Privacy Policy
This Privacy Policy forms part of the HURU Online Platform’s Terms and Conditions of Use (“Terms of Use”). Please read this Privacy Policy carefully before browsing our Online Platform and before using any of our Services.
1. Use
Your use of HURU’s Online Platform indicates that you have both read and agreed to the terms of this Privacy Policy. You cannot browse or use our Online Platform if you do not accept this Privacy Policy.
By accepting our Terms of Use when browsing or using the Online Platform and/or when transacting with HURU for the rendering of the Services or for making enquiries thereto, you also consent to our Privacy Policy and for the use of your Personal Information for the rendering of the Services and as set out in this Privacy Policy.
By submitting your Personal Information you consent to our Privacy Policy and for the use of your Personal Information for the rendering of the Services or for making enquiries thereto as set out in this Privacy Policy.
All sections of this Privacy Policy are applicable to Users, Customers and Candidates as defined in the Terms of Use, unless the section expressly states or the context indicates otherwise.
2. Privacy
Personal Information and Purpose
For the purposes of this section, Personal Information will be understood in accordance with the definition provided in the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 (“the POPI Act”). Enquiry Information, Services Information, Special Personal Information and Findings as defined later in this Privacy Policy, constitute sub-sets of such Personal Information.
HURU also subscribes to the principles for electronically collecting Personal Information outlined in the POPI Act, and the further legislation referred to therein. We endeavour to ensure the quality, accuracy and confidentiality of personal information in our possession.
The primary purpose of HURU’s Online Platform is to allow Users to procure the services offered of electronic fingerprint criminal checks and electronic fingerprint identity verifications, using an online portal and service contained on our app and website (“the Services”) and the Findings thereof.
HURU is an authorised reseller and provider of the Services, which HURU has access to as an authorised reseller of Afiswitch (Pty) Ltd (“Afiswitch”) on a commercial basis through the South African Police Service (“SAPS”) infrastructure as well as the Department of Home Affairs (“HANIS”) system put in place for this purpose, subject to its reseller obligations and SAPS’ and HANIS’ requirements from time to time.
The Findings means the Candidate’s Personal Information that is obtained by HURU and Afiswitch during the course of performing the Services, which includes, without limitation, a detailed summary of the Candidate’s criminal record (including, without limitation, information regarding the Candidate’s criminal history, previous convictions, cases awaiting trial and/or any other relevant information such as is ordinarily furnished by the Criminal Record Centre of the SAPS).
In adopting this Privacy Policy, HURU wishes to balance our legitimate business rights and interests and the User’s reasonable rights and expectation of privacy. Accordingly, we will adopt a minimal approach to obtaining, processing, storing and generally dealing with Personal Information; and we shall take all reasonable steps to prevent unauthorised access to or disclosure of your Personal Information. However, it is impossible to guarantee that your Personal Information shall be 100% secure.
Users who wish to make an enquiry concerning the use of the Services as Customers or Candidates will be prompted to complete an online process using our Online Platform wherein certain Personal Information will be furnished. In so doing, Users will be asked to provide the following information:
First names;
Surname;
Cellphone number;
Email address.
(“the Enquiry Information”)
The purpose for the Enquiry Information is in order to be able to communicate with the Users and to be able to answer their questions, including with a view to them possibly becoming a Customer or Candidate. The Enquiry Information is furnished on a voluntary basis.
By failing to provide the necessary Enquiry Information, will result in HURU being unable reply to your enquiry about the Services offered or any other requests made.
Users who wish to contract with HURU for the provision of the Services, whether as 1) Candidates of Customers or as 2) Candidates who are also Customers, will be prompted to complete an online process using our Online Platform wherein certain Personal Information will be furnished. In so doing, Users will be asked to provide the following information:
First names;
Surname;
Date of birth;
Identity number or passport number;
Race;
Gender;
Previous convictions;
Physical address or location;
Phone number;
Email address;
Identity document or passport;
Fingerprints, photographs and possibly other biometric information;
Any other relevant information which may be required in order to be able to render the Services.
(“the Services Information”)
The purpose for the Services Information, Special Personal Information and any other Personal Information that Users provide through the Online Platform is in order to be able to render the Services to the Users and to be able to furnish the Findings. The Services Information, Special Personal Information and any other Personal Information is furnished on a voluntary basis.
By failing to provide the necessary Services Information, Special Personal Information and any other Personal Information will result in HURU being unable to provide the Services to you.
HURU will not sell, share or rent your Personal Information to any third party or use your email address or phone number for unsolicited mail, texts or instant messages. Any emails, texts or instant messages sent by HURU will only be in connection with the provision of our Services and/or the marketing thereof.
Consent and Authorisation
By accepting our Terms of Use when transacting with HURU on our Online Platform for the rendering of the Services, you as a User are confirming your express consent in terms of Section 27(1)(a) of the POPI Act to the processing of your special personal information as defined in Section 26 (a) and (b) of the POPI Act in respect of biometric information (such as fingerprints and photographs) and criminal activity, which is the subject matter of the Services being rendered to you as a User (“Special Personal Information”).
By submitting your Special Personal Information in the form of your fingerprints, photographs and any other biometric information, you as a User are confirming your express consent in terms of Section 27(1)(a) of the POPI Act to the processing of your Special Personal Information as defined in Section 26 (a) and (b) of the POPI Act in respect of biometric information and criminal activity, which is the subject matter of the Services being rendered to you as a User and HURU’s access thereto.
HURU will not collect, use or disclose Special Personal Information as contemplated in Sections 26 of the POPI Act (such as biometric information and criminal behaviour) except with a User’s specific consent or in the circumstances permitted by law.
The Candidate authorises HURU and Afiswitch to access, use, retain, store and transfer their Personal Information for purposes of conducting the Services. In this regard the Candidate acknowledges and agrees that their Personal Information may be shared by HURU with Afiswitch and vice versa for purposes of performing the Services.
The Candidate authorises HURU and Afiswitch to access, use, retain, store and transfer the Personal Information and the Findings for any other legitimate purpose, including for purposes of verifying their identity which will include comparing and verifying the Special Personal Information and the Findings against any national data registers in the Republic of South Africa.
The Candidate agrees that the Findings (including, without limitation, any adverse findings, which will include my criminal record and any cases against them that are pending/awaiting trial) may be shared by HURU with Afiswitch and vice versa.
The Candidate agrees that the Personal Information and the Findings may be transferred cross-border to other countries, which do not necessarily have data protection laws similar to the Republic of South Africa, for verification or storage purposes. In any cross-border transfer of the Personal Information and Findings, the recipient will be notified of the requirement to keep this Personal Information confidential.
The Candidate warrants that the Personal Information provided to HURU and Afiswitch is accurate and current and that they have not knowingly withheld any facts or circumstances.
The Candidate agrees that they will correct and update the Personal Information when necessary.
The Candidate understands that HURU and Afiswitch will use reasonable efforts to maintain the confidentiality of the Personal Information and the Findings and that the Personal Information will be stored in a secure manner and accessed and transferred for the purposes they have authorised.
By the Candidate agreeing to this Privacy Policy, they warrant that they are an adult of sound mind and declare that they have read through this Privacy Policy and know and understand its terms and the consequences thereof; and fully agree to bind themself to these provisions.
By agreeing to the terms contained in this Privacy Policy, the User consents to the use of their Personal Information in relation to:
Searches by Customers or prospective Customers to find possible matches of their Candidates or prospective Candidates on the HURU database, prior to the rendering of the Services;
The provision and performance of the Services;
The provision of the Findings;
Informing you of changes made to our Online Platform;
The provision of marketing related services to you by HURU;
Responding to any queries or requests you may have;
Developing a more direct and substantial relationship with Users for the purposes described in this clause;
Developing an online user profile;
Understanding general user trends and patterns so that we can develop and support existing and ongoing marketing strategies;
For security, administrative and legal purposes; and
The creation and development of market data profiles which may provide insight into market norms, practices and trends to help us improve our offering to you. Such information will be compiled and retained in aggregated form, but shall not be used in any way which may comprise the identity of a User.
HURU will attempt to limit the types of Personal Information we process to only that to which the User consents to (for example, in the context of online registration, searches for Candidates or prospective Candidates on our database, rendering of the Services, newsletters, message boards, surveys, polls, professional announcements, SMS, MMS and other mobile services), but, to the extent necessary, the User’s agreement to this Privacy Policy constitutes their consent as contemplated in Section 69 of the POPI Act.
Where a User or Candidate’s Personal Information is already on the HURU database (in part or in whole) and in particular where their biometric information (such as fingerprints and photographs) is already stored on the HURU database, the User or Candidate consents to HURU being permitted to do a search on our database on the request of a Customer or prospective Customer by furnishing HURU with an identity number or passport number; and if such a search renders a positive result for HURU to be permitted to confirm to the Customer or prospective Customer that the User or Candidate’s biometric information is already on the HURU database and to furnish the Customer or prospective Customer with sufficient limited proof thereof in the form of a watermarked, low resolution photograph and initials and surname of the User or Candidate, in order to facilitate the efficient rendering of the Services to the Customer or prospective Customer, for the benefit of the Candidate or User. The provisions of 2.26 shall not apply to this process.
A Candidate will be notified each time when a Customer requires HURU to render the Services in respect of the Candidate and access such Special Personal Information in the form of electronic fingerprint criminal checks and electronic fingerprint identity verifications and any other Services Information as well as any re-checks in respect thereof (which the Candidate accepts may be scheduled). A Candidate shall have the right to object thereto, in which case HURU shall not conduct the Services or furnish the Findings to a Customer or other third party (as the case may be) and shall notify the Customer in this regard in terms of a Candidate’s selection of either the Regular Consent (see 2.29) or Restricted Consent (see 2.30) options.
The User has the right to object to the processing of their Personal Information in terms of Section 11 (3) of the POPI Act, in which case HURU shall no longer process the User’s Personal Information.
In order to give effect to the provisions of 2.26 and 2.27, HURU offers two consent options for Candidates: Option 1 where a Candidate gives their consent at the point of the online capture of their Personal Information, including their Services Information and Special Personal Information, which is referred to as ‘Regular Consent’; and: Option 2 where a Candidate can change the basis of their consent by logging into their User profile, which is referred to as ‘Restricted Consent’.
Regular Consent means that a Candidate gives consent to HURU and the relevant Customer/s to access their Personal Information for the rendering of Services. Each time the Candidate’s Personal Information is accessed they will be receive a ‘Check Submission Notice’ that is sent to them electronically by SMS or email. The Check Submission Notice will inform the Candidate that the Services have been requested on their Personal Information, and will include the Customer’s details.
Restricted Consent means that a Candidate is required to give consent to HURU and HURU Customers to access their Personal Information for the rendering of the Services each and every time a Customer submits a request. When a Customer submits a request for the Services in respect of a Candidate, the Candidate will receive a ‘Check Request Notice’ that is sent to them electronically by SMS or email.
The Candidate will then have three options: Option 1 – to object to the Services being performed, where HURU will not proceed to render the Services, Option 2 – to approve the Services being performed, where HURU will proceed to render the Services forthwith and Option 3 – to ignore the Check Request Notice, where after 48 hours HURU will proceed to render the Services on the basis of the Candidates deemed consent.
If for any reason the Candidate believes their Personal Information is being accessed and/or used without their consent or in any other unlawful or wrongful manner, whether they have given Regular Consent or Restricted Consent, they can submit an ‘Abuse Notice’ to HURU containing the relevant information to be brought to our attention and we will conduct an investigation into the matter and provide feedback to the Candidate as soon as reasonably possible.
The Services will proceed immediately when a Customer requests them and any suspected unauthorised, unlawful and/or wrongful access and/or use of Personal Information may only be able to be addressed after the fact, which may include the suspension of the Customer’s account and further access to the Findings.
Security
Although absolute security cannot be guaranteed on the internet, HURU has in place up-to-date, reasonable technical and organisational security measures to protect the User’s Personal Information against accidental or intentional manipulation, loss, misuse, destruction or against unauthorised disclosure or access to the Personal Information we process online.
While HURU cannot ensure or warrant the security of any Personal Information a User provides to us, we will continue to maintain and improve these security measures over time in line with legal and technological developments.
Storage and Deletion
A User’s Personal Information will not be stored for longer than is reasonably necessary for the purposes described in this Policy or in the Terms of Use or as required by applicable legislation.
Personal Information shall be deleted upon a written request received from a User. The only Personal Information that will remain thereafter will be that required to retain records for the required legal period.
A Candidate may request that their Personal Information is deleted from the Afiswitch database once it has been processed, and HURU shall see to it that this is done within a reasonable time.
All payment information may be captured through the Online Platform or via email. HURU shall not retain payment information on behalf of its Users.
Monitoring
The Personal Information HURU collects from Users shall only be accessed by HURU employees, representatives, agents, contractors, service providers and consultants on a need-to-know basis, and subject to reasonable confidentiality obligations binding such persons.
HURU shall have the right, but shall not be obliged, to monitor or examine any information and materials including any website link that a User publishes or submits to HURU for publishing on the Online Platform. The User shall be solely responsible for the contents of all material published by them.
HURU regularly reviews its systems and data to ensure the best possible service to our Users.
Marketing
HURU or one our employees, representatives, agents, contractors, service providers or consultants may contact a User by email, SMS, instant message or telephone to ask you for your feedback and comments on our Services. We may also wish to provide you with information about special features of our Online Platform or any other services or products, which we think may be of interest to you. If you would rather not receive this information, an opt out option will be given to you.
HURU uses various online marketing and advertising platforms and service providers from time to time (such as but not limited to Google, Facebook and/or LinkedIn) to market and advertise our Online Platform and Services across the web. We place a cookie on a browser, and then a third party (such as, but not limited to Google, Facebook or LinkedIn) reads these cookies and may serve an ad on a third party site. A User may opt out of this ad serving on the relevant third party’s opt out page.
HURU uses a variety of third party service providers, such as but not limited to Google, Facebook and/or LinkedIn Analytics, to better understand our website and app usage and Services. We may allow such third party service providers to place and read their own cookies, web beacons and similar technologies to collect information through the Online Platform. This information is collected directly and automatically by these third parties and we do not participate in these data transmissions. HURU will, wherever feasible, contractually obligate our third party service providers to abide by the terms of this Privacy Policy.
Children Under 18
HURU does not accept any Users, or representatives of Users, under 18 years of age or who otherwise do not have the relevant capacity and approval from their parent or legal guardian to be bound by this Policy and the Terms of Use and to generally use this Online Platform and the Services offered.
HURU recognises and respects the privacy interests of children and encourages parents and guardians to take an active role in their children’s online activities and interests. We do not knowingly collect Personal Information from children under 13 years of age. If we learn that we have collected personal information from a child under 13, we will delete such information. Children under the age of 13 may not register for an account or register for or purchase our Services.
Outside of South Africa
HURU’s Online Platform and Services are operated and managed on servers located and operated within the Republic of South Africa. In order to provide our Services to you, we may send and store your Personal Information outside of the country where you reside or are located, including to South Africa.
Accordingly, if a User resides or is located outside of South Africa, your Personal Information may be transferred outside of the country where you reside or are located, including to countries that may not or do not provide the same level of protection for your Personal Information.
HURU is committed to protecting the privacy and confidentiality of your Personal Information when it is transferred. We shall take appropriate steps to provide the same level of protection for the processing carried out in any such countries, as you would have within your country to the extent reasonably feasible under applicable law.
By using and accessing our Services, Users who reside or are located in countries outside of South Africa agree and consent to the transfer to and processing of their Personal Information on servers located outside of the country where they reside, and that the protection of such information may be different than required under the laws of their residence or location.
The Candidate agrees that their Personal Information may be transferred cross-border to other countries (outside of South Africa) for processing, provided that these countries abide by the provisions in the POPI Act relating to such transfer.
Changes
If HURU changes our Policy we will post the changes on this page, and may place notices on other pages of our website or app, so that Users may be aware of the Personal Information we collect and how we use it at all times. Continued use of the Online Platform and Service will signify that you agree to any such changes.
HURU reserves the right to update this Privacy Policy, from time to time. Your continued browsing or use of our Online Platform shall be accepted as confirmation of your acceptance of such changes.
The User has the right to access and rectify their Personal Information collected.
Complaints
The User has the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator. The Information Regulator’s contact details are:
Attention: Ms Mmamoroka Mphelo
SALU Building
316 Thabo Sehume Street
Pretoria
Tel: 012 406 4818
Fax: 086 500 3351
Email: inforeg@justice.gov.za
Website: http://www.justice.gov.za/inforeg/
Responsible Party
HURU (Pty) Ltd, registration Number: 2017/168618/07, a private company incorporated and operated in accordance with the laws of the Republic of South Africa, is a responsible party in terms of the POPI Act.
3. Log Files
When a User visits our Online Platform, even if they do not submit an enquiry or complete a form/s, HURU may collect information, such as your IP address, the name of your ISP (Internet Service Provider), your browser, the website from which you visit us, the pages on our website or app that you visit and in what sequence, the date and length of your visit, and other information concerning your computer’s or device’s operating system, language settings and broad demographic information.
This information is aggregated as anonymous data and does not identify you specifically. However, you acknowledge that this data may be able to be used to identify you if it is aggregated with other Personal Information that you supply to us. This information is not shared with third parties and is used only within HURU on a need-to-know basis. Any individually identifiable information related to this data will never be used in any way different to that stated above, without your explicit permission.
4. Cookies
HURU uses cookies. A cookie is a small piece of information stored on your computer, tablet or smartphone by the web browser. The two types of cookies used on the Online Platform are described below:
“Session cookies”: These are used to maintain a so-called ‘session state’ and only lasts for the duration of your use of the Online Platform. A session cookie expires when you close your browser, or if you have not visited the server for a certain period of time. Session cookies are required for the Online Platform to function optimally, but are not used in any way to identify you personally;
“Permanent cookies”: These cookies permanently store a unique code on your computer or smart device hard drive in order to identify you as an individual user. No Personal Information is stored in permanent cookies. You can view permanent cookies by looking in the cookies directory of your browser installation. These permanent cookies are not required for the Online Platform to work, but may enhance your browsing experience.
Most web browsers provide the option to block some or all cookie types should you wish to. Users can also opt out of the various online marketing and advertising platforms and service providers used by HURU from time to time (such as but not limited to Google, Facebook and/or LinkedIn) to market and advertise HURU’s Online Platform and Services across the web, using the relevant third party’s opt out page. Because many of our Online Platform features utilise cookies, we recommend that Users do no block them.
5. Application of the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act 25 of 2002 (“ECT Act”)
Data Messages (as defined in the ECT Act) will be deemed to have been received by HURU if and when HURU responds to the Data Messages.
Data Messages sent by HURU to a User will be deemed to have been received by such User in terms of the provisions specified in Section 23(b) of the ECT Act.
Users acknowledge that electronic signatures, encryption and/or authentication are not required for valid electronic communications between Users and HURU.
Information to be provided in terms of Section 43(1) of the ECT Act:
Users warrant that Data Messages sent to HURU from any electronic device owned or used by such User, from time to time, were sent and/or authorised by such User, personally;
This Online Platform is owned and operated by Huru Technologies (Pty) Ltd, registration Number: 2017/168618/07, a private company incorporated and operated in accordance with the laws of the Republic of South Africa, with directors: Daniel Shefer, Adrian Albrecht and Ryan Berelowitz.
Address for service of legal documents: 2 Sandton Drive, Sandton, Johannesburg, South Africa, 2196;
Contact Number: 010 593 4491;
Email address: support@HURU.co.za; and
Website address: www.HURU.co.za.