Privacy Policy — SkillConnect

1. Who we are (Responsible Party)

SkillConnect operates as a locality-first labour marketplace across KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. We are the Responsible Party as defined under POPIA.

Contact: skillconnectsa@outlook.com

2. What personal information we collect

From workers (service providers):

Full name and mobile number
Trade / skill and years of experience
Location: district, local municipality and ward within KwaZulu-Natal (and an optional suburb name)
South African ID number (13-digit), validated at registration
Profile photograph (selfie)
Copy of ID document (South African ID, passport, or equivalent)
Short biography and work description
Banking details — only if and when the platform pays workers directly (not collected while the service is free to use)

From clients (job requesters):

Full name and mobile number
Street address / area of the job
Description of the work required
Optional photo of the job site

3. Why we collect this information (Purpose)

To verify worker identities and create trusted public profiles
To match clients with the most suitable, available, local worker
To share contact details between a matched client and worker so they can arrange the job directly
To record job details and value (and, should a commission model apply in future, to calculate it)
To allow clients to leave reviews and improve service quality
To comply with our legal obligations

4. Legal basis for processing

We process your personal information on the following bases under POPIA:

Consent — you tick the consent checkbox before submitting any form.
Contractual necessity — to fulfil the service you requested.
Legitimate interest — to operate the platform safely and improve matching.

5. How we share your information

We do not sell your personal information. We share it only as follows:

Worker profiles (name, trade, area, rating, bio) are visible to the public on this platform.
Worker phone numbers are shared with matched clients so they can make contact.
Client phone numbers are shared with the matched worker to arrange the job.
ID documents and ID numbers are only accessible to the SkillConnect admin team for verification, are never displayed publicly, and are never shared with clients or other workers.
Technology providers: We use Supabase (database and storage) and Vercel (hosting) as operators processing data on our behalf under their own security and privacy commitments. These providers may store or process data on servers located outside South Africa; where this occurs, it is done subject to the safeguards required by Section 72 of POPIA.

6. How long we keep your information

Worker profiles are retained while the worker remains active on the platform.
ID documents and ID numbers are retained only for as long as needed to verify and maintain a worker's profile, and are deleted when the account is removed.
Job records are retained for up to 3 years for dispute-resolution and legal purposes.
Reviews may be retained as part of the public rating history; you may request removal of reviews linked to your profile.
You may request deletion of your data at any time (see Section 8).

7. How we protect your information

Data is stored in a secured database that is encrypted at rest by our infrastructure provider, with row-level security so that only our own server — never the public — can read it.
The platform is served over HTTPS (TLS encryption in transit).
Sensitive fields (ID number, ID document, banking details, phone numbers) are removed from public-facing pages and are only accessible to authorised admin.
Admin access is protected by a password with expiring sessions and optional biometric (passkey) sign-in, plus per-IP rate limiting.

8. Your rights under POPIA

You have the right to:

Access the personal information we hold about you
Correct inaccurate or outdated information
Delete your information (right to erasure), subject to legal retention requirements
Object to the processing of your information
Withdraw consent at any time (this will not affect prior lawful processing)
Complain to the Information Regulator of South Africa

To exercise any of these rights, contact us at skillconnectsa@outlook.com. We will respond within 30 days.

9. Information Regulator

If you believe we have processed your information unlawfully, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator (South Africa):

The Information Regulator (South Africa)
JD House, 27 Stiemens Street, Braamfontein, Johannesburg, 2001
Email: inforeg@justice.gov.za

10. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy as the platform evolves. Material changes will be communicated via the platform. The effective date at the top of this page will always reflect the latest version.