Introduction

Your constitutional right to privacy is protected by the Protection of Personal Information Act4 of 2013 (“POPI”), a vital piece of legislation which came into operation on 1 July 2021. The POPI Act protects your right to privacy by regulating the manner in which your personal information is being collected, processed, stored, shared and protected by George Whitehead Incorporated (“we”, “us” and “our”).

We respect your right to privacy and strictly adhere to the legal requirements as set out in the POPI Act, and in this Privacy Policy we aim to inform you of your rights in this regard.

Personal information collected

In order to comply with the Financial Intelligence Centre Act 38 of 2001 (“FICA”) we collect personal information such as your identity, status, contact details and billing information. We furthermore collect information from you which is legally required based on your required legal service, which information shall be specifically asked from you when needed.
Your personal information is collected directly from you when we receive instructions from you and upon our request for further information. In limited circumstances, personal information is collected from third parties where such information is publicly available or where we have the legal authority to collect such information for legitimate business purposes.

Processing of your personal information

We use your personal information to perform acts in the natural course of any legitimate business purposes, which includes responding to any legal queries you might have, providing legal advice and services, verifying your identity and to comply with our security, administrative and/or legal regulations. Your personal information is treated as strictly confidential. In this regard, we take reasonable security measures to ensure the protection of your personal information.
Authorised access to personal information is only provided to employees who require such information in order to complete their responsibilities, and such employees have contractually agreed to maintain the confidentiality of any personal information.
Any information collected by us shall only be retained for as long as it is necessary to complete our instruction given by you, or for as long as required by law.

Disclosure of personal information

We may disclose your personal information to third parties when we have a legal duty to do so in accordance with applicable law or regulation. Information may also be shared for any legitimate purpose relating to our business activities, such as performing our contractual obligations towards you or where your information has been submitted specifically for such purpose.

Your rights

You have the right at any time to:

– object to the processing of your personal information (subject to certain legislation)
– request access to the personal information we hold about you
– amend, update or request the return or destruction thereof
– lodge a complaint about the processing of your information

If you have any questions regarding this Privacy Policy or your rights associated therewith, please do not hesitate to contact our offices.