01Who is responsible for personal information

1.1. N-Tech is the responsible party, under POPIA, for the personal information described in this policy. Its address is 6 Nyala Place, Crestholme, Waterfall, 3655, KwaZulu-Natal.

1.2. N-Tech’s Information Officer can be reached at skyla@n-tech.co.za or on 087 822 1887.

1.3. This policy applies to every person who uses the Website, places an Order, books a Service, enters a competition or otherwise deals with N-Tech. It forms part of N-Tech's Terms and Conditions of Sale and Website Use, and words defined there have the same meaning here.

02Information N-Tech collects

2.1. N-Tech collects:

2.1.1. identity and contact details: name, identity or registration number where needed to verify a person, email address, telephone numbers, and billing and delivery addresses;

2.1.2. Order details: Goods and Services ordered, prices, invoices, delivery records, and the serial numbers of Goods supplied;

2.1.3. payment details: payment references, proof of payment, and the name of the account holder and bank from which a payment or refund is made or received. N-Tech does not collect or store card numbers, PINs or online banking passwords;

2.1.4. service and warranty records: job cards, fault descriptions, photographs, assessments and correspondence;

2.1.5. account details: login name, encrypted password, saved preferences and reviews posted;

2.1.6. technical information: IP address, device and browser type, pages visited and the information gathered by cookies under clause 11;

2.1.7. marketing preferences and competition entries.

2.2. The name, contact details, delivery address and payment confirmation of a Customer are needed to conclude and perform a sale. N-Tech cannot process an Order without them. Other information is given voluntarily.

2.3. N-Tech collects information from the person concerned, automatically through the Website, and from third parties where that is lawful: banks and payment providers confirming a payment, couriers confirming a delivery, manufacturers and distributors reporting on a warranty claim, fraud-prevention services and credit bureaux, and public records.

03Why N-Tech uses personal information

3.1. N-Tech uses personal information for the following purposes, on the following grounds:

3.1.1. to conclude and perform its contracts: processing and delivering Orders, rendering Services, handling returns, refunds and warranty claims, and communicating about them;

3.1.2. to comply with the law: keeping tax, accounting and transaction records, and meeting its obligations under consumer, electronic-transactions and data-protection legislation;

3.1.3. to protect its legitimate interests and those of its Customers: verifying payments and identities, preventing and investigating fraud, recording serial numbers so that warranty claims and returns can be validated, securing its systems and premises, recovering debts, establishing and defending legal claims, declining to deal with persons who have defrauded or abused it, and improving the Website and its range and service;

3.1.4. with consent, where consent is required: direct marketing to persons who are not yet Customers, and cookies that are not strictly necessary.

3.2. N-Tech does not use personal information for a purpose incompatible with those in clause 3.1, and it makes no decision about a person by automated means alone.

04Information stored on equipment handed to N-Tech

4.1. Equipment sent to N-Tech for repair, upgrade, data work or a warranty claim may hold the Customer’s own files and the personal information of other people. That information remains the Customer’s. N-Tech does not collect it or use it for its own purposes, and its staff access it only as far as the work requires.

4.2. The Customer is responsible for backing up that information and for removing, before the equipment is handed over, anything the Customer does not want N-Tech’s staff to be able to see.

4.3. Copies that N-Tech makes in the course of data recovery or transfer are deleted as the Repairs and Services Terms provide.

05Who receives personal information

5.1. N-Tech does not sell personal information. It discloses personal information only to:

5.1.1. service providers that act on its instructions: website hosting, email, payment processing, accounting, courier, information technology support and marketing-platform providers;

5.1.2. manufacturers, distributors and authorised service centres, to register Goods or process a warranty claim;

5.1.3. banks, payment providers and fraud-prevention services, to verify a payment or investigate suspected fraud;

5.1.4. its attorneys, auditors, insurers and debt collectors;

5.1.5. the police, a regulator, a court or another authority, where the law requires disclosure or where disclosure is needed to protect N-Tech's rights;

5.1.6. a person who acquires N-Tech’s business, who may continue to use the information on the terms of this policy.

5.2. N-Tech requires its service providers, by written agreement, to keep personal information secure and to use it only for the service they provide.

06Transfers outside South Africa

6.1. Some of N-Tech’s service providers store or process information on servers outside South Africa. The hosting, email, payment and analytics providers actually used, and the countries concerned, are to be confirmed.

6.2. N-Tech transfers personal information outside South Africa only where the recipient is bound by a law or an agreement that gives protection substantially similar to POPIA, where the transfer is necessary to perform a contract with or for the person concerned, or where that person has consented.

07Security

7.1. N-Tech applies reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect personal information against loss, damage and unauthorised access, and restricts access to staff and service providers who need it.

7.2. If personal information is compromised, N-Tech will notify the Information Regulator and the persons affected as POPIA requires.

7.3. The Customer is responsible for keeping account passwords secret and for the security of the Customer’s own devices and email account. N-Tech never asks for a card PIN or an online banking password, and the Customer should not send one.

08How long information is kept

8.1. N-Tech keeps personal information for as long as the purpose for which it was collected requires, and afterwards for as long as the law requires or permits.

8.2. Order, invoice, payment, warranty and job-card records are kept for at least five years after the transaction, and for longer where a claim or dispute is pending.

8.3. Marketing details are kept until the person opts out. N-Tech then keeps only what it needs to make sure that person is not contacted again.

8.4. Information that is no longer needed is deleted or de-identified.

09Direct marketing

9.1. N-Tech may send its Customers news and offers about its own similar Goods and Services by email, SMS or instant message, using the contact details obtained in the course of a sale or booking. A Customer may decline this when those details are collected and in every message afterwards.

9.2. N-Tech sends marketing messages to a person who is not a Customer only with that person’s consent.

9.3. N-Tech honours every opt-out request, and every block registered on the national opt-out registry kept under the CPA.

9.4. Messages about an Order, a delivery, a Service or a warranty claim are not marketing and continue after an opt-out.

10Children

10.1. The Website, and N-Tech’s sales and competitions, are intended for persons aged 18 or older. N-Tech does not knowingly collect the personal information of a child without the consent of a parent or guardian.

11Cookies

11.1. A cookie is a small file that a website places on a visitor’s device so that the site can recognise the device.

11.2. The Website uses:

11.2.1. strictly necessary cookies, which operate the shopping cart, login and security features and cannot be switched off;

11.2.2. functional cookies, which remember preferences;

11.2.3. analytics cookies, which measure how the Website is used;

11.2.4. advertising cookies, which measure and tailor N-Tech’s advertising on other platforms.

11.3. The analytics and advertising tools actually installed on the Website stand herein.

11.4. Cookies that are not strictly necessary are set only if the visitor accepts them in the cookie banner. A visitor may change that choice at any time in the banner or in the browser's settings. Parts of the Website may not work if cookies are blocked.

12Rights of the person concerned

12.1. A person whose information N-Tech holds may:

12.1.1. ask whether N-Tech holds personal information about him or her and request a record of it;

12.1.2. ask N-Tech to correct or delete information that is inaccurate, out of date, excessive or unlawfully obtained;

12.1.3. object, on reasonable grounds, to processing that rests on N-Tech’s legitimate interests, and object at any time to direct marketing;

12.1.4. withdraw a consent that was given.

12.2. A request must be made in writing to the Information Officer. N-Tech will supply the prescribed form on request, will verify the identity of the person making the request, and will answer within 30 days.

12.3. N-Tech may decline a request, or part of it, where the law requires or permits it to keep the information, and may charge the prescribed fee for copies of records.

12.4. N-Tech’s manual under the Promotion of Access to Information Act 2 of 2000 is available on request.

13Complaints

13.1. A complaint about N-Tech’s handling of personal information should first be sent to the Information Officer.

13.2. A person who is not satisfied may complain to the Information Regulator: Woodmead North Office Park, 54 Maxwell Drive, Woodmead, Johannesburg, 2191; telephone 010 023 5200; toll-free 0800 017 160; email enquiries@inforegulator.org.za; website www.inforegulator.org.za.

14Other websites

14.1. The Website links to the websites of manufacturers, payment providers and others. N-Tech is not responsible for how those parties handle personal information, and their own privacy policies apply.

15Changes to this policy

15.1. N-Tech may amend this policy by publishing the amended version on the Website with a new effective date.