Privacy Policy In Terms Of The POPI Act
1. Purpose of this Privacy Policy:
1.1 This Privacy Policy sets out the basis on which any Personal Information we collect from
you, or that you provide to us, will be used, stored and processed by us (“Collect” or
Collection”), when making use of our products and/or our services (“Products/Services”)
on any of our platforms (herein after collectively referred to as our “Site/s”)
1.2 By continuing to use our Products/Services or any of our Sites, you are accepting and
consenting to the practice described in this Privacy Policy. Therefore, please read carefully
to understand our views and practices regarding your Personal Information (as defined
below) and how we will treat it.
2. Interpretation and definitions:
2.1 Words that are defined in the Protection of Personal Information Act No. 4 of 2013
(“POPIA”) and used in this Privacy Policy will bear the same meaning as in POPIA unless
the context requires otherwise;
2.2 Reference to “consent” shall include any electronic means by which you convey your
acceptance and acknowledgement that you agree to us processing your Personal
Information, whether it be by the clicking of a button, or through biometric means,
subscribing, submitting or sending of a message, updating your profile or clicking “I Agree”
button or pressing the “enter” button, or by any other means, to submit/convey any
information to us;
2.3 Any reference to singular shall include plural, and any reference to a certain gender shall
include the opposite gender.
3. Introduction:
3.1 We recognise the importance of protecting your privacy in respect of your Personal
Information collected by us.
3.2 In adopting this Privacy Policy, we wish to ensure that the use of your Personal
Information is lawful, reasonable, and relevant to our activities, with the ultimate goal of
improving the services we offer and to your experience with us. We also wish to balance
our legitimate business interests and your reasonable expectation of privacy. Accordingly,
we will take appropriate and reasonable technical and organizational steps to prevent
unauthorized access to, or disclosure of your Personal Information. However, we do not
guarantee that your Personal Information shall be 100% secure.
3.3 We are serious about the privacy of the personal information of our clients and third
parties that deal with us and therefore treat it in the most secure way as reasonably
possible and in a way that is aligned to the requirements of the Protection of Personal
Information Act 4 of 2013 (“POPIA”).
3.4 Where there are reasonable grounds to believe that your Personal Information has been
accessed or acquired by any unauthorized person, we will notify you and the Information
Regulator which is appointed in terms of POPIA.
3.5 We will delay notifying you of the unauthorized access or acquisition of your Personal
Information if a public body responsible for detection, prevention or investigation of
offences or the Information Regulator informs us that notifying you will impede a criminal
investigation.
3.6 When we notify you of the compromise to the security of your Personal Information, we will
provide you with sufficient information to allow you to take protective measures against the
potential consequences of the compromise.
4. Consent:
By continuing to use our Products/Services and/or our Site:
4.1 you agree to the terms set out in this Privacy Policy. If you do not agree with this Privacy
Policy, please do not continue to use our Products/Services and/or our Site and/or the
Products/Services provided by any of our partners; and
4.2 you agree that we may process your Personal Information for, amongst other things, (i) the
purposes of providing you with access to our Products/Services, our Site; and (ii) for any
other purposes set out in this Privacy Policy.
5. Variation of Privacy Policy:
We reserve the right to vary the terms of this Privacy Policy. We will notify you of any such change
and give you an opportunity to review the revised policy before you choose to continue to make
use of our Products/Services and/or our Site. It is your responsibility to familiarise yourself with the
most recent version of this Privacy Policy each time you access our Products/Services and/or our
Site and before you elect to continue to make use of our Products/Services and/or our Site.
6. How we collect your Personal Information:
6.1 We may collect or obtain Personal Information about you –
6.1.1 directly from you;
6.1.2 in the course of our relationship with you;
6.1.3 in the course of providing legal services to you or your organisation;
6.1.4 when you make your Personal Information public;
6.1.5 when you visit and/or interact with our Website or our various social media platforms;
6.1.6 when you register to use any of our legal and related services including but
not limited to newsletters, seminars and legal updates;
6.1.7 when you interact with any third-party content or
6.1.8 when you visit our offices.
6.2 We may also receive Personal Information about you from third parties (eg, law
enforcement authorities).
6.3 In addition to the above, we may create Personal Information about you such as records
of your communications and interactions with us, including, but not limited to, your
attendance at events or at interviews in the course of applying for a job with us, subscription
to our newsletters and other mailings and interactions with you during the course of our
digital marketing campaigns.
7. What type of Personal Information do we process:
The Personal Information that we may process includes information necessary for us to provide
you with the Products/Services and to protect and ensure our legitimate business interests. This
may include all of the categories of Personal Information listed in POPIA, and amongst other,
include at least all of the following information: –
7.1 Information and content you provide.
When we receive an enquiry, request or order, we may request, receive, store and record
many details that are defined as personal information in POPIA. We collect the consent,
communications and other information you provide when you use our Products/Services,
including when you sign up for an account, create or share content, and message or
communicate with us via our Site or via any other means. Our systems automatically
process content and communications you and others provide to analyse context and what’s
in them for the purposes described below. We specifically process the following Personal
Information about you:
7.1.1 personal details such as your name; and a photograph;
7.1.2 demographic information such as your gender; date of birth / age; nationality;
salutation; title; and language preferences;
7.1.3 identifier information such as your passport or national identity number; utility
provider details; bank statements; tenancy agreements;
7.1.4 contact details such as correspondence address; telephone number; email address;
and details of your public social media profile(s);
7.1.5 instruction details such as details of individuals instructing us; Personal Information
included in correspondence, documents, evidence or other materials that we
process in the course of providing legal services;
7.1.6 attendance records such as details of meetings and other events organised by or on
behalf of us that you have attended;
7.1.7 consent records such as records of any consents you may have given, together with
the date and time, means of consent and any related information;
7.1.8 payment details such as billing address; payment method; bank account number or
credit card number; invoice records; payment records; SWIFT details; payment
amount; payment date; and records of cheques;
7.1.9 data relating to your visits to our Website: your device type; operating system; browser
type; browser settings; IP address; language settings; dates and times of connecting
to a Website; and other technical communications information;
7.1.10 employer details such as where you interact with us in your capacity as an employee
of an organisation, the name, address, telephone number and email address of your
employer, to the extent relevant; and
7.1.11content and advertising data such as records of your interactions with our online
advertising and content, records of advertising and content displayed on pages
displayed to you, and any interaction you may have had with such content or
advertising (including, but not limited to, mouse hover, mouse clicks and any forms
you complete);
7.1.12 public content such as your views if you choose to share same via our Site;
7.2 Your usage.
We collect information about how you use our Products/Services and/or our Site, such as
the types of content you view or engage with; the features you use; the actions you take; the
accounts you interact with. For example, we log when you’re using and have last used our
Products/Services and/or our Site, and what posts, pages and other content you view on
our Site. We also collect information about how you use certain features of our
Products/Services and/or our Site;
7.3 Device Information.
As described below, we collect information from and about the computers, phones,
connected TVs and other web-connected devices you use that integrate with our Site, and
we combine this information across different devices you use. For example, we use
information collected about your use of our Products/Services and/or our Site on your phone
to better personalize the content (including ads) or features you see when you use our
Products/Services on another device, such as your laptop or tablet, or to measure whether
you took an action in response to an advertisement we showed you on your device.
Information we may obtain from these devices is data from cookies stored on your device,
including cookie IDs and settings.
7.4 Site Information
If you browse our website and/or download any information, we will not record any of
your personal details. We do collect a record of the visit for our own information
purposes. Our web server also automatically records the name of your ISP (Internet
Service Provider), the website from which you visit us, the pages on our site you visit
and in what sequence, and the date and length of your visit. The personal information
collected in this way is de- personalised and we will not be able to trace you as a result.
It is aggregate and anonymous data and does not identify you specifically.
7.5 We will limit the types of Personal Information processed to only that to which you have
given your consent and which is necessary for our legitimate business interests, or as
allowed by law.
8. When will we process your Personal Information:
8.1 Personal Information may be processed by us when:
8.1.1 you visit, browse, register, subscribe and/or apply for and use our Products/Services
and/or our Site;
8.1.2 you register to receive any notifications from us in respect of our email authentication
service and/or our text message authentication service;
8.1.3 we carry out research;
8.1.4 when or if required by law; and
8.1.5 when and if it is in your best interest.
8.2 You acknowledge that all Personal Information processed by us may be stored by us and
used, inter alia, for any of the purposes, but not exclusively, listed in clause 9 below.
9. How do we use your Personal Information (Purpose of Processing):
9.1 We may use your Personal Information:
9.1.1 in the ordinary course of the business of providing conveyancing, notarial and related
services (our Products and Services) to you. The aforesaid processing may include
analysis, evaluation, review and collation of information in order to determine legal
service particularly relating to conveyancing and notarial matters and potential
disputes, provide legal advice and prepare or comment on opinions, memoranda,
correspondence, reports, publications, documents relating to legal proceedings and
other documents and records (whether in electronic or any other medium
whatsoever); compliance with applicable law and fraud prevention; and transfer of
information to our service providers and other third parties.
9.1.2 to personalise features and services and make suggestions for you (such as pages,
services and information you may be interested in or topics you may want to follow)
on or about our Products/Services or on our Site.
9.1.3 to develop, test and improve our Products/Services and/or our Site, including by
conducting surveys and research, and testing and troubleshooting new products and
services and features.
9.1.4 to promote safety, integrity and security. We use the information we have to verify
accounts and activity, combat harmful conduct, detect and prevent spam and other
bad experiences, maintain the integrity of our Products/Services, and promote safety
and security on and off of our Products/Services. For example, we use data we have
to investigate suspicious activity or violations of our terms or policies;
9.1.5 to communicate with you. We use the information we have to communicate with you
about our Products/Services, and let you know about our policies and terms. We also
use your information to respond to you when you contact us;
9.1.6 for helping us in any future dealings with you; and
9.1.7 for any other purpose as legally authorised to do and
as is allowed by law.
10. Where we store your Personal Information
10.1 All of the information you provide to us is stored manually, and/or on our secure cloud-
based platform maintained and protected in the Republic of South Africa (RSA);
10.2 The information that we collect from you may also be transferred to, and stored at, a
destination outside the RSA (“RSA”). It may also be processed by staff operating outside
the RSA who work for us or for one of our suppliers, content providers or service providers.
Such staff may be engaged in, among other things, the fulfilment of our obligations towards you, the processing of your payment details and the provision of support
Products/Services. We will take all steps reasonably necessary to ensure that the information is treated securely and in accordance with this Privacy Policy, and that said destination’s data protection legislation is similar to POPIA, and if such destination’s data protection legislation is not similar to POPIA, then we shall only transfer your Personal Information with your consent, or if we are required by law to do so, or under an agreement with the relevant receipt in such destination whereby we ensure that adequate safeguards are put in place to ensure the protection of your Personal Information;
10.3 Records of the Personal Information will not be retained for longer than is necessary for
operational or archiving purposes, unless retention of record is required or authorised by
law. Records of the information may be retained for periods in excess of those
contemplated for historical, statistical or research purposes. This will be subject to us
establishing appropriate safeguards (which can include de-identifying the records) against
the records being used for any other purpose;
10.4 Unfortunately, the transmission of information via the internet is not completely secure. We
will use appropriate and reasonable technical and organisational measurements to protect
the information, we cannot however guarantee the security of your data transmitted to our
Site or to any other location by electronic means. Any transmission is at your own risk.
However, once we have received the information, we will use appropriate and reasonable
technical organisational measurements to try and prevent unauthorised access.
11. Sharing of your Personal Information:
11.1 We will not disclose any of your Personal Information to any person, except when we have
your consent and/or permission to do so or where we are required to do so in terms of law
or if same is in your best interest;
11.2 You agree that your Personal Information may be shared: –
11.2.1 to our holding companies, subsidiary companies, agents, advisers, partners,
service providers and suppliers, or in the event of a change control if the
ownership or control of all or a part of our Products/Services changes, we may
transfer your information to such new owner.
11.2.2 where the law requires that we disclose your Personal Information to a party, and
where we have reason to believe that a disclosure of Personal Information is
necessary to identify, contact or bring legal action against a party who may be in
breach of the terms or may be causing injury to or interference with (either
intentionally or unintentionally) our rights or property, other users, or anyone else
that could be harmed by such activities, or where the disclosure of your Personal
Information would be in your best interest.
12. Other interactions with your Personal Information:
12.1 POPIA requires us to ensure that we hold correct and updated personal information and,
hence, we may need to update your personal information fromtime to time, and request your assistance in doing so. The request will be sent via email or otherwise, whatever is most
reasonable in the circumstances.
12.2 We will:
12.2.1 not sell or give your Personal Information away, use it, other than interms of this
policy;
12.2.2 retain the Personal Information for only 5 years, or for as long as we are required
bylaw to do so; and
12.2.3 delete your Personal Information by shredding it, where it is physical information,
and have our IT department delete it from the cloud.
13. Your rights:
13.1 You may at any time request us to confirm what personal information we have relatingto you
and by whom it was accessed. We may charge a fee for the latter.
13.2 You may enquire from us about your personal information that we have, andhow, if at
all, it was used.
13.3 You have the right to, in accordance with these terms, request that we correct, destroy or
delete any of your Personal Information that we have processed on our Products/Services
and/or our Site. The Personal Information that you may request us to correct, destroy or
delete is Personal Information that has been processed in accordance with these terms
that is inaccurate, irrelevant, excessive, out of date, incomplete, misleading, obtained
unlawfully or that we are no longer authorised to retain.
13.4 You have the right to withdraw your consent for us to process your Personal Information at
any time. The withdrawal of your consent can only be made by you on the condition that
the withdrawal of your consent does not affect the processing of your Personal Information
before the withdrawal of your consent; or that the withdrawal of your consent does not
affect the processing of your Personal Information if the processing is in compliance with
an obligation imposed by law on us; or that the withdrawal of your consent does not affect
the processing of your Personal Information where such processing is necessary for the
proper performance of a public law duty by a public body; or that the withdrawal of your
consent does not affect the processing of your Personal Information as required by law; or
that the withdrawal of your consent does not affect the processing of your Personal
Information as required to finalise the performance of a contract in which you are a party;
or that the withdrawal of your consent does not affect the processing of your Personal
Information as required to protect your legitimate interests or our own legitimate interests or
the legitimate interests of a third party to whom the information is supplied.
13.5 You have the right to object to the processing of your Personal Information at any time, on
reasonable grounds relating to your particular situation, unless the processing is required
by law. You can make the objection if the processing of your Personal Information is not
necessary for the proper performance of a public law duty by a public body; or if the
processing of your Personal Information is not necessary to pursue your legitimate
interests, our legitimate interests or the legitimate interests of a third party the information
is supplied to.
13.6 You have the right to object to the processing of your Personal Information, at any time, if the
processing is for purposes of direct marketing other than direct marketing by means of unsolicited electronic communications and you have not given your consent for that
processing.
13.7 You have the right to not have your Personal Information processed for purposes of direct
marketing by means of unsolicited electronic communications from third parties unknown
to you.
13.8 You have the right to submit a complaint to the Information Regulator regarding an alleged
interference with the protection of Personal Information processed in accordance with these
terms. The Information Regulator’s contact details are published by the government from
time to time in terms of POPIA. When they are published POPIA places a duty on us to
inform you what those contact details are and we will do so via our Products/Services
and/or our Site.
13.9 You have the right to institute civil proceedings regarding an alleged interference with the
protection of your Personal Information processed in accordance with these terms.
14. Use of cookies:
14.1 Cookies are pieces of information our Products/Services and/or our Site transfers to a
user’s hard drive for record-keeping purposes. Cookies make surfing the web easier for
you by saving you preferences and, tracking your online habits, traffic patterns, and making
sure that you do not see the same advertisement too often. The use of cookies is an
industry standard.
14.2 We may place a “cookie” on your browser to store and sometimes track information about
you.
14.3 While most browsers are initially set up to accept cookies, you can reset the data’s subject’s
browser to refuse all cookies or indicate when a cookie is being sent. Please note that
some parts of our Products/Services and/or our Site will not function properly if you refuse
cookies.
15. Links to other Sites:
When you use our Products/Services and/or our Site, you could be directed to other site/s that
are beyond our control. These other site/s may send their own cookies to you, collect data or solicit
Personal Information. We do not control the privacy policies of those third party and we cannot be
held liable for the use thereof by you for any reason whatsoever.
16. Direct Marketing:
We may process your Personal Information for the purposes of providing you with information
regarding services that may be of interest to you. You may unsubscribe for free at any time.
17. Changes to this Privacy Policy:
17.1 From time to time, we may revise this privacy policy to reflect company initiatives,
changes in the law or technology or changes in our practices regarding the collection and use of personal information. If we decide to change this privacy policy, the changes
will be posted on this Website so that you are always informed of the latest version.
17.2 We will not use or disclose personal information provided to us pursuant to this Privacy
Policy in ways other than the ones described above, without informing you and
providing you with the opportunity to consent to such modified conditions concerning
the use and disclosure of your personal information.
Last updated: 08 September 2022.