CONSENT AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS IN TERMS OF THE PROTECTION OF PERSONAL INFORMATION ACT NO 4 OF 2013 (POPI)
Introduction
The Protection of Personal Information (POPI) Act aims to give effect to the constitutional right to privacy by balancing the right to privacy against that of access to information. The POPI Act requires that personal information pertaining to individuals be processed lawfully and in a reasonable manner that does not infringe on the right to privacy.
This consent form sets out how personal information will be processed by Expansive Accounting (Pty) Ltd. The use of the words “the party” for the purposes of this document shall be a reference to any party dealing or communicating with Expansive Accounting and/or concluding any agreement, whether of employment, of service provider or client, or in any other legal capacity, with the inclusion of each party referred to or included in terms of such exchange or agreement.
Should you be a client purchasing products and/or services from Expansive Accounting, we may process personal information about you in your capacity as data subject related to names, surnames, identification numbers, email addresses, physical addresses, GPS coordinates, telephone numbers, account numbers and financial history. The purpose of processing such personal information about you is to communicate directly with you, to process your personal information in support of the accounting and entrepreneurial support services we provide to you, in general to perform on the specific agreement concluded between yourself and Expansive Accounting, to protect your legitimate interests through such performance and also to comply with relevant statutory provisions.
Expansive Accounting will only collect personal information for the purposes as stated above. As part of the processing of personal information about you, Expansive Accounting will collect such information from you, through your status as client, business relation, or otherwise. It may also collect such information from statutory institutions such as the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC), the South African Revenue Service (SARS), from a relevant public or equivalent entity, or from its own records related to previous services provided to you. As part of the processing of personal information about you, Expansive Accounting may also disclose such personal information to statutory institutions such as the CIPC, SARS, relevant public or equivalent entities on whose behalf Expansive Accounting may act as intermediary, or other third parties agreed to in writing with you the data subject.
Consent and permission to process personal information
Through reading this statement you are explicitly requested to resolve whether you consent to Expansive Accounting processing your personal information by responding to the consent request. Should you not consent to Expansive Accounting processing your personal information, the consent request allows for the data subject to opt out. Should you not respond, your consent for Expansive Accounting to process your personal information is implied. Should you choose to opt out from Expansive Accounting processing your personal information, you understand that withholding consent or failure to disclose personal information will result in Expansive Accounting being unable to perform its functions and/or any services or benefits you may require from us. You also indemnify and hold Expansive Accounting harmless in respect of any claims against Expansive Accounting by any other person on whose behalf you have consented should they claim that you were not so authorized. You furthermore understand that in terms of the POPI Act and other laws of the country, there are instances where your express consent is not necessary in order to permit the processing of personal information, which may be related to police investigations, litigation or when personal information is
publicly available. You will not hold Expansive Accounting responsible for any improper or unauthorized use of personal information that is beyond its reasonable control.
Your rights regarding the processing of personal information
You may withdraw consent to the processing of personal information at any time, and should you wish to do so, you must provide Expansive Accounting with reasonable notice to this effect. Please note that withdrawal of consent is still subject to the terms and conditions of any contract that is in place between yourself and Expansive Accounting. Should the withdrawal of consent result in the interference of legal obligations, then such withdrawal will only be effective if Expansive Accounting agrees to same in writing. We specifically draw to the attention the fact that the withdrawal of consent may result in us being unable to provide the requested information and/or products and/or services and/or other benefits. Further, please note that the revocation of consent is not retroactive and will not affect disclosures of personal information that have already been made. In order to withdraw consent, please contact our Information Officer at info@expansiveaccounting.co.za
Where personal information has changed in any respect, you are encouraged to notify Expansive Accounting so that its records may be updated. Expansive Accounting will largely rely on you to ensure that personal information is correct and accurate.
You have the right to access your personal information that Expansive Accounting may have in its possession and you are entitled to request the identity of which third parties have received and/or processed personal information for the purpose agreed to. Please note however, that any request in this regard may be declined if:
- the information comes under legal privilege in the course of litigation,
- the disclosure of personal information in the form that it is processed may result in the disclosure of confidential information,
- giving access may cause a third party to refuse to provide similar information to Expansive Accounting,
- the information as it is disclosed may result in the disclosure of another person’s information,
- the information contains an opinion about another person and that person has not consented, or
- the disclosure is prohibited by law.
Requesting access and lodging of complaints
Please submit any requests for access to your personal information in writing to the Expansive Accounting Information Officer at info@expansiveaccounting.co.za With any request for access to personal information, we will require you to provide personal information in order to verify identification and therefore the right to access the information. There may be a reasonable charge for providing copies of the information requested.