Privacy Policy
How Civil Society South Africa collects, uses, and protects your personal information in compliance with the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA).
Introduction
Civil Society South Africa (CSSA) is committed to protecting your personal information and your right to privacy. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store, and share your personal data when you use our website, sign petitions, join our network, or interact with our campaigns.
We process personal information in accordance with the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 (POPIA) and the principles of lawful, reasonable, and responsible data handling. By using our website or submitting your information through any of our forms, you acknowledge that you have read and understood this policy.
Civil Society SA is the responsible party for the purposes of POPIA. Our Information Officer can be contacted at info@civilsocietysa.co.za.
1. What Personal Data We Collect
We collect only the personal information that is necessary to fulfil our advocacy mandate and communicate with you as a supporter. The specific data we collect depends on how you interact with our platform.
Petition Signatures
- → Full name
- → Email address
- → Phone number (optional)
- → Province of residence
Join / Membership Forms
- → Full name
- → Email address
- → Phone number
- → Province of residence
We also collect technical data automatically when you visit our website, including your IP address, browser type, pages visited, and time spent on each page. This information is collected through cookies and analytics tools and is used in aggregate to improve our website. It is not linked to your personal identity unless you have submitted a form.
We do not collect identity numbers, financial information, biometric data, or any special personal information as defined by POPIA.
2. Why We Collect Your Data
Every piece of personal information we collect serves a specific, lawful purpose directly tied to our advocacy work. We do not collect data speculatively and we do not use your information for any purpose other than those described below.
Petition Submissions to Parliament
Your name and province are included in formal petition submissions to the South African Parliament and relevant parliamentary portfolio committees. These submissions demonstrate the scale and geographic spread of citizen support for or opposition to specific legislation. This is the primary reason we collect petition signatures.
Campaign Updates and Alerts
Your email address is used to send you updates on the campaigns you have signed, including progress reports, parliamentary outcomes, and calls to action on related issues. You can unsubscribe from these communications at any time.
Member Communications
If you join our network through the membership form, your contact details are used to keep you informed about new campaigns, legislative threats, opportunities for civic participation, and organisational news.
Internal Analytics
Province data helps us understand where our supporters are located so that we can tailor our advocacy efforts to the regions most affected by specific legislation and report geographic representation in our parliamentary submissions.
3. How We Store and Protect Your Data
We take the security of your personal information seriously and have implemented appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect it against unauthorised access, loss, destruction, or damage.
- → Our website is served over HTTPS with SSL/TLS encryption, ensuring that all data transmitted between your browser and our servers is encrypted in transit.
- → Personal data is stored in a secure database hosted on servers with restricted access controls, firewalls, and regular security updates.
- → Access to personal information is limited to authorised personnel who require it to perform their duties in relation to our advocacy campaigns and parliamentary submissions.
- → We conduct periodic reviews of our data security practices and update our safeguards as necessary to address new threats.
- → In the event of a data breach that poses a risk to your rights, we will notify both you and the Information Regulator as required by POPIA.
4. Third-Party Sharing
Civil Society SA does not sell, rent, or trade your personal information to any third party. We do not share your data with advertisers, marketing companies, or data brokers under any circumstances.
The only context in which your personal data is shared with an external party is as part of formal parliamentary submissions. When you sign a petition, your name and province may be included in a petition document submitted to Parliament or a parliamentary portfolio committee. This is the explicit purpose for which the signature is collected, and it is disclosed to you at the point of signing.
Your email address and phone number are never included in parliamentary submissions. These details are retained solely for our internal communication with you.
5. Your Rights Under POPIA
The Protection of Personal Information Act gives you specific rights regarding your personal data. We respect every one of these rights and will process any request within a reasonable time, and no later than 30 days as prescribed by POPIA.
Right of Access
You have the right to request confirmation of whether we hold personal information about you, and to request a copy of that information.
Right to Correction
You may request that we correct or update any personal information that is inaccurate, incomplete, or outdated.
Right to Deletion
You may request that we delete your personal information. We will comply unless we are legally obligated to retain it, or unless the data has already been included in a submitted parliamentary petition.
Right to Object
You may object to the processing of your personal information on reasonable grounds. You may also object to receiving campaign updates and marketing communications at any time.
To exercise any of these rights, please email our Information Officer at info@civilsocietysa.co.za with the subject line "POPIA Request" and a clear description of your request. We may ask you to verify your identity before processing your request to prevent unauthorised access to your data.
6. Cookies and Analytics
Our website uses cookies and similar technologies to ensure it functions correctly, to analyse how visitors use our site, and to improve your browsing experience. Cookies are small text files stored on your device by your web browser.
Essential Cookies
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be disabled. They include session cookies that maintain your state as you navigate between pages, and security cookies that help protect against cross-site request forgery.
Analytics Cookies
We may use privacy-respecting analytics tools to understand how visitors interact with our website. This data is collected in aggregate and is used to improve the site experience, identify the most effective campaign pages, and understand geographic patterns in our supporter base. Analytics data is not linked to personally identifiable information.
Managing Cookies
You can control and delete cookies through your browser settings. Disabling essential cookies may affect the functionality of our website, particularly form submissions. Most browsers allow you to refuse cookies entirely, delete existing cookies, or receive a warning before a cookie is set. Please consult your browser's help documentation for instructions specific to your browser.
7. Data Retention
We retain your personal information only for as long as is necessary to fulfil the purposes for which it was collected, or as required by law.
- → Petition signatures are retained for the duration of the legislative process to which they relate, plus an additional period of 24 months to allow for follow-up reporting and any related legal proceedings. After this period, personal data is anonymised or securely deleted.
- → Member and supporter data is retained for as long as you remain an active supporter of Civil Society SA. If you unsubscribe or request deletion, your data will be removed within 30 days, except where retention is required by law.
- → Contact form submissions are retained for 12 months after the enquiry has been resolved, after which they are securely deleted.
- → Analytics data is retained in aggregate, anonymised form and is not subject to deletion requests as it cannot be linked to an individual.
Once personal information has been included in a formal parliamentary submission, it forms part of the public parliamentary record and cannot be retracted or deleted by us. This is disclosed to you before you sign any petition.
8. Information Officer
In terms of Section 55 of POPIA, Civil Society South Africa has designated an Information Officer who is responsible for ensuring compliance with the Act, handling data subject requests, and liaising with the Information Regulator.
Contact Our Information Officer
Organisation: Civil Society South Africa (CSSA)
Email: info@civilsocietysa.co.za
Subject Line: POPIA Request
We will acknowledge receipt of your request within 5 business days and provide a substantive response within 30 days, as required by POPIA.
If you are dissatisfied with our handling of your personal information or our response to your request, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator of South Africa:
Information Regulator (South Africa)
Email: complaints.IR@justice.gov.za
Website: https://inforegulator.org.za
9. Updates to This Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, legal requirements, or the services we offer. When we make material changes, we will update the "Last updated" date at the top of this page.
We encourage you to review this page periodically to stay informed about how we protect your personal information. For significant changes that affect how we process your existing data, we will make reasonable efforts to notify you by email or through a prominent notice on our website.
Your continued use of our website and services after any changes to this policy constitutes your acceptance of those changes.