Protection of Personal Information Act (POPI)

 

Privacy Policy

 

1. INTRODUCTION
   • FIRtech Intelligent Automation (Pty) Ltd (“FIRTECH”) is a leading South African 4IR technologies service provider. Our mission is to help our clients to power business models by developing innovative solutions using new technologies like Artificial Intelligence, Robotic Process Automation, Internet of Things (IoT) to increase responsiveness & agility, efficiency & productivity and revenue, whilst reducing costs and risks for our clients.
   • FIRTECH head office is based in Johannesburg and with a branch in Durban.
   • As part of managing the business and creating value for our various clients, FIRTECH is required, in certain instances, to process personal information. Accordingly, FIRTECH is required to protect the personal information as set out in the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013, including its Regulations (POPI Act).
   • This notice constitutes FIRTECH’s policy statement to declare its commitment to comply with the POPI Act. Accordingly, it provides insights on how FIRTECH processes personal information of data subjects as set out in the POPI Act.
   • FIRTECH shall ensure that personal information is processed within the parameters of the law.
   • This notice must be read in conjunction with the POPI Act and its Regulations, where applicable.
     
     

2. OBJECTIVE

• The objective of this notice is to give effect to the POPI Act and to provide clarity on the following:
  • What personal information FIRTECH collects about a data subject and the basis thereof;
  • How FIRTECH uses and protects the personal information of a data subject;
  • How long FIRTECH keeps the personal information of a data subject;
  • The rights of a data subject regarding their personal information; and
  • What the data subject should do if he/she does not want to provide FIRTECH with his personal information.
    
    

 

3. INTERPRETATION AND DEFINITIONS
   
   

In this notice:

• Clause headings are for convenience and reference only and shall not be used in the interpretation thereof;
• Any gender includes the other genders and a natural person includes a juristic person and vice versa;
• All the annexures (if any) hereto are incorporated herein and shall have the same force and effect as if they were set out in the body of this notice;
• The following words and/or expressions shall, unless the context indicates otherwise, bear the meaning assigned to them below and in the POPI Act;

• “Cookie/s” (also called web cookie, Internet cookie, browser cookie, or simply cookie) is a small piece of data sent from a website and stored on the user’s computer by the user’s web browser while the user is browsing to inter alia remember stateful information (such as items added in the shopping cart in an online store) or to record the user’s browsing activity.
• “Data subject” means the person to whom Personal information relates;
• “Employee” means a permanent, fixed-term or temporary employee of FIRtech Intelligent Automation (Pty) Ltd;
• “Operator” means a third party that processes Personal information in terms of a mandate or contract with FIRTECH , without coming under the direct authority of FIRTECH;
• “Information officer” means the person appointed by FIRTECH, from time to time, who is responsible for the monitoring of compliance, by FIRTECH, with the conditions for the lawful processing of Personal information; dealing with requests made to FIRTECH in terms of the POPI Act; working with the Regulator in relation to investigations conducted in relation to prior authorisation by the Data subject and ensuring compliance by FIRTECH with the provisions of the POPI Act;
• “Person” means any person, company, close corporation, trust, partnership or other entity;
• “Personal information” means information relating to an identifiable, living, natural person, and where it is applicable, an identifiable, existing juristic person, including, but not limited to—
  • information relating to the race, gender, sex, pregnancy, marital status, national, ethnic or social origin, colour, sexual orientation, age, physical or mental health, well-being, disability, religion, conscience, belief, culture, language and birth of the person;
  • information relating to the educational, medical, financial, criminal or employment history of the person;
  • any identifying number, symbol, e-mail address, physical address, telephone number, location information, online identifier or other particular assignment to the person;
  • the biometric information of the person;
  • the personal opinions, views or preferences of 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;
  • the views or opinions of another individual about the person; and
  • the name of the person if it appears with other Personal information relating to the person or if the disclosure of the name itself would reveal information about the person;

• “Privacy Notice or Notice” means this Notice as amended from time to time;
• “Processing” means any operation or activity or any set of operations, whether or not by automatic means, concerning Personal information, including—
  • the collection, receipt, recording, organisation, collation, storage, updating or modification, retrieval, alteration, consultation or use;
  • dissemination by means of transmission, distribution or making available in any other form; or
  • merging, linking, as well as restriction, degradation, erasure or destruction of information.

 

PROCESSING OF PERSONAL INFORMATION

• Personal information FIRTECH collects about a data subject and the basis thereof. The Personal information FIRTECH collects in the ordinary course of business includes:
  • only information that is adequate, necessary, and relevant to enable it to effectively render a service or assist in any manner required, such as the Data subject’s name, identity number (where applicable), registration number, Data subject’s employees or its director’s Personal information, contact information etc;
  • electronic communications sent to FIRTECH;
  • information submitted to FIRTECH in response to a vacancy advertisement;
  • technical information, for instance using cookies, such as – activity data, such as when the Data subject completes a form on the FIRTECH website, subscribes to a newsletter, alerts or other services from FIRTECH or taking part in a competition, prize draw or survey;
  • information from the Data subject’s visits to the FIRTECH website, including the type of browser and operating system that the Data subject uses, access times, pages viewed, URLs clicked on, his IP address and the pages visited before and after navigating the FIRTECH website;
  • social media tracking pixels that allow platforms such as Facebook , Twitter and LinkedIn to interact with the FIRTECH website and give feedback on the Data subject’s actions;
  • device information, including the unique device identifier, hardware model, operating system and version and mobile network information.
  • Personal information that FIRTECH collects when it monitors other websites may include the Data subject’s public Personal information, for example when FIRTECH monitors digital conversations on public platforms to understand what people are saying about it or the 4IR industry in general. FIRTECH may combine information that it has about a Data subject from various sources.
  • The FIRTECH website uses various technologies including “cookies” which allow the website to recognise and respond to the Data subject as an individual. The Data subject can elect to accept or decline cookies. If a Data subject elects to decline cookies, not all elements of the website may function as intended, so his website experience may be affected.

 

Protecting the Data subject’s Personal information

• FIRTECH uses a variety of security measures and technologies to help protect Personal information of a Data subject from unauthorised access, use, disclosure, alteration or destruction in line with applicable Personal information protection and privacy laws.
• The transmission to FIRTECH of information via the internet or a mobile phone network connection may not be completely secure, and any transmission is at the Data subject’s risk.

• From time-to-time FIRTECH may provide links to websites or mobile applications that it does not own or control. This Notice does not apply to those websites. If a Data subject chooses to use those websites, he/she must check the legal and privacy policies or statements posted on each website or mobile application he/she accesses to understand their privacy practices.
• Despite the security measures that FIRTECH has in place to protect Personal information of a Data subject (firewalls, password access and encryption methods), the Data subject acknowledges that it may be accessed by an unauthorised third party, e.g., as a result of an illegal activity.

 

How does FIRTECH use the Personal information of a Data subject?

FIRTECH may use the Personal information of a Data subject to provide the Data subject with information and services including:

• • online events, such as webinar events,
  • press releases.
  • job postings.
  • marketing communications about FIRTECH products and services. FIRTECH will obtain consent for marketing to the extent required by law.
  • Contact and interact with the Data subject, including to:
    • respond to requests from the Data subject (for instance in case the Data subject applied for employment); and
    • provide important notices and updates, such as changes to terms, standard operating procedures (SOPs), policies, security alerts and administrative messages.
  • Operate FIRTECH’s business, including:
    • complying with applicable laws, regulations and guidance; and
    • complying with demands or requests made by regulators, governments, courts and law enforcement authorities

• Improve FIRTECH’s day-to-day operations, including:
  • for internal purposes such as auditing, data analysis and research to help FIRTECH deliver and improve its digital platforms, content and services.
  • to monitor and analyse trends, usage and activities in connection with FIRTECH products and services
  • to understand which parts of FIRTECH digital platforms and services are of the most interest and to improve the design and content of those platforms.
  • to improve FIRTECH products and services and communications to the Data subject; and
  • to ensure that FIRTECH has up-to-date contact information for the Data subject, where applicable.

 

How long will FIRTECH keep Personal information of a Data subject

FIRTECH will always keep the Personal information of a Data subject for the period required by law and where it needs to do so in connection with legal action or an investigation in which it is involved. Otherwise, FIRTECH will keep Personal information of a Data subject:

• for as long as needed to provide the Data subject with access to services he has requested.
• where the Data subject has contacted FIRTECH with a question or request, for as long as necessary to allow FIRTECH to respond to the question or request and as required by law.

 

Instances where sharing of Personal information of a Data subject by FIRTECH is permitted

• • FIRTECH may share Personal information of a Data subject with the following third parties:
    • FIRTECH agents and suppliers, including those who provide it with technology services such as data analytics, hosting and technical support.
    • FIRTECH’s professional advisors, auditors and business partners.
    • regulators, governments and law enforcement authorities; and
    • other third parties in connection with re-organising all or any part of FIRTECH’s business.

• Personal information of a Data subject may be processed by FIRTECH and FIRTECH’s third party suppliers outside of the Data subject’s home country. Personal information laws in the countries to which the Personal information of a Data subject is transferred may not be equivalent to, or as protective as, the laws in the Data subject’s home country.
• FIRTECH will implement appropriate and reasonable measures to ensure that the Personal information of a Data subject remains protected and secure when it is transferred outside of the Data subject’s home country, in accordance with applicable Personal information protection and privacy laws. These measures include data transfer agreements implementing standard data protection clauses.

 

The Data subject’s rights regarding his Personal information

The Data subject is entitled to:

• request FIRTECH for access to Personal information FIRTECH holds about him/her.
• request the correction and/or deletion of his/her Personal information;
• request the restriction of the processing of his/her Personal information, or object to that processing.
• withdraw his/her consent to the processing of his/her Personal information (where FIRTECH is processing his/her Personal information based on his/her consent).
• withdraw his/her consent to receive marketing messages.
• request for the receipt or the transfer to another organisation, in a machine-readable form, of the Personal information that he/she has provided to FIRTECH; and
• complain to his/her local data protection authority if his/her privacy rights are violated, or if he/she has suffered as a result of unlawful processing of his/her Personal information.

 

What the Data subject should do if he/she does not want to provide FIRTECH with his/her Personal information:

• Where a Data subject is given the option to share his/her Personal information with FIRTECH, he/she can always elect not to do so.
• If a Data subject objects to the processing of his/her Personal information, or if he/she has provided his/her consent to processing and he/she later chooses to withdraw it, FIRTECH will comply with the request in accordance with its legal obligations. FIRTECH’s legal obligations in respect of the withdrawn information shall therefore cease to exist.

 

IMPORTANT NOTICE TO DATA SUBJECTS

• By visiting FIRTECH’S website and communicating electronically with FIRTECH, the Data subject consents to the processing, including transfer of his/her Personal information as set out in this Notice.

• FIRTECH is continually improving its methods of communication and adding new functionality and features to its website. Due to these ongoing changes, changes in the law and the changing nature of technology, FIRTECH’s data protection practices will change from time to time. If and when its protection practices change, FIRTECH will update this Notice to describe its new practices. The Data subject is encouraged to check it regularly.

 

CONTACT US

For any questions or requests regarding this Notice or if a Data subject would like to exercise his/her rights including contacting the Information officer, please use the following contact information of the Information officer: email info@firtech.co.za