Important information and who we are

1. Purpose of this Privacy Policy

• This Privacy Policy aims to give you information on how Akiba collects and processes your personal data through any form of your engagement with Akiba such as your engagement with us when contracting with us, use of our online services, general services or website, including any data you may provide through our website or any of our online platforms or gateways or provide to us generally, in any way whatsoever (such as when attending consultations, contracting with Akiba, participating in surveys, participating in events or signing up for newsletters).
• This Privacy Policy complies with, and facilitates the obligations required from, the European Commission’s General Data Protection Regulation, 2016/679 (“GDPR”) as well as the South African Protection of Personal Information Act, No. 4 of 2013 (“POPI”), as amended.
• It is important that you read this Privacy Policy together with any other privacy policy or fair processing notice we may provide on specific occasions when we are collecting or processing personal data about you or any minor or person in your guardianship, so that you are fully aware of how and why we are using your data. This Privacy Policy supplements the other notices and is not intended to override them.
• We do not intentionally process the personal information of minors, nor special categories of personal information. Users must not provide this type of information to us, where the provision of same will constitute an immediate and automatic breach of this Privacy Policy and Terms by the relevant user.

2. Controller and Processor

• Akiba is the “data controller” and is responsible for your personal data in instances where we decide the processing operations concerning your personal data. Sometimes we also operate as a “processor” of personal data on behalf of a third-party data controller, where that data controller’s privacy terms will apply, but we will draw your attention to them, when applicable.
• We have appointed a data representative at Akiba who is responsible for overseeing questions in relation to this Privacy Policy. If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, including any requests to exercise your legal rights, please contact the representative using the details set out below.

3. Our Contact Details

• Our full details are:
  Full name of legal entity:

  Akiba Digital (Pty) Ltd.
  Name or title of data representative:

  Credit scoring provider
  Email address:

  support@akibadigital.com
  Postal address:

  Upper Grayston drive, 150 Linden street,Sandton 2196
• You have the right to make a complaint at any time to your territories’ specific South African, European Union or UK information regulator’s office (such as the Information Regulator’s Office of South Africa, or the UK Information Commissioner’s Office, (www.ico.org.uk)). We would, however, appreciate the chance to deal with your concerns before you approach any such regulator, so please contact us in the first instance.

4. Changes to the Privacy Policy and your Duty to Inform us of Changes

• This Privacy Policy version was last updated on Friday, 07 February 2021 and historic versions are archived and can be obtained by contacting us.
• It is important that the personal data we hold about you is accurate and current. Please keep us informed if your personal data changes during your relationship with us.

5. Third-Party Links on Website or otherwise

• The Website may include links to third-party websites, plug-ins and applications. Clicking on those links or enabling those connections may allow third parties to collect or share data about you. We do not control these third-party websites and are not responsible for their privacy statements or terms. When you leave our Website, or engage with such third parties, we encourage you to read the distinct privacy policy of every third-party you engage with.

THE DATA WE COLLECT ABOUT YOU

• Personal data, or personal information, means any information about an individual, both natural and juristic entities, from which that entity can be identified. It does not include data where the identity has been removed (anonymous data).
• We may collect, use, store and transfer (“process”) different kinds of personal data about you which we have grouped together as follows:.
  • Identity Data including first name, maiden name, last name, country of residence, username or similar identifier, title, date of birth and gender;
  • Contact Data including email address, social media contact details and telephone numbers;
  • Financial Data including bank account details, third-party payment provider information and payment card details;
  • Transaction Data including details about payments to and from you, contracts, contractual terms, contract fees, signups, subscriptions, invoices and other details of products and services you have obtained from us;
  • Social Media Data including all information accessible on your publicly available profile such as images, photos, photo tags, likes, followers, comments, posts and stories;
  • Technical Data including internet protocol address/es, your login data, browser type and version, time zone setting and location, cookies, browser plug-in types and versions, operating system and platform and other technology on the devices you use to access the Website;
  • Profile Data including your Website username and password, qualifications and background information, preferences, feedback, ratings and reviews, and survey responses;
  • Biometric Data including your age, gender, visual representation and physical, physiological or behavioural characteristics;
  • Usage Data including information about how you use our company, Website, surveys, events and services; and
  • Marketing and Communications Data including your preferences in receiving notices and marketing from us and our third parties and your communication preferences.
• We also collect, use and share Aggregated Data such as statistical or demographic data for any purpose. Aggregated Data may be derived from your personal data but is not considered personal data in law as this data does not directly or indirectly reveal your identity. For example, we may aggregate your Usage Data to calculate the percentage of users accessing a specific Website feature. However, if we combine or connect Aggregated Data with your personal data so that it can directly or indirectly identify you, we treat the combined data as personal data which will be used in accordance with this Privacy Policy.
• Where we need to collect personal data by law, or under the terms of a contract we have with you and you fail to provide that data when requested, we may not be able to perform the contract we have or are trying to enter into with you (for example, to provide you with services or allow your access to the Website). In this case, we may have to cancel Website-access or services you have with us, but we will notify you if this is the case at the time.
• We also collect, use and share Aggregated Data such as statistical or demographic data for any purpose. Aggregated Data may be derived from your personal data but is not considered personal data in law as this data does not directly or indirectly reveal your identity. For example, we may aggregate your Usage Data to calculate the percentage of users accessing a specific Website feature. However, if we combine or connect Aggregated Data with your personal data so that it can directly or indirectly identify you, we treat the combined data as personal data which will be used in accordance with this Privacy Policy.
• Where we need to collect personal data by law, or under the terms of a contract we have with you and you fail to provide that data when requested, we may not be able to perform the contract we have or are trying to enter into with you (for example, to provide you with services or allow your access to the Website). In this case, we may have to cancel Website-access or services you have with us, but we will notify you if this is the case at the time.

HOW IS YOUR PERSONAL DATA COLLECTED?

• We use different methods to collect data from and about you, including through:
  • Direct interactions: You may give us your Identity, Contact and Financial Data by filling in various Akiba forms, Website forms or by corresponding with us by post, phone, email or otherwise. This includes personal data you provide when you:
    • use our Website;
    • use of Services;
    • contract with us;
    • consult with us;
    • complete forms;
    • interact with us via webinar or social platform group, such as a Facebook group
    • subscribe to our services or any publications;
    • provide any services to us as a service provider or independent contractor on contract with us;
    • request information to be sent to you;
    • attend any Akiba event whether online or in person; or
    • give us some feedback.
• Automated technologies or interactions: As you interact with our Website, we may automatically collect Technical Data about your equipment, browsing actions and patterns. We may collect this personal data by using cookies, server logs and other similar technologies. We may also receive Technical Data about you if you visit other websites employing our cookies.
• Third parties or publicly available sources: We may receive personal data about you from various third parties and public sources as set out below:
  • Technical Data from the following parties and or sources:
    • analytics;
    • social networks;
    • survey data;
    • marketing platforms; and
    • search information providers;
  • Contact, Financial and Transaction Data from providers of technical, payment and delivery services; and
  • Identity, Market Research Data and Contact Data from publicly available sources.

HOW WE USE YOUR PERSONAL DATA

• We will only use your personal data when the law allows us to and for legitimate reasons, which you hereby expressly understand and consent to. Most commonly, we will use your personal data in the following circumstances:
  • where we need to consult with you or perform on the Services engagement we are about to enter into or have entered into with you;
  • where we have your express consent to do so;
  • where it is necessary for our legitimate interests (or those of a third party) and your interests and fundamental rights do not override those interests; and/or
  • where we need to comply with a legal or regulatory obligation.
• Purposes for which we will use your personal data:
  • We have set out below, in a table format, a description of all the ways we plan to use your personal data, and which of the legal bases we rely on to do so. We have also identified what our legitimate interests are, where appropriate.
  • Note that we may process your personal data for more than one lawful ground depending on the specific purpose for which we are using your data.

    PURPOSE/ACTIVITY	TYPE OF DATA	LAWFUL BASIS FOR PROCESSING INCLUDING BASIS OF LEGITIMATE INTEREST
    To engage with you after you have contacted us requesting an engagement	Identity Contact Transaction Marketing and Communications	Express consent Necessary for our legitimate interests (to keep our records updated and to study how engagees use our services) Necessary for our legitimate interests (to develop our services and grow our organisation)
    To provide you with our Services as contracted	Identity Contact Financial Transaction Marketing and Communications Market Research	Performance of a contract with you Necessary to comply with a legal obligation Necessary for our legitimate interests (to keep our records updated and to study how engagees use our services) Necessary for our legitimate interests (to develop our services and grow our organisation) Express consent
    To contract with you as a service provider to Akiba	Identity Contact Financial Transaction Marketing and Communications Market Research	Performance of a contract with you Necessary to comply with a legal obligation Necessary for our legitimate interests (to keep our records updated and to study how engagees use our services) Necessary for our legitimate interests (to develop our services and grow our organisation) Express consent
    To allow you to use the Website, or register you as a new Website user or participant in any Akiba event	Identity Contact Financial	Performance of a contract with you Express consent
    To process and service your payment for any services rendered by Akiba or its service providers To manage payments, fees and charges	Identity Contact Financial Transaction Marketing and Communications	Performance of a contract with you Necessary for our legitimate interests (to make or receive necessary organisation payments) Express consent
    To manage our relationship with you which may include notifying you about changes to our terms or Privacy Policy or services	Identity Contact Financial Marketing and Communications	Performance of a contract with you Necessary for our legitimate interests (to make or receive necessary organisation payments) Necessary for our legitimate interests (to make or receive necessary organisation payments) Express consent
    To enable you to partake in an Akiba event or complete a survey or project	Identity Contact Financial Marketing and Communications	Performance of a contract with you Necessary for our legitimate interests (to keep our records updated and to study how engagees use our services) Express consent
    To administer and protect our organisation and our Website (including troubleshooting, data analysis, testing, system maintenance, support, reporting and hosting of data)	Identity Contact Profile Usage Financial Marketing and Communications	Performance of a contract with you Necessary for our legitimate interests (to keep our records updated and to study how engagees use our services) Express consent
    To market our own services to other organisations or External Third Parties	Identity Contact Profile	Necessary for our legitimate interests (for running our organisation, provision of services and marketing) Express consent
    To deliver relevant Website content and services to you and measure or understand the effectiveness of the information we serve to you	Identity Contact Profile Usage Marketing and Communications Technical	Necessary for our legitimate interests (to study how engagees use our services, to develop them, to grow our organisation and to inform our marketing strategy) Express consent
    To use data analytics to improve our Website, services, engagee relationships and experiences	Technical Usage	Necessary for our legitimate interests (to study how engagees use our services, to develop them, to grow our organisation and to inform our marketing strategy) Express consent
    To provide you with direct and user-specific marketing, make suggestions and recommendations to you about events or services that may be of interest to you	Identity Contact Marketing and Communications Technical Usage Profile	Necessary for our legitimate interests (to develop our services and grow our organisation) Express consent

  • Marketing
    • We strive to provide you with choices regarding certain personal data uses, particularly around marketing and advertising. To manifest your rights attached to any marketing sent to you, please use the in-built prompts provided on those communications, or contact us)
  • Promotional services from us
    • We may use your Identity, Contact, Technical, Usage and Profile Data to form a view on what we think you may want or need, or what may be of interest to you. This is how we decide which events, services and offers may be relevant for you (we call this marketing).
    • You will receive marketing communications from us if you have requested information from us, have participated in any Akiba service or event, or if you provided us with your details when registering for a promotion or event and, in each case, you have not opted-out of receiving that marketing.
  • Third-Party Marketing
    • Whilst we may use your personal data within our Akiba organisation group, we will get your express opt-in consent before we share your personal data publicly with any entity outside the Akiba group of organisations for public purposes.
  • Opting-Out
    • You can ask us or third parties to stop sending you marketing messages at any time by logging into the Website and checking or unchecking relevant boxes to adjust your marketing preferences or by following the opt-out links on any marketing message sent to you, or by contacting us at any time.
    • Where you opt-out of receiving these marketing messages, this will not apply to personal data provided to us as a result of your use of the Website, our services, or your participation in any Akiba event.
  • Change of Purpose
    • We will only use your personal data for the purposes for which we collected it, unless we reasonably consider that we need to use it for another reason and that reason is compatible with the original purpose. If you wish to get an explanation as to how the processing for the new purpose is compatible with the original purpose, please contact us.
    • If we need to use your personal data for an unrelated purpose, we will notify you and we will explain the legal basis which allows us to do so.
    • Please note that we may process your personal data without your knowledge or consent, in compliance with the above rules, where this is required or permitted by law.

DISCLOSURES OF YOUR PERSONAL DATA

We may have to share your personal data with the parties set out below for the purposes set out in the table above.

We require all third parties to respect the security of your personal data and to treat it in accordance with the law. We do not allow our third-party service providers to use your personal data for their own purposes and only permit them to process your personal data for specified purposes and in accordance with our instructions and standards.

INTERNATIONAL TRANSFERS

We share your personal data within the Akiba group of organisations and affiliates, and this may involve transferring and processing your data outside of South Africa. Whenever we transfer your personal data out of the country, we ensure a similar degree of protection is afforded to it by ensuring at least one of the following safeguards is implemented:

Please contact us if you want further information on the specific mechanism used by us when transferring your personal data out of South Africa.

DATA SECURITY

We have put in place appropriate security measures to prevent your personal data from being accidentally lost, used or accessed in an unauthorised way, altered or disclosed. In addition, we limit access to your personal data to those employees, agents, contractors and other third parties who have a legitimate need to know. They will only process your personal data on our instructions, and they are subject to a duty of confidentiality.
We have put in place procedures to deal with any suspected personal data breach and will notify you and any applicable regulator of a breach where we are legally required to do so.

DATA RETENTION

We will only retain your personal data for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes we collected it for, including for the purposes of satisfying any legal, accounting, or reporting requirements.

To determine the appropriate retention period for personal data, we consider the amount, nature, and sensitivity of the personal data, the potential risk of harm from unauthorised use or disclosure of your personal data, the purposes for which we process your personal data, any other South African applicable law requiring us to retain the data and whether we can achieve those purposes through other means, and the applicable legal requirements..

Details of retention periods for different aspects of your personal data are available from us by contacting us.

In some circumstances you can ask us to delete your data; see below for further information.

In some circumstances we may anonymise your personal data (so that it can no longer be associated with you) for research or statistical purposes in which case we may use this information indefinitely without further notice to you.

YOUR LEGAL RIGHTS

Under certain circumstances, you have rights under data protection laws in relation to your personal data. Please contact us to find out more about, or manifest, these rights:

You will not have to pay a fee to access your personal data (or to exercise any of the other rights). However, we may charge a reasonable fee if your request is clearly unfounded, repetitive or excessive. Alternatively, we may refuse to comply with your request in these circumstances.

We may need to request specific information from you to help us confirm your identity and ensure your right to access your personal data (or to exercise any of your other rights). This is a security measure to ensure that personal data is not disclosed to any person who has no right to receive it. We may also contact you to ask you for further information in relation to your request to speed up our response.

We try to respond to all legitimate requests within one month. Occasionally it may take us longer than a month if your request is particularly complex or you have made a number of requests. In this case, we will notify you and keep you updated.

GLOSSARY