Last Updated: 24 July 2026

LegalBalkan respects your privacy and is committed to protecting your personal data. This Privacy Policy explains how personal data is collected, used, stored, disclosed, and protected when you visit www.legalbalkan.com, contact us, request information, or receive legal services from us.

1. Data Controller

The website www.legalbalkan.com is operated by Attorney Osman Efe Eren under the LegalBalkan brand.

For the purposes of applicable data protection legislation, the data controller is:

Attorney Osman Efe Eren – LegalBalkan
Eğitim Mahallesi, Çiftlikiçi Sokak
No: 2-4, Kaya Apartmanı
Floor 2, Apartment 8
Kadıköy, Istanbul
Türkiye

Telephone: +90 216 706 98 96
Email: info@legalbalkan.com

Depending on the nature and jurisdiction of a legal matter, personal data may also be processed by licensed local lawyers, partner law firms, notaries, translators, accountants, consultants, and other authorized professionals acting as independent data controllers or service providers.

2. Scope of This Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy applies to personal data collected through:

The LegalBalkan website;
Email, telephone, online forms, and other communication channels;
Requests for legal information or quotations;
Client onboarding and conflict-check procedures;
Legal consultancy, representation, and related professional services;
Meetings, events, seminars, and business communications;
Cooperation with local lawyers and professional service providers.

This Privacy Policy does not replace any matter-specific privacy notice, engagement letter, legal services agreement, or confidentiality obligation that may apply to a particular client or legal matter.

3. Personal Data We May Collect

Depending on your interaction with LegalBalkan, we may collect and process the following categories of personal data:

Identification and Contact Information

This may include your name, surname, address, telephone number, email address, date of birth, nationality, signature, identity card details, passport information, and other identification data.

Professional and Corporate Information

This may include your job title, employer, company name, registered address, shareholder or director information, corporate records, tax information, commercial activities, and business contact details.

Legal Matter Information

This may include information and documents relating to litigation, company formation, immigration, citizenship, real estate, inheritance, employment, debt recovery, contracts, public procurement, intellectual property, and other legal matters.

Financial and Billing Information

This may include billing addresses, invoice information, bank account details, payment records, fee arrangements, and information necessary to comply with financial, accounting, and professional obligations.

Communications

We may process correspondence, emails, messages, meeting notes, telephone records, instructions, requests, complaints, and other communications exchanged with you.

Technical and Website Data

When you visit our website, certain technical information may be collected automatically, including your IP address, browser type, operating system, device information, access time, referring website, pages visited, and cookie identifiers.

4. How We Collect Personal Data

We may obtain personal data:

Directly from you;
Through website contact forms;
Through email, telephone, or in-person meetings;
From your authorized representatives;
From clients, counterparties, witnesses, or other parties involved in a legal matter;
From courts, public authorities, registries, notaries, and administrative institutions;
From publicly accessible databases and official records;
From local lawyers, accountants, translators, consultants, and business partners;
Through cookies and similar website technologies.

Where personal data is not collected directly from you, we will provide information about the processing where required by applicable law.

5. Purposes of Processing Personal Data

We may process personal data for the following purposes:

Responding to inquiries and requests;
Providing preliminary information regarding our services;
Conducting client identification and conflict checks;
Preparing legal service proposals and engagement agreements;
Providing legal advice and representation;
Establishing, exercising, or defending legal claims;
Managing company formation, immigration, citizenship, real estate, inheritance, employment, contractual, and commercial procedures;
Obtaining documents from courts, registries, and public authorities;
Coordinating translations, notarization, apostille, and consular authentication;
Communicating with clients, authorities, counterparties, and professional advisers;
Managing invoicing, payments, accounting, and financial records;
Complying with legal, regulatory, professional, and ethical obligations;
Preventing fraud, misuse, security incidents, and unlawful activity;
Maintaining and improving our website and digital systems;
Sending professional updates or service-related communications where legally permitted;
Managing complaints, requests, and disputes.

6. Legal Grounds for Processing

Depending on the circumstances, personal data may be processed on one or more of the following legal grounds:

Your consent;
The performance of a contract or legal services agreement;
Steps taken at your request before entering into a contract;
Compliance with legal, regulatory, accounting, tax, or professional obligations;
The establishment, exercise, or defence of legal claims;
Protection of the vital interests of an individual;
Our legitimate interests in operating, securing, and developing our legal practice;
Other legal grounds permitted under applicable data protection legislation.

Where processing is based on consent, you may withdraw your consent at any time. Withdrawal does not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before consent was withdrawn.

Personal data must be processed lawfully, fairly, transparently, and only to the extent necessary for the relevant purpose.

7. Sensitive Personal Data

Legal matters may sometimes require the processing of sensitive or special-category personal data, including information concerning health, criminal proceedings, family matters, political opinions, religious beliefs, biometric information, or trade-union membership.

Such data will only be processed where necessary and where a valid legal ground exists, including:

The establishment, exercise, or defence of legal claims;
Compliance with a legal or professional obligation;
Protection of an individual’s vital interests;
Explicit consent, where required;
Another basis permitted by applicable law.

We ask that you do not provide sensitive personal data unless it is relevant and necessary for the legal service requested.

8. Attorney–Client Confidentiality

Information provided in connection with legal services is treated confidentially and handled in accordance with applicable attorney–client confidentiality, professional secrecy, and ethical obligations.

Access to client information is limited to lawyers, employees, consultants, and authorized professionals who require the information to perform the relevant service.

Nothing in this Privacy Policy limits any stronger confidentiality protection arising from applicable professional rules or the attorney–client relationship.

9. Sharing and Disclosure of Personal Data

Where necessary for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy, personal data may be shared with:

Licensed local lawyers and partner law firms;
Courts, enforcement authorities, administrative bodies, and public institutions;
Trade registries, land registries, immigration authorities, and tax authorities;
Notaries, sworn translators, interpreters, and apostille authorities;
Accountants, auditors, tax advisers, and financial consultants;
Banks, payment service providers, and insurance companies;
Technical experts, surveyors, engineers, and other professional advisers;
Couriers, postal operators, and document-delivery providers;
Website hosting, cloud storage, email, cybersecurity, and IT service providers;
Counterparties, opposing counsel, and other persons involved in a legal matter;
Regulatory, supervisory, or professional authorities where disclosure is legally required.

Personal data is shared only to the extent necessary for the relevant legal, administrative, or professional purpose.

We do not sell or commercially trade personal data.

10. International Data Transfers

LegalBalkan provides services involving multiple jurisdictions across the Balkans. Consequently, personal data may need to be transferred to lawyers, courts, authorities, notaries, translators, consultants, and service providers located outside Türkiye or outside the country in which the data was originally collected.

Where required, international transfers will be carried out using an appropriate legal mechanism, such as:

An adequacy decision;
Standard contractual clauses;
Contractual safeguards;
Explicit consent;
A transfer necessary for the performance of a contract;
A transfer necessary for the establishment, exercise, or defence of legal claims;
Another mechanism permitted by applicable law.

Information regarding international transfers and available safeguards forms part of the transparency requirements under applicable data protection rules.

11. Data Retention

Personal data is retained only for as long as reasonably necessary for the purpose for which it was collected.

The applicable retention period may depend on:

The duration of the client relationship;
The nature and status of the legal matter;
Statutory limitation periods;
Professional record-keeping obligations;
Tax, accounting, and invoicing requirements;
Potential or ongoing legal disputes;
Regulatory and professional obligations.

Information relating to unsuccessful inquiries or prospective clients may be retained for a limited period for conflict checks, record keeping, and the protection of legal rights.

At the end of the applicable retention period, personal data will be securely deleted, destroyed, anonymized, or archived where required by law.

12. Data Security

LegalBalkan uses appropriate administrative, technical, and organizational measures to protect personal data against:

Unauthorized access;
Unlawful processing;
Accidental loss;
Alteration;
Disclosure;
Destruction;
Misuse.

These measures may include access controls, secure communication systems, password protection, encrypted storage, backups, staff confidentiality obligations, and security monitoring.

No electronic transmission or storage system can be guaranteed to be completely secure. However, we regularly review our procedures and take reasonable measures to reduce data-security risks.

13. Cookies and Similar Technologies

The LegalBalkan website may use cookies and similar technologies to:

Enable essential website functions;
Maintain website security;
Remember user preferences;
Understand website usage;
Measure website performance;
Improve website content and functionality.

Strictly necessary cookies may be used without consent where permitted by law. Analytics, advertising, or other non-essential cookies will only be used where a valid legal basis exists and consent is obtained when required.

You may manage or disable cookies through your browser settings. Disabling certain cookies may affect the functionality of the website.

Further details may be provided in a separate Cookie Policy or cookie-preference panel.

14. Marketing Communications

LegalBalkan may occasionally send legal updates, publications, event invitations, or information about its services where:

You have provided consent;
You are an existing client and the communication is permitted by law;
The communication is based on another valid legal ground.

You may unsubscribe from marketing communications at any time by using the unsubscribe option included in the communication or by contacting us at info@legalbalkan.com.

Service-related and legally required communications are not considered marketing communications and may continue where necessary.

15. Your Data Protection Rights

Depending on the law applicable to you, you may have the right to:

Request information about whether your personal data is being processed;
Obtain access to your personal data;
Request correction of inaccurate or incomplete data;
Request deletion or destruction of personal data;
Request restriction of processing;
Object to certain processing activities;
Request data portability, where applicable;
Withdraw consent at any time;
Request information about recipients of your personal data;
Object to decisions based solely on automated processing, where applicable;
Request compensation where you suffer damage as a result of unlawful processing;
Submit a complaint to the competent data protection authority.

The precise scope of these rights may vary depending on the applicable jurisdiction and the legal basis for processing. The GDPR recognizes rights including access, erasure, objection, restriction, portability, withdrawal of consent, and the right to complain to a supervisory authority. Turkish data-protection rules likewise require information about the identity of the controller, processing purposes, transfer recipients, collection method, legal basis, and data-subject rights.

To exercise your rights, please contact:

Email: info@legalbalkan.com

We may request additional information to verify your identity before responding. Requests will be handled within the period required by applicable law.

16. Automated Decision-Making

LegalBalkan may use digital tools, artificial intelligence, and Legal Tech systems to support legal research, document management, translation, case organization, and administrative processes.

We do not intend to make decisions producing legal or similarly significant effects concerning individuals solely through automated processing without appropriate professional and human review.

Technology is used to support, not replace, the professional judgment of qualified lawyers.

17. Third-Party Websites

The LegalBalkan website may contain links to websites operated by public authorities, courts, professional organizations, business partners, or other third parties.

LegalBalkan is not responsible for the privacy practices, security, or content of third-party websites. Users should review the privacy policies of those websites before submitting personal data.

18. Children’s Privacy

The LegalBalkan website and services are not directed specifically at children.

Where personal data concerning a minor is required for an immigration, citizenship, family, inheritance, education, or other legal matter, it will be processed only where necessary and in accordance with applicable law.

Where required, information may be obtained from or provided with the involvement of a parent, guardian, or legal representative.

19. Changes to This Privacy Policy

LegalBalkan may update this Privacy Policy to reflect:

Changes in legislation;
Changes in professional or regulatory requirements;
Changes in our services;
Changes in technology or data-processing practices;
Changes in website functionality.

The latest version will be published on this page together with the date of the most recent update.

20. Contact Us

For questions, requests, or complaints concerning this Privacy Policy or the processing of personal data, please contact: