Privacy notice.

1. About Premium Lingua

Premium Lingua is a South African language-services business providing translation, interpreting, localisation, transcription, proofreading, editing, subtitling, voice-over, certified translation, sworn translation and related multilingual services.

In this Privacy Notice, “Premium Lingua”, “we”, “us” and “our” refer to the business operating through premiumlingua.co.za.

Our contact details are:

Email

info@premiumlingua.co.za

Toll-free telephone

080 001 4539

Johannesburg telephone

011 568 9066

Cape Town telephone

021 300 8854

For privacy requests, objections, complaints or requests concerning personal information, contact us at info@premiumlingua.co.za and use the subject line “Attention: Information Officer.”

2. Purpose of this Privacy Notice

Premium Lingua respects your privacy and is committed to processing personal information lawfully, reasonably and transparently.

This Privacy Notice explains:

• what personal information we collect;
• where we obtain it;
• why we process it;
• when we disclose it;
• how we protect and retain it;
• when information may be processed outside South Africa; and
• the rights available to you under the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013, commonly known as POPIA.

This notice applies when you:

• visit our website;
• submit an enquiry or quotation request;
• upload a document or file;
• communicate with us by email, telephone, website form, WhatsApp or another channel;
• purchase or receive a service from us;
• appear in material submitted to us for translation or another language service;
• apply for employment, freelance work or inclusion in our professional talent pool;
• work for or provide services to Premium Lingua; or
• act as a client, supplier, contractor, representative or business partner.

3. Our role under POPIA

Premium Lingua is generally the responsible party for personal information collected through its website, quotation process, recruitment process, billing activities and direct communications.

This means that Premium Lingua determines why and how that information is processed.

Some client documents, recordings or project materials may contain personal information about other people. Where a client determines why that information must be processed and instructs Premium Lingua to translate, transcribe, interpret or otherwise work with it, Premium Lingua may act as an operator on behalf of that client.

When we act as an operator, we process the information only for the agreed service, in accordance with the client’s instructions, the applicable agreement and the law.

4. Personal information we collect

The information we collect depends on how you interact with Premium Lingua.

4.1 Enquiries and quotation requests

When you submit an enquiry or request a quotation, we may collect:

• your full name;
• email address;
• telephone number;
• company or organisation name;
• the service required;
• source and target languages;
• language pairs;
• word, page or document counts;
• interpreting mode or event information;
• requested delivery date or deadline;
• project instructions;
• notes and correspondence;
• the page from which the form was submitted;
• referral information and submission time; and
• any documents or files you upload.

Documents are optional at the quotation stage unless they are necessary for us to assess the scope, complexity, format or certification requirements of the work.

4.2 Client and project information

When providing language services, we may process:

• source documents;
• translated documents;
• legal or certified documents;
• contracts and agreements;
• identity, immigration or civil-status documents;
• academic records;
• employment records;
• medical or healthcare documents;
• financial or business documents;
• court papers and legal correspondence;
• audio and video recordings;
• transcripts and subtitles;
• images and photographs;
• website, application and software content;
• terminology lists and glossaries;
• translation memories;
• project instructions;
• delivery details;
• client feedback;
• quality-review records; and
• complaint or dispute information.

Project material may include personal information about employees, customers, patients, students, family members, children, legal parties, witnesses or other individuals.

4.3 Recruitment and professional applications

When you apply to work with Premium Lingua, we may collect:

• your full name;
• email address;
• telephone number;
• country and city;
• LinkedIn profile;
• portfolio or website;
• position applied for;
• preferred employment or working arrangement;
• source languages;
• target languages;
• native language;
• main language pairs;
• areas of specialisation;
• years of experience;
• previous translation or language-services experience;
• software and language tools used;
• curriculum vitae or résumé;
• qualifications and certificates;
• professional accreditation;
• anonymised work samples;
• references;
• assessment or interview information; and
• identity or passport documents where specifically requested at a later stage.

Applicants should not submit unnecessary identity documents or confidential client material.

Work samples should be anonymised and should not contain information that identifies a previous client or another person unless the applicant is authorised to disclose it.

4.4 Billing and business-administration information

We may collect and process:

• billing names and addresses;
• company information;
• purchase orders;
• quotations and accepted proposals;
• contracts;
• invoices;
• proof-of-payment information;
• payment status;
• bank-reference information;
• tax and accounting information; and
• correspondence relating to accounts, collections or disputes.

We do not intentionally request full payment-card details through ordinary website forms or email.

4.5 Website and technical information

When you use our website, we may automatically collect:

• your internet protocol address;
• browser type;
• device type;
• operating system;
• pages visited;
• dates and times of visits;
• referring pages or websites;
• approximate location derived from your internet protocol address;
• website-performance information;
• cookie identifiers;
• form-submission metadata;
• security records; and
• server or error logs.

4.6 Communications

We may process information contained in:

• emails;
• telephone calls;
• website messages;
• WhatsApp communications;
• meeting notes;
• support requests;
• complaints; and
• other communications sent to or received from you.

5. How we collect personal information

We may collect personal information:

• directly from you;
• from a client who submits a document or recording;
• from your employer, representative or authorised agent;
• from a family member or another person arranging a service on your behalf;
• from referees, professional bodies or accreditation organisations;
• from publicly available professional sources;
• from suppliers and technology providers; and
• automatically through our website, security systems and server logs.

Where information is supplied by someone other than the person to whom it relates, the person supplying it should ensure that they are authorised to do so.

Clients should remove or redact personal information that is not necessary for the requested quotation or service.

6. Why we process personal information

We process personal information for purposes including:

• responding to enquiries;
• preparing quotations;
• assessing project requirements;
• confirming languages, formats and deadlines;
• entering into and performing contracts;
• providing translation and related services;
• assigning suitable linguists and project managers;
• communicating project updates;
• delivering completed work;
• conducting editing, proofreading and quality assurance;
• producing certified or sworn translations;
• managing translation memories and terminology;
• arranging interpreters and language professionals;
• managing client relationships;
• issuing invoices and processing payments;
• keeping accounting and tax records;
• assessing employment and freelance applications;
• contacting applicants about current or future opportunities;
• verifying qualifications and experience;
• managing employees, contractors and suppliers;
• maintaining website and information security;
• preventing fraud, misuse and unauthorised access;
• investigating complaints and security incidents;
• enforcing contractual rights;
• establishing, exercising or defending legal claims;
• complying with legal and regulatory obligations; and
• improving our services and business operations.

7. Lawful grounds for processing

Depending on the circumstances, we process personal information because:

• you have given consent;
• processing is necessary to take steps at your request before entering into a contract;
• processing is necessary to perform a contract;
• processing is required by law;
• processing protects your legitimate interests;
• processing is necessary to pursue our legitimate business interests or those of another person, provided that your privacy rights are not unjustifiably affected; or
• another lawful ground recognised under POPIA applies.

Where we rely on consent, you may withdraw that consent. Withdrawal does not make processing that occurred before the withdrawal unlawful.

8. Required and optional information

Fields marked with an asterisk are required.

Required information may be necessary to:

• respond to your enquiry;
• prepare a quotation;
• verify your instructions;
• provide the requested service;
• administer a contract;
• issue an invoice;
• comply with the law; or
• assess an application.

If required information is not supplied, we may be unable to process the request, provide the service or consider the application.

Optional information may be left blank.

Consent to receive marketing should be separate from consent necessary to process an enquiry, quotation or application.

Permission to retain an unsuccessful application for future opportunities should also be voluntary and separate from the application itself.

9. Special personal information

Language-service projects may contain special personal information, including information relating to:

• health or medical conditions;
• race or ethnic origin;
• religious or philosophical beliefs;
• political views;
• trade-union membership;
• sex life;
• biometric information; or
• alleged or actual criminal conduct.

We process special personal information only where:

• it is necessary to perform the requested service;
• the person providing it is authorised to do so;
• appropriate consent has been obtained where required;
• processing is necessary to establish, exercise or defend a legal right;
• processing is required or authorised by law; or
• another exception under POPIA applies.

Access to sensitive project information is restricted to authorised people who require it for the service.

10. Information about children

Documents submitted for translation or related services may contain personal information about children.

We process children’s information only where:

• a parent, guardian or other competent person has authorised the processing;
• processing is necessary for the establishment, exercise or defence of a right or obligation in law;
• processing is otherwise permitted under POPIA; or
• the Information Regulator has granted any authorisation that may be required.

Our website and services are not intended to encourage children to provide personal information without appropriate adult involvement.

11. Sharing personal information

We disclose personal information only where reasonably necessary for the relevant purpose.

Information may be shared with:

• authorised Premium Lingua employees;
• project managers;
• translators;
• interpreters;
• editors;
• proofreaders;
• transcriptionists;
• subtitlers;
• voice artists;
• desktop-publishing specialists;
• quality reviewers;
• website-hosting and email providers;
• secure-storage and file-transfer providers;
• computer-assisted translation and translation-management providers;
• recruitment and business-system providers;
• accountants, auditors and banks;
• payment and collections providers;
• legal and professional advisers;
• couriers, printers, notaries or certification partners where required;
• the client or authorised recipient of the service;
• public bodies, courts, regulators or law-enforcement authorities where disclosure is required or permitted by law; and
• another organisation involved in a genuine merger, sale or restructuring of the business, subject to appropriate confidentiality safeguards.

All linguists and project managers who handle client documents are required to observe confidentiality obligations.

Operators processing information on our behalf must be subject to appropriate contractual, confidentiality and security requirements.

We do not sell or rent personal information.

12. International processing and transfers

Premium Lingua provides language services involving South African and international languages.

A project may require the involvement of an appropriately qualified linguist, client, supplier or technology provider located outside South Africa.

Personal information may therefore be accessed, stored or processed in another country where this is necessary for the service.

We transfer personal information outside South Africa only where the transfer complies with POPIA, including where:

• the recipient is subject to an adequate law, binding corporate rules or a binding agreement;
• the transfer is necessary to perform a contract;
• the transfer is necessary to implement steps requested by the data subject;
• the transfer benefits the data subject in circumstances recognised by law;
• appropriate consent has been obtained; or
• another lawful basis applies.

Additional care is applied when transferring special personal information or information about children.

13. Translation technology and machine-assisted services

Premium Lingua may use professional language technologies, including:

• computer-assisted translation tools;
• translation memories;
• terminology databases;
• quality-assurance tools;
• transcription tools;
• project-management systems; and
• machine translation followed by professional human post-editing where appropriate for the project.

These technologies may be used to improve consistency, efficiency, terminology management and quality.

Any technology used for a project must be subject to appropriate confidentiality, access-control and security requirements.

Client-specific translation memories, terminology and materials must not be made available to unrelated clients.

Where a client contract prohibits a particular technology or requires a specific processing method, the agreed client instruction will apply.

14. Security and confidentiality

Premium Lingua takes reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect personal information against:

• loss;
• damage;
• unauthorised destruction;
• unauthorised access; and
• unlawful processing.

Our measures may include:

• confidentiality and non-disclosure obligations;
• restricted access to project information;
• password protection;
• secure file-transfer processes;
• encrypted storage;
• access controls;
• malware protection;
• security logging;
• backups;
• staff and contractor awareness;
• supplier-security requirements; and
• secure deletion or destruction procedures.

Career documents submitted through the official application form are stored privately and are not circulated through general company email addresses.

No electronic system can be guaranteed to be completely secure. Clients and applicants should therefore use the official website forms or another approved secure method when submitting confidential documents.

If we have reasonable grounds to believe that personal information has been accessed or acquired by an unauthorised person, we will investigate the incident, take reasonable corrective steps and notify the Information Regulator and affected people where required by POPIA.

15. Retention and destruction

We retain personal information only for as long as:

• it is required for the purpose for which it was collected;
• it is required to perform a contract;
• the client has instructed or authorised us to retain it;
• the law requires or permits retention;
• it is needed for tax, accounting, audit or regulatory purposes;
• it is reasonably necessary to resolve a complaint or dispute; or
• it is needed to establish, exercise or defend a legal claim.

Retention periods may differ according to the type of document, service, client agreement and legal requirement.

Project documents may be deleted or destroyed after the applicable retention period or following an authorised deletion request, unless continued retention is required or permitted by law or contract.

Unsuccessful recruitment applications will not be retained indefinitely. Applications may be kept for future opportunities only where the applicant has been informed of the retention and an appropriate lawful basis applies.

When information no longer needs to be retained, we will delete, destroy or de-identify it in a reasonably secure manner.

16. Cookies and website technologies

Our website may use cookies and similar technologies for:

• essential website functionality;
• form operation;
• website security;
• remembering user preferences;
• performance monitoring;
• traffic and usage analysis; and
• integration with third-party services.

Some website pages may include or link to third-party services such as WhatsApp, Google services, maps, reviews, social-media services or externally hosted content.

Those third parties may process information under their own privacy policies.

You can control or block cookies through your browser settings. Blocking essential cookies may affect the operation of forms or other website functions.

17. Direct marketing

Information submitted for an enquiry, quotation, project, invoice or application will be used for that purpose and related service communications.

We will send promotional electronic communications only where:

• you have given appropriate consent; or
• POPIA permits communication with an existing customer about our own similar services and the required opportunity to object has been provided.

Marketing messages will identify Premium Lingua and provide a reasonable way to unsubscribe.

You may object to direct marketing at any time by:

• using an unsubscribe facility in the message; or
• emailing info@premiumlingua.co.za.

We may retain a minimal suppression record so that your objection continues to be respected.

18. Your privacy rights

Subject to POPIA, PAIA and lawful limitations, you may:

• ask whether we hold personal information about you;
• request access to your personal information;
• request available information about third parties or categories of third parties that have received it;
• request correction of inaccurate, outdated or incomplete information;
• request deletion or destruction where information is no longer authorised to be retained;
• object to certain processing on reasonable grounds;
• withdraw consent where processing is based on consent;
• object to direct marketing;
• request that we stop processing information where a valid objection applies; and
• lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator.

To exercise a right, email info@premiumlingua.co.za with the subject line:

Attention: Information Officer

Please provide enough information for us to identify you, understand the request and locate the relevant records.

We may request reasonable proof of identity before disclosing or changing personal information.

A request may be refused or limited where POPIA, PAIA or another law permits or requires us to do so.

Where we hold information only as an operator for a client, we may refer the request to that client and assist the client where appropriate.

Requests for access to records under PAIA may also be directed to the same email address.

19. Complaints

Please contact Premium Lingua first so that we have an opportunity to investigate and address your concern.

Email

info@premiumlingua.co.za

Subject line

Attention: Information Officer

Telephone

080 001 4539

You may also lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator of South Africa.

POPIA complaints

POPIAComplaints@inforegulator.org.za

PAIA complaints

PAIAComplaints@inforegulator.org.za

General enquiries

enquiries@inforegulator.org.za

Telephone

010 023 5200

Toll-free telephone

0800 017 160

20. Third-party websites

Our website may contain links to third-party websites or services.

Premium Lingua is not responsible for the privacy practices of an independent third party that processes information for its own purposes.

You should review the third party’s privacy notice before providing personal information through its service.

This limitation does not apply where a third party processes information as an operator acting on Premium Lingua’s instructions.

21. Changes to this Privacy Notice

We may update this Privacy Notice where:

• our services change;
• our website or forms change;
• our systems or suppliers change;
• our processing practices change;
• applicable law or regulatory guidance changes; or
• additional information is required to explain our practices accurately.

The latest version will be published on our website and will show the date on which it was last updated.

Where a change materially affects how personal information is used, we will take reasonable steps to notify affected people.

22. Contact Premium Lingua

For questions, requests, objections or complaints relating to privacy or personal information, contact:

Premium Lingua

Email

info@premiumlingua.co.za

Toll-free telephone

080 001 4539

Johannesburg telephone

011 568 9066

Cape Town telephone

021 300 8854

Please use the subject line “Attention: Information Officer” for privacy-related correspondence.

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