Privacy Policy

HVAC SOLUTIONS (PTY) LTD PRIVACY POLICY

1. DEFINITIONS

1.1. “ECTA” – refers to the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act 25 of 2002

1.2. “HVAC” – refers to HVAC Solutions (PTY) LTD, a non-profit organization duly registered in South Africa with registration number 2018/254246/07.

1.3. “PAIA” refers to the Promotion of Access to Information Act no 2 of 2000.

1.4. “Personal Information” – defined in accordance with section 1 of the POPI Act.

1.5. “POPI Act” – refers to the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 as amended

1.6. “User” – refers to the person using the website

1.7. “Website” – refers to the site www.hvacsolutions.co.za

2. PRIVACY POLICY

2.1. This Privacy Policy is aligned with the requirements set out in the POPI Act, which requires us to protect the integrity and confidentiality of the information that has come into our possession therefore we endeavor to provide technical and organizational measures to ensure this. HVAC undertakes to comply with the provisions of PAIA (see PAIA document). While we endeavour to protect the integrity and confidentiality of the information, HVAC shall not be held liable in the event that private information is stolen, hacked or otherwise obtained due to circumstances beyond the control of HVAC.

3. PURPOSE OF A PRIVACY POLICY

3.1. The purpose of the privacy policy is to inform the user of the personal information that may be gathered, how the information may be used and the protection utilized.

4. PERSONAL INFORMATION COLLECTED

4.1. HVAC collects general personal information that is used to carry out services.

4.2. The user’s personal information is primarily obtained through online forms available on the website, email communications, hard copy forms that are submitted to HVAC and on occasion telephonically under specific circumstances with express consent from the user. In instances where Corporate clients require services, the Corporate client representative provide personnel information. It is the responsibility of the Corporate client to ensure that it has the necessary consent to share such information.

4.3. Furthermore, HVAC may collect personal information using the following methods.

4.3.1. Cookies
Cookies may be saved to the user’s devices. This improves the users experience of the website. (see Cookie Policy).

4.3.2. Web Traffic Statistics
This is information that is collected without notification to the user. The web traffic process individually identifies information collected. This may include the IP and host address information of the user. The information obtained is used for general web traffic statistics and reports. The information obtained is not used to monitor, track or report on the usage of the user unless the user is suspected of illegal or unauthorized usage of any component in the HVAC infrastructure.

5. USE OF PERSONAL INFORMATION

5.1. The personal information shall be used only by HVAC and its employees in the process of delivering its organizational purpose and services save for when the personal information is shared with a third party to fulfil a HVAC obligation or service.

5.2. As part of benefits of a HVAC membership, HVAC may be required to provide third party service providers with member personal information such as name, membership number and contact details. The personal information that is shared with a third-party service provider will be limited to the information that is required to ensure the HVAC member is able to enjoy the benefit they are entitled to or for statistical and historical purposes. Sharing information with a third-party service provider outside the scope provided is prohibited.

5.3. HVAC shall not sell, rent nor provide the user’s personal information to an unauthorized entity or to third parties for their independent use without the user’s consent. HVAC will release the user’s personal information to a party if it believes that HVAC is required by law or by a court or statutory body to do so. Furthermore, HVAC will also disclose the user’s personal information if HVAC believes that it is necessary to prevent or lessen any unlawful or harmful actions and to protect and defend legitimate business interests, rights, or property of HVAC.

6. PURPOSE FOR COLLECTING PERSONAL INFORMATION

6.1. HVAC collects personal information for the following purposes:

6.1.1. To provide the user with the services offered and requested.

6.1.2. To understand the user’s specific needs and requirements and in order to improve the HVAC member benefit, service, and value offering.

6.1.3. To provide the user with HVAC communications in relation to the services that are rendered and to keep the user informed of governance related updates.

6.1.4. To provide the user with HVAC related marketing material as a result of the user’s interaction and use of HVAC services.

6.1.5. For statistical, historical and/or reporting purposes.

6.1.6. To ensure payment to suppliers for services procured.

6.1.7. For public health and safety purposes.

6.2. HVAC shall ask for the user’s permission in the event that the user’s personal information is used for any purpose that is not mentioned above or unrelated to the operations/services of HVAC and its use in the ordinary course of business.

7. CORRECTION OF PERSONAL INFORMATION

7.1. It is your responsibility to ensure that the personal information provided to website is true, correct, and accurate at all times. You may update and correct your personal information at any time either yourself via your online HVAC profile, via email communications to HVAC (for Members, kindly send an email to info@hvacsolutions.co.za), telephonically by calling either the membership department or applicable HVAC representative in relation to the services being used or rendered to you or through completing and sending Form 2 (Annexure B) in terms of POPI Act to the Information Officer at HVAC on info@hvacsolutions.co.za. HVAC does not check the information provided to it, and thus will not be held responsible for any incorrect or outdated information it may and which may provide you with relevant and important communications.

7.2. If you would like your Personal Information to be deleted by HVAC, kindly also use Form 2 (Annexure B) and send same to Information Officer at HVAC on info@hvacsolutions.co.za. Deleting your Personal Information may impact the services being used, offered or access thereto.

8. PROTECTION OF PERSONAL INFORMATION

8.1. All personal information collected by HVAC obtains from the user is kept secure and confidential to the best extent possible. This includes security protection of the physical devices storing the information and computer-based protection in the form of passwords, encryptions, signed certificates and other means. Access to this personal information is only by authorized personnel of HVAC and technicians of its hosting provider. HVAC may extend this access with due regard for the safety of and ensuring the integrity and confidentiality of the personal information.

8.2. HVAC conducts regular security testing of its servers and ensures that its employees are trained around protection of personal information. Further, all HVAC employees, contractors and outsourced IT technicians utilize a system where users are given an access number, username, password and/or personal identification number as a security measure.

8.3. When you use the services or facilities provided by HVAC, you may be given an access number, username, password and or personal identification number (“PIN”). As a user, you must always keep this access information secret and ensure that you do not disclose it to anyone. HVAC shall not be held responsible for personal information that was accessed as result of the user providing someone with their HVAC profile username and password.

8.4. HVAC will provide the user with the records of their personal information at their request. As part of a security measure, the information requested will only be sent to the user’s email on file.

8.5. In the event a user objects to their personal information being processed by HVAC, the user is required to complete Form 1 (Annexure A) in terms of the POPI Act and send the completed Form 1 to HVAC Information Officer on info@hvacsolutions.co.za Objecting to the processing of the personal information may result in services being stopped, access or implementation issues and/or other service inefficiencies and communications.

8.6. Personal information of the user is stored on site and in the cloud with access only granted to authorized HVAC personnel. The personal information will only be retained for so long as necessary to carry out its function, services required and/or for historical and statistical use by HVAC. Personal information that is no longer required for purposes of rendering services shall be destroyed and HVAC undertakes to ensure that personal information shall not be stored longer than 5 (FIVE) years unless mandated by law and/or historical record purposes. Membership records, Service Agreements, training attendance records, reports or deliverables provided to Corporate clients in terms of specific scope of work and personal information related thereto shall be kept by HVAC indefinitely. The purpose behind this is to ensure a continuous and accurate record of user’s membership, training history and reports/advice provided by HVAC.

8.7. The user’s personal information may be stored on servers located outside of South Africa due to the ever-evolving structure of HVAC information management and or IT systems. As a result, HVAC undertakes to ensure that service providers used for such cloud servers and/or services are obliged to comply with the highest standards of data protection to ensure the security of your personal information.

9. LINKS ON HVAC WEBSITE OR EMAIL COMMUNICATIONS

9.1. HVAC is not responsible for the content or the privacy policies of websites of other institutions to which it may link you to – mainly for information purposes and access to documents provided by such institutions. The use of other third-party websites and content is at your sole discretion. This Policy applies solely to information collected by HVAC.

9.2. HVAC is not responsible for any representations or information or warranties or contention any website of any third party (including websites linked to the HVAC website). HVAC does not exercise control over third parties’ privacy policies, and you should refer to the privacy policy of any third party to see how such party protects your privacy.

10. PERSONAL INFORMATION HELD BY OR DISCLOSED BY YOU TO THIRD PARTIES

10.1 If you disclose any personal information to a third party, such as one of our business partners or anyone other than HVAC, you must be aware that HVAC does not regulate or control how that third party uses your personal information. You should always ensure that you read the privacy policy of any third party.

11. POLICY APPROVAL

11.1 The Board has approved this policy on 09 January 2022, and it will be reviewed periodically.