Dear Clients,
The Protection of Personal Information Act, 4 of 2013 (hereinafter referred to as the “Act”) comes into effect on 1 July 2021. The purpose of the Act is to ensure that Data Subjects’ (our clients) personal information is not mismanaged, obtained unlawfully and that your personal information is stored, processed and used with the express consent from you.
As a result of the Act’s terms and conditions, we hereby undertake and confirm that your personal information that was provided by yourself to our company, will only be used for the agreed upon transactions and / or litigation / non-litigious matters as per our signed fees and mandate agreement.
We will continue to share your personal information with third parties who are incidental to the conclusion of your transactions and / or litigation / non-litigious matters with us.
We have put into place guidelines that mirror and adhere to the conditions that are set out in the Act.
We can confidently assure you, that as our client, we have strict security safeguards in place to ensure that the personal information you have provided to us is stored safely and that no unauthorized persons have access to it.
What is personal information?
In terms of the regulations in the Act, personal information is any information about an individual that can be used to identify said individual.
We make use of the following personal information:
- Name and Surname;
- Telephone numbers;
- E-mail address;
- Physical Address;
- Correspondence between clients and third parties;
- Gender;
- Age;
- Nationality;
- Marital status;
- Criminal records;
- Employment, medical, financial, education and criminal history;
- Ethnicity; and
- Account numbers.
Methods used to obtain your personal information:
- We collect all personal information directly from our clients, in writing.
- Should your personal information be needed for use by third-parties, suppliers or transferred across borders, we will always obtain consent from you before your personal information is used.
Storage of your personal information:
- We use electronic methods to store your personal information as well as physical copies.
- Our electronic storage is backed up on our server and all devices that have access to our server are password protected.
- Our physical copies are stored in cabinets that are locked with a key for protection against unauthorized persons.
- We do not allow unauthorized persons into our office in order to minimize any potential information security breaches.
How do we destroy your personal information once we no longer require it?
- Our company makes use of a reputable waste management company.
- We make use of shredders to effectively destroy and de-identify your personal information.
- Our fee and mandate agreements are stored on our server and psychical copies are locked away.
- In terms of The Financial Intelligence Centre Act, 38 of 2001 (hereinafter referred to as FICA), we are prescribed to keep all FICA related documents for a period of 5 (Five) years, whereafter we will make use of shredding machines to destroy and de-identify your personal information.
Your rights as our clients in accordance with the Act:
- As our client, you have the right to request that your personal information be amended, changed or destroyed / de-identified.
- Therefore, should you no longer wish for your information to be stored on our database, please inform us and we will destroy / de-identify your personal information.
Acceptance of the above:
Due to the fact that you already are a part of our clientele and you have already given us your personal information and same has been shared with third parties whom are incidental to your transactions and / or litigation / non-litigious matters, we undertake that you have accepted the terms and conditions as set out in the Act in terms of providing us with consent to make use of your personal information.
However, should you wish to not accept the contents of this letter, we would appreciate you contacting us telephonically or via written communication so that we can assist you further.
