Privacy policy (POPIA)

1About this policy

This policy explains what personal information The C.A.R.E. Centre collects, why we collect it, how we keep it safe and what your rights are. We follow the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA).

It applies to information you give us through our website, by email, by phone, on social media and on our application and enrolment forms.

2Who we are

• Responsible party: The C.A.R.E. Centre (Centre for Autism, Research and Education)
• Address: 30 Raglan Street, Cnr 9th Avenue, Orange Grove, Johannesburg, 2196
• Information Officer: info@thecarecentre.co.za
• Telephone: 011 485 0335

3What information we collect

We only ask for what we need. Depending on how you deal with us, this may include:

• Enquiries: your name, phone number, email address and your message.
• Applications: your child’s name, date of birth, grade, school reports, background information, sensory profile and, where needed, doctors’ diagnoses and reports.
• Enrolment and fees: parents’ names, ID numbers, contact details, address, banking details for fee payments and medical aid details.
• Photographs and videos: images of learners, only with a parent or guardian’s written consent.
• Website use: our website may use basic cookies and visitor statistics so that it works properly. These do not tell us who you are.

4Why we use it

• To answer your enquiry and arrange viewings.
• To assess an application and decide whether our school is the right fit for your child.
• To plan and deliver your child’s learning, therapy and care.
• To manage fee accounts and payments.
• To keep learners safe, including in a medical emergency.
• To share school news and celebrate learners, where you have agreed to this.
• To meet our legal duties.

We do not use your information for anything else without asking you first.

5Your child’s information

Information about children and about health is especially sensitive. POPIA gives it extra protection and so do we.

• We only collect it with a parent or guardian’s consent.
• Only the staff and therapists who work with your child can see it.
• We use it to support your child and for no other reason.

6Photographs and videos

• We only take and share images of learners with written consent, using our media consent form.
• You choose where images may be used, such as inside the school, in printed material, on our website or on social media.
• We never publish a learner’s surname or personal details on public platforms.
• You can change your mind at any time by letting us know in writing. We will stop using the images from that point. We cannot always recall material that has already been printed or shared.

7Who we share it with

We do not sell personal information. We only share it when we need to:

• with our own teaching team and our in-house therapy practices, Rozanna Riback & Partners (occupational therapy) and AAC & Associates (speech therapy)
• with trusted service providers who help us run the school, such as our IT and accounting providers, who must keep it confidential
• to confirm information given in an application or for fee accounts, as set out in our enrolment agreement
• with medical services in an emergency
• when the law requires us to

8How we keep it safe

We store personal information securely, on paper and electronically. We limit who can see it and we take reasonable steps to stop it being lost, misused or accessed without permission. If we ever believe your information has been compromised, we will tell you and the Information Regulator as the law requires.

9How long we keep it

We keep personal information only for as long as we need it for the reasons above, or for as long as the law requires. After that we delete or destroy it safely.

10Your rights

Under POPIA you have the right to:

• ask what personal information we hold about you or your child
• ask us to correct or update it
• ask us to delete it, where we no longer need it
• object to how we use it
• withdraw your consent at any time

To do any of these, please email our Information Officer at info@thecarecentre.co.za.

If you are not happy with how we have handled your information, please talk to us first. You also have the right to complain to the Information Regulator at inforegulator.org.za.

11Other websites

Our website may link to other websites and to our social media pages. Those sites have their own privacy policies and we are not responsible for how they use your information.

12Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. The latest version will always be on this page with the date it was updated.

13Contact us

• Information Officer and general enquiries: info@thecarecentre.co.za
• Telephone: 011 485 0335
• Address: 30 Raglan Street, Cnr 9th Avenue, Orange Grove, Johannesburg, 2196