GovChat Privacy Policy

Last updated 02 February 2021

Introduction

GovChat Pty Ltd ("we" or "us" or "our") respects the privacy of our users ("user" or "you" or "your"). This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard your information when you use our application, "GovChat" or "Application". The GovChat application functions as a Progressive Web Application (PWA) (currently accessed through https://govchat.app/login) and a web-based form that assists in enhancing the communication, engagement and service delivery between citizens and government. Your use of the Application and sharing of any information is done on a voluntary basis. If you fail to provide the necessary information, it may hamper your use of the Application and your ability to obtain certain services. Please read this Privacy Policy carefully. If you do not agree with the terms of this Privacy Policy, please do not use the Application. We reserve the right to make changes to this Privacy Policy at any time and for any reason. We will alert you about any changes by updating the "Last updated" date of this Privacy Policy. You are encouraged to periodically review this Privacy Policy to stay informed of updates. This Privacy Policy does not apply to the third-party web or mobile browser from which you are accessing the PWA or any other app required to make use of the GovChat Application. We are not responsible for any of the data collected by any third party apps, such as mobile browsers.

INFORMATION WE COLLECT

We collect several different types of information for various purposes to provide and improve our service to you.

Categories of information we collect:
Information you provide may include but is not limited to:

  • Personal Data:
    This includes demographic and other personally identifiable information (such as your name, Identity Number, application profile identity, home address, and email address) that you voluntarily give to us when choosing to utilise the GovChat Application via the PWA and online forms.
    You may be requested to share medical data, such as your symptoms and other medical data for combatting of COVID19 purposes.
    You may be requested the share the personal information of others. For example, details of your co-dependents when completing the Early Childhood Development Centre forms for the Department of Social Development.
  • Location data:
    This may include location pins, and physical addresses.

Automatically collected information may include but is not limited to:

  • Derivative:
    Information our servers automatically collect when you access the Application.
  • Mobile:
    Device information such as your, phone number, country, location, and any other available data.

HOW WE USE INFORMATION

We may use the information collected about you via the Application to:

  • increase the efficiency and operation of the Application,
  • request feedback and contact you about your use of the Application,
  • to detect, prevent and address technical issues
  • share your requests, sentiments and feedback about service delivery on an anonymised basis to the relevant government agencies and councils,
  • compile anonymous statistical data and analysis for use internally or with third parties,
  • assist you with your grant funding applications to government,
  • provide you with informative and relevant government services and facilities,
  • monitor and analyse usage and trends during times of crisis,
  • assist in grant funding applications to SASSA,
  • provide nearest medical testing facilities,
  • where mandated by government and after your consent, provide COVID19 contact tracing, where possible,
  • assist in collecting information on Early Childhood Development centres on behalf of the Department of Social Development.

INFORMATION WE SHARE

We may share information we have collected about you in certain situations:

  • By Law or to Protect Rights:
    If we believe the release of anonymised information is necessary to respond to legal process, to investigate or remedy potential violations of our policies, or to protect the rights, property, and safety of others, we may share anonymised information if required by any applicable law, rule, or regulation. This includes exchanging information with other entities for fraud protection and credit risk reduction.
  • Third-Party Service Providers:
    We may share anonymised information with third parties that perform services for us or on our behalf, including data analysis, email delivery, hosting services and customer service.
  • Affiliates:
    We may share anonymised information with our affiliates, in which case we will require those affiliates to honour this Privacy Policy. Affiliates include public sector entities. Certain information is collected by us on behalf of Government departments, in these scenarios, information collected will be shared directly with those Government departments. We may also share aggregated data (non-identifiable data) in the form of visual dashboards with Government affiliates.

KEEPING YOUR INFORMATION SECURE

We use administrative, technical, and physical security measures to help protect your personal information. We work hard to protect your information from unauthorised access, disclosure or destruction, for example, by making use of end-to-end encryption and obfuscation of Personal Identifiable Information (PII) data. We utilise the services of the regional Amazon Web Services (AWS) office, located in Cape Town, South Africa on secure servers located in the cloud, to provide the Application and host information. Information relating to application data and aggregated data (non-identifiable data) may route via or be stored on AWS infrastructure located in Dublin, Ireland (Ireland is a jurisdiction where personal data is protected in terms of the EU General Data Protection Regulation). We will take all the steps reasonably necessary to ensure that your personal information is treated securely and in accordance with this Privacy Policy and , POPIA, and that no transfer of your information will take place to an organisation or a country unless there are adequate controls in place including the security of your data.

FEEDBACK

You may direct any queries, objections or data subject access requests in relation to this Privacy Policy to info@govchat.org GovChat Pty Ltd has place of business at 1st Floor Speakers Corner, 37 Parliament Street, Cape Town.
Any complaints with respect to the processing of personal information may be lodged with the South African Information Regulator at complaints.ir@justice.gov.za