Last updated: 10 July 2023
1. Introduction
1.1. We are committed to safeguarding the privacy of the users of our App/s.
1.2. This policy applies where we are acting as the responsible party with respect to the personal information of such persons; in other words, where we determine the purposes and means of the processing of that personal information.
1.3. In this policy, "we", "us" and "our" refer to South African Books Online (Pty) Ltd. For more information about us, see Section 14.
2. The personal information that we collect
2.1. In this Section 2 we have set out the general categories of personal information that we process.
2.2. We may process information enabling us to get in touch with you ("contact information"). The contact information may include your name, email address and telephone number. The source of the contact information is you.
2.3. We may process your App/s user account information ("account information"). The account information may include your account identifier, name, email address, account creation and modification dates, App/s settings and marketing preferences. The primary source of the account information is you, although some elements of the account information may be generated by our App/s.
2.4. We may process your information included in your personal profile on our App/s ("profile information"). The profile information may include your name, address, telephone number, email address, profile pictures, gender, date of birth, location, employment details, income, languages, relationship status, interests and hobbies, educational details. The source of the profile information is you.
2.5. We may process your personal information that are provided in the course of the use of our services and generated by our services in the course of such use ("service information"). The source of the service information is you and/or our services.
2.6. We may process information contained in or relating to any communication that you send to us or that we send to you ("communication information"). The communication information may include the communication content and metadata associated with the communication. Our App/s and will generate the metadata associated with communications made using the contact options.
2.7. We may process information about your use of our App/s, and services ("usage information"). The usage information may include your IP address, geographical location, browser type and version, operating system, referral source, length of visit, page views and App/s navigation paths, as well as information about the timing, frequency and pattern of your service use. The source of the usage information is our analytics tracking system.
2.8. Automatically Collected Information - Location. We collect and use precise location information from your device with your permission when you choose to use location-related features, like when you decide to share your location. There are certain settings relating to location-related information which you can find in your device settings or the in-app settings, such as location sharing. Even if you do not use our location-related features, we use IP addresses and other information like phone number area codes to estimate your general location (e.g., city and country). We also use your location information for diagnostics and troubleshooting purposes.
2.9. Please do not supply any other person's personal information to us, unless we prompt you to do so.
2.10. The following user information is collected and stored securely in our systems for as long as you are a member
2.11. Any form of media (Images/Video/Audio/Files) shared on the application/website are shared at your own discretion and made public where in the context to do so, such as public conversation channels. We reserve the right to remove any content deemed as inappropriate.
3. Purposes of processing and legal bases
3.1. In this Section 3, we have set out the purposes for which we may process personal information and the legal bases of the processing.
3.2. Operations - We may process your personal information for the purposes of operating our App/s and providing our services. The legal basis for this processing is our legitimate interests, namely the proper administration of our App/s, services and business.
3.3. Publications - We may process account information, profile information and/or service information for the purposes of publishing such information on our App/s and elsewhere through our services in accordance with your express instructions. The legal basis for this processing is our legitimate interests, namely the publication of content in the ordinary course of our operations.
3.4. Relationships and communications - We may process contact information, account information and/or communication information for the purposes of managing our relationships, communicating with you (excluding communicating for the purposes of direct marketing) by push notification, email, SMS, post, fax and/or telephone, providing support services and complaint handling. The legal basis for this processing is our legitimate interests, namely communications with our App and service users, the maintenance of relationships, and the proper administration of our App/s services and business.
3.5. Personalisation - We may process account information, service information and/or usage information for the purposes of personalising the content and advertisements that you see on our App/s and through our services to ensure that you only see material that is relevant to you. The legal basis for this processing is our legitimate interests, namely offering the best possible experience for our App/s users and service users.
3.6. Direct marketing - We may process contact information, account information and profile information for the purposes of creating, targeting and sending direct marketing communications by email, SMS, post and/or fax and making contact by telephone for marketing-related purposes. The legal basis for this processing is our legitimate interests, namely promoting our business and communicating marketing messages and offers to our App/s users and service users.
3.7. Research and analysis - We may process usage information and/or service information for the purposes of researching and analysing the use of our App/s and services, as well as researching and analysing other interactions with our business. The legal basis for this processing is our legitimate interests, namely monitoring, supporting, improving and securing our App/s, services and business generally.
3.8. Record keeping - We may process your personal information for the purposes of creating and maintaining our databases, back-up copies of our databases and our business records generally. The legal basis for this processing is our legitimate interests, namely ensuring that we have access to all the information we need to properly and efficiently run our business in accordance with this policy.
3.9. Security - We may process your personal information for the purposes of security and the prevention of fraud and other criminal activity. The legal basis of this processing is our legitimate interests, namely the protection of our App/s, services and business, and the protection of others.
3.10. Insurance and risk management - We may process your personal information where necessary for the purposes of obtaining or maintaining insurance coverage, managing risks and/or obtaining professional advice. The legal basis for this processing is our legitimate interests, namely the proper protection of our business against risks.
3.11. Legal claims - We may process your personal information where necessary for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims, whether in court proceedings or in an administrative or out-of-court procedure. The legal basis for this processing is our legitimate interests, namely the protection and assertion of our legal rights, your legal rights and the legal rights of others.
3.12. Legal compliance and vital interests - We may also process your personal information where such processing is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation to which we are subject or in order to protect your vital interests or the vital interests of another natural person.
4. Providing your personal information to others
4.1. We may disclose your personal information to any member of our group of companies (this means our subsidiaries, our ultimate holding company and all its subsidiaries) insofar as reasonably necessary for the purposes, and on the legal bases, set out in this policy.
4.2. We may disclose your personal information to our insurers and/or professional advisers insofar as reasonably necessary for the purposes of obtaining or maintaining insurance coverage, managing risks, obtaining professional advice.
4.3. We may disclose personal information to our suppliers or subcontractors identified below insofar as reasonably necessary. We only share information with them that is required for the services offered.
4.4. In addition to the specific disclosures of personal information set out in this Section 4, we may disclose your personal information where such disclosure is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation to which we are subject, or in order to protect your vital interests or the vital interests of another natural person. We may also disclose your personal information where such disclosure is necessary for the establishment, exercise, or defence of legal claims, whether in court proceedings or in an administrative or out-of-court procedure.
5. International transfers of your personal information
5.1. In this Section 5, we provide information about the circumstances in which your personal data may be transferred to countries outside of South Africa.
5.2. We and/or our other group companies have offices and/or facilities in South Africa. Transfers to each of these countries will be protected by appropriate safeguards.
5.3. The hosting facilities for our App/s are situated in South Africa, Netherlands, Ireland, United States. Transfers to each of these countries will be protected by appropriate safeguards.
5.4. You acknowledge that personal information that you submit for publication through our App/s may be available, via the internet, around the world. We cannot prevent the use (or misuse) of such personal information by others.
6. Retaining and deleting personal information
6.1. This Section 6 sets out our data retention policies and procedures, which are designed to help ensure that we comply with our legal obligations in relation to the retention and deletion of personal information.
6.2. We retain your personal information for as long as it is required for the purposes stated in this Privacy Policy.
6.3. Sometimes, we may retain your information for longer periods as permitted or required by law, such as to maintain suppression lists, prevent abuse, if required in connection with a legal claim or proceeding, to enforce our agreements, for tax, accounting, or to comply with other legal obligations.
6.4. When we no longer have a legitimate need to process your information, we will delete or anonymize your information from our active databases. We will also securely store the information and isolate it from further processing on backup discs until deletion is possible.
7. Your rights
7.1. In this Section 7, we have listed the rights that you have under data protection law.
7.2. Your principal rights under data protection law are:
7.2.1. the right to access - you can ask for copies of your personal information;
7.2.2. the right to request correction, deletion or destruction of your personal information;
7.2.3. the right to object when the processing is justified by legitimate interests of data subject or of the responsible party or when the processing is for direct marketing purposes;
7.2.4. the right to not have personal information processed for the purpose of direct marketing by means of unsolicited electronic communications;
7.2.5. the right to not be subject, under certain circumstances, to a decision which results in legal circumstances based solely on the basis of the automated processing;
7.2.6. the right to complain to the Regulator - you can complain about our processing of your personal information; and
7.3. You may exercise any of your rights in relation to your personal information by written notice to us, using the contact details set out below.
8. Third-party websites
8.1. Our App/s includes hyperlinks to, and details of, third-party websites.
8.2. In general, we have no control over, and are not responsible for, the privacy policies and practices of third parties.
9. Personal data of children
9.1. Our App/s and services are targeted at persons over the age of 18.
9.2. If we have reason to believe that we hold personal information of a person under that age in our databases, we will delete that personal information.
10. Updating information
10.1. Please let us know if the personal information that we hold about you needs to be corrected or updated.
11. Amendments
11.1. We may update this policy from time to time by publishing a new version on our website.
11.2. You should check this page occasionally to ensure you are happy with any changes to this policy.
11.3. We may notify you of significant changes to this policy by notice within the App.
12. Our details
12.1. This App is owned and operated by South African Books Online (Pty) Ltd.
12.2. We are registered in South Africa under registration number 2021/606043/07, and our registered office is at 27 Dawie Botha Avenue, Sonlandpark, Vereeniging, Gauteng, South Africa, 1929.
12.3. Our principal place of business is at 13 Floor Illovo Point, 68 Melville Road, Illovo, Sandton, Gauteng, South Africa, 2196
12.4. You can contact us:
12.4.1. via the app;
12.4.2. by email, using admin@sabooksonline.co.za;
12.5. by post, to 13 Floor Illovo Point, 68 Melville Road, Illovo, Sandton, Gauteng, South Africa, 2196
13. Complaints
You may report to the Information Regulator if you are unhappy with how we have used your Information. Their contact details are as follows:
Address:
The Information Regulator (South Africa)
33 Hoofd Street
Forum III, 3rd Floor Braampark
P.O Box 31533
Braamfontein, Johannesburg, 2017
Email: complaints.IR@justice.gov.za