1. INTRODUCTION

1.1. Berndt and La Vita Incorporated (BLV/We) is sensitive to the personal nature of the information you provide to us. BLV respects and protects your right to privacy.

1.2. BLV reserves the right to amend the terms and conditions of this Privacy Policy at any time without notice. It is your duty to remain appraised of the current version of these terms and conditions.

1.3. The definitions set out in the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 (the Act) shall apply to this Privacy Policy.

1.4. This policy explains how and why BLV collects and processes personal information and to whom it may disclose personal information. It is an integral part of our Privacy Terms and must be read together with our Data Protection Policy and our POPI Declaration.

2. APPLICATION OF OUR PRIVACY POLICY

2.2.This Privacy Policy applies to all website (www.blvlaw.co.za “the Website”) users, all persons who contact BLV and share personal information, all active and inactive clients, service providers, directors, shareholders and employees.

2.3.It shall apply for the duration of the engagement with BLV and for a period of 7 years thereafter as explained in our POPI Declaration.

3. CATEGORIES OF PERSONAL INFORMATION WE MAY PROCESS

3.1. We may process the following categories of personal information about you:

3.1.1 personal details: name; and photograph;

3.1.2 demographic information: gender; date of birth / age; nationality; title; and language preferences;

3.1.3 identifier information: passport or national identity number; utility provider details; bank statements; tenancy agreements;

3.1.4 contact details: correspondence address; telephone number; email address; and details of your public social media profile(s);

3.1.5 instruction details: details of individuals instructing BLV; personal information included in correspondence, documents, evidence or other materials that we process in the course of providing legal services;

3.1.6 attendance records: details of meetings and other events organised by or on behalf of BLV that you have attended, including COVID-19 visitors questionnaire;

3.1.7 consent records: records of any consents you may have given, together with the date and time, means of consent and any related information;

3.1.8 payment details: billing address; payment method; bank account number or credit card number; invoice records; payment records; SWIFT details; IBAN details; payment amount; payment date; and records of cheques;

3.1.9 data relating to your visits to the Website: your device type; operating system; browser type; browser settings; IP address; language settings; dates and times of connecting to a Website; and other technical communications information;

3.1.10 employer details: where you interact with us in your capacity as an employee of an organisation, the name, address, telephone number and email address of your employer, to the extent relevant; and

3.1.11 next-of-kin contact: name and contact number.

3.2. Where we need to process personal information, we will do so in the ordinary course of our business, for a legitimate purpose, and in accordance with applicable law.

4. COLLECTION OF PERSONAL INFORMATION

4.1. You consent to BLV collecting personal information in accordance with the principles set out below. We collect personal information directly from you upon request and in limited instances from third parties.

4.2. The following principles are observed in the handling of that personal information:

4.2.1 BLV will only collect personal information for a purpose consistent with the purpose for which it is required. The specific purpose for which information is collected will be apparent from the context in which it is requested.

4.2.2 BLV will only process personal information in a manner that is adequate, relevant and not excessive in the context of the purpose for which it is processed;

4.2.3 Personal information will only be processed for a purpose compatible with that for which it was collected, unless you have agreed to an alternative purpose in writing or BLV is permitted in terms of national legislation of general application dealing primarily with the protection of personal information;

4.2.4 BLV will keep records of all personal information collected and the specific purpose for which it was collected for a reasonable period of time from the date on which it was last used;

4.2.5 We share personal information for purposes of providing services to you or any other legitimate business purpose relating to our business activities, including but not limited to the protection of our or your rights, complaints, marketing, or enforcing any agreement between us. Where the law permits us to do so, we may share your personal information with third parties service providers, agents, contractors, employees, law enforcement agencies or business affiliates;

4.2.6 BLV will destroy or delete any personal information that is no longer needed by BLV for the purpose it was initially collected, or subsequently processed after a period of 7 years as contemplated in clause 3.1 of our POPI Declaration.

4.3 As permitted by the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act 25 of 2002, BLV may use personal information collected to compile profiles for statistical purposes. No information contained in the profiles or statistics will be able to be linked to any specific user.

5. PURPOSES OF PROCESSING AND LEGAL BASES FOR PROCESSING

5.1 We will process personal Information in the ordinary course of the business of providing legal and related services. We will primarily use personal information only for the purpose for which it was originally or primarily collected. We will use your personal information for a secondary purpose only if such purpose constitutes a legitimate interest and is closely related to the original or primary purpose for which the personal information was collected. We may subject personal information to processing during the course of various activities, including, without limitation, the following:

5.1.1 operating our business;

5.1.2 analysis, evaluation, review and collation of information in order to determine legal issues and potential disputes, provide legal advice and prepare or comment on opinions, memoranda, agreements, correspondence, reports, publications, documents relating to legal proceedings and other documents and records (whether in electronic or any other medium whatsoever)

5.1.3 compliance with applicable law and fraud prevention;

5.1.4 transfer of information to our service providers and other third parties; or

5.1.5 recruitment.

5.2 We may process personal information for relationship management purposes in relation to our services (including, but not limited to, processing that is necessary for the development and improvement of our legal and related services), for accounts management, and for marketing activities in order to establish, maintain and/or improve our relationship with you and with our service providers.

5.3 We may process personal information for internal management and management reporting purposes, including but not limited to: conducting internal audits, conducting internal investigations, implementing internal 5 business controls, providing central processing facilities, for insurance purposes and for management reporting analysis.

5.4 We may process personal information for safety and security purposes.

6. DISCLOSURE OF PERSONAL INFORMATION TO THIRD PARTIES

6.1 We may disclose personal information to our associates and service providers, for legitimate business purposes, in accordance with applicable law and subject to applicable professional and regulatory requirements regarding confidentiality. In addition, we may disclose your personal information:

6.1.1 if required by law;

6.1.2 legal and regulatory authorities, upon request, or for the purposes of reporting any actual or suspected breach of applicable law or regulation;

6.1.3 Service providers, including, but not limited to data hosting services and document review technology and services, correspondent attorneys, accountants, auditors, messengers, photocopiers, translators, notaries, conveyancers, associates, advocates etc. (“Operators”);

6.1.4 where it is necessary for the purposes of, or in connection with, actual or threatened legal proceedings or establishment, exercise or defence of legal rights;

6.1.5 to any relevant party for the purposes of the prevention, investigation, detection or prosecution of criminal offences or the execution of criminal penalties, including, but not limited to, safeguarding against, and the prevention of threats to, public security;

6.1.6 to any relevant third party acquirer(s), in the event that we sell or transfer all or any portion of our business or assets (including, but not limited to, in the event of a reorganization, dissolution or liquidation); and

6.1.7 to any relevant third-party provider, where our Website uses third party advertising, plugins or content.

6.2 If we engage an Operator to process personal information:

6.2.1 we recognise that any Operator who is in a foreign country must be subject to a law, binding corporate rules or binding agreements which provide an adequate level of protection similar to the Act.

6.2.2 We review our relationships with operators we engage and, to the extent required by any applicable law if force, we will require such operators to be bound by contractual obligations to:

6.2.2.1 only process such personal information in accordance with our prior written instructions; and

6.2.2.2 use appropriate measures to protect the confidentiality and security of such personal information.

7. YOUR CONSENT AND UNDERTAKING

7.1 “consent”, means the consent, which you in your capacity as Data Subject, may have to give to us, under certain circumstances, to process your personal information. This consent must be voluntary, specific and informed. Following this, once we have explained to you why we need your personal information and what we will be doing with it, you are then, in relation to certain uses of the information, required to give us your permission to use it, which permission or consent can be express or implied; implied meaning that consent may be demonstrated by way of your actions.

7.2 In order to comply with POPI, a person processing another’s personal information must:

7.2.1 provide the Data Subject or owner of the personal information with a number of details pertaining to the processing of the personal information, before such information is processed; and

7.2.2 get permission or consent, explicitly or implied, from the Data Subject, to process the personal information, unless such processing:

7.2.2.1 is necessary to carry out actions for the conclusion or performance of a contract to which the owner / Data Subject of the personal information is a party;

7.2.2.2 is required in order to comply with an obligation imposed by law; or

7.2.2.3 is for a legitimate purpose or is necessary to protect the legitimate interest (s) and / or for pursuing the legitimate interests of i) the owner / Data Subject of the personal information; ii) the person processing the personal information ; or iii) that of a third party to whom the personal information is supplied; or

7.2.2.4 is necessary for the proper performance of a public law duty by a public body or on behalf of a public body.

7.3 By using the Website or engaging with BLV in anyway where you furnish BLV with personal information, it is construed and accepted that you consent to BLV processing your personal information in accordance with the Privacy Terms.

7.4 You further consent that we may transfer your information cross border for business purposes and to protect your best interest. All information transfers will comply with the applicable laws.

7.5 You may withdraw your consent at anytime by notifying the Information Officer. It is important to understand however that we may still process personal information in accordance with the conditions set out in clause 7.2.

7.6 The personal information provided to BLV must be accurate, complete and up-to-date. Should personal information change, the onus is on the provider of such data to notify BLV of the change and provide BLV with the accurate data.

8. RIGHTS AND QUERIES

8.1 You may have rights under South African and other laws to have access to your personal information and to ask us to rectify, erase and restrict use of, your personal information. You may also have rights to object to your personal information being used, to ask for the transfer of personal information you have made available to us and to withdraw consent to the use of your personal information.

8.2 If you have any queries about this Privacy Policy, or our Privacy Terms in general, please contact our Information Officer, Audrey Berndt at audrey@blvlaw.co.za