Privacy and Retention
Rabbinical Court of Austria — Beth Din Austria
Last updated: October 2026
1. Data Controllers
Under the Beth Din's current organizational structure, the following persons are jointly responsible for processing personal data in connection with the activities of the Rabbinical Court of Austria:
Rabbi Yaakov Hotoveli
Rabbi Arie Folger
The controllers act jointly on behalf of the Rabbinical Court of Austria. Their respective responsibilities are governed by an internal arrangement pursuant to Article 26 of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
Rabbi Yaakov Hotoveli is responsible for the custody and administration of physical documents. Rabbi Arie Folger is responsible for the electronic storage, security, retention and deletion of digital records.
The fundamental principles governing data processing and institutional retention are determined jointly. This internal allocation of responsibilities does not restrict the rights of data subjects, who may exercise their rights against either joint controller.
Contact for data protection matters: Please use the contact form on our website and identify your enquiry as relating to “Data Protection.”
The essential elements of the joint-controller arrangement may be requested through this contact form.
2. General Principles
The Beth Din processes personal data only for specified, explicit and legitimate purposes and only to the extent necessary for the relevant activity.
These purposes include:
Responding to enquiries and conducting general correspondence.
Preparing and conducting rabbinical proceedings.
Examining and documenting matters of religious personal status.
Issuing certificates and official documents.
Recording rabbinical decisions.
Responding to requests concerning the authenticity or contents of previously issued documents.
Establishing, exercising or defending legal claims and complying with applicable legal obligations.
Operating our website and electronic systems securely.
Processing is carried out in accordance with Article 5 GDPR, particularly the principles of purpose limitation, data minimization, accuracy, storage limitation, confidentiality and security.
3. Legal Bases for Processing
Depending on the purpose, personal data is processed on an appropriate legal basis under Article 6 GDPR. Such bases may include:
Article 6(1)(b), where processing is necessary for the performance of an agreement or for steps taken at the request of a data subject before entering into an agreement.
Article 6(1)(c), where processing is necessary to comply with a legal obligation.
Article 6(1)(f), where legitimate interests justify processing and are not overridden by the interests or fundamental rights of the data subject.
Article 6(1)(a), where valid consent has been obtained.
Rabbinical proceedings may involve special categories of personal data, particularly information concerning religious beliefs and religious affiliation.
Such information is processed only where an appropriate legal basis under Article 6 GDPR and an applicable condition under Article 9(2) GDPR are present. Depending on the circumstances, these may include explicit consent, the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims, or other exceptions provided by law.
The religious nature of the Beth Din does not, by itself, establish that every processing activity involving sensitive data is lawful.
4. Visiting Our Website
When our website is accessed, technical data necessary to deliver its content and maintain secure operation may be processed.
This may include:
Date and time of access.
Pages and internet addresses requested.
Technical information concerning the browser and device.
IP address and connection information.
Session identifiers and language preferences.
Technical error information.
Our website operates on Odoo software.
Website functionality may involve pseudonymous visitor identifiers and page-view information. Such information is used for technical website operation and administration and, where legally permitted, assessment of website usage.
Under the intended system configuration, anonymous visitor records are generally removed after 60 days without further activity.
Technical server logs are retained only for limited periods. The audited configuration provides for a maximum of 14 days or a specified storage-volume limit.
Where processing is technically necessary, it is based in particular on Article 6(1)(f) GDPR. Additional processing is subject to an appropriate separate legal basis or consent where required.
5. Cookies and Local Storage
Our website uses cookies and comparable local storage technologies where necessary for functionality, language preferences and technical operation.
According to the audited Odoo configuration, these include:
| Name | Purpose | Intended duration |
|---|---|---|
session_id | Technical session management | Up to 7 days |
frontend_lang | Remembering the preferred language | Approximately 1 year |
tz | Remembering the time-zone setting | Browser session |
presence.focus | Technical user-interface state in local browser storage | Until deleted or overwritten |
We do not use cookies for personalized advertising.
Where consent is legally required for cookies or comparable technologies, they are used only after the necessary consent has been obtained.
Cookies may be managed or deleted through browser settings. Restricting technically necessary cookies may impair website functionality.
6. Fonts and External Content
Our website uses fonts to display its German, English and Hebrew content.
Where fonts are hosted locally on our web server, the browser does not need to connect to an external font provider.
If external services or content are introduced in the future and their use involves transferring personal data to third parties, we will provide appropriate information in this Privacy Policy and obtain consent where required.
7. Contacting Us
When you contact us through the website contact form, we process the information you submit in order to deal with your enquiry.
This may include:
Name.
Email address.
Telephone number, where provided.
Subject and message.
Other information voluntarily supplied.
Please do not submit particularly confidential documents or extensive personal information through the general contact form unless necessary for your initial enquiry.
The information is used to handle your enquiry, make necessary follow-up enquiries and document correspondence.
Retention of general enquiries
Where an enquiry has been concluded and there is no further lawful reason for retention, the relevant information is generally deleted within 90 days of closure.
Where longer retention is necessary for a documented legitimate purpose, information may be retained for up to three years after closure. Applicable legal obligations and retention necessary in connection with legal claims remain unaffected.
Where a general enquiry develops into formal rabbinical proceedings, the retention provisions applicable to those proceedings apply.
8. Rabbinical Proceedings
The Beth Din processes personal data in connection with its religious and rabbinical functions, particularly in the following areas.
Giyurim — Conversion to Judaism
This may include identity and contact details, personal and religious information, supporting evidence, declarations, correspondence, examination records and rabbinical decisions.
Gittin — Religious Divorces
This may include information concerning the identity of the parties, marriage and divorce, family circumstances, necessary supporting evidence, certificates and procedural records.
Dinei Torah — Rabbinical Dispute Proceedings
This may include information concerning the parties, statements of facts, documents relevant to the proceedings, evidence, agreements, arbitral awards and other decisions.
Processing takes place only within the scope of the relevant activity and in accordance with applicable legal requirements, including the special protections applicable to sensitive personal data.
Access to confidential case records is restricted to authorized persons.
9. Retention and Availability of Records
The Beth Din retains personal data and documents only to the extent and for as long as necessary for the relevant purposes and legally permissible.
The periods below describe the general framework within which retention may be permitted. They do not constitute a promise that all records will actually exist or be preserved throughout the stated periods.
The Beth Din may retain records within this framework where a lawful purpose and an appropriate legal basis exist.
Records may be deleted, destroyed or handed over in their original form to their rightful recipients earlier, provided that no applicable statutory, contractual or other binding preservation obligation prevents this.
In particular, these periods do not create an entitlement to permanent archiving, custody or future availability of particular documents. The actual availability of individual records cannot be guaranteed.
9.1 Intended Retention Periods
| Category | Generally permissible retention |
|---|---|
| General enquiries with no further retention requirement | Generally deleted within 90 days after closure |
| General enquiries with a documented continuing purpose | Up to 3 years after closure |
| Discontinued, abandoned or unsuccessful conversion proceedings where no conversion occurred | Up to 7 years after closure |
| Conversion proceedings involving concrete indications of deception, material misrepresentation or significant safeguarding concerns | Up to 15 years after closure, subject to appropriate justification and review |
| Essential records relating to completed conversions and religious divorces | Up to 50 years; further retention may be permissible following renewed review |
| Essential records relating to completed conversions where the issuance or delivery of certificates has been deferred, and subsequent formal status decisions | Up to 50 years; further retention may be possible following review |
| Ordinary records of concluded Dinei Torah proceedings | Generally up to 3–7 years after final closure, depending on necessity |
| Final arbitral awards, settlements and other particularly significant decisions | Longer retention where legally permissible and substantively necessary |
Retention does not automatically continue for the longest period specified. Actual necessity and legal permissibility remain decisive.
Extended retention may be appropriate where concrete indications give rise to significant doubts concerning the accuracy of material information, the integrity of proceedings or other serious concerns. Conclusive proof of misconduct is not required. The circumstances of the individual case and the necessity and lawfulness of continued retention are decisive.
Where legal obligations exist, or continued retention is necessary for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims, different periods may apply.
9.2 Certificates and Original Documents
The issuance and delivery of a certificate does not mean that the Beth Din necessarily retains an additional original, duplicate, transcript or electronic copy.
This applies particularly to documents relating to religious divorces and conversions.
Retention of copies and supplementary case records depends on the actual documentation of the proceedings, organizational capabilities and applicable legal obligations.
Recipients of issued documents are generally responsible for safeguarding the originals delivered to them.
The Beth Din cannot guarantee that documents can subsequently be retrieved, reproduced or reissued.
Statutory retention obligations, expressly assumed contractual duties and other binding legal obligations remain unaffected.
10. Physical and Electronic Records
Physical original documents are held and administered under the responsibility of Rabbi Yaakov Hotoveli.
Electronic storage, technical security, administration and deletion of digital records are under the responsibility of Rabbi Arie Folger.
Both controllers coordinate fundamental retention rules and necessary corrections, restrictions and deletion decisions.
Where a document exists in both physical and electronic form, relevant measures are coordinated.
There is, however, no general undertaking to digitize all physical documents or to retain paper copies of all electronic records.
11. Data Security and Backups
The Beth Din takes appropriate technical and organizational measures to protect personal data against unauthorized access, loss, alteration and unlawful disclosure.
These include restrictions on access permissions, security measures for electronic systems and organizational measures for the confidential custody of physical records.
Backups may be created to support the recovery of electronic data.
Backups serve to protect against technical failures and data loss. They do not constitute a guarantee that individual documents can be recovered permanently or for any particular period.
Personal data may remain in backups until the relevant backup cycles expire, even after deletion from the live system. Necessary deletions and restrictions are taken into account following restoration.
Technical infrastructure may also be used for other, organizationally separate activities. Such shared technical use does not authorize the use of Beth Din data for unrelated purposes.
12. Recipients and Service Providers
Personal data is made accessible only to persons or organizations whose involvement is necessary for the relevant purpose and legally permissible.
These may include:
Competent members of the Beth Din and authorized participants.
Technical service providers for hosting, database operations, email communications and backups.
Other rabbinical authorities where lawful disclosure is necessary in connection with particular proceedings.
Public authorities, courts or other bodies where required by law or supported by an appropriate legal basis.
Where service providers process personal data on our behalf, the necessary data-protection arrangements are established.
Confidential case records are not made generally public.
13. International Data Transfers
Where personal data is transferred to recipients outside the European Union or European Economic Area, such transfers are carried out only in accordance with the requirements of the GDPR.
Depending on the circumstances, an adequacy decision of the European Commission, appropriate safeguards or an applicable statutory derogation may be required.
International communications or the involvement of rabbinical authorities abroad may necessitate such transfers in individual cases. Their lawfulness is assessed according to the purpose and circumstances.
14. Rights of Data Subjects
Subject to the applicable legal conditions, data subjects have the following rights:
Access to their personal data under Article 15 GDPR.
Rectification of inaccurate data under Article 16 GDPR.
Erasure under Article 17 GDPR.
Restriction of processing under Article 18 GDPR.
Data portability, where applicable, under Article 20 GDPR.
Objection to certain processing under Article 21 GDPR.
Withdrawal of consent with prospective effect.
These rights are subject to applicable statutory conditions and exceptions.
In particular, the right to erasure is not unrestricted where continued processing is necessary to comply with a legal obligation or for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims.
A request for rectification does not necessarily require the alteration of a historical certificate or the reversal of a rabbinical decision. Where appropriate, a correction may instead be recorded by means of a supplementary note or documentation of a subsequent decision.
To exercise your rights, please use the contact form on our website and identify the matter as “Data Protection.”
Where there are reasonable doubts concerning the identity of an applicant, additional information may be requested for identity verification, insofar as necessary and proportionate.
15. Right to Lodge a Complaint
If you believe that the processing of your personal data infringes the GDPR, you have the right to lodge a complaint with a competent data protection supervisory authority.
In Austria, this is:
Austrian Data Protection Authority (Österreichische Datenschutzbehörde)
Barichgasse 40–42
1030 Vienna
Austria
Website: https://www.dsb.gv.at
16. Automated Decision-Making
The Beth Din does not make decisions based solely on automated processing within the meaning of Article 22 GDPR that produce legal effects or similarly significant effects concerning data subjects.
Rabbinical decisions are made by the competent persons.
17. Changes to This Privacy Policy
This Privacy Policy is reviewed and updated as necessary, particularly where organizational responsibilities, technical systems, data-processing activities or applicable legal requirements change.
The current version is published on our website.