3. I may amend this policy if the way the website works or the law changes. The current version is always available on this page.