Privacy Policy

1. Responsible Party and Contact

S.T. is the responsible party for personal information where it determines the purposes and means of processing. Specifying Techniques CC; registration number CK98/052094/23; P.O. Box 4008, The Square, 4021. Contact our Information Officer at info@spectechonline.com.

2. Information We Process

• Identity and contact details, such as name, business, email and telephone information.
• Account identifiers, authentication information and access records.
• Information you submit in enquiries, forms, support requests and communications.
• Service and device data, such as IP address, browser, pages or features used, timestamps, security logs and cookie preferences.
• Project, product, company and professional information relevant to the Services, including information supplied by you, your organisation or information sources.
• Location information only when you use a location-enabled feature and enable the relevant device permission. The feature will explain its purpose and operation; we do not assume continuous location collection.

3. Purposes and Lawful Grounds

We process information to provide and administer Services and accounts; respond to requests; manage subscriptions and contracts; operate search and project features; maintain security and prevent abuse; communicate service notices; meet legal obligations; establish, exercise or defend legal claims; and improve service reliability. POPIA grounds may include consent, performance of a contract, compliance with a legal obligation, protection of a legitimate interest, or another ground permitted by law. Where consent is the ground, it may be withdrawn subject to legal or contractual limits; withdrawal does not affect prior lawful processing.

4. Required Information

Some information is needed to create an account, provide a requested service or meet a legal requirement. If you do not provide it, we may be unable to provide that feature or respond to your request. Optional information will be identified when collected.

5. Disclosure and Operators

We do not sell personal information. We may disclose or make it available only as reasonably necessary for the purposes above: to authorised personnel and users in your organisation; to hosting, security, communications, payment or other operators processing on our documented instructions under confidentiality and security obligations; to professional advisers; with your direction or consent; or where required or authorised by law, a court or competent regulator. Operators may not use information for their own independent purposes. When you search for a project location, the address or place text you enter is sent to OpenStreetMap Foundation's public Nominatim geocoding service to return matching locations; the feature does not access device GPS. We do not permit disclosure of Client confidential content for third-party marketing.

6. Cross-Border Processing

Service providers or infrastructure, including OpenStreetMap Foundation's public Nominatim geocoding service used for project-location searches, may be located outside South Africa. Where personal information is transferred outside the Republic, we take steps required by POPIA section 72, including an adequate legal basis and appropriate safeguards or consent where required. Contact the Information Officer for further information about relevant transfers.

7. Retention and Security

We retain information only as reasonably necessary for its purpose, the service relationship, legal obligations, security and dispute resolution. We then delete, destroy or de-identify it where appropriate, subject to lawful retention duties. We use reasonable technical and organisational safeguards against loss, unauthorised access, use, alteration or disclosure. No transmission or storage method can be guaranteed perfectly secure.

8. Your Rights and Complaints

Subject to POPIA and other applicable law, you may request access to personal information, correction or deletion, object to processing, withdraw consent where applicable, or complain about our handling. We may verify your identity and retain information where legally permitted or required. Send requests to info@spectechonline.com. You may also complain to the Information Regulator of South Africa through its current official channels.

9. Direct Marketing and Automated Decisions

We conduct electronic direct marketing only as permitted by POPIA, including obtaining consent where required and honouring opt-out requests. We do not make decisions producing legal or similarly significant effects solely by automated processing unless permitted by law and any required safeguards are provided.

10. Children

The Services are intended for business and professional users, not children. We do not knowingly collect children's personal information without the consent or other authority required by POPIA. Contact us if you believe a child has provided information unlawfully.

11. Cookies

We use essential cookies and similar technologies for sessions, security and preferences. See our Cookie Policy for details and browser choices.

12. Updates

We reserve the right to revise or replace this policy at any time without prior notice by publishing the updated version here. The current version and effective date will be posted here. Changes take effect on publication or any later effective date stated in the updated policy, subject to applicable law. We will give notice where the law requires it.