PatchSA Privacy Policy: Safeguarding Your Personal Information & Data

  1. Introduction and general terms

PatchSA (Palliative Care for Children South Africa), and the people we seek to help, are dependent on the generosity of our members and supporters as well as the goodwill and trust of the public. We are therefore committed to protecting any personal information we obtain about you, whether you are just visiting the PatchSA website www.patchsa.org or are a member, financial supporter or volunteer. This Privacy Policy sets out how we obtain, use and protect any personal information you provide to us or that we may collect about you, whether online, via phone, text, email, in letters or in other correspondence.

Please read the following carefully to understand our views and practices regarding your personal data and how we will treat it. By visiting the site, you are accepting and consenting to the practices described in this Privacy Policy.

This privacy policy explains the following:

  • what information PatchSA may collect about you;
  • how PatchSA will use information we collect about you;
  • when PatchSA may use your details to contact you;
  • whether PatchSA will disclose your details to anyone else;
  • your choices regarding the personal information you provide to us; and
  • the use of cookies on the site and how you can exercise your choices in relation to those cookies.

PatchSA is committed to safeguarding your personal information. Whenever you provide such information, we are legally obliged to use your information in line with all laws concerning the protection of personal information, including the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 and the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act 25 of 2002.

The site contains hyperlinks to websites owned and operated by third parties. These third-party websites have their own privacy policies, including policies on their use of cookies. If you follow a hyperlink to a third-party website, we urge you to review these policies before submitting any personal data to the third-party website. The third party’s policies will govern the use of personal information you submit or which is collected by cookies whilst visiting these websites. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the privacy practices of third-party websites and your use of such websites is at your own risk.

  1. Who we are

PatchSA is a registered non-profit organisation in South Africa (NPO 124-201 PatchSA’s registered address is 23 Monterey Place, 135 Campground Road, Newlands, Cape Town, 7715.

This Privacy Policy relates to information which is obtained by PatchSA. For the purpose of the Protection of Personal information Act 4 of 2013, the data controller is PatchSA.

  1. What information will PatchSA collect about you?

When you contact PatchSA to become a member, make a donation or sign up to any of PatchSA’s activities or online content, such as newsletters or you telephone, email or write to PatchSA, or engage with PatchSA via social media channels, we may receive and retain personal information about you. This can consist of information such as your name, email address, postal address, telephone, or mobile number.

By submitting your details, you enable PatchSA (and where applicable any sub-contractors we may use) to raise funds and to provide you with the goods, services, information, activities or online content you select.

For statistical purposes for reporting to our funders we may ask those taking our courses to provide personal data such as information relating to racial or ethnic origin, age and disability status. If you reveal such information, you are consenting to this sensitive personal data being collected and processed by us. This information will not be mandatory and you can choose to withhold it.

If there is a clear reason for collecting sensitive personal data, for example if you are participating in a marathon or similar fundraising event or where we need this to ensure that we provide appropriate facilities or support to enable you to participate in the event. Clear notices will be provided on applications for such events so that it is clear what information we need and why we need it.

If you are simply browsing the site as an anonymous visitor, PatchSA may still collect certain information from you, such as your IP addresses (an IP address is a number that can uniquely identify a specific computer or other network device on the internet).

If you enter your contact details in one of our online forms, we may use this information to contact you.

We may combine the information we collect about you and the information you give to us with information we receive from other sources.

PatchSA also uses cookies. Cookies are small text files on your device. They are made by your web browser when you visit a website. Every time you go back to that website, your browser will send the cookie file back to the website’s server. They improve your experience of using a website, for example, by remembering your preference settings and by measuring your use of a website to ensure that it meets your needs. See Section [11] below for more detail on how we use cookies and how you can control your cookie preferences.

  1. How will PatchSA use the information it collects about you?

PatchSA will use your personal information for a number of purposes including the following:

  • in relation to any correspondence you have entered into with us whether by letter, email, text, social media, message board or any other means;
  • for “service administration purposes”, which means that PatchSA may contact you for reasons related to donations you have made, the completion of commercial or other transactions you have entered into with PatchSA or the activity or online content you have signed up for;
  • for internal record keeping, to administer the site and for internal operations, including troubleshooting, data analysis, testing, statistical and survey purposes;
  • to fulfil sales contracts you have entered into with PatchSA;
  • to contact you about any content you provide;
  • to invite you to participate in surveys or research about PatchSA or our work (participation is always voluntary);
  • for marketing purposes where you have specifically consented to receive marketing communications from us (see below);
  • to provide you with information about our activities or online content you have agreed to receive;
  • to personalise the way PatchSA content is presented to you;
  • to use IP addresses to identify the location of users, to block disruptive use, to establish the number of visits from different countries;
  • to analyse and improve the activities and content offered by the site and to provide you with the most user-friendly navigation experience. We may also use and disclose information in aggregate (so that no individuals are identified) for marketing and strategic development purposes;
  • to notify you about changes to our service; and
  • as part of our efforts to keep our site safe and secure.
  1. Will I be contacted for marketing purposes?

PatchSA will only contact you for marketing purposes related to products available for purchase from our website for the furtherance of our goals.

  1. Personal information submitted when you make a donation or purchase a product

We will collect your first and last name, and your email address, when you make a donation or purchase a product using our site. When you make a card payment your credit or debit card details are only collected by our third-party payment provider – PayFast. We do not store your credit or debit card details.

  1. Will PatchSA share your personal information with anyone else?

We will only use your information for the purposes for which it was obtained.

PatchSA will not, under any circumstances, share or sell your personal data with any third party for marketing purposes and you will not receive offers from other companies or organisations as a result of giving your details to us.

We may share your information with selected third parties, such as our service providers, associated organisations and agents who help us to prepare and send the materials relating to our projects and fundraising activities. These third parties will only act under our instruction and we will not allow these organisations to use your data for their own purposes and will take care to ensure that they keep your data secure.

We may disclose your information to third parties:

  • if disclosure is required or permitted by law (for example to government bodies for tax purposes or law enforcement agencies for the prevention and detection of crime, subject to such bodies providing us with a relevant request in writing); and
  • in order to enforce or apply our terms and conditions or to protect the rights, property or safety of PatchSA, or our members or others.
  1. Offensive or inappropriate content placed on the site

If you post or send offensive, inappropriate or objectionable content to or anywhere on the site or otherwise engage in any disruptive behaviour on any PatchSA service, we may use your personal information to stop such behaviour.

Where PatchSA reasonably believes that you are or may be in breach of any applicable laws (e.g. because content you have posted may be defamatory), we may use your personal information to inform relevant third parties such as your employer, internet provider or law enforcement agencies about the content and your behaviour.

  1. Where we store your personal data

Unfortunately, the transmission of information via the internet is not completely secure. Although we will do our best to protect your personal data, we cannot guarantee the security of your data transmitted to the site; any transmission is at your own risk. Once we have received your information, we will use strict procedures and security features to try to prevent unauthorised access.

  1. How long will PatchSA keep your personal information?

We will hold your personal information on our systems for as long as is necessary for the relevant activity, for example we will keep a record of donations for at least seven years.

If you request that we stop sending you emails we will keep a record of your contact details and appropriate information to enable us to comply with your request not to be contacted by us.

Where you contribute material to us, e.g. user generated content or in response to a particular campaign we will generally only keep your content for as long as is reasonably required for the purpose(s) for which it was submitted unless otherwise stated at the point of generation.

  1. What is PatchSA’s policy on allowing you to update, correct, or delete your personal information?

The accuracy of your information is really important to us. We want to ensure that we are able to communicate with you in ways that you are happy with, and to provide you with information that is of interest. If you wish to change how we communicate with you, or update the information we hold, then please contact us. You may:

  • email us at info@patchsa.org; or
  • write to us at: PatchSA, 23 Monterey Place, 135 Campground Road, Newlands, Cape Town, 7715.

You may also opt out of emails at any time by clicking the unsubscribe link in any email from PatchSA.

Under the Protection of Personal information Act 4 of 2013 you have the right to request a copy of the personal information we hold about you and to have any inaccuracies corrected.

  • Please address requests and questions about this or any other question about this Privacy Policy to the Communications Manager, PatchSA, 23 Monterey Place, 135 Campground Road, Newlands, Cape Town, 7715.
  1. Cookies Policy – information PatchSA collects from your computer or mobile device
    What is a cookie?

Cookies are small text files on your device. They are made by your web-browser when you visit a website. Every time you go back to that website, your browser will send the cookie file back to the website’s server. Cookies are useful because they allow a website to recognise a user’s device. Click here or here to find more information about cookies.

Cookies do lots of different jobs, like letting you navigate between pages efficiently, remembering your preferences, and generally improving the user experience.

They can also help to ensure that adverts you see online are more relevant to you and your interests.

  1. Why does PatchSA use cookies?

Like many websites, PatchSA uses cookies in order to provide you with a more personalised web service.

Cookies help us identify which bits of the site people are using and help us to work on those sections of the site to improve the user experience. We also use cookies to help show content on the site which is relevant to you and your interests, for example if on a previous visit you went to our pages about emergencies, festivals or events, we might find this out from your cookie and show you other information on the site related to emergencies, festivals or events on subsequent visits.

Information supplied in cookies also allows us to measure the effectiveness of online marketing campaigns for PatchSA. This enables us to ensure any money we spend on digital marketing gives us a good return on investment.

If you register with us or if you continue to use the site, you agree to our use of cookies.

  1. Changes to PatchSA’s Privacy Policy

PatchSA may update this Privacy Policy at any time by amending this page so please check this page from time to time and take notice of any changes. In particular, you may wish to check this page each time you submit personal information to PatchSA. If you do not agree to these changes, then please do not continue to use the site.

  1. Contact
  • If you have any comments or queries concerning our Privacy Policy, please email us at info@PatchSA.org or write to us at 23 Monterey Place, 135 Campground Road, Newlands, Cape Town, 7715.