Privacy Policy

Find My Lawyer (“Find My Lawyer”, “we”, “us” or “our”) respects your privacy and is committed to protecting the personal information you provide when using findlawyer.co.za (the “Website”).

This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store and protect personal information when you use our Website, contact us, submit an enquiry, create an account or interact with our services.

This Privacy Policy should be read together with our Terms and Conditions of Use.

1. Personal Information We Collect

Depending on how you use the Website, we may collect information such as:

• Name and surname;

• Email address;

• Telephone or mobile number;

• Location or area;

• Information contained in an enquiry or message;

• Account and login information;

• Lawyer or law firm profile information;

• Professional information supplied by legal practitioners;

• Information submitted through forms on the Website; and

• Technical information relating to your use of the Website.

You are not required to provide personal information unless it is reasonably necessary for a particular service or interaction.

2. How We Collect Information

We may collect personal information when you:

• Contact us by email;

• Complete a contact or enquiry form;

• Create or manage an account;

• Register a lawyer or law firm profile;

• Submit information for publication on the Website;

• Contact a lawyer or law firm through the Website;

• Subscribe to communications;

• Use the Website; or

• Otherwise voluntarily provide information to us.

We may also automatically collect limited technical information when you visit the Website, such as your browser type, device information, IP address, pages visited and general usage information.

3. How We Use Personal Information

We may use personal information for purposes including:

• Responding to enquiries and requests;

• Providing and operating the Website;

• Creating and managing user accounts;

• Creating and managing lawyer and law firm profiles;

• Connecting users with lawyers or law firms where requested;

• Communicating with users about their enquiries;

• Providing requested services;

• Improving the Website and its functionality;

• Maintaining the security of the Website;

• Preventing fraud, abuse or unlawful activity;

• Complying with legal and regulatory obligations; and

• Sending marketing or promotional communications where permitted by law and, where required, with your consent.

We will not use personal information for purposes that are incompatible with the purpose for which it was collected unless permitted or required by applicable law.

4. Information Submitted to Contact a Lawyer

If you use Find My Lawyer to submit an enquiry to a lawyer or law firm, the information you provide may be shared with the relevant lawyer or law firm so that they can respond to your enquiry.

By submitting an enquiry, you acknowledge that Find My Lawyer may transmit the information necessary to facilitate that communication.

You should avoid including highly sensitive or confidential information in a general enquiry form unless it is necessary and you are comfortable providing it for that purpose.

5. Lawyer and Law Firm Information

Lawyers and law firms may voluntarily provide information for publication in their Find My Lawyer profiles.

This may include:

• Name;

• Firm name;

• Contact details;

• Professional information;

• Practice areas;

• Legal services;

• Location;

• Languages spoken;

• Website and social-media links;

• Professional biography; and

• Other information relevant to the directory.

Information intended to appear in a public profile may be visible to Website visitors and may be indexed by search engines.

Legal practitioners and law firms are responsible for ensuring that information they submit for publication is accurate and that they have the necessary authority to provide it.

6. Sharing Personal Information

We do not sell your personal information.

We may share personal information where reasonably necessary to provide or operate the Website, including with:

• A lawyer or law firm where you have requested contact;

• Service providers who assist us in operating the Website;

• Hosting, technology or security providers;

• Professional advisers where necessary;

• Law-enforcement or regulatory authorities where legally required; or

• Other parties where disclosure is permitted or required by law.

Where we use service providers to process personal information on our behalf, we take reasonable steps to require appropriate confidentiality and security measures.

7. Legal Practitioners and User Choice

When you choose to contact a lawyer or law firm through Find My Lawyer, information necessary to facilitate that contact may be provided to the selected practitioner.

Find My Lawyer does not control how an independent lawyer or law firm subsequently processes personal information after receiving it.

Once your information has been provided to a lawyer or law firm, that practitioner’s own privacy policies and legal obligations may apply.

8. Cookies and Similar Technologies

The Website may use cookies and similar technologies to help operate the Website, remember preferences, understand how visitors use the Website and improve functionality.

Cookies may also be used by certain third-party services integrated with the Website.

You may be able to control or disable cookies through your browser settings. Disabling certain cookies may affect the functionality of the Website.

9. Website Analytics

We may use analytics and similar technologies to understand how visitors use the Website.

This information may include:

• Pages visited;

• Time spent on pages;

• General location information;

• Device and browser information;

• Referral sources; and

• General usage patterns.

Analytics information is used to improve the Website and understand its performance.

10. Marketing Communications

Where permitted by law, Find My Lawyer may send information about new services, features, legal resources or other relevant communications.

Where consent is required, we will obtain the appropriate consent before sending direct marketing communications.

You may unsubscribe from marketing communications by using the unsubscribe option provided in the relevant communication or by contacting us.

11. Retention of Information

We retain personal information only for as long as reasonably necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, unless a longer retention period is required or permitted by law.

We may retain certain information where necessary for:

• Legal or regulatory requirements;

• Record-keeping;

• Dispute resolution;

• Security;

• Fraud prevention; or

• Legitimate business purposes.

Information that is no longer required may be securely deleted, destroyed or anonymised where reasonably practicable.

12. Security

We take reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect personal information against unauthorised access, loss, misuse, alteration or disclosure.

However, no internet transmission or electronic storage system can be guaranteed to be completely secure.

You should therefore take appropriate precautions when submitting personal information online.

13. Third-Party Websites

The Website may contain links to third-party websites, including websites belonging to lawyers, law firms, regulatory bodies and other organisations.

Find My Lawyer is not responsible for the privacy practices or content of third-party websites.

We encourage you to review the privacy policy of any third-party website before providing personal information.

14. Your Privacy Rights

Subject to applicable law, you may have rights regarding your personal information, including the right to:

• Request access to personal information we hold about you;

• Request correction of inaccurate or incomplete information;

• Request deletion of information where legally permissible;

• Object to certain forms of processing;

• Withdraw consent where processing is based on consent; and

• Lodge a complaint regarding the processing of your personal information.

Requests should be submitted through our contact details provided on the Website.

We may need to verify your identity before responding to certain requests.

15. Protection of Personal Information Act

Find My Lawyer aims to process personal information in accordance with applicable South African data-protection legislation, including the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 (“POPIA”).

POPIA regulates the processing of personal information by public and private bodies and provides rights and responsibilities relating to the lawful processing of personal information. (inforegulator.org.za)

Where applicable, Find My Lawyer will take reasonable steps to ensure that personal information is processed lawfully and responsibly.

16. Children’s Information

The Website is not primarily directed at children.

We do not knowingly collect personal information from children except where permitted by applicable law and where the necessary consent or legal basis exists.

If you believe that a child has provided personal information to us unlawfully, please contact us.

17. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes to the Website, our practices, technology or applicable law.

The updated version will be published on this page together with the relevant update date.

We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy periodically.

18. Contact Us

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy, wish to exercise a privacy right or have a concern regarding the handling of your personal information, please contact us through the contact details provided on the Website.

Find My Lawyer
Website: findlawyer.co.za
South Africa

Important Information

Find My Lawyer is an independent legal directory and information platform.

We provide a platform through which members of the public can discover legal practitioners and law firms.

When you choose to contact a lawyer or law firm through the Website, information necessary to facilitate that communication may be provided to the selected practitioner.

Find My Lawyer does not control how an independent legal practitioner subsequently handles information received directly from you. Users should therefore review the privacy practices of the relevant practitioner or law firm where appropriate.