Privacy Policy
This privacy policy explains how we use any personal information we collect about you when you contact us by phone, email, letter.
Association Of Assistance Dogs SA (AADSA) aims to be clear and open about our data and privacy practices.
Where we ask you to provide us with any information by which you can be identified, you can be assured that it will only be used in accordance with this privacy statement,
What information do we collect?
We collect information about you when you complete an online form to contact us. This information may include your full name, email address, postal address, and telephone number. The details you provide allow us to respond to your inquiries, provide assistance, and offer relevant information based on your request.
If you contact us through email, letter, or telephone, we will retain your information in accordance with the Association of Assistance Dogs SA’s Data Protection Policy and Document Retention Policy. These policies ensure that your personal data is stored securely and only kept for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes for which it was collected. We are committed to handling your information with care and ensuring it is not shared or used inappropriately.
Additionally, we collect information from staff members who choose to register as users of this website. Any staff member associated with an AADSA Member or Candidate organization has the option to sign up for an account, granting them access to the AADSA Membership Zone. This secure area provides essential resources, updates, and communication tools for registered members.
During the registration process, we collect key details required for account creation and access management. This includes your full name, job title, and work-related contact details such as your professional email address and office phone number. These details are used solely to facilitate communication, verify your membership status, and grant appropriate access to the Membership Zone.
We do not request, collect, or store any personal, non-work-related details of AADSA Members. Our focus is strictly on professional information necessary for membership verification and access to relevant resources. By ensuring that only work-related data is gathered, we maintain a secure and professional environment for all users.
Our commitment to data protection and privacy means that all collected information is handled responsibly, safeguarded against unauthorized access, and retained only as long as necessary. If you have any concerns about how your data is used or wish to update or remove your details, you may contact us at any time.
How do we use the information?
We use information collected from website visits to improve the experience we provide to our online users. For example, information like the browser and device you are using helps us to maintain usable and accessible websites for all our audiences.
Security
We are committed to ensuring that your information is secure. In order to prevent unauthorised access or disclosure, we have put in place suitable physical, electronic and managerial procedures to safeguard and secure the information we collect online.
Cookies
When Members visit our login page, we will set a temporary cookie to determine if your browser accepts cookies. This cookie contains no personal data and is discarded when you close your browser.
When Members log in, we will also set up several cookies to save your login information and your screen display choices. Login cookies last for two days, and screen options cookies last for a year. If you select “Remember Me”, your login will persist for two weeks. If you log out of your account, the login cookies will be removed.
If you edit or publish an article, an additional cookie will be saved in your browser. This cookie includes no personal data and simply indicates the post ID of the article you just edited. It expires after 1 day.
Embedded content from other websites
Articles on this site may include embedded content (e.g. videos, images, articles, etc.). Embedded content from other websites behaves in the exact same way as if the visitor has visited the other website.
These websites may collect data about you, use cookies, embed additional third-party tracking, and monitor your interaction with that embedded content, including tracking your interaction with the embedded content if you have an account and are logged in to that website.
Who we share your data with
If you request a password reset, your IP address will be included in the reset email.
How long we retain your data
If you leave a comment, the comment and its metadata are retained indefinitely. This is so we can recognize and approve any follow-up comments automatically instead of holding them in a moderation queue.
For Members that register as users on our website, we also store the information they provide in their user profile. All users can see, edit, or delete their personal information at any time (except they cannot change their username). Website administrators can also see and edit that information.
What rights you have over your data
If you have an account on this site, or have left comments, you can request to receive an exported file of the personal data we hold about you, including any data you have provided to us. You can also request that we erase any personal data we hold about you. This does not include any data we are obliged to keep for administrative, legal, or security purposes.
Sharing your information with other organisations
AADSA will not sell your information to any third party.
Changes to our privacy policy
We keep our privacy policy under regular review, and we will place any updates on this web page. This privacy policy was last updated in February 2025.
Your rights
South African data protection laws grant you clear rights regarding how we use your personal information.
To learn more about your rights, you can visit the Information Regulator’s website section on data subject rights.
You also have the right to raise concerns or lodge complaints about how we handle your data with the Information Regulator. Details on how to do this are available on their website.
You may also request access to the personal information we hold about you.
If you believe that any information we are holding on you is incorrect or incomplete, please write to or email us as soon as possible at the above address.