This Privacy Policy explains how Laghbani Consulting ("we", "us" or "our") collects, processes and protects your personal data when you use our website laghbani-consulting.com, our student portal, our email communications and all related online services (collectively, the "Services").
We are committed to transparency, security and compliance with applicable data protection laws, including the Swiss Federal Act on Data Protection (nFADP) and the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
1. Data Controller
The controller responsible for processing your personal data is:
Laghbani Consulting (sole proprietorship, owner Mahmoud Laghbani)
Ringstrasse 19, CH-8317 Tagelswangen, Switzerland
info@laghbani-consulting.com
For any question about this policy, or to exercise your rights, contact us at the address above. Full statutory details are set out in our Imprint.
2. Data We Collect
We may collect and process the following categories of personal data:
- Personal identification data: name, email address, phone number, postal address, nationality and date of birth.
- Educational and application information: academic records, documents, transcripts and related materials needed for admission or visa assistance.
- Financial and payment information: processed securely through a third-party payment provider. We do not store full payment-card details on our servers.
- Technical data: IP address, browser type and device identifiers collected through cookies and analytics tools.
- Account data: information used to create and manage your student account on our portal, including login and session data handled by our authentication provider.
- Communication data: messages, support tickets, consultation notes and other interactions with our team.
3. How We Collect Your Data
We collect personal data through:
- Direct interactions: when you submit forms, upload documents or contact us directly.
- Automated technologies: cookies and analytics tools that capture limited technical information.
- Third-party integrations: data shared securely through service providers that support our operations.
4. How We Use Your Data
We use your personal data for the following purposes:
- Providing our services: to manage student applications, assist with university and visa processes and offer consultation support.
- Administrative operations: to maintain records, issue invoices and fulfil contractual or legal obligations.
- Communication: to send updates about your application status, consultations or other service-related matters.
- Account management: to operate and secure your student account on our portal.
- Workflow automation: to trigger internal automations such as status updates, notifications and document routing.
- Performance optimisation: to improve the functionality and usability of our systems.
If you use our visa application support, we may temporarily create or assist in managing your account on third-party portals (e.g. the German embassy or university portals). Such accounts and related data remain under your ownership and control.
5. Legal Basis for Processing
We process your personal data based on one or more of the following legal grounds:
- Consent: you have given consent for specific processing activities.
- Contractual necessity: processing is required to perform our services or fulfil a contract with you.
- Legal obligation: processing is necessary to comply with Swiss or EU legal requirements.
- Legitimate interests: when processing is necessary for our operational efficiency, security or service improvement, provided your fundamental rights are not overridden.
6. Recipients of Your Data
We do not sell your personal data, and we do not share it for third-party advertising. We share data only as described below.
6.1 Service providers acting on our behalf (processors)
We use carefully selected service providers to operate our website, student portal and internal workflows. They act only on our documented instructions, are bound by confidentiality and by data-processing agreements (GDPR Art. 28 and equivalent Swiss law), and may not use your data for their own purposes. We disclose data to the following categories of provider:
- Hosting and infrastructure: for our website, student portal, databases and secure file storage.
- Authentication and account security: to create and protect your portal account and manage logins and sessions.
- Payment processing: to take and reconcile payments securely. Full payment-card details are handled by the payment provider and are not stored by us.
- Online forms, document collection and e-signature: to gather your information, documents and signatures.
- Workflow automation and internal productivity tools: to route tasks, notifications and documents between our systems.
- Communication and email: to correspond with you about your application and our services.
- Website analytics and performance: to understand and improve how our site is used (see our Cookie Policy).
We can provide the current list of the specific providers we use on request. Email info@laghbani-consulting.com and we will share it with you.
6.2 Institutions we contact to deliver your service
To carry out the services you book, and on the basis of the power of attorney you sign, we share the data necessary for each step with the relevant third-party institutions, for example universities and Studienkollegs, language schools, embassies and foreign offices, blocked-account and banking providers, and health-insurance providers. These institutions act as independent controllers under their own privacy rules. We share only the data needed for the specific step, and only with your knowledge.
6.3 Legal and protective disclosures
We may disclose data where required by law, court order or a competent authority, or where necessary to establish, exercise or defend legal claims, or to protect the rights, safety or property of you, us or others.
7. Data Retention
We keep personal data only for as long as necessary for the purposes described above, and then delete or anonymise it. In practice:
- During your engagement: we keep your data for as long as we are providing services to you.
- After your engagement: we keep records we are legally required to retain, in particular accounting and business records, for the periods required by Swiss law (generally up to ten years under the Swiss Code of Obligations).
- On request: data we are not legally required to keep is securely deleted within 30 days of a verified deletion request.
Important: we cannot delete or modify data already shared with third-party institutions such as universities, embassies or government authorities, as they operate independently under their own rules. You may need to contact those institutions directly to exercise your rights with them.
8. Data Security
We employ administrative, organisational and technical safeguards to protect your personal data against unauthorised access, disclosure or loss. These include encryption, access control, secure connections (HTTPS), multi-factor authentication for sensitive systems, and zero-knowledge tools for managing internal credentials.
9. International Data Transfers
We prefer providers that store data in Switzerland or the European Economic Area (EEA), and our primary database and document storage are hosted in this region. Some providers may nonetheless process data in other countries, including the United Kingdom, the United States or elsewhere.
Where data is transferred outside Switzerland or the EEA, we rely on one or more of the following safeguards to maintain an equivalent level of protection:
- transfers to countries recognised as providing adequate protection under Swiss and EU law;
- the EU Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs), together with the Swiss addendum recognised by the Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner (FDPIC); and
- the EU-US and Swiss-US Data Privacy Framework, where the provider is certified under it.
You may request more information about the safeguards that apply to a specific transfer by contacting us.
10. Your Rights
You have the following rights under applicable data protection laws:
- Access: request a copy of your personal data.
- Rectification: request correction of inaccurate information.
- Erasure: request deletion of your data (except where retention is required by law or third-party control applies).
- Restriction: limit the processing of your data under certain conditions.
- Portability: receive a copy of your data in a structured, machine-readable format.
- Objection: object to processing where based on legitimate interest.
- Withdraw consent: where processing is based on your consent, withdraw it at any time, without affecting processing carried out before withdrawal.
To exercise these rights, contact us at info@laghbani-consulting.com. We will respond within the timelines prescribed by law.
Right to complain. If you believe we have not handled your data lawfully, you can lodge a complaint with the Swiss Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner (FDPIC, edoeb.admin.ch). If you are in the EU or EEA, you may also complain to the data protection authority in your country of residence.
Automated decision-making. We do not make decisions that produce legal or similarly significant effects about you based solely on automated processing, including profiling.
11. Cookies and Analytics
We use cookies and analytics tools to improve website functionality, analyse traffic and enhance user experience. You can manage your cookie preferences through your browser settings or via our Cookie Policy.
12. Changes to This Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy periodically to reflect new technologies, legal requirements or operational changes. The latest version will always be available on our website.