This Privacy Policy (hereinafter referred to as the “Policy”) applies to the use of the COMPANY’S website and/or online shop and forms part of the COMPANY’S General Terms and Conditions of Service Delivery (hereinafter referred to as the “AGREEMENT”).
This Policy serves to notify the data subject that the COMPANY, in terms of this Policy, collects personal information, as per section 18 of the Promotion of Access to Information Act. In addition, this Policy serves as compliance with Article 12(1) of the GDPR.
The COMPANY is SOLAR TRADERS AFRICA (PTY) LTD with registration number 2019/315705/07, a company with limited liability, incorporated in accordance with the provisions of the Companies Act 71 of 2008, as amended, with its registered office at the Unit 9, Barbeque Corner, 45 Dytchley Rd, Barbeque Downs, Midrand, 1684.
By accessing or utilising the COMPANY’S website and/or online shop, the user (hereinafter referred to as the “CUSTOMER”) specifically agrees to the terms of this Policy as amended from time to time.
The COMPANY, through this Policy, wishes to inform the CUSTOMER of the scope and purpose for which personal information is processed by the COMPANY in connection with the CUSTOMER’S use of the COMPANY’S website and/or online shop.
The COMPANY is the operator of the online shop at www.solartraders.co.za and is responsible for processing the personal data of all CUSTOMERS of the COMPANY’S website, irrespective of whether the CUSTOMER registers to use the online shop.
The COMPANY’S contact information, including details of the relevant person whom the CUSTOMER may contact for questions concerning the processing of personal data, may be located on the COMPANY’S website in terms of section 51 of the Promotion of Access to Information Act 2 of 2000, as amended.
The COMPANY is committed to safeguarding the privacy of CUSTOMERS’ personal information or data and the COMPANY takes protection of privacy and personal information very seriously.
The COMPANY gathers, stores, and uses the CUSTOMER’S personal information only in line with the contents of this Policy and with applicable data protection provisions, such as: The European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR); and The Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013.
The COMPANY reserves its right to amend this Policy from time to time and will do so without notice to any CUSTOMER. The latest version of this Policy will be indicated by the date information (below). The current version of this Policy can always be accessed directly via the COMPANY’S website.
It is the duty of the CUSTOMER to remain informed of any changes to this Policy and the COMPANY recommends that the CUSTOMER should regularly check possible changes to this Policy.
Personal Information/Data, in terms of The General Data Protection Regulation and the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 collectively, refers to information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person and where it is applicable, an identifiable, existing juristic person. Such information may include, but is not limited to:
a name, age and/or gender;
an identification or registration number
national and/or social origin;
financial and/or economic information;
any identifying number, symbol, e-mail address, physical address, telephone number, location information, online identifier or other particular assignment to the person;
correspondence sent by the person that is implicitly or explicitly of a private or confidential nature or further correspondence that would reveal the contents of the original correspondence; and
the personal opinions, views or preferences of the person.
In contrast, information that cannot be connected to the CUSTOMER’S identity (e.g. statistical information, such as the number of website users) is not considered personal information.
As a rule, the COMPANY’S website can be used without disclosing the CUSTOMER’S identity and without providing personal data. Only general information about the CUSTOMER’S visit to the COMPANY’S website will be collected using Google Analytics. The data collected by Google Analytics: time of visit, pages visited, and time spent on each page of the webpages. For more information on Google Analytics see section 7 of the privacy policy. Personal information may be collected from the CUSTOMER for some of the services offered, such as entering or making use of the online shop. This information will then be processed by the COMPANY only for the purpose of using this online service, especially for providing the desired information. When the COMPANY requests personal data, only the data that is mandatory must be provided. Further information can be provided on a voluntary basis. The COMPANY will indicate whether it is a required field or optional details. The COMPANY provides specific details in relation to this aspect in the corresponding section of this Policy.
Automated decision-making based on the CUSTOMER’S personal information is not applied to the use of the COMPANY’S website and/or online shop.
Processing
Processing, in terms of The General Data Protection Regulation and the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 collectively, refers to any operation, activity or set of operations performed on personal information, whether or not by automatic means, which activity may include, but is not limited to: – 1. collection, receipt, structuring, recording, organisation, collation, storage, updating or modification, adaptation, retrieval, alteration, consultation or use; 2. disclosure or dissemination by means of transmission, distribution or making available in any other form; and 3. merging, linking, restriction, degradation, erasure or destruction.
Unless stated otherwise in this Policy, the COMPANY, or its hosting providers, will store the CUSTOMER’S personal information on specially secured servers within South Africa and the United States of America. The storage thereof is a technical and organizational measure employed by the COMPANY to protect against loss, destruction, access, alteration or dissemination of your data by unauthorized persons. All information stored by the COMPANY, is stored in compliance with the Protection of Personal Information Act No. 4 of 2013 (as amended from time to time), as well as the General Data Protection Regulation 2016/679.
Only a few authorized persons are able to access the CUSTOMER’S personal information. These individuals are responsible for the technical, commercial and editorial supervision of the server. Despite regular inspections, complete protection against all risks is not possible and the COMPANY in no way guarantees complete protection in this regard.
The COMPANY further undertakes to secure the integrity and confidentiality of the personal information that is in its possession and under its control, by taking the appropriate reasonable technical and organisational measures to prevent loss, damage, unauthorised destruction, unlawful access, or unlawful processing of the CUSTOMER’S personal information. In doing so, the COMPANY shall have due regard to generally accepted applicable or industry information security practices and procedures. The COMPANY further undertakes to secure the integrity and confidentiality of the personal information that is in its possession and under its control, by taking the appropriate reasonable technical and organisational measures to prevent loss, damage, unauthorised destruction, unlawful access, or unlawful processing of the CUSTOMER’S personal information. In doing so, the COMPANY shall have due regard to generally accepted applicable or industry information security practices and procedures.
Scope
This Policy applies to all data subjects (i.e. persons (whether a natural or juristic person) to which the personal information relates), and the personal information the COMPANY processes and collects, whether it was provided to the COMPANY through the use of its website, online shop or through any other form of communications with the CUSTOMER, such as email, telephone, or otherwise.
Legal Basis for Data Processing
Insofar as the COMPANY obtains consent to process the CUSTOMER’S personal data, Article 6(1)(a) of the GDPR and section 11(1)(a) of the Protection of Personal Information Act, as amended, serves as the legal basis for data processing.
Insofar as the CUSTOMER’S personal data is processed because it is required to fulfil a contract or as part of a contract-like relationship with the CUSTOMER, Article 6(1)(b) of the GDPR and section 11(1)(b) of the Protection of Personal Information Act, as amended, serves as the legal basis for data processing.
Insofar as the COMPANY processes the CUSTOMER’S personal data to fulfil a legal obligation, Article 6(1)(c) of the GDPR and section 11(1)(c) of the Protection of Personal Information Act, as amended, serves as the legal basis for data processing.
As a legal basis for data processing, Article 6(1)(f) of the GDPR and section 11(1)(f) of the Protection of Personal Information Act, as amended, is taken into further consideration if the processing of the CUSTOMER’S personal data is required to protect a legitimate interest of the COMPANY or a third party and the CUSTOMER’S interests, basic rights and freedoms do not require personal data to be protected.
In line with this Policy, the COMPANY will always indicate on which legal basis the COMPANY processes the CUSTOMER’S personal data.
COLLECTION OF PERSONAL INFORMATION
The nature of the personal information that the COMPANY collects about its users and/or CUSTOMERS is dependent on
the transaction that the CUSTOMER is completing;
the reason that the CUSTOMER is communicating with the COMPANY for; and
the Channel that is used to communicate with the COMPANY
When the COMPANY’S Internet pages are called up, the COMPANY receives access data that is stored for protective purposes which allows the COMPANY to identify the CUSTOMER. This data includes:
the name of the CUSTOMER’S Internet service provider
the country the CUSTOMER resides in;
the website the CUSTOMER comes from to visit the COMPANY;
the search term the CUSTOMER uses, if it accesses the COMPANY’S website via a search engine;
the websites of the COMPANY that the CUSTOMER visits;
the user tool (web browser, operating system) the CUSTOMER uses to access the website;
files that the CUSTOMER downloads from the COMPANY’S website (e.g. PDF or Word documents);
the duration of the CUSTOMER’S visit on the website;
the date and the time of the CUSTOMER’S visit on the website;
This information is assessed by the COMPANY and allows it to optimize its offerings as a whole and to personalize the content specifically for the CUSTOMER, e.g. recognize the CUSTOMER as a return visitor to the COMPANY’S Internet offering.
REASONS FOR COLLECTING PERSONAL INFORMATION?
The COMPANY collects the personal information from the CUSTOMER when it:
voluntarily provides the COMPANY with information;
subscribes to or consents to receiving newsletters or other
communications from the COMPANY;
browses, visits or participates in the COMPANY’S website;
registers an online profile on the COMPANY’S website; purchases or enquires about the products/services sold by the COMPANY; makes general enquiries, lodge complaints, and communicate with the COMPANY.
From time to time the COMPANY may collect personal information from trusted third parties, in which case it shall ensure that the CUSTOMER has provided its consent in respect thereof.
The COMPANY shall not sell, rent or otherwise disclose its personal information to any third party without the CUSTOMER’S express consent, provided that by using the website and/or subscribing for any of the COMPANY’S services, the CUSTOMER provides its express and informed consent for the COMPANY to disclose its personal information to third parties as follows:
to third party companies employed by the COMPANY to provide services for it, including for example, website hosting, administration, maintenance and development. These companies require access to the CUSTOMER’S personal information to perform their functions and not for any other purpose;
to transfer the CUSTOMER’S database/s, including personal information contained therein, to any third party who acquires all or substantially all of the assets or shares in the COMPANY or the COMPANY’S website service whether by sale, merger, acquisition or otherwise;
to governmental agencies, exchanges and other regulatory or self-regulatory organisations if the COMPANY is required to do so by law or if the COMPANY believes that such action is necessary to:
comply with the law or with any legal process;
protect and defend the COMPANY’S rights and property or that of its CUSTOMERS and companies in its group;
prevent fraud or abuse, misuse or unauthorised use of the COMPANY’S website; and/or
protect the personal safety or property of its CUSTOMERS or the public (if the CUSTOMER provides false or deceptive information about itself or misrepresents itself as being someone else, the COMPANY shall disclose such information to the appropriate regulatory bodies and commercial entities); and
if applicable, to personalise the CUSTOMER’S experience on the COMPANY’S website, to help the CUSTOMER to log on in future and to continue to use the website, to reply to queries the CUSTOMER might have, to provide it with support and to help the COMPANY select services or materials for inclusion on its website, which may be of interest to the CUSTOMER.
The COMPANY undertakes not to use personal information other than for the purpose for which it was provided or collected, and in accordance with the COMPANY’S legitimate interests and legal obligations.
The COMPANY reserves the right to share non-personal, non-individual information in aggregate form with third parties for business purposes, for example with advertisers on the COMPANY’S website or business associates and partners. The CUSTOMER shall not be identifiable from such data.
The COMPANY reserves the right to share the contact and registration information of participants of its courses with the relevant academy partners for the purposes of conducting the course and regulating the participants attendance and experience.
The COMPANY is not responsible and cannot be held liable for the privacy practices of such third parties.