My Own PA (Pty) Ltd is committed to full compliance with the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA), Act 4 of 2013. This page explains how we apply POPIA's eight conditions for lawful processing to everything we do.
1. About POPIA
The Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA), Act 4 of 2013, is South Africa's primary data protection legislation. It governs how organisations collect, use, store and share personal information about South African residents. POPIA is enforced by the Information Regulator of South Africa.
2. Our Responsible Party
My Own PA (Pty) Ltd is the responsible party for all personal information processed through the MyOwnPA platform.
Contact for POPIA matters: support@myownpa.app (Subject: POPIA Request — [Your Name])
3. The Eight POPIA Conditions — How We Comply
Condition 1 — Accountability
My Own PA (Pty) Ltd takes full responsibility for ensuring that personal information in our possession is processed in accordance with POPIA. We have appointed an information officer responsible for compliance.
Condition 2 — Processing Limitation
We only collect personal information that is necessary for providing the MyOwnPA service. Collection always occurs with the User's knowledge and, where required, their explicit consent — including explicit WhatsApp communication consent obtained at registration.
Condition 3 — Purpose Specification
Personal information is collected for specific, explicitly defined purposes — to provide the MyOwnPA service, process payments, and communicate with Users. We do not use personal information for undisclosed purposes.
Condition 4 — Further Processing Limitation
Personal information is not processed in a manner incompatible with the original purpose of collection. We do not share, sell or transfer personal information to third parties for their own marketing or commercial purposes.
Condition 5 — Information Quality
We take reasonable steps to ensure that personal information is complete, accurate and up to date. Users can update their information at any time by contacting us or using the update_contact feature within the platform.
Condition 6 — Openness
We maintain transparent, up-to-date privacy documentation including this POPIA Compliance Statement, our Privacy Policy and our Terms and Conditions — all publicly accessible at myownpa.app.
Condition 7 — Security Safeguards
We implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal information against loss, damage, unauthorised access, interference, modification or disclosure. These include encrypted data transmission, isolated user data environments, access controls and regular security monitoring.
Condition 8 — Data Subject Participation
Users have the right to access, correct and request deletion of their personal information. These rights can be exercised directly through the MyOwnPA platform by voice or text command, or by contacting us at support@myownpa.app.
4. Special Categories of Processing
Voice note and meeting recording processing
When Users send voice notes or use the meeting recording feature, audio content is processed by a third-party voice transcription service. Users explicitly consent to this processing at registration. For meeting recordings, Users are required by our Terms and Conditions to obtain the consent of all meeting participants before recording.
Processing of third-party personal information
Users may instruct MyOwnPA to store and process personal information about third parties including clients, guests, staff and suppliers. MyOwnPA processes this information solely on the instruction of the User. Users are solely responsible for ensuring they have the legal authority and appropriate consent to share this information with MyOwnPA.
Financial information
Users may log financial information including expenses, receipts, quotes and invoices. This information is processed solely to provide the organisational features of the Service. Financial records are retained for 5 years in compliance with SARS requirements.
5. Your Rights as a Data Subject
- Right to Access — Say "Send me a copy of my data" via WhatsApp or email us
- Right to Correction — Request correction of inaccurate or incomplete personal information
- Right to Deletion — Say "Delete my data" via WhatsApp. We process this within 30 days
- Right to Object — Object to the processing of your personal information. Contact support@myownpa.app
- Right to Opt Out — Opt out of direct marketing at any time, immediately and without penalty
- Right to Complain — Lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator at www.inforegulator.org.za
6. Data Retention
- Active account data — retained for the duration of your subscription
- Financial records — 5 years (SARS compliance)
- Support and dispute records — 3 years
- Meeting transcriptions — retained until deletion request or subscription cancellation
- Suppression list — retained indefinitely to prevent re-contact of opted-out Users
- All other data — deleted within 30 days of a verified deletion request
7. Direct Marketing
We will only send direct marketing communications to Users who have explicitly opted in. Users may opt out at any time by replying "STOP" to any marketing message, or by emailing support@myownpa.app with the subject "Unsubscribe". Service-related messages are not marketing communications.
8. Third-Party Processors
We use third-party service providers who process personal information on our behalf. We do not publicly disclose the specific technology providers we use for competitive reasons, but confirm all processors are bound by data processing agreements and required to maintain appropriate security standards. Categories of processing include: message delivery, AI instruction processing, voice transcription, calendar and email management, file and document storage, payment processing, and workflow automation.
9. Cross-Border Data Transfers
Some of our third-party processors operate outside South Africa. Where personal information is transferred internationally, we ensure adequate protections are in place equivalent to POPIA's requirements, including contractual safeguards with all processors.
10. Security Incident Response
In the event of a security incident affecting personal information, we will notify affected Users and the Information Regulator as required by POPIA Section 22 — without unreasonable delay.
11. Contact the Information Regulator
If you are not satisfied with how we have handled your personal information or a POPIA request:
Information Regulator (South Africa)
Website: www.inforegulator.org.za
Email: inforeg@justice.gov.za
12. Updates to This Statement
This POPIA Compliance Statement is reviewed regularly. The date of the most recent update is shown at the top of this page.