Personal Data Protection Policy

Information on the processing of personal data pursuant to Articles 13 and 14 of the GDPR

Last updated: 31 July 2026

Protecting your privacy and personal data is important to us. This Policy explains what personal data we process, the purposes for which we use it, the legal bases on which we process it, to whom it may be disclosed and what rights you have in relation to its processing.

We process personal data only to the extent necessary to provide our services, organise education and development programmes, communicate with clients and prospective clients, comply with legal obligations and ensure the secure operation of our websites.

1. Who is the controller of your personal data?

The controller of your personal data is:

Via Institute, s.r.o.
Karpatská 18
811 05 Bratislava – Staré Mesto
Slovak Republic
Company Registration Number: 50 786 083
Tax Identification Number: 2120468768
VAT Identification Number: SK2120468768
registered in the Commercial Register of the Bratislava III City Court, Section Sro, File No. 118270/B

Email for enquiries concerning personal data protection: hello@viainstitute.eu

This Policy applies in particular to the processing of personal data through the following websites:

www.viainstitute.eu;
www.silviagallova.com;
www.koucingkurz.sk;

and to the processing of data in connection with VIA Institute services, education programmes and events.

2. What personal data do we process?

Depending on your relationship with us, we may process, in particular:

identification data, such as your first name, surname and title;
contact details, such as your email address, telephone number and correspondence address;
billing information, such as your address, business name, Company Registration Number, Tax Identification Number and VAT Identification Number;
information provided in a programme application or during an admission interview;
information about programme participation, attendance, completed assignments, assessment and certificates or diplomas issued;
information contained in communications with us;
payment information to the extent necessary to record and allocate a payment;
information relating to complaints, concerns or the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims;
information about your newsletter subscription and marketing preferences;
photographs, audio recordings or video recordings, where made on the basis of your consent or another appropriate legal basis;
technical data relating to your use of our websites, such as your IP address, cookie identifiers, device and browser type, visit data and security logs.

Please do not send us special categories of personal data, such as detailed health information, through our contact forms unless this is necessary for us to deal with your request.

3. For what purposes and on what legal bases do we process personal data?

Purpose of processing	Legal basis
Responding to an enquiry or request for information	Steps taken prior to entering into an agreement, or our legitimate interest in responding to communications
Programme registration and admission process	Steps taken prior to entering into an agreement
Entering into and performing an agreement, organising a programme or providing a service	Performance of an agreement
Recording attendance, programme requirements, assessment and certification	Performance of an agreement or, where applicable, our legitimate interest in quality assurance and demonstrating that programme requirements have been met
Billing, accounting and tax records	Compliance with legal obligations
Handling complaints, concerns and legal claims	Compliance with legal obligations and our legitimate interest in protecting our rights
Sending newsletters and offers to people who have subscribed to receive them	Consent
Informing existing clients about similar services, where permitted by law	Legitimate interests and the applicable electronic communications rules; every message includes a simple opt-out option
Taking and publishing photographs or audiovisual recordings for promotional purposes	Consent, unless another appropriate legal basis applies
Operation, security and technical administration of our websites	Our legitimate interest in operating secure and functional websites
Analytics or marketing cookies	The website visitor’s consent
Handling requests relating to personal data protection	Compliance with a legal obligation

Where we rely on legitimate interests as the legal basis for processing, we assess whether your rights and freedoms override our interests. You have the right to object to processing based on legitimate interests.

4. Newsletter and marketing communications

We send our newsletter to people who have voluntarily subscribed to receive it and, where permitted by law, to existing clients to provide information about similar services.

Consent to receive marketing communications is voluntary and is not a condition of using our services. You may withdraw your consent at any time by clicking the unsubscribe link in the email or by sending a request to hello@viainstitute.eu.

Withdrawal of consent does not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before consent was withdrawn.

5. How long do we retain personal data?

We retain personal data only for as long as necessary for the purpose for which it was collected, in particular:

data from general enquiries and communications, normally for 12 months after the communication has been concluded;
data relating to an agreement, for the duration of the contractual relationship and subsequently for the period necessary to establish, exercise or defend legal claims;
accounting, tax and billing records, for the periods prescribed by the applicable legislation;
data concerning programme completion, assessment and certificates issued, for the period necessary to demonstrate completion of the programme and compliance with accreditation or certification requirements;
data processed on the basis of consent, until consent is withdrawn or the purpose for which it was given ends;
the minimum data necessary to record an opt-out from marketing communications, for the period required to demonstrate and honour the opt-out;
technical and website security logs, for a period proportionate to their purpose.

When the relevant retention period expires, we delete or anonymise the data, or retain it only where required by law.

6. To whom may personal data be disclosed?

We do not disclose personal data to other organisations for their own marketing purposes.

To the extent necessary, personal data may be accessed by:

our authorised employees and contractors;
trainers, mentor coaches, supervisors, assessors or members of examination panels;
providers of web hosting, technical support and website administration services;
providers of email, cloud, videoconferencing and learning platforms;
providers of newsletter, analytics and marketing tools;
accountants, tax advisers, legal advisers and other professional advisers;
banks and payment service providers;
accreditation or professional bodies, where disclosure is necessary for programme accreditation, verification that requirements have been met or issue of the relevant document;
public authorities, where we are legally required to provide the data.

Where required by the GDPR, we enter into data processing agreements with organisations that process personal data on our behalf.

7. Transfers of data outside the European Economic Area

Some providers of information technology, cloud, communication or analytics services may also process personal data outside the European Economic Area.

Any such transfer is made only in compliance with the requirements of the GDPR, in particular on the basis of a European Commission adequacy decision or by using Standard Contractual Clauses and, where necessary, additional safeguards.

You can obtain information about the specific safeguards used by emailing hello@viainstitute.eu.

8. Where do we obtain personal data?

We obtain most personal data directly from you, for example when you complete a form, apply for a programme, enter into an agreement, participate in a programme or communicate with us.

In certain cases, we may also obtain it:

from an organisation that orders a programme or service for its employees;
from a partner with whom we jointly deliver a programme;
from publicly available professional sources;
from providers of technical and analytics services in connection with the use of our websites.

If we obtain personal data from another source, we will provide you with the information required by the GDPR within the prescribed scope and time limit, unless a statutory exemption applies.

9. Are you required to provide personal data?

Providing data through a contact form is voluntary. However, without your contact details, we may not be able to respond to your enquiry.

We need the information marked as mandatory in an application or contractual documentation in order to take steps before entering into an agreement, conclude an agreement or perform it. Without this information, it may not be possible to complete your registration or provide the service.

Providing data for newsletters, marketing communications or the publication of photographs is voluntary.

10. Automated decision-making

We do not make decisions based solely on automated processing, including profiling, which produce legal effects concerning you or similarly significantly affect you.

11. Cookies and embedded content

Our websites use strictly necessary cookies required for their secure and proper operation. We use non-essential analytics, functional or marketing cookies only with your prior consent.

You can change your preferences at any time using the Cookie Settings link available on the website.

Our websites may contain embedded videos, maps or other third-party content. Where such content involves storing cookies or tracking users, it will be activated only after the relevant consent has been given.

Details of individual cookies, their providers, purposes and lifetimes are set out in our separate Cookie Policy.

12. How do we protect personal data?

We implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data against loss, unauthorised access, misuse, alteration or disclosure.

Data may be accessed only by persons who need it to perform their employment or contractual duties and who are bound by confidentiality obligations.

13. Your rights

Depending on the circumstances and the legal basis for processing, you have the right to:

request access to your personal data;
request the rectification of inaccurate data or completion of incomplete data;
request the erasure of your personal data;
request restriction of processing;
object to processing based on legitimate interests;
object at any time to processing for direct marketing purposes;
receive your data in a portable format, where the statutory conditions are met;
withdraw your consent at any time, where processing is based on consent;
lodge a complaint or submit a request to initiate proceedings with the supervisory authority;
seek judicial protection of your rights.

You may exercise your rights:

by email at hello@viainstitute.eu; or
in writing to Via Institute, s.r.o., Karpatská 18, 811 05 Bratislava – Staré Mesto.

We will respond to your request without undue delay and generally no later than within one month. If we have reasonable doubts about the identity of the person making the request, we may ask for additional information necessary to verify their identity.

14. Supervisory authority

If you believe that the processing of your personal data has infringed applicable data protection legislation, you may contact:

Office for Personal Data Protection of the Slovak Republic
Galvaniho 7/B
821 04 Bratislava
Slovak Republic

Current contact details and information on how to lodge a complaint are available on the website of the Office for Personal Data Protection of the Slovak Republic.

15. Changes to this Policy

We may update this Policy from time to time, in particular to reflect changes in legislation, our services or the technologies we use. The current version will always be published on our website together with the date on which it was last updated.