NOTICE OF THE PROTECTION OF YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION
(Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013)
1. Introduction
1.1. At Bosse and Associates the confidentiality of your affairs has always been a part of trust you place in us as your attorney and it goes to the heart of the rights and protection afforded to you under the attorney and client privilege.
1.2. As you may know, the Protection of Personal Information Act (No: 4 of 2013) (“POPIA”) will come into the full force of law on 1 July 2021. Under POPIA, we have a further responsibility to ensure that we collect, use, share and protect your personal information in the manner prescribed.
1.3. As part of our trust relationship with you, we are sending this notice to explain how we will comply with the provisions of the POPIA collect and process your personal Information in compliance with the POPIA.
2. What is personal information
Personal information is any information relating to you (whether you are a natural or juristic person). Such personal information may, for example, be information about your: race, gender, marital status, nationality, age, language, identity number, telephone number, email, postal or street address, financial, criminal, business or employment history.
3. The personal information we collect and process
3.1. We collect and process your personal information primarily to provide you with access to our legal services and products.
3.2. We collect information directly from you when you engage our services ,complete our client mandate submit enquiries or contact us for any other reason.
3.3. We will process your personal information for the purpose that we have initially collected it, unless need to use it for another purpose compatible with its original collection or process such personal information and make it available to third parties under an obligation of law.
3.4. If you make use of our website, we want to inform you that we make use cookies thereon. A cookie is a form of data within a website that stores on the visitor’s computer or mobile device. The cookie does not hold personal information, but it does produce and contains a personal identifier allowing us to associate your personal information with a certain that you use device. It is possible for you to delete or disable these cookies, if you prefer.
4. How we process your personal information
4.1. We will use your personal information only for the purpose of providing legal services or products to you and for the purpose for which it was collected or agreed with you, for example:
4.1.1. to institute of defend legal action in a court, tribunal, arbitration and the like;
4.1.2. to provide you with legal opinions and advisory memorandums;
4.1.3. to draft documents;
4.1.4. to lodge and register transfer of property, trademarks and the like;
4.1.5. to comply with legal and regulatory requirements;
4.1.6. to share your personal information with service providers with whom we have an agreement to process such information on our behalf or to those who render services to us.
5. Sharing of your personal information
5.1. We may share your personal information with our service providers such as advocates, sheriff of the court, correspondent attorneys, arbitrators, couriers and the like who are involved in the delivery of the services to you or on your behalf. We have agreements in place to ensure that all our service providers comply POPIA to safeguard your personal information.
5.2. We may also disclose your personal information where we have a legal obligation or duty to disclose such, or where it is necessary to protect our legal rights.
5.3. We will only share your personal information with other third parties if you have consented to such disclosure, unless permitted by law to do so without such consent.
6. How we secure your information
6.1. We have established reasonable security measures to protect your personal information from being accidentally lost, used, altered, disclosed or accessed in an unauthorised way. In addition, we have imposed appropriate security, privacy and confidentiality obligations on them to ensure the security of the personal information that we remain responsible for.
7. How long do we keep your personal information for?
7.1. We will keep your personal information for as long as is reasonably necessary to fulfil the purposes we need it for, including for the purposes of satisfying any legal, regulatory, tax, accounting or reporting requirements.
7.2. We will, after the purpose is achieved for which we needed your personal information, be delete such from our practice environment permanently.
8. Your legal rights
8.1. You can:
8.1.1. request access to the personal information we hold about you;
8.1.2. ask us to update, correct or delete it.
8.1.3. object to the processing of your personal information.
8.1.3.1. Please note that even if you object, we may be compelled by law to continue processing your information. In such an instance, we will demonstrate our obligation before continuing to process your information.
8.1.4. request that we suspend the processing of your personal information in the following situations:
8.1.4.1. If you want us to establish the information’s accuracy;
8.1.4.2. If our use of the information is unlawful, but you do not want us to delete it;
8.1.4.3. You have objected to the use of your information, but we need to verify whether we have overriding legitimate grounds to use it. Under certain circumstances, you can also request a transfer of your personal data to you or a third party. We will provide your personal information in a structured, commonly used, machine-readable format. You have the right to unsubscribe from any direct marketing communication we send you.
8.2. Please note that we may decline your request to delete your personal information if we are required to keep it in terms of other legislation or if it has been de-identified.
8.3. You can find more information in the PAIA Manual on our website, or you can email info@bosse-associates.co.za
9. International transfers
Where our legal services or the purchase and sale of our products requires, we may share your personal information with third parties outside of South Africa. Whenever we transfer your personal information out of South Africa, we will ensure that anyone with whom we share your personal information will treat it with the same level of protection that we are obliged to.
10. Complaints
10.1. If you are unhappy with how we have used your personal information and believe it to be contrary to the provisions set out in the POPIA , please get in touch with us immediately.
10.2. If you are not satisfied with the outcome, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator using the contact details listed below.
10.2.1. Information Regulator:
10.2.1.1. Tel: +27 12 406 4818
10.2.1.2. E-mail: inforeg@justice.gov.za
