1. Introduction

LAC Cares respects your privacy and is committed to protecting your personal information.

This Privacy Policy explains how LAC Cares collects, uses, stores, discloses and protects personal information when you visit or use connect.laccares.co.za, create an account, start or manage a Connection, make a donation, request a Section 18A certificate, contact us or otherwise interact with LAC Cares.

This Policy must be read together with our Terms and Conditions and any additional notices displayed when personal information is collected.

For purposes of the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 (“POPIA”), LAC Cares is the responsible party in respect of the personal information processed through this website.

2. About LAC Cares

LAC Cares is a South African non-profit company and registered Public Benefit Organisation that supports charitable and community-development initiatives.

The Connect platform allows approved users and ambassadors to create fundraising initiatives referred to as “Connections” and enables members of the public to support those Connections through donations.

Contact details:

Email: info@laccares.co.za
Telephone: 012 940 4398
Website: connect.laccares.co.za
Physical address: 410 Rigel Ave, Erasmusrand, Pretoria

Privacy-related enquiries may be sent to the email address above and marked for the attention of the Information Officer.

3. Personal information we collect

Depending on how you use the website, we may collect the following categories of personal information.

3.1 Account information

When you register for an account, we may collect:

• Your name and surname;
• Email address;
• Telephone number;
• Username and password;
• Organisation, school or community affiliation;
• Account preferences;
• Account verification information; and
• Information received through third-party login services, such as Google, where you choose to use those services.

Passwords are stored in a protected or encrypted form and are not intended to be accessible as plain text.

3.2 Donation information

When you make a donation, we may collect:

• Your name and surname;
• Email address and telephone number;
• Donation amount;
• Selected Connection;
• Transaction reference;
• Date and status of the transaction;
• Whether you elected to donate anonymously;
• Billing or payment-related information provided to a payment service provider; and
• Any message or dedication submitted with your donation.

Selecting an anonymous donation means that your identity will not ordinarily be displayed publicly. LAC Cares and its payment or compliance service providers may still need to retain your identity and transaction information.

LAC Cares does not ordinarily store complete payment-card details. Payments are processed by authorised third-party payment service providers, subject to their own security and privacy practices.

3.3 Section 18A certificate information

Where you request a Section 18A donation certificate, we may collect information required by SARS and applicable law, including:

• Full legal name;
• Identity number, passport number or entity registration number;
• Income tax reference number;
• Email address and telephone number;
• Residential, registered or business address;
• Donor type, such as an individual, company, trust or other entity;
• Trading name, where applicable;
• Donation amount and date; and
• Other information reasonably required to issue and report a valid certificate.

Providing incomplete or inaccurate information may prevent or delay the issuing of a certificate.

3.4 Connection and ambassador information

When you submit, create or manage a Connection, we may collect:

• Your name and contact details;
• Your relationship with the relevant school, organisation or community;
• The name and location of the beneficiary;
• Fundraising goals and supporting information;
• The number of intended beneficiaries;
• Written descriptions, updates and impact information;
• Photographs, videos, logos and other media;
• Banking, verification or supporting documents, where required;
• Communications between you and LAC Cares; and
• Information required to assess, approve or administer the Connection.

Some of this information may be displayed publicly on the website.

3.5 Information about children

Connections may benefit schools, children or young people. Information about children requires special care.

Users may not upload a child’s full name, contact details, identity number, medical information or other identifying or sensitive information unless this is strictly necessary, lawful and expressly authorised by LAC Cares.

A person uploading photographs, videos or information involving children must have appropriate written permission from the child’s parent or legal guardian, or proper authorisation from the relevant school or organisation.

LAC Cares may remove or restrict content involving children where consent or lawful authority cannot be established or where publication may place a child at risk.

3.6 Technical and website information

When you use the website, we may automatically collect:

• Internet Protocol address;
• Browser and device type;
• Operating system;
• Pages visited;
• Referring website;
• Access times;
• Approximate geographic region;
• Cookie identifiers;
• Login and security activity; and
• Website interaction and performance data.

3.7 Communications

We may collect information contained in emails, contact forms, support requests, feedback, complaints and other communications with us.

4. How we obtain personal information

We may obtain personal information:

• Directly from you;
• From an ambassador, authorised representative or organisation acting on your behalf;
• Through the website and its forms;
• From payment processors and financial institutions;
• From social-login or authentication providers;
• From schools, beneficiaries or partner organisations;
• From publicly available sources;
• Through cookies and similar technologies; and
• Where permitted or required by law.

5. Why we process personal information

We may process personal information to:

• Register and administer user accounts;
• Verify user identities and email addresses;
• Receive and process donations;
• Display donation activity and fundraising progress;
• Administer Connections and beneficiary projects;
• Assess and approve ambassador or Connection applications;
• Communicate with users, donors, schools and beneficiaries;
• Provide receipts and Section 18A certificates;
• Fulfil SARS reporting and recordkeeping obligations;
• Prevent fraud, misuse, money laundering and unauthorised activity;
• Protect children and vulnerable beneficiaries;
• Provide technical support;
• Improve website performance and user experience;
• Keep accounting, audit and transaction records;
• Send service-related communications;
• Send newsletters or marketing communications where lawfully permitted;
• Comply with legal and regulatory obligations;
• Establish, exercise or defend legal claims; and
• Protect the rights, safety and property of LAC Cares, its beneficiaries, users and the public.

6. Legal grounds for processing

We process personal information where:

• You have given consent;
• Processing is necessary to perform an agreement with you;
• Processing is necessary to comply with a legal obligation;
• Processing protects your legitimate interests or those of another person;
• Processing is necessary for the legitimate interests of LAC Cares or a third party, provided your rights do not override those interests; or
• Another lawful basis under POPIA applies.

You may withdraw consent where processing is based on consent. Withdrawal will not affect processing that lawfully occurred before consent was withdrawn.

7. Publicly displayed information

Connection pages are intended to be publicly accessible.

The following information may be displayed publicly:

• Connection name and description;
• Beneficiary or school name;
• Fundraising target and amount raised;
• Images and updates;
• Ambassador or organiser information approved for publication;
• Donor name, where the donor has not selected anonymity;
• Donation message or dedication; and
• General impact information.

Users must not submit information for public display that they do not have authority to publish.

Search engines, social-media platforms and other third parties may index, copy or store publicly displayed content. Removing content from the website may therefore not remove every external copy immediately.

8. Sharing personal information

We may share personal information with:

• Payment processors and financial institutions;
• Website hosting, email, security, analytics and technical service providers;
• Accounting, audit, legal and professional advisers;
• SARS and other government or regulatory authorities;
• Schools, beneficiaries and partner organisations where necessary to administer a Connection;
• Companies within the Laeveld Agrochem group where they provide authorised administrative or technical support;
• Law-enforcement authorities where required or lawfully requested;
• Parties involved in investigating fraud, misuse or security incidents; and
• A successor organisation in the event of a lawful restructuring, merger or transfer of operations.

Service providers may process information only for authorised purposes and must apply appropriate confidentiality and security safeguards.

We do not sell your personal information.

9. Cross-border processing

Some service providers may process or store information outside South Africa.

Where personal information is transferred outside South Africa, LAC Cares will take reasonable steps to ensure that the recipient is subject to an applicable law, agreement, binding corporate rule or other safeguard that provides an adequate level of protection as required by POPIA.

10. Cookies and similar technologies

The website may use cookies and similar technologies to:

• Keep users signed in;
• Remember preferences;
• Protect accounts and prevent fraud;
• Process forms and donations;
• Understand website use;
• Measure website performance; and
• Improve functionality.

Some cookies are necessary for the website to function. Optional analytics or marketing cookies should only be used in accordance with applicable consent requirements.

You may control cookies through your browser settings or the website’s cookie-consent tool. Disabling certain cookies may prevent parts of the website from operating correctly.

11. Direct marketing

We may send you news, fundraising updates or other communications where you have consented or where another lawful basis applies.

You may unsubscribe by using the unsubscribe option provided in the communication or by contacting us.

Service messages relating to an account, donation, certificate, security issue or Connection are not marketing messages and may still be sent where necessary.

12. Information security

LAC Cares uses reasonable technical and organisational safeguards designed to protect personal information against loss, damage, unauthorised access, interference, alteration, disclosure or destruction.

These measures may include access controls, secure connections, password protections, backups, monitoring, software updates and restrictions on staff or service-provider access.

No internet-based service is completely secure. Users must keep passwords confidential, use secure devices and promptly report suspected unauthorised account activity.

13. Security compromises

Where LAC Cares has reasonable grounds to believe that personal information has been accessed or acquired by an unauthorised person, we will investigate and take the steps required by POPIA.

Where legally required, affected individuals and the Information Regulator will be notified as soon as reasonably possible, subject to lawful restrictions.

14. Information retention

We retain personal information only for as long as reasonably necessary to:

• Fulfil the purpose for which it was collected;
• Administer accounts, Connections and donations;
• Meet tax, audit, accounting and regulatory requirements;
• Resolve disputes;
• Prevent fraud;
• Enforce agreements; and
• Establish or defend legal claims.

Certain donation, tax and financial records may need to be retained after an account is closed.

When information is no longer required, it will be deleted, destroyed, de-identified or retained only where permitted by law.

15. Your rights

Subject to POPIA and other applicable laws, you may have the right to:

• Ask whether we hold personal information about you;
• Request access to your personal information;
• Request correction or updating of inaccurate information;
• Request deletion or destruction where legally appropriate;
• Object to certain processing;
• Withdraw consent;
• Object to direct marketing;
• Request information about third parties who have received your information; and
• Submit a complaint to LAC Cares or the Information Regulator.

We may need to verify your identity before processing a request.

Some requests may be refused or limited where retaining or processing the information is required by law, necessary for contractual or operational purposes, or permitted under POPIA.

16. Closing an account

You may request that your account be closed by contacting us.

Closing an account does not automatically remove:

• Completed donation records;
• Tax or accounting records;
• Information that LAC Cares is legally required to retain;
• Content already used in legitimate reporting or project records; or
• Information that must be retained to resolve disputes, investigate misuse or protect legal rights.

Public Connection content may be removed, anonymised or transferred to another approved administrator where appropriate.

17. Third-party websites

The website may contain links to third-party websites or services.

LAC Cares is not responsible for the privacy, content or security practices of third parties. You should review their privacy policies before providing personal information.

18. Changes to this Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy to reflect changes in our services, technology, operational practices or legal obligations.

The latest version will be published on the website with the updated effective date. Material changes may also be communicated by email or through a website notice where appropriate.

19. Contacting us

Questions, objections and requests regarding personal information may be sent to:

The Information Officer
LAC Cares
Email: info@laccares.co.za
Telephone: 012 940 4398
Please include sufficient information for us to identify you and understand your request.