Privacy Policy
Altostratus Tech (Pty) Ltd further known as (Altostratus Tech) is committed to the security and privacy of our subscriber’s data with this privacy policy outlining our commitment to safeguarding our related data and serves as our agreement with our subscribers and other parties about our data handling and exchange practices. This policy lists the types of data we collect, explains how we use and protect that data, and discloses our key procedures surrounding privacy. This Privacy Policy forms part of the website and Altostratus Tech’s general Terms and Conditions of Use (“Terms of Use”).
1. Use
Taking our privacy policy seriously is a binding agreement between you and Altostratus Tech. By accepting our Terms of Use when browsing or using the Altostratus Tech Online Platform or company websites (“Sites”) and/or when transacting with Altostratus Tech for the rendering of the Services or for making enquiries thereto, you also consent to our Privacy Policy and for the use of your Personal Information for the rendering of the Services and as set out in this Privacy Policy. All sections of this Privacy Policy are applicable to all users as defined in the Terms of Use, unless a section expressly states or the context indicates otherwise.
2. The Basics
- We do not sell or rent personally identifiable information.
- We do not spam, and our policies forbid use of our services for spam.
3. Public Areas
Please remember that any information (including personal and business information) that you submit, post or otherwise revealed in a public forum (such as a bulletin board, chat room, blog or product discussion forum) is not subject to this privacy policy. This information may be seen by third parties not related to us and may be used by them or us to contact you for any purpose. These are clearly marked as public forums with a disclaimer.
4. Children or under legal age persons
Altostratus Tech products and services are not designed to appeal to children under the age of 18. As such, the Sites are not directed at children under the age of 18 nor do we knowingly collect or maintain information from children under the age of 18 on the sites.
5. Privacy
For the purposes of this section, Personal Information will be understood in accordance with the definition provided in the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 (“the POPI Act”). Enquiry Information, Services Information, Special Personal Information and Tickers as defined later in this Privacy Policy, constitute sub-sets of such Personal Information.
Altostratus Tech also subscribes to the principles for electronically collecting Personal Information outlined in the POPIA, and the further legislation referred to therein. We endeavour to ensure the quality, accuracy and confidentiality of personal information in our possession.
Altostratus Tech collects this information necessary to enable us to respond to your requests for our products and services and to send you information regarding our products and services from time to time. Since most of the users of our products and services are doing so in their capacity as employees or companies, most information we collect will be in that capacity (rather than information about you individually, such as your personal tastes). For these purposes, we have defined “Information” as any information that identifies or may identify a company or an individual contact at a company or that allows others to contact a company or an individual contact at a company. When you visit the Sites, you may be asked to submit information. We may also ask you where you heard about our company or products, or for other information that will help us understand more about your needs or help us process your requests for information. Our information collection and use practices are described in more detail below:
Where Information is collected and used:
Sign Up / Registration
You may be asked, on behalf of your company, to complete sign up form(s) on the Sites or from within the products, with contact information for use by us in accordance with this policy. Visitors will be asked to provide the following information; First names; Surname; Cellphone number; Email address; Address and Company details (“Enquiry Information”)
The purpose for the Enquiry Information is in order to be able to communicate with the Visitor and to be able to answer their questions, including with a view to them possibly becoming a Customer. The Enquiry Information is furnished on a voluntary basis. By failing to provide the necessary Enquiry Information, will result in Altostratus Tech being unable reply to your enquiry about the Altostratus Tech Services offered or any other requests made.
We offer certain online support services at the Sites. If you access online support on any of the Sites, you will be identified by logging in but may be asked to provide other information to help us determine what the technical issues are and how best to help you resolve them.
Newsletters
When you subscribe or sign up to receive newsletters published or offered via the Sites, we will ask you for information necessary to enable us to process your request and to send you information regarding our products and services, as well as periodic communication with the express aim of providing thought-leadership by informing and educating.
Cookies
We also use Cookies to enhance the user experience, deliver personalized content, and collect information about the use of the Sites. “Cookies” are small computer files that we transfer to your computer’s hard drive. Cookies allow us to statistically monitor how many people are using the Sites and for what purposes, how often someone visits the Sites, and the length of their stay. This information helps us dynamically generate advertising and information specifically designed for your interests. Cookies are not designed to retrieve personal or business data from your hard drive, your email, or any other personal information.
“Session cookies”:
These are used to maintain a so-called ‘session state’ and only lasts for the duration of your use of the Online Platform. A session cookie expires when you close your browser, or if you have not visited the server for a certain period of time. Session cookies are required for the Online Platform to function optimally, but are not used in any way to identify you personally;
“Permanent cookies”:
These cookies permanently store a unique code on your computer or smart device hard drive in order to identify you as an individual user. No Personal Information is stored in permanent cookies. You can view permanent cookies by looking in the cookies directory of your browser installation. These permanent cookies are not required for the Online Platform to work, but may enhance your browsing experience.
Most web browsers provide the option to block some or all cookie types should you wish to. Users can also opt out of the various online marketing and advertising platforms and service providers used by us from time to time (such as but not limited to Google, Facebook and/or LinkedIn) to market and advertise Online Platform and Services across the web, using the relevant third party’s opt out page. Because many of our Online Platform features utilise cookies, we recommend that Users do no block them.
Note: refusal of Cookies will make it impossible to use the online portal and in some cases the Sites, you will need to accept Cookies in order to access information and use certain functions. The Cookies are renewed each time a user logs on to one of the Sites that uses Cookies.
Web-based Services
In connection with certain of our web-based services we collect certain additional information, including IP address, browser, connection speed, domain, referring URL, and other environment-related information to enable us to provide a secure environment for the use of the services, to pre-populate forms, and calculate aggregate statistical information about the customers using these services.
This information is aggregated as anonymous data and does not identify you specifically. However, you acknowledge that this data may be able to be used to identify you if it is aggregated with other Personal Information that you supply to us. This information is not shared with third parties. Any individually identifiable information related to this data will never be used in any way different to that stated above, without your explicit permission.
Products & Services
In addition to the uses set forth above, we may use your Information to:
- inform you of product upgrades and updates and subscription renewals;
- inform you of regulatory, and other compliance issues with your software product or service;
- notify you of products and services that we think may be of interest to you;
- offer you discounts or other promotions with respect to products and services that we think may interest you; and
- contact you for survey purposes to determine how we can better service you or provide better products to meet your needs.
Third-Party Products
We may also use your Information to inform you of special discounts or offers from other companies we have carefully selected and whose products and services may be of interest to you.
We may also provide Business Information to government agencies and to our vendors, suppliers, authorised resellers, and other business, development, and industry partners (“Partners”) to enable them to:
- provide us with products and services to better operate and maintain the Sites;
- provide you with a product or service requested by you; or
- we also may provide information about you that does not allow you to be identified to, or contacted by, third parties (“Aggregate Information”). Partner and Government Services. We may engage Partners to perform functions on our behalf, which may include assisting us in processing your Business Information. Certain Partners and government agencies may collect Business Information directly from you and use of that information and other information provided by you to third parties is not governed by this policy even though those Partners and government agencies may share such information with us. Data Business Information collected by us as set forth above does not include your company’s data entered in the course of operating our products and services.
We will not access or release your data or personal information except in the following limited circumstances:
- to comply with valid legal requirements such as a law, regulation, search warrant, subpoena, or court order;
- to enforce or apply the terms of any of our service or license agreements; or
- in special cases, such as protecting the rights, property, or safety of Altostratus Tech, our customers, or others.
- to provide you with technical support, solely at your request and with your permission;
- on a limited-access basis to install updates, produce regular backups, or restore data from backups at your request;
- where the inherent purpose of the product or service requires us to provide the Data to a third party on your behalf and, unless you opt-out, to utilise Aggregate Information derived from Data to help us improve our products and services and in developing additional offerings.
We will not provide your Data to any third party or permit any third party to access your Data, except by your permission or to comply with valid legal requirements such as a law, regulation, search warrant, subpoena, or court order. In addition, if at any time you decide to discontinue your use of the applicable service, you may exercise your right to be forgotten; your Data will be destroyed and removed from all servers according to terms set forth in our terms and conditions. Business Transfers. In the event that all or a portion of Altostratus Tech, is bought or sold, Business Information will likely be included among the transferred business assets, but such information remains subject to this Privacy Policy or substantially similar to this privacy Policy.
6. How Altostratus Tech protects your privacy
We want your Information to remain as secure as reasonably possible. We combine industry-standard technical safeguards with a code of conduct for those employees who are permitted to access our customers’ Information. When you purchase a product or service online, we use SSL encryption to encrypt your information before it is sent to us in order to ensure the integrity and privacy of the information that you provide to us via the Internet.
7. Measures taken
- All Information and Data is encrypted and anonymised using the highest levels available including AES 256
- Many of our web-based services are hosted on servers that are co-located at a third-party facility with whom we have a contract providing for security measures.
- Staff and any persons with access to your information are regularly trained and accessed for compliance and adherence to data privacy Altostratus Tech adheres to a formal “Data Protection & Information Processing Policy”
Hosted data may include personally identifiable information and other information that belongs to our customers’ own customers, website visitors, or other users. We will not review, share, distribute, or reference any such Customer Data except as provided in the service or license agreement, or as may be required by law. Individual records of Customer Data may be viewed or accessed by authorized employees, agents or independent contractors only for the purpose of resolving a problem, support issues, or suspected violation of the terms and conditions, or as may be required by law. Those employees that violate our Privacy Policy are subject to disciplinary action which may lead up to and including termination.
Despite these security measures, we do not represent or warrant that Information will be protected against loss, misuse, attacks, or alteration by third parties. Customers are responsible for maintaining the security and confidentiality of their usernames and passwords at all times.
8. Your privacy choices and marketing
By default you will be given option to opt in for marketing or promotional related communication. Should you have opted in, we may send you communications to provide you with information or promotions relating to products and services that may be of interest to you, including notification of important product issues and updates.
You may opt out of receiving these communications as indicated below or on the main portal. However, please note that any election not to receive future communications applies only to promotional messages of Altostratus Tech and we may still send you relationship or transactional messages in order to notify you of important product issues and updates, compliance-related matters, for the renewal of existing subscription services, to resolve specific questions or requests made by you via phone, email, or the Web and in response to any activity completed on any of the Sites, including but not limited to, sign up, and requests for information.
Email Promotions. Each email we send will contain instructions on how to unsubscribe in the event that you do not wish to receive future promotional emails from Altostratus Tech that sent you the email promotion.
9. Correcting your subscriber business information
You can always update the Business Information that you have provided to us and/or change your preferences with respect to marketing contacts from us by contacting Altostratus Tech, or by changing your preferences on the Altostratus Tech platform.
10. Linked Sites
The Sites may contain links to third-party websites and resources (collectively, “Linked Sites”). These Linked Sites are provided solely as a convenience to you and not as an endorsement by us of the content on such Linked Sites. We make no representations or warranties regarding the correctness, accuracy, performance, or quality of any content, software, service, or application found at any Linked Site. We are not responsible for the availability of the Linked Sites or the content or activities of such sites. If you decide to access any Linked Site, you do so at your own risk. Your use of any Linked Site is subject to the policies, terms of use, and privacy policies of such Linked Site, if any.
11. Consent to transfer
Users located outside South Africa who submit Business Information to us via the Sites should be aware that the information they submit will be transferred to our servers located in South Africa. Your submission of Business Information to us constitutes your consent to this transfer. Although we will collect and use your Business Information only as stated in this policy, laws generally applicable to the Protection of Personal Information in South Africa may not be as stringent as those in some users’ home jurisdictions although Altostratus Tech does comply with the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA).
12. Changes to this Privacy Policy
We may change this privacy policy at any time. Altostratus Tech will include the current copy and the change date of any amendments made for future reference. Your use of the Sites constitutes acceptance of the provisions of this privacy policy and your continued usage after such changes are posted constitutes acceptance of each revised copy thereof.
13. Governing Laws
Altostratus Tech falls under the jurisdiction of South Africa and as such South African law applies at all times.
14. Complaints
The Information Officer for Altostratus Tech:
- Noel Thompson
- +27 33 001 0860
- complaints@altostratustech.com
The User has the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator.
15. Responsible Party
Altostratus Tech (Pty) Ltd, registration Number: 2022/802588/07, a private company incorporated and operated in accordance with the laws of the Republic of South Africa, is a responsible party in terms of the POPI Act.
Application of the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act 25 of 2002 (“ECT Act”)
Data Messages (as defined in the ECT Act) will be deemed to have been received by us if and when Altostratus Tech responds to the Data Messages. Data Messages sent by Altostratus Tech to a User will be deemed to have been received by such User in terms of the provisions specified in Section 23(b) of the ECT Act. Users acknowledge that electronic signatures, encryption and/or authentication are not required for valid electronic communications between Users and Altostratus Tech.
Users warrant that Data Messages sent to Altostratus Tech from any electronic device owned or used by such User, from time to time, were sent and/or authorised by such User, personally as stated in terms of Section 43(1) of the ECT Act