Website Privacy Statement

BDO South Africa Incorporated (BDO SA Inc.) is a member of BDO International Ltd, a UK company limited by guarantee, and forms part of the worldwide network of independent legal entities, each of which provides professional services under the name “BDO”.

BDO is an international network of independent public accounting, tax and advisory firms (the “BDO network”), which perform professional services under the name of BDO (the “BDO member firms”). BDO International Limited (“BDOI”) is a UK company limited by guarantee. It is the governing entity of the BDO network.

Each of BDOI and the member firms is a separate legal entity and has no liability for another such entity's acts or omissions. Nothing in the arrangements or rules of the BDO network shall constitute or imply an agency relationship or a partnership between BDOI and the member firms.

This privacy statement (“Privacy Statement”) applies only to the www.bdo.co.za website (or the “website”) which is provided by BDO SA Inc. (also referred to below as “we”, “us”, “our” or “BDO”) and not to the various separate websites as per each location where BDO is present it redirects you to.

By using www.bdo.co.za and submitting any personal information to us, you agree to the use by us of your personal information in accordance with the terms of this Privacy Statement.

By providing any personal information to this website, you fully understand and unambiguously consent to the transfer of such personal information to, and the collection and processing of such personal information provided, to the extent permitted in this Privacy Statement.

Please note that the other country or specific websites contained within www.bdo.co.za are provided by the applicable BDO member firms or related entities managing them and are not the responsibility of BDO. Such websites, as well as other websites that may be linked to this web site, are not governed by this Privacy Statement. We encourage visitors to review each of these other website's privacy statements before disclosing any personal information.

We do not require registration for access to www.bdo.co.za, but if you participate in any of the activities or services offered by www.bdo.co.za, we will collect the personal information that we need in order to provide you with those services, such as your name, job title, email address, employer's name, and telephone number.

We do not collect sensitive personal information from you from www.bdo.co.za. Sensitive information includes data relating to: race or ethnic origin; political opinions; religious or other similar beliefs; physical or mental health; sexual orientation or criminal record. Where you provide sensitive personal information to us voluntarily we will assume that we have your explicit consent to use that information in connection with the purpose for which it has been provided.

1. Technical Information

   When you visit this website, we may collect technical information such as your IP (Internet Protocol) address, details of the pages you visit on www.bdo.co.za, other pages you visit on the internet and which browser you used to view www.bdo.co.za.

   This website collects standard internet log and technical data to measure and improve the effectiveness of this website, to help diagnose problems with our server, to administer this website, to see where website traffic is coming from and to identify our users. We may also collect other information via www.bdo.co.za, such as website usage activity and preferences, also known as demographic or profile data. In this connection we may use "cookies" to collect this information. For more information see our Cookie Policy here.

2. When do we collect personal information through www.bdo.co.za?

   We collect personal information from you in the following circumstances:

   • when you subscribe to any of our insights
   • when you subscribe to any of our blogs
   • when you register to attend an event
   • when you contact us to request further information
   • when you request a copy of a white paper or an e-book published by BDO

   We collect the minimum amount of information to enable us to deal with your request. We will indicate where the provision of information is voluntary or compulsory. We would normally only request additional information to enable us to provide the most appropriate response to your request.

3. How do we use your personal information?

   We only use the personal information that you provide to deal with your request, and to manage www.bdo.co.za and the services that we offer to you via www.bdo.co.za as described in this Privacy Statement.

   When requesting material or asking someone to contact you, there will be the option to receive other information that may be of interest. If you select this option, we will use your personal information to contact you with information about our products, services and/or events which we believe may be of interest to you.

You have the right to request access to the personal information that you have submitted through www.bdo.co.za, update or correct your details, opt-out of receiving other information from BDO or request that your personal details are deleted from our systems at any time by clicking here. We will treat all such requests in accordance with applicable local law.

If you would like to opt not to receive promotional or marketing e-mails from us in the future, you may let us know by clicking here or selecting the opt-out link on an email received from BDO. However, your option not to receive promotional and marketing e-mails shall not preclude us from corresponding with you, by e-mail or otherwise, regarding your existing relationship with us.

We will only share personal data with third parties where we are legally permitted to do so. Where we transfer personal data to third parties, we will put in place appropriate contractual arrangements and seek to ensure that there are appropriate technical and organisational measures in place to protect personal data.

From time to time, we may disclose personal information in response to a court order, subpoena, government legislation, or as otherwise required or permitted by law.

We do not provide information to third parties for their own marketing purposes and we do not undertake mailings for third parties.

We may, as a result of a sale, merger, consolidation, change in control, transfer of assets, reorganisation or liquidation of our company (a "Reorganisation Event"), transfer, sell or assign your personal information to third parties involved in the Reorganisation Event.

By providing information through this website, you are consenting to the disclosures described above, except where your consent is explicitly required.

This website may host various social media applications or services that allow you to share content with other users (collectively “Social Media Applications”). Any personal information or other information that you contribute to any Social Media Application can be read, collected, and used by other users of that Social Media Application over whom we have little or no control. Therefore, we are not responsible for any other user’s use, misuse, or misappropriation of any personal information or other information that you contribute to any Social Media Application.

1. How long do we keep my information?

   We only keep your Information for the period required for fulfilling your request, or as required by applicable law or regulation, and will delete it in accordance with our data retention policies.

2. Is my information secure?

   We have implemented generally accepted standards of technology and operational security to protect personal information from loss, misuse, alteration or destruction. We require all employees and partners or directors to keep personal information confidential and only authorised employees have access to this information.

3. International Transfers

   You acknowledge that in order to provide services to you via www.bdo.co.za we may need to transfer your personal information to countries that may not provide a level of protection of personal information that may be regarded as equivalent to that afforded under the European Union data protection legislation. Whenever your personal information is transferred internationally, we will take appropriate steps to ensure its security and confidentiality in accordance with applicable data protection law.

We may modify or update this Privacy Statement from time to time. You will be able to see when we last updated the Privacy Statement because we will include a revision date. Changes and additions to this Privacy Statement are effective from the date on which they are posted. Please review this Privacy Statement from time to time to check whether we have made any changes to the way in which we use your personal information.

If you have any concerns about the way in which we handle your personal information, you can contact the Information Regulator (South Africa), SALU Building, 316 Thabo Sehume Street, Pretoria.

If you have any questions about this Privacy Statement you can contact us provide the details relating to your query here.