Privacy Policy

    The Property Referral Network (Pty) Ltd Trading as Harcourts Real Estate (SA) and its related entities are committed to ensuring that your privacy is protected. Below, we’ve outlined the procedures we have in place to safeguard your privacy and the ways we use the information we collect.

    Please read this Privacy Policy carefully. By using any service that we offer, you are agreeing to be bound by this Privacy Policy in respect of the information collected about you.

    We are committed to compliance with the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 (POPIA) and the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) 2018.

    INTRODUCTION

    1.1 By using this Website, (including our websites at www.harcourts.co.za, www.harcourts.net  www.luxurypropertyselection.com,www.harcourtsfoundation.org, www.academyrealestatetraining.com and any other website we may establish or operate from time to time) and /or providing your personal information to us, you consent to us handling and  proceeding your personal information in accordance with this Privacy Policy.

    This Website Privacy Policy ("Privacy Policy") is provided by Harcourts Real Estate (SA) and pertains to the personal information which Harcourts Real Estate (SA) may from time to time collect from you when you access and/or use our Websites as mention.

    1.2       In this Privacy Policy the term:

    1.2.1   “the Company/We/Us/Our” means The Property Referral Network Pty Ltd Trading as Harcourts Real Estate (SA) and its related entities

    1.2.2     “Client / Data Subjects” means any person we obtain personal information from, including property sellers, buyers, landlords, applicants, and tenants.

    1.2.3     "third parties" means persons, firms, or companies that are not subsidiaries of or otherwise associated with Harcourts Real Estate (SA).

    1.2.4     “personal information” means information relating to an identifiable, living, natural person, and where it is applicable, an identifiable, existing juristic person.

    1.2.5     “Processing” means the creation, generation, communication, storage, destruction of personal information as more fully defined in POPIA

    1.2.6     “POPIA” means The Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013.

    1.2.7     “GDPR” means the General Data Protection Regulations 2018.

    THE INFORMATION WE COLLECT

    The different kinds of Personal Information we may/or will collect, store, or process about you, will depend on the products and services we will provide to you.

    We are operating as a National Real Estate Franchise network and the products and services that we and our franchisees and licensees provide include the following:

    • Buying, selling, leasing, development, and advertising of residential, commercial, business and rural properties.
    • Business broking
    • Training
    • Providing services in connection with arranging utility connection, removalists, cleaners, conveyancing, financing, and insurance.

    2.1       Whilst using our websites, we may electronically collect, store, and process certain "personal information" about you as is set out in this Privacy Policy.

    2.2       In using and/or accessing the Website you may provide us with (or we may, from time to time, require you to provide us with) certain "personal information" which may include, but is not limited to, information pertaining to you:

    2.2.1     name and surname

    2.2.2     dependants’ names

    2.2.3     residential address

    2.2.4     contact telephone numbers

    2.2.5     email address

    2.2.6     Official Identity confirmation (ID Card / ID book)

    2.2.7     The Property Value

    2.2.8     Full details of the Property to be marked or Rent out.

    2.2.9     Photographs of the Property to be marketed and Rent out.

    2.2.10   Your current property purchasing and renting financial position.

    2.2.11   Income Tax number

    2.2.12   Banking Details

    2.2.13   Copies of appropriate documents to confirm home address.

    2.2.14   Information required to complete a tenancy application.

    2.3     Additional Personal information may also be collected by our Real Estate Franchise Network in order to meet their obligation under the Anti – Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act 2009.

     

    2.4       When you enrol for one of our courses we will collect, store, and process your information which may include:

    2.4.1     Credit Card details for payment

    2.4.2     Official Identity confirmation (ID card / ID book / Birth certificate or Passports)

    2.4.3     Drivers licenses

     

    2.5       In addition to the above information in paragraph 2.4 we may also collect personal information about you from a third party for example:

    2.5.1     from school and other educational institutions where necessary to verify your qualifications and course credits for enrolment and assessment purposes

    2.5.2     from organisations where you may be completing a work placement, or practical component of your course

    2.5.3     from your employer if your course is being supported by them or incorporated into your employment

    2.5.4     form professional or member associations or government departments via websites such as confirming membership or registration or license check.

    COOKIES

    3.1       The Website uses "cookies" or similar technology through which we may automatically collect personal information about you (being your name, surname, email address, and mobile number). "Cookies" will further be used to record the properties that you have browsed. We collect this information in order that we may show those properties to you again and provide   you with recommendations based on your search criteria. Please see the terms and conditions applicable to "Cookies" under our Cookie Policy.

    SOCIAL MEDIA

    4.1       If you share our Website or Website Content on any social media (such as Facebook or Twitter) your personal information (e.g. your name and the fact that you are interested in anything advertised or displayed on the Website) will be visible to all the visitors of your personal webpage on Facebook and/or Twitter.

    4.2       When you use social media websites the terms and conditions (including the privacy policy/ies) of such social media website/s will apply to you.

    4.3       Harcourts Real Estate (SA) is not responsible for the processing of personal information or the privacy policy/ies of such social media website/s. This Privacy Policy is therefore not applicable to such social media website/s.

    4.4       If you disclose your personal information to a third party such as Facebook or Twitter, Harcourts Real Estate (SA) will not be liable for any loss or damage, howsoever arising (whether direct, indirect or consequential), suffered by you as a result of the disclosure of your personal information to such third parties. This is because Harcourts Real Estate (SA) does not regulate or control how such third parties use your personal information. You should always ensure that you read and understand the privacy policies of such third parties / social media website/s.

    OUR FACEBOOK PAGE

    5.1       We have a Facebook page. When you communicate with us through our Facebook page (for example, when you post a comment, upload media, send a personal message or become a fan of us by clicking the "Like" button) we may receive personal information about you (such as your (user) name, profile photo, your hometown, your email address and/or your gender). The manner in which your personal information is used will be described in the applicable Facebook privacy policy. You should read the Facebook privacy policy together with this Privacy Policy and the terms of use and/or other privacy statements on Facebook.

    5.2       We encourage you to carefully read the Facebook privacy policy, terms of use, and other privacy statements on Facebook which may differ from this Privacy Policy.

    HOW WE USE YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION

    6.1       Harcourts Real Estate (SA) will only use your personal information to compile the Website, provide you with information, communicate with you, respond to inquiries made by you, manage our relationship with you and provide services or marketing material to you, including alerts on a new property for sale or rent, matching your search criteria (where you have opted to receive such material or submitted your details to receive regular information from us via email).

    6.2       Further to the above, by using our Website, you consent to Harcourts Real Estate (SA) using or disclosing your personal information for purposes of:

    6.2.1     statistical and/or data analysis.

    6.2.2     processing any contact, communication, or transaction which you have initiated, requested, or otherwise indicated an interest in.

    6.2.3     the ordinary course of Harcourts Real Estate (SA) business; and

    6.2.4     promotion and marketing.

    6.3       We or our agents and/or sub-contractors may contact you by post, email or telephone from time to time to ask you for your feedback and comments on our services. On each occasion, you will be provided with the option to "opt-out".

    6.4       We will not disclose your personal information to anyone except as provided for in this Privacy Policy. We may, however, need to disclose your personal information to Harcourts Real Estate (SA) employees, agents and/or third-party service providers who require such information to carry out their duties or otherwise in instances where this is pursuant to a contact, communication or transaction that you have initiated or requested.

    6.5       Your personal information may, in the ordinary course of business, move between The Property Referral Network Pty Ltd Trading as Harcourts Real Estate (SA) and its related entities or our franchisees and licensees. This may involve the transfer of your personal information outside the borders of South Africa, provided that the disclosure of your personal information shall be   in accordance with the purpose for which the personal information was collected from you. There may also be situations where the law requires us to disclose your personal information. In all other situations, Harcourts Real Estate (SA) will not disclose your personal information   without giving you prior notice thereof and an opportunity to give your consent thereto where required.

    6.6       Harcourts Real Estate (SA) will not use your personal information for any purpose (other than as stated above) without your consent.

    DATA PORTABILITY

    7.1       We do process personal data using automated means

    7.2       When you give consent to us to process your personal data in such a manner or the processing is otherwise required for the performance of a contract between Harcourts Real Estate (SA) and you, you have the legal right to receive a copy of your personal data and to use it for other purposes (namely transmitting it to other data controller, e.g. other organisations)

    7.3       To facilitate the right of data portability, we will make available all applicable personal data to you in the following format:

                (a)        PDF

                (b)        Word / Excel

    7.4       If requested by you, personal data will be sent directly to another data controller, if it is possible

    PHOTOGRAPHS

    8.1       Our Agents, Listers, or other suitable trained staff may upload photographs of your property to our Websites and associated property portals and these will not be subject to your approval. These photographs will normally result in the identity of your address.

    SALE OF BUSINESS

    9.1       In the event that Harcourts Real Estate (SA) is sold or integrated with another business your personal information may be disclosed to our advisers and any prospective purchaser and their advisers will be passed on to the new owners of the business. We will use commercially reasonable efforts to notify you (by posting on the Website or via an email sent to your email address provided to us) of any such change.

    HOW DO WE PROTECT YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION

    10.1      You acknowledge that the Internet is not a secure medium; however, we have put in place various security measures to protect your personal information.

    10.2      We take security and privacy of your personal information seriously and we have internal procedures in place that cover the storage, access, and disclosure of your personal information.

    10.3      We will ensure that all Harcourts Real Estate (SA) employees, agents and/or third-party service providers having access to your personal information are bound by appropriate confidentiality and non-use obligations in relation to your personal information.

    OUR COMMITMENT

    11.1      Harcourts Real Estate (SA) will-

    11.1.1   treat your personal information as strictly confidential.

    11.1.2   take certain technical and organisational measures to protect your personal information.

    11.1.3   provide you with reasonable access to your personal information on the Website to view and/or update personal details.

    11.1.4   as soon as reasonably possible after the discovery of a compromise, and insofar as we can establish your identity, notify you that there are reasonable grounds to believe that your personal information has been accessed or acquired by an unauthorised person; and

    11.1.5   upon your reasonable written request, return or destroy any and all of your personal information which may be in our possession or control.

    11.2      Whilst we will do all things reasonably necessary to protect your personal information, we cannot guarantee nor do we accept any liability of whatsoever nature for any unauthorised or unlawful disclosure and/or use of your personal information, either by  employees and/or agents and/or made by third parties (including third-party service providers) who are not subject to our control, unless such disclosure and/or use is as a result of our gross negligence.

    11.3      If you disclose your personal information to any third party (including an entity which operates a website linked to the Website) other than Harcourts Real Estate (SA), Harcourts SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY LOSS OR DAMAGE, HOWSOEVER ARISING, SUFFERED BY YOU AS A RESULT OF THE DISCLOSURE OF YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION TO SUCH THIRD PARTIES. This is because Harcourts Real Estate (SA) does not regulate or control how third parties use your personal information. You should always ensure that you read the privacy policy of any third party that you disclose your personal information to.

    12      UPDATING YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION

    12.1      Should your personal information change or if you would like to review or delete your personal information you should do this directly on the Website through the registration section by following the easy steps below:

                Step 1 Sign into the website.

                Step 2 In the top right hand corner click on your name and select edit profile

                Step 3 Edit your profile and click save

                Step 4 You can also make contact with the office on their landline or email and request the changes.

    12.2      Please note that by deleting your account you will delete all your information and settings as well as clear any passwords.

    12.3      Further to the above, you may contact us at anton.v@harcourts.co.za to correct or de-identify your personal information. Upon receipt of such request, we shall, as soon as is reasonably practicable:

    12.3.1   correct your personal information.

    12.3.2   de-identify your personal information.

    12.3.3   provide you with evidence in support of the personal information held by us; or

    12.3.4   where agreement cannot be reached, and if you so request, take such steps (as are reasonable in the circumstances) to attach your personal information, in such a manner that it will always   be read with your personal information, an indication that correction of your personal information has been requested but has not been made by us.

    12.4      We shall provide you with reasonable confirmation that the abovementioned actions (whichever may be applicable) have taken place.

    CONSENT

    13.1      By visiting our Website, you consent to us using your personal information as set out in this Privacy Policy.

    13.2      Harcourts Real Estate (SA) has a global reach. As such, there is a possibility that your personal information may have to be transferred to countries outside of South Africa. Insofar as your   information may be transferred outside of South Africa, Harcourts Real Estate (SA) shall take      reasonable organisational and/or contractual measures to ensure that your personal    information is processed by such third parties for the purposes for which it has been provided to us and that the required levels of protection have been implemented by such third parties to safeguard your personal information. By using the Website and submitting your personal  information to us, you consent to your personal information being transferred outside of South Africa.

    OPTING OUT

    14.1      Should you NOT wish to receive any marketing and promotional or other information from Harcourts Real Estate (SA), you can follow the “opt- out” links on any marketing message send by us or you may request us via email to cease sending you such information or request that your personal information be removed from our database or mailing list at any time.

    14.2      Where you “opt -out” of receiving these marketing messages, this will not apply to personal data provided to us as a result of a product/service purchase or other transactions

    PASSWORD AND USERNAME

     

    15.1      It is your responsibility to choose a password and to keep it safe.

    15.2      You agree and warrant that your username and password shall:

                (a)        be used for personal use only; and

                (b)        not be disclosed by you to any third party.

    15.3      For security purposes you agree to enter the correct password whenever accessing your account on the Website, failing which you will be denied access.

    15.4      You agree that you will be granted access to the Website once the correct password have been entered, irrespective of whether the use of the password is unauthorised or fraudulent.  We cannot be held responsible for personal information being compromised due to a non-secure, disclosed or stolen password.

    15.5      You agree to notify Harcourt Real Estate (SA) immediately upon becoming aware of or    reasonably suspecting any unauthorised access to or use of your password and      to take steps to mitigate any resultant loss or harm.

    AMENDMENT

    16.1      We may change our Privacy Policy in our sole discretion and at any time without informing you thereof in writing. It is your responsibility to visit the Website periodically to review the Privacy Policy to which you are bound. If we change our Privacy Policy, we will post the changes on the Website so that you may be aware of the personal information we collect and how we always use it.

    CONTACT US

     

    All comments, questions, concerns or complaints regarding your personal information or this privacy policy, should be forwarded to us by email.

    The information officer for Harcourts Real Estate (SA) is:

    Anton Jansen van Vuuren

    Tel: 082 568 5591 or 031 201 1060

    Email: Anton.v@harcourts.co.za