Privacy Policy

1. Introduction

1.1. Fine and Country South Africa and all entities utilising the Fine & Country brand are committed to respecting your privacy and committed to protecting your personal data as required in terms of the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013.
1.2. This policy, together with our website Terms and Conditions, set out the privacy practices for our agency. In this policy we state how we process personal data collected about you via your interactions with our online content, such as contact forms and tools, and/or provided directly by you.
1.3. By accessing, browsing or otherwise using our website, you confirm that you have read, understood and agree to the terms of this Privacy Policy, and therefore, you agree to the collection and use of your data in accordance with this statement, until further notice or update of your preferences.
1.4. Our website and services may contain links to other independent websites. These sites may ask you to provide information to them. Please be aware that such requests and information provided is not under our control, and we are not responsible for the privacy practices of those other sites. We encourage you to be aware when you leave our website to read the privacy statement of each website that you enter.
1.5. We may change this policy from time to time by updating this page and you should ensure that you are aware of the changes from time to time.

2. Information we collect

2.1. When you access our website and/or register your interest in the use of our services, Fine and Country South Africa or any other third parties who host, maintain or support our delivery of services, may collect personal and technical information about you.
2.2. As a national real estate licence or franchise network we will collect, use, store and process information about you relating to our services being buying, selling, leasing, development, and advertising of residential, commercial, business and rural properties.
2.3. The personal information we collect from you will typically include the following:
2.3.1. Full name and contact details (including your date of birth, contact number, email and postal address).
2.3.2. Any phone number or email used to get in touch with us.
2.3.3. Information relating to your identity, residential address, marital status, information about your family members and your and their close associates, and source of funds for a transaction where we are required by law to collect this to comply with the Financial Intelligence Centre Act 2001 and other prescriptive legislation.
2.3.4. Your banking details where required such as where you are letting a property or, where renting, to set up an account for you and arrange for rental payments.
2.3.5. Information on any access requirements you have necessary to enable us to find suitable properties for you, which may consist of special category personal data comprising details of any disability or other health information about you.
2.3.6. Details about your areas of interest where we wish to send you marketing information about similar products and/or services.
2.3.7. The technical information collected is anonymous and will include the usage information about visits to our website (via ‘cookies’ which enables our website to remember information about you and your preferences). The technical information collected includes:
2.3.7.1. Internet Protocol (IP) address used to connect your device to the Internet.
2.3.7.2. URL click stream to and from our site (including date and time).
2.3.7.3. Device operating system and platform.
2.3.7.4. Device location data (if function is not disabled on your device).
2.3.7.5. Browser and plugin types and versions.
2.3.7.6. Login usernames.
2.3.7.7. Time zone settings.
2.3.7.8. Pages and/or products viewed and/or searched for.
2.3.7.9. Time spent on certain page and page interaction information (such as scrolling, clicks and mouse-overs).
2.3.7.10. Methods used to land and exit from the website and/or page.
2.3.7.11. Page response times.
2.3.7.12. Download errors.
2.3.7.13. Communication history between you and our company, including a record of the email, telephone and postal correspondence created:
2.3.7.13.1. when you contact us as part of a product or service query;
2.3.7.13.2. during the contractual period of the delivery of services.
2.3.7.14. Where we need to collect personal data by law (for example, to meet our obligations to prevent fraud and money laundering) or under the terms of a contract we have with you, and you fail to provide that data when requested, we may not be able to:
2.3.7.14.1. perform the existing contract and/or services as requested,
2.3.7.14.2. enter in a contract and/or services as requested. In this case, we may have to cancel a contract or service you have with us, but we will notify you if this is the case at the time.

3. POPIA and GDPR

3.1. We will only process your information in pursuance of our legitimate interest if we receive any requests related to, for example, a product or service, property enquiry, or specific marketing materials. We will use your personal information to fulfil your request.
3.2. The legal grounds under data protection legislation for processing your personal data are contained in the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 and are as follows:
3.2.1. It is necessary for the performance of a contract to which you are a party, or to take steps prior to entering into a contract with you, for us to provide you with our products and services;
3.2.2. You have given us consent to the processing of your personal data for one or more specific purposes, namely (i) where you have given us consent to receive electronic marketing by us and/or (ii) to process your Special Personal Information. You do not need to provide us with marketing consent in order to receive our services;
3.2.3. It is necessary for the purposes of our legitimate interests, except where our interests are overridden by the interests, rights or freedoms of affected individuals (such as you). To determine this, we shall consider a number of factors, such as what you were told at the time you provided your data, what your expectations are about the processing of the data, the nature of the data, and the impact of the processing on you. Our legitimate interests include processing necessary to improve and to promote our services and product and to better understand our customers’ interests and knowledge of the property market and to administer the technical aspects of our service and products;
3.2.4. Where we need to comply with a legal obligation;
3.2.5. Where we need to protect your interests (or someone else’s interests); and/or
3.2.6. Where it is needed in the public interest or for official purposes.

4. How we use your information

4.1. We will hold and use personal information about you in the following ways:
4.1.1. To fulfil our obligations to you when providing you with our estate agency services;
4.1.2. To share your information with others where necessary to fulfil our estate agency services for you or where acting as agent for a third party on your behalf;
4.1.3. To comply with our statutory and regulatory obligations, including verifying your identity, prevention of fraud and money laundering and to assess your credit worthiness;
4.1.4. Communicate with you during the course of providing our services, for example with your enquiries and requests;
4.1.5. Statistical purposes so we can analyse figures to help us manage our business and plan strategically for the future;
4.1.6. To provide you, or to enable third parties to provide you, with information about goods or services we feel may interest you: where you have provided permission for us to do so or, if you are an existing customer where we choose to contact you by electronic means (including newsletter and email) with information about our own goods and services similar to those which you have already obtained from us or negotiated to obtain from us. For those marketing messages you may unsubscribe at any time;
4.1.7. Track your use of our service, including your navigation of our website in order to improve the website performance and user experience;
4.1.8. To ensure that content from our website is presented in the most effective manner for you and for your device;
4.1.9. To notify you about changes to our service.
4.2. By using our website, you consent to Fine & Country South Africa (including and all entities operating under the Fine & Country brand) using or disclosing your personal information for purposes of processing any contact, communication, or transaction which you have initiated, requested, or otherwise indicated an interest in the ordinary course of Fine & Country South Africa business; and promotion and marketing.
4.3. We or our agents and/or sub-contractors may contact you by email or telephone from time to time to ask you for your feedback and comments on our services of which you will provide an opportunity to opt out of communication.
4.4. Personal information provided by you to Fine & Country South Africa and its related entities or our franchisees and licensees may be shared between franchisees and licensees in accordance with the purpose for which the personal information was collected from you, and may include sharing of information outside the borders of South Africa.
4.5. Fine & Country South Africa will not use your personal information for any purpose (other than as stated above) without your consent.

5. How long we keep your data for

5.1. We will retain your personal data for different periods depending on the service you have chosen to use us for and/or where we are under regulatory or statutory duties to hold your data for a longer period or need to retain it in the event of a legal claim or complaint.

6. Website Cookies

6.1. The website uses "cookies" or similar technology through which we may automatically collect personal information about you. "Cookies" will allow us to use and store information about your browser behaviour, including which properties you have viewed. We collect this information to promote other similar properties to you. On accessing our website you can allow us to use this information of you.

7. Who we share your information with

7.1. We may pass your details to the following entities: persons who carry out certain activities on our behalf as part of us providing our services, in terms of your instruction to us: payment service providers, property management agents, credit reference agencies, cloud computing host providers, technical support service providers, advertising networks services, email marketing services, financial services, business partners, sub-contractors, etc.
7.2. We will also pass your details where necessary to your attorneys or conveyancers and those of the other party to your transaction. We will also disclose certain personal information to third parties:
7.2.1. If our estate agency or substantially all of our assets are acquired by a third party, in which case personal data held by us about our customers will be one of the transferred assets.
7.2.2. If we are under a duty to disclose or share your personal data in order to comply with any legal or regulatory obligation, or to protect the rights, property, or safety of our agency, our customers, or others. This includes exchanging information with other companies and organisations for the purposes of fraud protection.
7.3. We will not share your information with third parties for marketing purposes without first obtaining your prior consent.

8. Information security

8.1. We are committed to ensuring that your information is secure. Your data is held on secure servers with necessary technological and operation measures put in place to safeguard it from unauthorised access, as far as can reasonably be required for purposes of transacting with us. Where possible any identifiable information will be encrypted or minimised.
8.2. We will ensure that all Fine & Country (SA) employees, agents and/or third-party service providers who has access to your personal information are bound by appropriate confidentiality and non-use obligations in relation to your personal information. This includes any systems that we use in order to secure your personal information.
8.3. All information collected via our website is stored and encrypted on our secure servers. We are continuously auditing our website’s performance and security, to prevent any risk to the website’s security and data collection. If you have any reasons to believe that our website is not performing at its best in securing your data, please get in touch via southafrica@fineandcountry.com..

9. Usernames and passwords

9.1. If we have given you a username and password which enables you to access certain parts of your data on our systems, you are responsible for keeping it confidential. Please do not share it with anyone.

10. Unauthorised access to personal data

10.1. The data that we collect from you may be stored and processed by staff who work for us or for one of our suppliers. Such staff may be engaged in the fulfilment of the contract and/or services to you. We have taken all the necessary steps to ensure that your data is treated by them securely and in accordance with this policy.
10.2. We undertake business and website audits which enable us to further develop our strict procedures and security features to prevent unauthorised access.

11. Your Rights

11.1. Accessing and updating your information
11.2. You have a right to request a copy of the personal information we hold about you. You also have the right to request that information we hold about you which may be incorrect, or which has been changed since you first told us, to be updated or removed. These requests are free of charge and can be sent to our Information Officer at southafrica@fineandcountry.com.

12. How to request deletion of your data

12.1. You can ask us to delete or remove personal data where there is no good reason for us continuing to process it. You also have the right to ask us to delete or remove your personal data where you have successfully exercised your right to object to processing, where you have withdrawn consent for us to process it, where we may have processed your information unlawfully or where we are required to erase your personal data to comply with the law.
12.2. Note that we may not always be able to comply with your request to delete if specific legal responsibilities or requirements prohibits us from doing so. This will be communicated to you at the time of your request, if applicable.

13. How to withdraw your consent

13.1. You have the right at any time to withdraw any consent you have given us to process your personal information. Please note if you withdraw your consent it will not affect the lawfulness of any processing of your personal data we have carried out before you withdrew your consent. Should you wish to do so you can change your consent preferences at any time by contacting our Information Officer.

14. How to restrict or object us using your data?

14.1. You may ask us to suspend the way in which we are using your information, or object to our processing your data where we are relying on a legitimate interest ground (or those of a third party) and you feel it impacts on your fundamental right to privacy. In some cases where you object, we may demonstrate that we have compelling legitimate grounds to process your information which override your rights and freedoms.
14.2. Please note that if you want us to restrict or stop processing your data this may impact on our ability to provide our services. Depending on the extent of your request we may be unable to continue providing you with our service.
14.3. Any queries or concerns about the way in which your data is being used can be sent to our Information Officer.

15. Moving your information to another organisation

15.1. In the event that we process your data by automated means where you have either provided us with consent for us to use your information or where we used the information to perform a contract with you, you have the right to request that we send to you or to another organisation, a copy of the personal data we hold about you, for example when you are dealing with a different service provider. If you would like us to move, copy, or transfer your information please let our Information Officer know.

16. Complaints about the use of your personal data

16.1. If you wish to raise a complaint on how we have handled your personal data, you can contact our Information Officer on southafrica@fineandcountry.com.
16.2. If you are not satisfied with our response or believe we are processing your personal data not in accordance with the law you can complain to the Information Regulator on: telephone +27 (0) 10 023 5207; or on inforeg@justice.gov.za.