Privacy Policy

1. Introduction

CareerCloud SA (“we”, “us” or “our”) is a South African job board that connects candidates with employers and recruiters. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store and protect personal information when you use our website and services.

We process personal information in accordance with the Protection of Personal Information Act, 2013 (“POPIA”) and other applicable South African laws. CareerCloud SA is the responsible party for personal information processed to operate our platform.

Effective date: 13 September 2026. Responsible party’s registered legal name: [Insert registered legal entity name].

2. Definitions

• “Personal information” means information relating to an identifiable living individual or, where applicable, an identifiable existing legal entity.
• “Processing” includes collecting, using, storing, sharing, updating and deleting personal information.
• “Data subject” means the person or entity to whom personal information relates.
• “Responsible party” means the person or entity that determines why and how personal information is processed.
• “Operator” means a service provider that processes personal information on a responsible party’s behalf under a contract or mandate.
• “Candidate” means a user seeking employment opportunities. “Recruiter” means an employer or recruitment representative using the platform.

3. Information We Collect

3.1 Account information

We collect information needed to create and manage candidate and recruiter accounts, including names, email addresses, authentication information, account type and relevant contact or organisation details.

3.2 Candidate profiles and applications

Depending on what you provide, your profile and applications may include:

• Full name, phone number, email address, location and LinkedIn profile URL.
• Professional summary and work experience, including job titles, companies, dates, descriptions, responsibilities, achievements and references.
• Education, including institutions, qualifications and fields of study.
• Skills, certifications, languages, projects and professional memberships.
• Application information and communications submitted in connection with a vacancy.

Provide only information relevant to your use of the service. Do not include unnecessary identity documents, financial details or sensitive information, such as health information, religious beliefs or trade union membership. Before providing a referee’s or another person’s information, ensure you have a lawful basis to do so and inform them of its intended use.

3.3 Recruiter information

We collect recruiter account and organisation details, jobs, and information submitted when managing vacancies or reviewing applications.

3.4 Usage and technical information

We may collect IP addresses, browser and device information, access times, pages visited, platform interactions, cookie identifiers and diagnostic logs to operate, secure and improve the service.

3.5 Payment information

Payments for the Pro plan, priced at R99 once-off, are processed through Paystack. Paystack collects the payment details needed to complete the transaction. We receive or retain information needed to confirm and administer your purchase, such as payment references, amounts, transaction status and relevant billing details. Paystack’s own privacy terms also apply to its processing of payment information.

3.6 Communications

We collect information you provide when contacting us, requesting support or submitting feedback, together with records needed to send and administer service emails, including sign-up and password-reset emails.

4. How We Use Information

4.1 Purposes

• Create, authenticate and manage accounts.
• Build candidate profiles and generate downloadable Word or PDF CVs.
• Support job searches and matching candidates with relevant opportunities.
• Submit applications to the relevant recruiter and enable recruiters to review them.
• Publish and manage jobs.
• Process payments, activate Pro access and maintain transaction records.
• Send authentication, account, application and service communications.
• Provide support, troubleshoot problems and improve platform functionality.
• Prevent fraud, abuse and unauthorised access, and comply with legal obligations.

4.2 Lawful grounds and information requirements

We process information where necessary to conclude or perform a contract with you, comply with a legal obligation, pursue our or another party’s legitimate interests subject to your rights, or where you have consented. Where consent is required, we request it separately; using the platform does not constitute blanket consent.

Required information will be identified when collected. You may choose not to provide optional information, but withholding information necessary for an account, application or payment may prevent us from providing that feature.

Any direct marketing will comply with POPIA’s consent or applicable existing-customer requirements and include an appropriate opt-out. Essential service messages are not marketing messages.

5. How We Share Information

5.1 Candidates and recruiters

When you apply for a job, the profile, CV and application information included in your submission is shared with the relevant employer or recruiter. Any additional recruiter access to your profile must be consistent with the visibility options and notices presented to you. We do not make candidate profiles publicly available by default.

Employers and recruiters generally act as separate responsible parties for information they receive and must comply with applicable privacy laws. Their own privacy notices govern their subsequent recruitment processing.

5.2 Service providers

We share information with hosting, payment-processing, email-delivery and other operational service providers only to the extent strictly necessary to provide the service. Operators must be bound by written confidentiality, security and processing obligations and may not use information for unrelated purposes. Payment providers may also process information independently to meet their own legal obligations.

5.3 Legal requirements

We may disclose information where legally required or where disclosure is otherwise lawfully necessary to establish, exercise or defend legal rights, address fraud or protect people’s safety. Disclosures will be limited to what is necessary and lawful.

5.4 Business transfers

If CareerCloud SA undergoes a merger, restructuring or transfer of its business, personal information may be disclosed or transferred only where lawfully necessary for that transaction, subject to appropriate confidentiality and privacy safeguards. We will notify you of material changes to the responsible party or processing where required.

5.5 No sale or unrelated sharing

We do not sell personal information. We do not share it with third parties for their marketing or unrelated purposes.

6. Data Retention and Deletion

We retain personal information only for as long as necessary for the purposes described in this policy, unless longer retention is required or permitted by law. Retention depends on account status, recruitment activity, tax and accounting requirements, dispute resolution, fraud prevention and other applicable obligations.

You may request account closure and deletion using the contact details below. We will delete, destroy or de-identify information that we no longer have a lawful reason to retain. Information that must be retained will be restricted to the relevant purpose.

Residual copies may remain in protected backups until overwritten through the applicable backup cycle. Deleting your account does not automatically delete applications or CVs already received or downloaded by recruiters; requests concerning those copies should also be directed to the relevant recipient.

7. Your Rights Under POPIA

Subject to POPIA’s requirements and lawful exceptions, you may:

• Ask whether we hold your personal information and request access to it, including information about recipients where applicable.
• Request correction or deletion of information that is inaccurate, irrelevant, excessive, outdated, incomplete, misleading or unlawfully obtained.
• Request destruction or deletion of records we are no longer authorised to retain.
• Object, on reasonable grounds, to processing where POPIA permits, and object to processing for direct marketing.
• Withdraw consent where processing relies on consent, without affecting the lawfulness of earlier processing.
• Complain to the Information Regulator or pursue other remedies available under law.

Contact us to exercise these rights. We may need to verify your identity and request sufficient details to locate your records. We will respond within applicable legal timeframes and explain any lawful refusal, retention requirement or prescribed fee before proceeding where relevant.

You may contact South Africa’s Information Regulator through its official website, inforegulator.org.za. You do not have to complain to us first.

8. Security Measures

We maintain appropriate, reasonable technical and organisational safeguards to protect personal information against loss, unauthorised access, disclosure, alteration and destruction. These include access restrictions, secure authentication, appropriate protection of stored and transmitted information, and service-provider security obligations. Safeguards are reviewed against reasonably foreseeable risks.

No online service is completely secure. Keep your login details confidential and notify us promptly of suspected account misuse.

If there are reasonable grounds to believe personal information has been accessed or acquired by an unauthorised person, we will notify the Information Regulator and affected data subjects as required by POPIA, as soon as reasonably possible, subject to lawful delays.

9. Cookies and Tracking

We use essential cookies or similar technologies where needed for sign-in, session management, security and platform preferences. Where non-essential analytics or other tracking technologies are used, we will explain their purposes and obtain consent where required before activating them.

You can manage cookies through your browser and any cookie controls provided on the website. Blocking essential cookies may prevent some features from working. We do not permit tracking that shares personal information for third-party marketing or unrelated purposes.

10. International Transfers

Some service providers may process or store information outside South Africa. We transfer personal information abroad only where POPIA section 72 permits, including where the recipient is subject to adequate protection through applicable law, binding corporate rules or a binding agreement, or where another lawful transfer ground applies.

We require appropriate safeguards and limit cross-border disclosures to information necessary for the relevant service. Contact us for information about applicable destinations and safeguards.

11. Children’s Privacy

Our service is intended for users aged 18 and older. We do not knowingly collect children’s personal information. If you believe a child has provided personal information, contact us so we can investigate and delete it unless retention or processing is lawfully authorised under POPIA.

12. Changes to This Policy

We may update this policy to reflect changes in our services or legal requirements. The updated version and effective date will appear on this page. We will provide additional notice of material changes where appropriate and obtain fresh consent where legally required.

13. Contact Details

For privacy enquiries, complaints or requests to exercise your rights, contact us:

• Responsible party: K2025512467 trading as CareerCloud SA.
• Email: legal@careercloud.co.za.
• Johannesburg, South Africa.