Privacy Policy

1. Introduction

The Hungarian-American Lawyers Association (“HALA,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) respects your privacy and is committed to protecting your personal data. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, and safeguard information when you visit our website at hala.law or submit a membership application.

2. Information We Collect

We collect information you provide directly to us, including:

• Name and professional title
• Email address
• Bar admission details and jurisdiction
• Law school and graduation year
• Professional affiliation and firm name
• Hungarian connection or heritage (voluntary)
• Any other information you choose to provide in your membership application

We also collect limited technical information automatically when you visit our site, such as your IP address, browser type, and pages visited, through standard web analytics tools.

3. How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect to:

• Process and evaluate your membership application
• Communicate with you about your application or membership status
• Send updates about HALA events, publications, and activities (with your consent)
• Maintain the HALA member directory (with your consent)
• Improve our website and services
• Comply with legal obligations

4. Legal Basis for Processing (GDPR)

For individuals located in the European Union or European Economic Area, we process your personal data on the following legal bases:

• Contract: Processing necessary to evaluate and administer your membership.
• Legitimate interests: Operating and improving the association.
• Consent: Where you have explicitly consented (e.g., inclusion in the member directory or newsletter communications).

5. Data Sharing

We do not sell your personal data. We may share your information with:

• Our administrative team and board members, for membership review purposes
• Service providers who assist us in operating our website and managing our database (under appropriate data processing agreements)
• Legal authorities, if required by law

6. Data Retention

We retain your personal data for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes described in this policy, or as required by law. Membership application data is retained for the duration of your membership and a reasonable period thereafter for administrative purposes.

7. Your Rights

Depending on your location, you may have the following rights regarding your personal data:

• Access: Request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
• Rectification: Request correction of inaccurate or incomplete data.
• Erasure: Request deletion of your personal data, subject to legal obligations.
• Restriction: Request that we limit how we use your data.
• Portability: Request a machine-readable copy of the data you have provided.
• Objection: Object to processing based on legitimate interests.
• Withdrawal of consent: Withdraw consent at any time where processing is consent-based.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at contact@hala.law.

8. Cookies

Our website uses essential cookies to ensure proper functionality and analytics cookies (through Vercel Analytics) to understand how visitors use our site. Analytics data is aggregated and does not identify individual users. You may disable cookies through your browser settings, though this may affect website functionality.

9. Security

We implement reasonable technical and organizational measures to protect your personal data against unauthorized access, loss, or alteration. However, no method of transmission over the internet is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

10. International Transfers

HALA operates in the United States. If you are located in the European Union or Hungary, your data may be transferred to and processed in the United States. We take appropriate steps to ensure such transfers comply with applicable data protection law.

11. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify members of material changes by email or by posting a notice on our website. Your continued use of our site after changes constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

12. Contact

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or how we handle your personal data, please contact us: