Privacy statement.

Spee & Bijl handles privacy and privacy-sensitive data with care, within the limits of the General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”). In this privacy statement (the “Privacy Statement”) we inform you about how we process personal data, the purposes for which we process personal data, how you can exercise your privacy rights, and other information about how we handle personal data. Personal data is data that can be used to identify an individual or that can be linked to an individual.

This Privacy Statement applies to the processing of personal data by Spee & Bijl B.V. (“Spee & Bijl”), established at De Lairessestraat 137 – 143, (1075 HJ) Amsterdam, and registered in the Trade Register of the Chamber of Commerce under number 77225015. Spee & Bijl is the controller within the meaning of the GDPR for the personal data it processes about you.

This Privacy Statement of Spee & Bijl is intended to inform every visitor to the website www.spee-bijl.com about which personal data is processed and why. This Privacy Statement was drawn up on 10 December 2024 and will be updated regularly to reflect any change in legal requirements, processing practices or new features we may add. Such changes to the Privacy Statement will be published on www.spee-bijl.com and take effect from the moment of publication.

This Privacy Statement applies to the processing of personal data of:

• clients;
• website visitors;
• job applicants;
• suppliers;
• third parties whose personal data we process in the course of our services, including, but not limited to, parties to proceedings and their counsel.

Spee & Bijl considers the protection of your privacy important.

That is why, among other things, Spee & Bijl has drawn up this Privacy Statement. Its purpose is to be transparent about the way in which Spee & Bijl collects, uses and protects your personal data, in accordance with Articles 13 and 14 GDPR.

Personal data means any information relating to a person whose identity is known or can be established. The personal data we collect and process about you may include the following information. All of this data is referred to below as “personal data”.

• Identity data, including first name, surname, date of birth, passport number, etc.
• Contact details, including billing address, email address and telephone number.
• Professional information, including your employer, your title or position, your professional history, your preferred language, the practice areas, areas of law and industries you are interested in, and your relationship with a person.
• Financial data, including bank account details.
• Usage data, such as information we derive from your visits to our website, including your IP address, the pages you visit, the browser you use, the website you visited previously, demographic information and the time and duration of your visit.
• Marketing data, such as information you have provided to us or that we have collected as part of your registration for events, marketing material and alerts.
• HR data, including information you have provided to us when applying for a job at Spee & Bijl, so that we can assess your profile and skills.

In rare circumstances, depending on the situation, Spee & Bijl may process personal data relating to criminal convictions and offences, or special categories of personal data, such as religious or philosophical beliefs, political opinions, trade union membership or health information. We may, for example, process such personal information in matters relating to employment law or criminal law, or for statutory purposes.

• Your personal data may be collected directly from you when you provide it to us. For example, when you ask us to assist you in a legal dispute.
• Your personal data may be collected through third parties. For example, when a third party sends us your personal data or when we receive documents from parties to proceedings.
• Your personal data may be collected from publicly available sources, including the Trade Register of the Chamber of Commerce, the Land Registry (Kadaster), etc.

Spee & Bijl may process your personal data in the following circumstances:

• For the conclusion and performance of an agreement: where processing is necessary for the performance of an agreement to which you are a party, or in order to take steps at your request before entering into an agreement. This includes providing information when you contact us, delivering our services, conducting (legal) proceedings, handling job applications and improving our website.
• To comply with a legal obligation, such as tax obligations.
• For the purposes of our legitimate interests: where processing is necessary for the interests of Spee & Bijl or a third party and your rights do not override them. These legitimate interests include, among other things, handling matters and keeping records. In doing so, we always weigh whether our legitimate interest outweighs your privacy interest.
• Consent: where you have given us consent to process personal data. You may withdraw this consent at any time by contacting us.

Spee & Bijl processes your personal data for the following purposes:

• To provide legal advice or other services to (prospective) clients, and to manage business relationships (including invoicing, debt collection, payments and other support services).
• To handle matters and to communicate with parties to proceedings and the courts.
• To comply with our legal obligations, including Know Your Customer, anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing, and sanctions screening.
• To manage and secure access to our office, website, systems and online platforms.
• To inform you about vacancies at Spee & Bijl that we consider suitable for you.
• To communicate with you about legal developments, events, etc. (including through newsletters, event invitations, etc.).
• To distribute surveys or marketing material.
• In addition, if you give consent by clicking on the cookie notice on the website, we automatically process personal data for the technical and functional management of our website.

Spee & Bijl will not store your data for longer than necessary. In certain cases, we are legally required to retain data for a minimum period.

Spee & Bijl only provides personal data to third parties where this is permitted and done with due care. Personal data is only provided to third parties if you have given your consent or if this is permitted under the GDPR or other applicable privacy legislation. Examples include another lawyer taking over the practice in our absence, carrying out (or commissioning) an expert investigation, or engaging a third party on behalf of and by order of Spee & Bijl, such as a bailiff or an IT supplier, as well as providing your personal data in connection with (legal) proceedings or correspondence with the opposing party. In addition, Spee & Bijl may provide personal data to a third party, such as a regulator or another public authority, insofar as there is a legal obligation to do so.

These parties may be located in the Netherlands, in other countries within the European Economic Area (“EEA”) or elsewhere in the world. Where we store personal data outside the EEA, we will ensure an appropriate level of protection for the transferred data. We require service providers and other suppliers to take appropriate measures to protect the confidentiality and security of the personal data. A data processing agreement is concluded with any third party that processes your personal data on behalf of and by order of Spee & Bijl, so that this third party is likewise bound to comply with the GDPR. Third parties engaged by Spee & Bijl that provide services as controllers are themselves responsible for compliance with the GDPR in their (further) processing of your personal data. Examples include an accountant, a civil-law notary, or another third party engaged for a second opinion or expert report.

When personal data is transferred from the EEA to another country in the world, we make every effort to ensure that this international data transfer does not adversely affect the level of protection of the personal data, by taking additional appropriate contractual, technical and organisational measures. In other cases, we will inform you of a possibly lower level of protection of your data. Where necessary, we will ask for your specific consent to the transfer. Even so, foreign authorities may demand access to your data, or you may not easily be able to turn to a court. You can withdraw your consent at any time. Your preference will then be updated immediately. This does not affect processing that has already taken place.

For personal data processed outside the European Union or the European Economic Area, Spee & Bijl applies standard contractual clauses adopted by the European Commission.

Spee & Bijl does not retain personal data for longer than necessary for the purposes set out above. The retention period for personal data depends on the purpose for which it is used. Once your personal data is no longer necessary, it is anonymised or deleted. For example, certain personal data processed for tax purposes must by law be retained for seven years.

Protecting your privacy is extremely important to us. Spee & Bijl has therefore taken appropriate technical and organisational measures to prevent loss or unlawful processing of personal data. Spee & Bijl secures your personal data by means of various technical and organisational measures, such as firewalls, secure servers and data processing agreements with third parties. These measures are in line with applicable privacy and information security legislation. However, no website can be guaranteed to be 100% secure. Spee & Bijl therefore cannot be held responsible or liable for unauthorised, unlawful or unintended access to personal data that lies outside the direct control of Spee & Bijl. Furthermore, save in the case of intent or gross negligence, Spee & Bijl is not liable for inaccuracies or for the consequences of activities undertaken on the basis of incorrect or incomplete information provided by you. When you provide personal data to Spee & Bijl, you are responsible for keeping that personal data up to date.

Our website may contain links to other websites and apps. You may also choose to share information from our website via social media, such as Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube. This means that the information you share, including your name and preferences, will be visible to visitors to your personal pages (profiles). Spee & Bijl is not responsible for the content, privacy and security of such websites, apps or social media channels. These websites and apps are not covered by this Privacy Statement, and we therefore recommend that you carefully read the privacy and cookie statements of those websites and apps, and of the social media providers, that apply to their processing of your personal data.

You may request and inspect an overview of, and information about, the personal data processed by Spee & Bijl. You may also request that the personal data Spee & Bijl processes about you be corrected, deleted, restricted or transferred. Spee & Bijl will comply with such a request if it meets the legal requirements. In principle, you will receive the personal data in digital form. In certain cases, at your request, we will transfer the personal data to another controller, insofar as this is technically possible.

You also have the right to object to the use of personal data by Spee & Bijl. In some cases, however, we have legitimate grounds to process your personal data.

You can always withdraw consent you have given. Spee & Bijl will then no longer use your personal data for those purposes. This does not, however, affect any processing of your personal data by Spee & Bijl that took place before.

You can find out below how to submit your request. Spee & Bijl asks you to state the reasons for your request. Spee & Bijl will respond as soon as possible, and in any event within one month. In principle, Spee & Bijl will comply with your request, unless we have a compelling legitimate interest in not deleting the data that outweighs your privacy interest. Examples include lawyers’ duty of confidentiality and statutory retention periods. Please note that Spee & Bijl may ask you to resubmit or supplement your request, or to identify yourself, in order to handle your privacy request. We may refuse to comply with the requests referred to above if they are made unreasonably often, require unreasonably heavy technical effort, have unreasonably heavy technical consequences for our systems, or jeopardise the privacy of others.

If you are not satisfied with the way we have handled your request, or otherwise with the processing of your personal data by Spee & Bijl, you may also lodge a complaint about the use of your personal data with the Dutch Data Protection Authority (Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens, AP). You can find more information via this link.

Privacy requests

Above you can read which privacy rights you can exercise. You can address your request to Spee & Bijl by sending an email to info@spee-bijl.com. Please state clearly in your message that it concerns privacy and what your request is. Please note that Spee & Bijl needs to verify your identity. To be certain that, on the basis of your request, we provide the relevant personal data to the right person, we ask you to submit, for verification, a copy of a valid passport, driving licence or identity card with the passport photo and citizen service number (BSN) blacked out. Spee & Bijl only handles requests relating to your own personal data.

For other questions, you can also contact Spee & Bijl by telephone, via the website or by post.

Telephone

Spee & Bijl can be reached on working days (Mon–Fri) from 09:00 to 18:00 on telephone number 020-2444824.

Online contact form

You can use the contact form on our website.

Postal address

Post can be addressed to:

Spee & Bijl B.V.

1075 HJ Amsterdam

De Lairessestraat 137 – 143

Spee & Bijl reserves the right to amend the content of this Privacy Statement at any time without prior notice. Amendments to this Privacy Statement will be published on the website. We therefore advise you to consult our website regularly.

This Privacy Statement was last amended on 10 December 2024.