School Privacy Policy

Our mission is to be fully transparent with you regarding the privacy of your data and the services we provide you using the data you entrusted us with. Please read this Privacy Policy together with our published Terms and Conditions of Use Policy, Cookie Policy and Disclaimer.

Introduction

In accordance with the terms of the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA) and Section 14 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996, which recognises the right to privacy, Pretoria Chinese School provides information about how we process personal data that you provide us with.

Should you have any queries regarding the processing of your personal data, our Information Officer can be contacted by email at: info@pretoriachineseschool.com

Purposes for which we process personal data

Pretoria Chinese School processes personal data to lawfully and legitimately carry out the school’s educational activity.
The school collects and keeps students’ and parents’ information when necessary:

To ensure that the student meets the school’s admission criteria
To provide educational services including the support of student learning, monitoring, and reporting on student progress
To meet the educational, social, physical, and emotional requirements of the student
To comply with the law regarding data sharing
To comply with legislative or administrative requirements
To enable parents/guardians to be contacted in the case of emergency or in the case of school closure, or to inform parents/guardians of their child’s educational progress or about school events, etc.
With the aim of celebrating school achievements and keeping a record of the history of the school, Pretoria Chinese School may take photographs and recorded images of students to be shared in yearbooks, the school website, the school’s social media platforms, etc., always based on informed consent from parents or students of legal age
To send commercial communications if previously requested and authorised by the *data subject. Commercial communications include: newsletters and notices from the website, referral of commercial advertisements through e-mail, SMS, social networks or any other electronic or physical means, present or future, which enables such commercial communication.

* Data Subject – This refers to the natural or juristic person to whom the personal information relates, such as an individual client, customer or company that supplies the organisation with products or other goods.

Types of personal data we process

We process personal data from our students and their families and competent persons and also from our employees, suppliers, contractors, prospective customers, and third parties interested in finding out more about Pretoria Chinese School within the systems controlled by the school as Responsible Party.

The personal data processed is mainly the following:

Names, addresses, telephone numbers, e-mail addresses and other contact details
Family details
Safeguarding information (such as court orders and professional involvement)
Education and employment data
Images, audio, and video recordings, including CCTV footage (video images)
Financial information

Other types of data we may collect and process, according to the school purposes, are related to health conditions, criminal records, and other sensitive information related to an individual, such as:

Information about health status or provision of health care linked to a specific individual
Behavioural information
Special educational needs
Criminal records linked to a specific individual
Biometric information
Ethnicity
Religion
Nationality and location.

How we collect and process personal data

Pretoria Chinese School collects information in several ways, including:

Personally, and over the phone (verify ID Number, etc.)
Through our application forms & enquiry
From email and hand delivery paper documentation: invoices, letters, consent forms
Through any CCTV cameras located at our premises or sites
Through third parties, such as referees, professionals or authorities working with the individual
Photos and videos of students participating in activities or of work they have completed.

With whom do we share your personal data?

As a school, we may be lawfully required to share personal information with relevant authorities or third-parties as permitted on statutory grounds, to comply with legal obligations or on the basis of specific consent given by the individual concerned.

We will ensure that, where relevant, contractual safeguards are implemented to ensure the protection of your personal data when disclosing your personal data to a third party. For example, we will enter into data processing agreements with relevant parties (providing for restrictions on the use of your personal data and obligations with respect to the protection and security of your personal data).

The parties to whom we may disclose your personal data as above referred may be located in countries outside South Africa, including countries that may offer a lower level of data protection.

In such cases, we will implement appropriate measures to ensure adequate protection of your personal data in accordance with applicable data protection legislation.

Your personal data shall be neither rented nor sold to third parties.

Conservation of data

Personal information will only be retained for the period of time required to fulfil the purpose for which it was collected unless for a longer time for public interest archiving, scientific or historical research, or statistical purposes.

Once the personal information is no longer required or permitted to be retained for legal or business purposes, it will be destroyed or made anonymous.

Your rights

Under the POPIA you have rights regarding the processing of your personal data. These rights are, however, subject to certain exemptions and limitations.

You have the right to:

Be informed, at the time when personal data is collected, about the data processing.
Access the information we process and how we process it as well as obtain a copy of the personal data considering the legal limitations and exceptions:

Ask for the erasing of the personal data we hold about you without undue delay considering the legal limitations and exceptions
Obtain the rectification of your personal data by providing a supplementary statement
Obtain restriction of processing of your personal data when it is inaccurate, illegal, unnecessary or not verified, considering the legal limitations and exceptions
Obtain data portability of your personal information in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format. This allows the right to transmit that data to another controller without hindrance from the controller to which the personal data has been provided
Object to processing for direct marketing purposes
Withdraw consent at any time and freely to the processing of your personal data. The withdrawal of consent shall not affect the lawfulness of processing based on consent before its withdrawal.

Therefore, in accordance with Section 5 of POPIA referred to the rights of data subjects, individuals will be able to exercise their rights by sending a written specific request, along with a copy of their ID card, to the Information Officer’s email address: info@pretoriachineseschool.com

The data subjects have the right to be notified of the information that is being processed about them, as well as access to their personal data verbally or in writing and at no charge.

The data subjects have also the right to request, where necessary, the correction, destruction, or deletion of their personal information and to object, on reasonable grounds relating to their particular situation to the processing of their personal information. The data subjects have also the right not to have their personal information processed for purposes of direct marketing by means of unsolicited electronic communications, not to be subject, under certain circumstances, to a decision that is based solely on the basis of the automated processing of their personal information and to submit a complaint to the Regulator regarding the alleged interference with the protection of the personal information of any data subject or to submit a complaint to the Information Regulator in respect of a determination of an adjudicator as well as to institute civil proceedings regarding the alleged interference with the protection of his, her or its personal information.

According to this, we have processes in place to ensure that we respond to a request without undue delay from the date of the request although we can extend the time limit to respond to it if necessary. We are aware of the information we must provide in response to a request and the need to provide it in clear and plain language.

Any request is subject to certain exemptions, limitations, or contractual obligations. Data belonging to or identifying other individuals is exempt from the right of access and will be subject to legal privilege. We cannot disclose any confidential information related to the purpose of providing education within our group of schools, examinations or supplying examination scripts to external bodies. We cannot disclose confidential information on any of our staff.

Consent

You will have the right and possibility to withdraw your consent for any specific purpose granted at any given time without prejudice of the legality of processing according to the consent given before withdrawal.

Storing & Securing Information

The school shall use the appropriate technical and organisational measures to ensure the security, confidentiality, integrity, and privacy of the personal data, preventing unauthorised access or unlawful processing as well as accidental loss, destruction, or damage of the files.

Complaints

If you are not satisfied with our response, you would like to discuss anything regarding this privacy notice, or you believe we are processing your personal data disregarding the data protection regulations in force, any claim can be sent to our Information Officer or to the Information Regulator:

Addressed: 33 Hoofd Street, Forum III, 3rd Floor Braampark, P.O Box 31533, Braamfontein, Johannesburg, 2017, phone number +27 (0) 10 023 5200, Cell No. +27 (0) 82 746 4173 or by email at: complaints.IR@justice.gov.za or inforeg@justice.gov.za.

Privacy Notice Updates

Pretoria Chinese School may need to update this privacy notice periodically, so we recommend that you review this information from time to time.

This policy may be amended, supplemented, modified or altered from time to time by the Pretoria Chinese School Management in discussion with the School Board.