Privacy Policy

Last updated [19 August 2024]

Our Privacy Policy forms part of and must be read in conjunction with, the website Terms and Conditions. We reserve the right to change this Privacy Policy at any time.

 

It contains the information required to be compliant by POPIA as described in the ‘POPIA Privacy Policy Checklist’ which was published by VeraSafe.  

(https://verasafe.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/VeraSafe-POPIA-Privacy-Policy-Checklist.pdf)

We respect the privacy of our users and every person who visits our site www.shern.co.za. Here, SHERNrefers to as“we”, “us”, or “our”. We are committed to protecting your personal information and your right to privacy. If you have any questions or concerns about our policy or our practices with regard to your personal information, please contact us at info@shern.co.za.

When you visit our website www.shern.co.za (“Site”) and use our services, you trust us with your personal information. We take your privacy very seriously. In this privacy notice, we describe our privacy policy. We seek to explain to you in the clearest way possible what information we collect, how we use it, and what rights you have concerning it. We hope you take some time to read through it carefully, as it is important. If there are any terms in this privacy policy that you do not agree with, please discontinue the use of our site and our services.

 

ABOUT US

Shern.co.za is an online platform aimed at allowing users to swop their services for services.

This Site is owned by K2023711812 (PTY LTD) and is located at 315 Umhlanga Rocks Drive, Durban, South Africa, South Africa.

Please read this privacy policy carefully as it will help you make informed decisions about sharing your personal information with us.  

1.    WHAT INFORMATION DO WE COLLECT?

The Personal Information you disclose to us

We collect personal information that you voluntarily provide to us when expressing an interest in obtaining information about us or our services when participating in activities on the Site or otherwise contacting us.

The personal information that we collect depends on the context of your interactions with us and the Site, the choices you make, and the products and features you use. The personal information we collect can include the following:

Name and Contact Data. We collect your first and last name, email address, phone number, profile picture, information about your skills/services and other relevant information related to your profession.

Credentials. We collect passwords, password hints, and similar security information used for authentication and account access.

Payment Data. We collect data necessary to process your payment if you make purchases, such as your payment instrument number (such as a credit card number), and the security code associated with your payment instrument. All payment data is stored by our payment processor (Ozow) and you should review its privacy policies and contact the payment processor directly to respond to your questions.

Information automatically collected

We automatically collect certain information when you visit, use, or navigate the Site. This information does not reveal your specific identity (like your name or contact information) but may include device and usage information, such as your IP address, browser, and device characteristics, operating system, language preferences, referring URLs, device name, country, location, information about how and when you use our Site and other technical information. If you access our site with your mobile device, we may automatically collect device information (such as your mobile device ID, model, and manufacturer), operating system, version information, and IP address. This information is primarily needed to maintain the security and operation of our Site, and for our internal analytics and reporting purposes.

Like many businesses, we also collect information through cookies and similar technologies.

Information collected from other Sources

We may obtain information about you from other sources, such as public databases, joint marketing partners, social media platforms (such as Facebook), as well as from other third parties, in accordance with the provisions of the South African Privacy of Personal Information (POPI) Act.

Non-disclosure of information

·        The information requested by us is required in order for users to engage on the Site. If the information is not obtained, users will be unable to utilize the Site.

·        We require doctors/health care professionals to identify themselves as they are providing a professional service. This helps to ensure that all users maintain respect and professionalism for others and can be held accountable if not acting in such a manner.

2.    HOW DO WE USE YOUR INFORMATION?

In accordance with the POPI Act, we process your personal information for the following purposes: to enter into or perform a contract with you, for compliance with our legal obligations and for our legitimate business interests. We will also obtain your consent before processing your personal information for certain purposes.

We may use the personal information we collect from you for the following purposes:

·        To send you administrative information related to your account, for our business purposes, and/or for legal reasons. We may use your personal information to send you service and new feature information, as well as information about changes to our terms, conditions, and policies.

·        To deliver targeted advertising to you for our business purposes and/or with your consent. We may use your information to develop and display content and advertising tailored to your interests and/or location and to measure its effectiveness.

·        To request feedback from you for our business purposes and/or with your consent. We may use your information to request feedback and to contact you about your use of our Site.

·        To protect our Site for our business purposes and/or legal reasons. We may use your information as part of our efforts to keep our Site safe and secure, such as for fraud monitoring and prevention.

·        To enable user-to-user communications with your consent. We may use your information to enable user-to-user communications with each user's consent.

·        To enforce our terms, conditions, and policies for our business purposes and as legally required.

·        To respond to legal requests and prevent harm as legally required. If we receive a subpoena or other legal request, we may need to inspect the data we hold to determine how to respond.

·        For other business purposes. We may use your information for other business purposes, such as data analysis, identifying usage trends, determining the effectiveness of our promotional campaigns, and evaluating and improving our Site, products, services, marketing and experience.

 

3.    WILL YOUR INFORMATION BE SHARED WITH ANYONE?

As per the provisions of the POPI Act (South African Privacy of Personal Information Act), we understand the importance of protecting your personal information. We only share and disclose your information in the following situations:

·        Compliance with Laws. We may disclose your information when we are legally required to do so to comply with applicable law, governmental requests, a judicial proceeding, court order, or legal processes. For example, we may disclose your information to public authorities to meet national security or law enforcement requirements.

·        Vital Interests and Legal Rights. We may disclose your information where we believe it is necessary to investigate, prevent, or take action regarding potential violations of our policies, suspected fraud, situations involving potential threats to the safety of any person and illegal activities, or as evidence in litigation in which we are involved.

·        Third-Party Service Providers. We may share your data with third-party vendors, service providers, contractors, or agents who perform services for us or on our behalf and require access to such information to do that work. These Third-party service providers are not limited to South Africa. This information will only be given if necessary to utilize these service providers. The exact identity of which Third-party service providers will be updated once any information is disclosed to any other Third-party. This Privacy Policy will be updated at that time. 

·        Business Transfers. We may share or transfer your information in connection with, or during negotiations of, any merger, sale of company assets, financing, or acquisition of all or a portion of our business to another company.

·        Third-Party Advertisers. We may use third-party advertising companies to serve ads when you visit the Site. These companies may use information about your visits to our Site and other websites contained in web cookies and other tracking technologies to provide advertisements about goods and services of interest to you.

·        Affiliates. We may share your information with our affiliates, including our parent company and any subsidiaries, joint venture partners, or other companies that we control or that are under common control with us. We require those affiliates to honor this privacy policy.

·        Business Partners. We may share your information with our business partners to offer you certain products, services, or promotions.

·        With Your Consent. We may disclose your personal information for any other purpose with your consent.

·        Other Users. Please note that when you share personal information, such as by posting comments, contributions, or other content to the Site, or otherwise interact with public areas of the Site, such personal information may be viewed by all users and may be publicly distributed outside the Site in perpetuity.

4.    DO WE USE COOKIES AND OTHER TRACKING TECHNOLOGIES?

We may use cookies and other tracking technologies, such as web beacons and pixels, to collect and store information. We have a Cookie Policy that provides details on how we use these technologies and how you can choose to reject certain types of cookies.

5.    WHAT IS OUR STANCE ON THIRD-PARTY WEBSITES?

Please be aware that the Site may feature advertisements from third-party vendors that are not affiliated with us and may contain links to other websites, online services, or mobile applications. We cannot guarantee the safety and privacy of any information you provide to third parties. Please note that any data collected by third parties is not governed by this privacy policy. We are not responsible for the content, privacy, or security practices of any third parties, including websites, services, or applications that may be linked to or from the Site. It is your responsibility to review the policies of such third parties and contact them directly to address any questions or concerns you may have.

 

 

 

6.    HOW LONG DO WE KEEP YOUR INFORMATION?

In compliance with the POPI Act, we will retain your personal information only for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes outlined in this privacy policy, unless a longer retention period is required or permitted by law. For instance, we may need to keep your personal information for tax, accounting, or other legal reasons.

We will not retain your personal information for longer than 90 days after your account is terminated unless there is a legitimate business reason for doing so.

When we no longer require your personal information for legitimate business purposes, we will delete or anonymize it. In case it is not feasible to delete or anonymize your personal information, such as when it is stored in backup archives, we will securely store it and prevent any further processing until we can delete or anonymize it.

7.    HOW DO WE KEEP YOUR INFORMATION SAFE?

We have implemented appropriate technical and organizational security measures designed to protect the security of any personal information we process. However, please be aware that no transmission of data over the internet can be guaranteed to be completely secure. Although we will do our best to protect your personal information, the transmission of personal information to and from our Site is at your own risk. We recommend that you access our services only through a secure and trusted network, and take necessary precautions to protect your personal information.

8.    DO WE COLLECT INFORMATION FROM MINORS?

We require users under 18 years old to obtain permission from their parents or legal guardians before using the www.shern.co.za Site. By using the Site, you confirm that you have obtained such permission. If we become aware that we have collected personal information from a child under the age of 18 without parental or legal guardian consent, we will take reasonable steps to promptly delete such information from our records. If you believe that we have collected personal information from a child under the age of 18 without consent, please contact us at info@shern.co.za.

 

9.    WHAT ARE YOUR PRIVACY RIGHTS?

Personal Information

You have the right to review, update, or delete the personal information we hold about you. To do so, please contact us using the contact information provided below. Upon your request to delete your personal information, we will delete your personal information from our active databases unless retention of such information is required or permitted by law.

Please note that we may continue to retain some information in our files, including for purposes such as fraud prevention, troubleshooting issues, assisting with any investigations, enforcing our Terms of Use, and/or complying with legal requirements.

Our Site uses cookies and similar technologies. Most web browsers are set to accept cookies by default. However, you can usually choose to set your browser to remove or reject cookies. Keep in mind that disabling cookies or rejecting them may affect certain features or services of our Site.

You have the right to object to the processing of personal information as well as have the right to lodge a complaint to the information regulator. Furthermore, you have the right to withdraw consent to the processing of personal information.

10.                 DO WE MAKE UPDATES TO THIS POLICY?

We may update this privacy policy from time to time. The updated version will be indicated by an updated “Revised” date and the updated version will be effective as soon as it is accessible. If we make material changes to this privacy policy, we may notify you either by prominently posting a notice of such changes or by directly sending you a notification. We encourage you to review this privacy policy frequently to be informed of how we are protecting your information.

 

11.                 HOW CAN YOU CONTACT US ABOUT THIS POLICY?

If you have questions or comments about this policy, send an email addressed to the following email address: info@shern.co.za