Privacy Policy

1. Responsible Party

SNSBooks (Pty) Ltd is the responsible party for personal information processed through the SNSBooks platform. Our Information Officer is contactable at privacy@snsbooks.co.za.

2. Information We Collect

We collect the following categories of personal information:

• Account information: name, email address, mobile number
• Business information: business name, registration number, tax reference numbers (VAT, PAYE), address
• Employee information: name, ID number, date of birth, contact details, salary information, banking details, tax information
• Financial data: invoices, expenses, bank transactions, payroll records
• Usage data: login times, features used, browser type, IP address

3. Purpose of Processing

We process personal information for the following purposes:

• Providing and improving the SNSBooks platform
• Processing payroll and generating payslips
• Generating financial reports and tax compliance documents
• Sending transactional emails (payslips, invoices, password resets)
• Billing and subscription management
• Complying with South African legal obligations
• Detecting and preventing fraud or abuse

4. Lawful Basis for Processing

We process personal information on the following lawful bases under POPIA:

• Contract: processing necessary to provide the Service you have subscribed to
• Legal obligation: processing required by South African tax law, labour law, and other legislation
• Legitimate interest: fraud prevention, security, and service improvement
• Consent: where you have explicitly consented to specific processing

5. Employee Data

When you add employee records to SNSBooks, you do so as an operator under POPIA. You are responsible for obtaining the necessary consent from your employees and informing them that their data is processed in SNSBooks. Employee banking details and ID numbers are encrypted at rest. Employees can only access their own payslips and leave information — never other employees' data.

6. Data Security

We implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal information:

• Encryption of sensitive fields (banking details, ID numbers) at rest
• TLS encryption for all data in transit
• Role-based access controls limiting data access to authorised users
• Audit logs for sensitive operations
• Regular security assessments

7. Data Retention

We retain personal information for as long as your account is active plus a period necessary to comply with legal obligations (typically 5 years for financial records as required by South African tax law). When you delete your account, personal data is anonymised or deleted within 30 days, except where retention is required by law.

8. Third-Party Operators

We share data with the following categories of third-party operators who process data on our behalf:

• Infrastructure: cloud hosting and database providers
• Email delivery: transactional email service providers
• Payment processing: subscription billing providers

All operators are contractually bound to process data only as instructed by SNSBooks and to maintain appropriate security measures. We do not sell personal information to third parties.

9. Cross-Border Transfers

Some of our infrastructure providers are located outside South Africa. Where personal information is transferred across borders, we ensure adequate protection through contractual safeguards equivalent to POPIA requirements.

10. Your Rights Under POPIA

You have the following rights regarding your personal information:

• Right of access: request a copy of the personal information we hold about you
• Right to correction: request correction of inaccurate or incomplete information
• Right to deletion: request deletion of your personal information (subject to legal retention requirements)
• Right to object: object to processing of your personal information
• Right to complain: lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator of South Africa

To exercise any of these rights, contact our Information Officer at privacy@snsbooks.co.za. We will respond within 30 days.

11. Data Breach Notification

In the event of a data breach that poses a risk to data subjects, we will notify the Information Regulator and affected data subjects as required by POPIA, within a reasonable time after becoming aware of the breach.

12. Cookies

SNSBooks uses session storage and local storage for authentication tokens. We do not use tracking cookies or third-party advertising cookies. Essential cookies may be used for security and session management purposes.

13. Information Regulator

You have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator of South Africa:
Website: inforegulator.org.za
Email: inforeg@justice.gov.za

14. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Material changes will be notified by email. Continued use of the Service after changes constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

15. Contact Us

For any privacy-related queries or to exercise your rights:
Information Officer: SNSBooks (Pty) Ltd
Email: privacy@snsbooks.co.za