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Offering peace of mind for pet owners and unforgettable moments for their pets. Let’s make every day a little brighter, together.

PRIVACY POLICY FOR PET SITTERS

THE PROTECTION OF PERSONAL INFORMATION ACT

We at Pets and Friends (Proprietary) Limited carry out due care to ensure compliance with applicable laws within the Republic of South Africa. In order to ensure compliance with the Protection Of Personal Information Act we have implemented the following policies and procedures for pet-sitters on which the pet-sitter needs to sign or initial as acceptance of terms before being appointed to a job.

ABOUT THE COMPANY

Pets and Friends (Proprietary) Limited is a provider of pet and house-sitting services. Pets and Friends also provide E-Commerce for pet products.

THE INFORMATION WE COLLECT

We collect and process your personal information mainly to contact you for the purposes of carrying out our normal business operations. For this purpose, we will collect contact details including your name, address and photos for verification purposes. We collect information directly from you where you provide us with your personal details. Where possible, we will inform you what information you are required to provide to us and what information is optional. Website usage information may be collected using “cookies” which allows us to collect standard internet visitor usage information.

HOW WE USE YOUR INFORMATION

We will use your personal information only for the purposes for which it was collected and agreed with you. In addition, where necessary your information may be retained for legal or research purposes. For example:

  • To gather contact information.

  • To confirm and verify your identity or to verify that you are an authorised user for security purposes.

  • For the detection and prevention of fraud, crime, money laundering or other malpractice.

  • To conduct market or customer satisfaction research or for statistical analysis.

  • For audit and record keeping purposes.

  • In connection with legal proceedings.

  • For Pet owners to contact you and your place of residence for the purpose of carrying out our normal business operations.or the time booked by a customer for the pet sitter to be present at the premises, the WIFI password will be used but removed from the pet-sitters’ applicable devices after the service was rendered.

DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION

We may disclose your personal information to our service providers who are involved in the delivery of products or services to you. We have agreements in place to ensure that they comply with the privacy requirements as required by the Protection of Personal Information Act.

We may also disclose your information:

  • Where we have a duty or a right to disclose in terms of law or industry codes;

  • Where we believe it is necessary to protect our rights.

INFORMATION SECURITY

We are legally obliged to provide adequate protection for the personal information we hold and to stop unauthorized access and use of personal information. We will, on an on-going basis, continue to review our security controls and related processes to ensure that your personal information remains secure.

Our security policies and procedures cover:

  • Physical security.

  • Computer and network security.

  • Access to personal information.

  • Secure communications.

  • Security in contracting out activities or functions.

  • Retention and disposal of information.

  • Acceptable usage of personal information.

  • Governance and regulatory issues.

  • Monitoring access and usage of private information.

  • Investigating and reacting to security incidents.

We will ensure that anyone to whom we pass your personal information agrees to treat your information with the same level of protection as we are obliged to.

YOUR RIGHTS: ACCESS TO INFORMATION

You have the right to request a copy of the personal information we hold about you. To do this, simply contact us at the numbers/addresses as provided on our website and specify what information you require. We will need a copy of your ID document to confirm your identity before providing details of your personal information.
Please note that any such access request may be subject to a payment of a legally allowable fee.

CORRECTION OF YOUR INFORMATION

You have the right to ask us to update, correct or delete your personal information. We will require a copy of your ID document to confirm your identity before making changes to personal information we may hold about you. We would appreciate it if you would keep your personal information accurate.

DEFINITION OF PERSONAL INFORMATION

According to the Act "personal information" means information relating to an identifiable, living, natural person, and where it is applicable, an identifiable, existing juristic person. Further to the POPI Act, Pets and Friends (Proprietary) Limited also includes the following items as personal information:

  • All addresses including residential, postal and email addresses.

  • Change of name - for which we require copies of the marriage certificate or official change of name document issued by the state department.

PROTECTION OF PERSONAL INFORMATION AFTER BUSINESS OPERATIONS WERE CARRIED OUT AND PERSONAL LIABILITY OF PET SITTERS

You as a pet sitter will have access to very sensitive and personal information of pet owners. We as a company will not be held responsible for non-compliance with the POPI act due to negligence or any other reasons by the pet sitter. By accepting and signing the pet sitters contract you will be responsible for the following procedures:

  • After finishing your pet sitting services with a pet owner you will have to destroy any and all personal information you obtained from the Pet Owners which include but is not limited to the following:

    • Name and surname with the contact number.

    • Partner name and contact number.

    • Emergency contact name and number.

    • Alarm code to enter the house – if applicable and the Wi-Fi password if applicable.

    • Names of pets.

  • Unless otherwise specified by the owners you will have to destroy all information obtained within 24 hours after completion of a pet sitting session.

  • If you fail to comply with the above the company will have the right to proceed with legal action against you and recover any and all costs incurred by the company regarding non-compliance with the act which includes but is not limited to:

    • Legal fees.

    • Correspondence fees.

    • Penalties and fines issued by the Information Regulator of the Republic of South Africa.

    • All other fees incurred by the company or its directors connected to the process of the above such as consulting fees, fuel expenditure, and professional services rendered fees.

  • You accept all liability with regards to the above and may not counter sue the company due to your negligence or deny wrong actions.

  • In the event of non-compliance by the pet-sitter and no monetary items can be recovered from the sitter then the company will hold the rights to recover the monetary consequences in the form of any assets held by the pet sitter.

HOW TO CONTACT US

If you have any queries about this notice; you need further information about our privacy practices, wish to withdraw consent, exercise preferences or access or correct your personal information, please contact us at the numbers/addresses listed below.

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