POPIA COMPLIANT – PRIVACY POLICY

This policy should be read in conjunction with the POPI Manual and PAIA Manual.

  1. Audience

This policy applies to customers/agents/ distributors /residents who may make enquiry about and/or contract for obtaining, using or distributing any products and/or services we offer, and any or all visitors to our website, if any (“you”). We recognise the importance of protecting your privacy in respect of your Personal Information (as defined in the Protection of Personal Information Act, No 4 of 2013) collected by us.

  1. Purpose of this policy

We respect your privacy and take the protection of personal information very seriously. The purpose of this policy is to describe the way we collect, store, use and protect information that can be associated with a specific natural or juristic person and can be used to identify that person (“personal information”).

Personal information:

2.1 includes:         

  • Certain information collected on application for trade in our products and/or for our services or for credit (see below); and
  • Optional information that you voluntarily provide to us (see below).

2.2 excludes:

  • information that has been made anonymous so that it does not identify a specific person or entity;
  • permanently de-identified information that does not relate or cannot be traced back to you specifically;
  • non-personal statistical information collected and compiled by us and information that you have provided voluntarily in an open, public environment or forum including (without limitation) any blog, chat room, community, classifieds or discussion board. Because the information has been disclosed in a public forum, it is no longer confidential and does not constitute personal information subject to protection under this policy.
  1. Acceptance of terms and consent

3.1 You must accept all the terms of this policy when you apply to trade with us or make enquiry about or communicate with us about the company and its business, products and services. If you do not agree with anything in this policy, then you may not trade in our products and /or use any of our services. You may not engage in trading  or use of our products and services if you are younger than 18 years old or do not have legal capacity to conclude legally binding contracts.

3.2 Consent to collection – your consent is required to collect personal information in accordance with applicable law at the time you provide us with any Personal Information.   By accepting this policy, you are deemed to have read, understood, accepted, and agreed to be bound by all its terms. By providing us with your Personal Information, you agree to this Policy and authorise us to process such information as set out herein and you authorise Eco-Green Agriculture Pty Ltd and associated entities or third parties (where applicable) for the purposes set out herein.

  1. Changes

We may change the terms of this policy at any time. We will notify you of any changes by placing a notice in a prominent place on the website or by email. If you do not agree with the change you must stop trading in and using the products and services. If you continue to use the products and services following notification of a change to the terms, the changed terms will apply to you and you will be deemed to have accepted such terms.

  1. Collection of Personal Information

5.1 Once we receive information relating to you and/or your business you will no longer be anonymous to us as you will provide us with personal information that we require to evaluate your eligibility as our business associate, to conduct our business, to supply our products and to render our services. This personal information will include (if applicable), but not be limited, to:

  • Name, surname, identity number, company name, company registration number, VAT number
  • Physical address, postal address, email address, telephone number, postal code
  • Next of kin information, medical information, including medication list, allergies and the like
  • Business, trade and Financial information
  • Bank information

5.2 Collection on use. For purposes of engaging in a trade relationship with you and/or to provide our products and services to you, you will be asked to provide us with additional information on a voluntary basis such known as “Service information”.

5.3 Optional details. You may also provide additional information on a voluntary basis (“optional information”). This includes any information you provide to us from any promotions, responses to surveys, subscriptions for certain additional services, or otherwise on application to trade in our products or use our services.

5.4 Collection from browser. We may automatically receive and record Internet usage information on our hosting company’s server logs from your browser, such as your internet protocol address (“IP Address”), browsing habits, click patterns, version of software installed, system type, screen resolutions, colour capabilities, plug-ins, language settings, cookie preferences, search engine keywords, JavaScript enablement, the content and pages that you access on the website, and the dates and times that you visit the website, paths taken, and time spent on sites and pages within the website (“usage information”). Please note that other websites visited before entering our website might place personal information within your URL during a visit to it, and we have no control over such websites. Accordingly, a subsequent website that collects URL information may log some personal information.

5.5 Cookies. When you access our website, we may send one or more cookies (small text files containing a string of alphanumeric characters) to your computer to collect certain usage information. We use session cookies (which disappear after you close your browser) and persistent cookies (which remain after you close your browser which can be removed manually) and may be used by your browser on subsequent visits to our website. We use information gathered by cookies to improve the website.

5.6 Web beacons. Our website may contain electronic image requests (called a “single-pixel gif” or “web beacon” request) that allow us to count page views and to access cookies. Any electronic image viewed as part of a web page (including an ad banner) can act as a web beacon. Our web beacons do not collect, gather, monitor or share any of your personal information. We merely use them to compile anonymous information about our website.

  1. Purpose of collection and protection

6.1 We may use any information provided by you for such purposes as may reasonably be necessary or required in the conduct of our business and further as indicated to you at the time you agree to provide such optional information. We may use your usage information for the purposes described in 5.4 and 5.5 above and to:

  • retain your information so that you will not have to provide same again should you chose to resume trade again after termination;
  • monitor metrics we deem necessary for our business; and
  • track your entries, submissions, and status in any promotions or other activities in connection with your usage of the website.

6.2 We undertake

  • to collect and process only such Personal Information which is reasonably necessary given the purpose for which it is processed and to assist you with your required solutions, conclude and execute the necessarily related agreements and consider the legitimate legal interests of everyone concerned, as required by the Act. We will at all times respect your right to withdraw your consent for the processing of your Personal Information.
  • to only use your Personal Information for the purpose for which the information is essential, to enable us to pursue trade and to be able to assist you or provide our products and services to you.
  • not to share or further process your Personal Information with anyone or for any reason if not required for trade in our products and services or as required in terms of legislation or regulations.
  • to be open and transparent on the nature, extent and reasons for processing Personal Information.
  • to take the necessary steps to secure the integrity and confidentiality of Personal Information in our possession and under our control by taking appropriate and reasonable measures to prevent loss of, damage to or unauthorised destruction of your Personal Information and to prevent the unlawful access to, or processing of Personal Information. We protect your personal information using computer safeguards such as firewalls and data encryption and we authorize access to personal information only for those employees who require it to fulfil their job responsibilities.
  • to freely confirm what Personal Information we hold on you, to update and rectify the Personal Information upon request and to keep it for no longer than required.
  1. Messaging and circulars

We may send administrative messages and email updates to you regarding our products and services.

  1. Disclosure

8.1      Sharing:

  • We may share your personal information with an affiliate, in which case we will seek to require the affiliates to honour this privacy policy.
  • Our service providers under contract who help with parts of our business operations. Our contracts dictate that these service providers only use your information in connection with the services they perform for us and not for their own benefit;
  • Credit bureaus to report account information, as permitted by law;
  • Banking partners as required by credit card association rules for inclusion on their list of terminated merchants or otherwise for establishing payment instruments or securing remittance of funds for purposes of trade.

8.2 Regulators. If you contact us regarding your experience with using any of our products or services, we may disclose your personal information as required by law or governmental audit.

8.3 Law enforcement. We may disclose personal information if required:

  • by a subpoena or court order;
  • to comply with any law;
  • to protect the safety of any individual or the general public;
  • to prevent violation of our terms of trade.

8.4 No selling. We will not sell personal information. No personal information will be disclosed to anyone except as provided in this privacy policy.

 8.5 Marketing purposes. We may disclose aggregate statistics (information about the customer/resident population in general terms) about the personal information to advertisers or business partners.

 8.6 Change of ownership. If we undergo a change in ownership, or a merger with, acquisition by, or sale of assets to, another entity, we may assign our rights to the personal information we process to a successor, purchaser, or separate entity. We will disclose the transfer on the website. If you are concerned about your personal information migrating to a new owner, you may request us to delete your personal information.

8.7 Employees. We will need to disclose personal information to our employees that require the personal information to do their jobs.

  1. Accuracy and updating of Personal Information.
    • We will take reasonably practicable steps to ensure that information is as accurate, complete and up to date as is necessary for the purposes for which it is required and not misleading. From time to time we will request you to update your personal information. Please note that in order to better protect you and safeguard your personal information, we do take steps to verify your identity.
  • You may review or update any personal information that we hold on you by emailing us or phoning us.
  1. Retention of personal information.

We will only retain your personal information for as long as it is necessary to fulfil the purposes mentioned in clause 6, unless:

  • retention of the record is required or authorised by law; or
  • you have consented to the retention of the record. During the period of retention, we will continue to abide by our non-disclosure obligations and will not share or sell your personal information.
  1. Transfers of personal information outside South Africa.

We may transmit or transfer personal information outside South Africa to a foreign country. Personal information may be stored on servers located outside South Africa in a foreign country whose laws protecting personal information may not be as stringent as the laws in South Africa. You consent to us processing your personal information in a foreign country whose laws regarding processing of personal information may be less stringent.

  1. Enquiries

If you have any questions or concerns arising from this privacy policy or the way in which we handle personal information, please contact us.