Privacy Policy
1. GENERAL
1.1.
In this Privacy Policy document, references to “AG” refer to Avica Group and its subsidiaries.
2. PURPOSE
2.1.
This document explains how AG will obtain, use, and disclose your personal information, in accordance with the requirements of the Protection of Personal Information Act (“POPIA”).
2.2.
AG is committed to and recognizes the importance of respecting and maintaining the privacy and security of personal and confidential information (collectively “Personal Information”/ “Information”) submitted to Avica Group via its various channels for the rendering of any services and for the provision of any products.
2.3.
AG values you as a customer. We will treat all your Personal Information as private and confidential and undertake to deal with your Information in a responsible and lawful manner only. AG will take all reasonable steps to prevent unauthorized access to your Personal Information. Please note that AG will only request Personal Information required for the purposes of assessing and providing you with financial service options. This information is essential to conclude your agreement and a legal requirement. AG will only process your Personal Information for purposes consistent with the normal course of our business to uphold our legitimate interests.
2.4.
AG is required by law to process and maintain your Personal Information in accordance with prescribed standards or generally accepted information management practices to ensure that your information is complete, accurate, up to date, and secure.
2.5.
AG will not disclose your Personal Information to any third party except in the normal course of our business where the third party is contractually bound to perform a service or provide products in accordance with your agreement with AG or where required by law.
2.6.
You may request access to records of your Personal Information that we maintain. AG will make the Information available to you following receipt of your request in accordance with our Access to Information Manual. You may notify us in writing of any inaccuracies reflected in the Information that we maintain and verify, in order to correct your Information.
3. CONSENT
By making use of our services, products, and service channels, you explicitly agree that we may process your personal information. You acknowledge that the personal information may be verified and/or processed for insurance, financial services, and risk management purposes by AG against any other reasonable and legitimate sources or databases to ensure the accuracy and completeness of any personal information provided on an ongoing basis.
4. HOW WE PROCESS YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION
4.1.
For the purpose of our business functions and activities, we will process your personal information for the following non-exhaustive list of purposes:
- Retrieving quotes for financial services from our contractually bound third-party credit provider partners.
- Assessment of financial risks.
- Development and improvement of products and services.
- Credit references and/or verification of personal information.
- Fraud prevention and detection.
- Market research and statistical analysis.
- Audit and record-keeping.
- Compliance with legal and regulatory requirements.
- Sharing of information with service providers and other third parties we engage to process such information on our behalf or who render services to us.
4.2.
AG may collect, process, maintain, disclose, or otherwise deal with your Personal Information, without your knowledge and consent, in the following circumstances:
4.2.1. Required by law.
This most often relates to government tax reporting requirements or in terms of a court order or if required in terms of legislation or in accordance with the common law. When AG is served with due legal process requiring the delivery of Personal Information, it has the legal duty to abide by that demand and will do so. AG will, however, in all instances required by law, only disclose the Personal Information specifically requested.
4.2.2. Necessary to protect AG’s interest.
This will not be used as a reason for disclosing Personal Information about a customer or a customer’s accounts (including name and address) to anyone else for marketing purposes. However, basic procedures that protect AG’s interests sometimes lead to the disclosure of specific customer information. These instances are limited, and the disclosure of information is restricted to what is reasonably required in the circumstances.
4.2.3. In the public interest.
AG may be required to disclose Personal Information for matters of public interest (e.g., to assist in the prevention of crimes). Before complying with these requests, AG will take every precaution to ensure the authorities involved have legitimate grounds to make such a request.
4.2.4. For statistical purposes.
AG may process and disclose Personal Information, for statistical purposes, that does not relate to you or any person specifically (i.e., de-identified information) as it deems appropriate.
4.3.
Special personal information may be processed by AG in the following circumstances:
- If you have consented to the processing or if the special personal information was made public by you.
- If the processing is required by law and if the processing is needed to create, use, or protect a right or obligation in law.
- If the processing is for statistical or research purposes, subject to all legal conditions being met.
5. HOW WE USE YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION FOR DIRECT MARKETING
5.1.
AG may use your Personal Information to provide you with information on new services or products that may be of interest to you and, from time to time, will call, mail, email, or SMS information to you about AG, our products and services, or our partners and their products or services.
5.2. Third-Party Advertising and Cookies
We use third-party advertising companies, including Google, to serve ads when you visit our website. These companies may use cookies and similar technologies to collect information about your visits to this and other websites to provide personalized advertisements about goods and services that may interest you.
5.3. Google Advertising Cookies
- How Google Uses Cookies: Third-party vendors, including Google, use cookies to serve ads based on your prior visits to our website or other websites.
- Personalized Advertising: Google’s use of advertising cookies enables it and its partners to serve ads to you based on your visit to our sites and/or other sites on the Internet.
5.4. Opting Out of Personalized Advertising
- Google Ads Settings: You may opt out of personalized advertising by visiting Google Ads Settings.
- YourAdChoices: Alternatively, you can opt out of third-party vendors’ use of cookies for personalized advertising by visiting YourAdChoices.
5.5.
If you are not an AG customer, or in any other instances where the law requires, AG will only market to you by electronic communications with your consent.
5.6.
If you do not wish to continue receiving this information, you may contact AG, and we will remove you from our mailing list.
5.7.
We will only send you marketing communications if you have “opted in” to receiving such communications. You have the right to “opt out” of receiving marketing communications, whether by email or otherwise, at any time.
6. TRANSFERRING YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION OUTSIDE THE BORDERS OF SOUTH AFRICA
6.1.
In order to provide the products and services offered by AG, it may be required that we transfer your Personal Information to countries outside the borders of South Africa. AG will only transfer your personal information to third parties outside the borders of South Africa in any of the following circumstances:
- Where your personal information will be adequately protected under the other country’s laws or an agreement with the third-party recipient.
- Where the transfer is necessary to enter into, or perform under, a contract with you or a contract with a third party that is in your interest.
- Where you have consented to the transfer.
- Where it is not reasonably practical to obtain your consent, and the transfer is in your interest.
6.2.
The Personal Information shared will be limited to the information required to fulfill the products and services, and the transfer will happen within the requirements of the law.
6.3.
AG will ensure that the party processing your personal information in the other country will agree to apply the same level of protection as available by law in your country, or if the other country’s laws provide better protection, the other country’s laws would be agreed to and applied.
7. DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION
7.1.
AG will only share your personal information if any one or more of the following apply:
- If you have provided AG with consent to share your personal information.
- If it is necessary to conclude or perform under a contract we have with you.
- If it is required by law to do so.
- If it is necessary to protect or pursue a legitimate interest (yours, AG’s, or a third party’s).
7.2.
AG may, where required, share your personal information with the following third parties. These third parties are obliged to keep your personal information secure and confidential:
- AG employees, as required by their employment conditions.
- Insurers, brokers, other financial institutions, or other organizations that assist with insurance and assurance underwriting, the providing of insurance and assurance policies and products, the assessment of insurance and assurance claims, the providing of financial credit products, and other related purposes.
- Our service providers, agents, and sub-contractors we use to offer and provide services to you.
- Payment processing services providers, merchants, banks, and other persons that assist with the processing of your payment instructions.
- Credit bureaus.
- Attorneys and other persons that assist with the enforcement of agreements.
- Regulatory authorities, industry ombudsmen, and other persons the law requires us to share your personal information with.
- Law enforcement and fraud prevention agencies, and other persons tasked with the prevention and prosecution of crime.
- Courts of law or tribunals that require the personal information to adjudicate referrals, actions, or applications.
- Persons to whom we have ceded our rights or delegated our obligations under agreements, such as where a business is sold.
- Our partners with whom we have concluded business agreements.
- Third-party advertising companies, including Google, for the purpose of serving personalized advertisements based on your interests.
8. INFORMATION SECURITY
8.1.
AG has deployed state-of-the-art technology and implemented security measures to protect against the loss, misuse, or alteration of the Information under our control by unauthorized third parties. AG is committed to providing secure services.
8.2.
When AG contracts with third parties, appropriate security, privacy, and confidentiality obligations are imposed on them to ensure that personal information is kept secure.
8.3.
AG regularly tests the effectiveness of the security of our systems and responds to any threats that may be detected.
8.4.
No data transmission over the Internet can be guaranteed to be 100% secure, and AG does not warrant that your information will be secure but confirms that all reasonable security safeguards will always be in place.
9. ACCESS TO INFORMATION AND REQUEST TO CORRECT INFORMATION
9.1. Access to Information
9.1.1.
You have the right to request a copy of the personal information AG holds about you. This includes requests pertaining to:
- Confirmation that AG holds your personal information.
- A copy of the record containing your personal information.
- The identity of third parties who have and had access to your information.
9.1.2.
We will need a copy of your ID document to confirm your identity before providing details of your personal information.
9.1.3.
Please note that any such access request may be subject to a payment of a legally allowable fee.
9.1.4.
Please refer to our Promotion of Access to Information Act 2 of 2000 Manual (PAIA Manual) for further information on how you can give effect to the above-listed rights. The PAIA Manual is located on the AG websites.
9.2. Correction of Your Information
9.2.1.
You have the right to ask us to update, correct, or delete your personal information if it is inaccurate, irrelevant, excessive, out of date, incomplete, misleading, obtained unlawfully, or if we are no longer authorized to keep it.
9.2.2.
You must inform us of your request in writing.
10. COOKIES AND SIMILAR TECHNOLOGIES
10.1. Use of Cookies
We use cookies to enhance your experience on our website. Cookies are small pieces of data that allow the AG web server to recognize you. Cookies are issued by a specific web server, stored in your web browser, and can only be read by the issuing server. The type of information gathered is non-personal (such as the IP address of your computer, the date and time of your visit, the pages you browsed, etc.).
10.2. Third-Party Cookies
- Advertising Cookies: Third-party vendors, including Google, use cookies to serve ads based on your prior visits to our website or other websites.
- Personalized Advertising: Google’s use of advertising cookies enables it and its partners to serve ads to you based on your visit to our sites and/or other sites on the Internet.
- No Personal Information Stored: These cookies do not store personal information such as your name, email address, or phone number.
10.3. Managing Cookies
- Opting Out of Cookies: You can choose to disable or selectively turn off our cookies or third-party cookies in your browser settings.
- Impact on Services: Disabling cookies may affect how you are able to interact with our site and other websites. This may cause certain features of the website not to be accessible.
- Opting Out of Personalized Advertising: You may opt out of personalized advertising by visiting Google Ads Settings or by visiting YourAdChoices.
10.4. Consent
By using our website, you consent to the use of cookies and similar technologies in accordance with this Privacy Policy.
11. HOW LONG WE KEEP YOUR PERSONAL DATA
AG will retain your personal data for as long as it is needed to fulfill the purposes for which it is collected, and this information is required for lawful purposes related to our functions and activities.
12. YOUR RIGHTS UNDER POPIA AND GDPR
12.1. Rights of South African Residents
As a South African resident, you have rights under the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA), including the right to be informed about how your personal information is used.
12.2. Rights of European Economic Area (EEA) Residents
If you are a resident of the European Economic Area (EEA), you have certain data protection rights under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). These include the right to access, update, or delete the personal information we have on you.
12.3. Exercising Your Rights
To exercise any of your rights, please contact us at admin@avicagroup.com.
13. CHANGES TO THIS NOTICE
13.1.
AG reserves the right to amend or modify its Privacy Policy at its sole discretion, at any time, without any prior notice to the User, in response to meeting legislative requirements and dynamic business needs.
13.2.
All amendments to the Privacy Policy will be posted on the AG websites.
13.3.
Unless otherwise stated, the current version shall supersede and replace all previous versions of this Policy.
14. THIRD-PARTY PRIVACY POLICIES
14.1. Links to Other Policies
- For more information on how Google uses data, please visit Google’s Privacy & Terms.
- Our partners’ privacy policies can be found on their respective websites.
14.2.
We are not responsible for the privacy practices of third-party sites.
15. HOW TO CONTACT US
15.1.
If you have any queries about this Policy; need further information about our privacy practices; wish to withdraw consent; or correct your personal information, please contact the AG Information Officer.
15.2. Contact Information
- Email: admin@avicagroup.com
16. INFORMATION REGULATOR
16.1.
You have the right to complain to the Information Regulator.
16.2.
The contact details can be found at: https://www.justice.gov.za/inforeg/