POPIA Notice

This notice is issued in terms of the Protection of Personal Information Act, 4 of 2013 (POPIA) and explains how DadBod Contractors collects, uses, stores, and protects your personal information. We are committed to processing personal information responsibly, lawfully, and transparently.

1. Purpose of This Notice

This POPIA Notice describes:

• What personal information we collect and why
• The lawful grounds on which we process your information
• How long we retain your information
• Your rights as a data subject under POPIA
• How to exercise those rights or lodge a complaint

2. Personal Information We Process

Depending on how you interact with us, we may process the following categories of personal information:

Homeowners

• Name, phone number, and WhatsApp contact details
• Location (suburb or city) and job description

Contractors

• Full name, identity number or passport number
• Email address, phone number, and WhatsApp number
• Business name, CK or company registration number
• Trade specialisation, years of experience, and service areas
• Banking details (where required for payment purposes)
• Profile photo, portfolio images, and supporting documents
• IP address and device information

Partner Suppliers

• Company name, trading name, registration number, and VAT number
• Contact person name, email address, phone number, and position held
• Business address, provinces served, and product/service categories
• Uploaded catalogue documents

General Website Visitors

• IP address and browser or device type (collected automatically for security purposes)
• Session data stored in a temporary security cookie

3. Purpose of Processing

We process personal information for the following purposes:

• Service delivery - To match homeowners with suitable contractors and facilitate job referrals
• Application processing - To receive, assess, and manage contractor and partner supplier applications
• Verification - To verify the identity, credentials, and legitimacy of contractors and partner suppliers
• Communication - To respond to enquiries and provide service-related updates via email, phone, or WhatsApp
• Marketing - To send relevant promotional communications where you have given consent
• Platform security - To prevent fraud, spam, and unauthorised access to our systems
• Legal compliance - To fulfil our obligations under South African law
• Business administration - To manage accounts, subscriptions, and billing

4. Lawful Grounds for Processing

We process personal information on the following grounds as provided for under POPIA:

• Consent - Where you have explicitly consented, for example when submitting an application form or opting into marketing communications
• Contractual necessity - Where processing is required to perform a contract with you, such as a contractor subscription or partner agreement
• Legitimate interest - Where processing is necessary for our legitimate business interests, such as platform security and fraud prevention, provided this does not override your rights
• Legal obligation - Where we are required by law to process your information

5. Third-Party Operators

We share personal information only as necessary and with appropriate safeguards in place. Third parties who may process your information on our behalf ("operators" under POPIA) include:

• Hosting provider - Our web hosting provider stores data on secure servers
• Email service provider - Used to deliver application confirmation and notification emails
• Approved payment provider(s) - For processing client and contractor payments through the platform
• WhatsApp (Meta) - Our primary communication channel

All operators are required to process personal information only on our instructions and in accordance with POPIA.

6. Transborder Flows

Some of our third-party service providers (including Google, Cloudflare, and Meta/WhatsApp) are based outside South Africa. Where personal information is transferred to third countries, we ensure that such transfers comply with Section 72 of POPIA and that adequate levels of protection are in place.

7. Retention of Personal Information

We retain personal information for as long as necessary to fulfil the purpose for which it was collected, or as required by law:

• Contractor applications - Retained for the duration of the contractor's relationship with DadBod Contractors, plus a reasonable period thereafter (typically 3 years)
• Partner applications - Retained for the duration of the partnership plus a reasonable period thereafter
• Contact enquiries - Retained for up to 2 years
• Security logs (IP addresses) - Retained for up to 12 months

After the applicable retention period, personal information is securely deleted or anonymised.

8. Security Measures

We implement reasonable technical and organisational measures to safeguard personal information, including:

• HTTPS encryption for all data transmitted via the website
• Password-protected database access with role-based permissions
• Uploaded documents stored in non-publicly accessible server directories
• CSRF token protection on all web forms
• Rate limiting on form submissions to prevent abuse
• Regular review of access controls and security practices

While we take all reasonable precautions, no internet-based system is entirely secure. In the event of a data breach that poses a risk to your rights and freedoms, we will notify you and the Information Regulator as required by POPIA.

9. Your Rights as a Data Subject

Under POPIA, you have the following rights:

• Right to be notified - You have the right to be notified that your personal information is being collected and for what purpose
• Right of access - You may request confirmation of whether we hold personal information about you, and a copy of that information
• Right to correction or deletion - You may request that inaccurate, irrelevant, or outdated personal information be corrected or deleted
• Right to object - You may object to the processing of your personal information on reasonable grounds, including for direct marketing purposes
• Right to withdraw consent - Where processing is based on your consent, you may withdraw that consent at any time
• Right to lodge a complaint - You have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator if you believe your rights under POPIA have been violated

To exercise any of these rights, please contact our Information Officer at info@dadbodcontractors.co.za. We will respond within a reasonable timeframe in accordance with POPIA.

10. Information Regulator

If you are not satisfied with our response to your request or complaint, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator of South Africa:

11. Consent

Where we rely on your consent to process personal information, you may withdraw that consent at any time by contacting us at info@dadbodcontractors.co.za. Withdrawing consent will not affect the lawfulness of any processing carried out before the withdrawal.

12. Updates to This Notice

We may update this POPIA Notice from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or legal requirements. The updated notice will be posted on this page with a revised date.

13. Contact Our Information Officer

For any POPIA-related queries, requests, or complaints:

DadBod Contractors - Information Officer
Email: info@dadbodcontractors.co.za
Phone / WhatsApp: +27 79 710 2912