Privacy & Cookies

Last updated: 8 October 2026

This notice explains how we handle personal information under the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 (POPIA). It covers WhatsApp chats, phone calls, emails, the work we do at your property, and this website. Section 18 of POPIA lists what a business must tell you when it collects your information, and this page follows that list [1].

Who is responsible for your personal information?

Cobus Bester, who trades as Solar & Window Clean, is the responsible party for your personal information and is also its Information Officer.

Solar & Window Clean is a trading name of Cobus Bester (sole proprietor). Not VAT-registered.

When one person runs a business, POPIA makes that person its Information Officer, so Cobus handles every privacy question himself [1][3]. We're a mobile business that always comes to you, so we have no shop or office. Cobus aims to reply to WhatsApp messages within an hour during working hours.

What personal information do we collect?

We collect the details you give us so we can quote and do the work, plus website analytics only if you accept cookies.

When you WhatsApp, call or email us

• Your name, and your phone number or email address. WhatsApp also shows us the profile name you use there.
• Your suburb, and your service address once you book.
• Details of the job: what needs cleaning, how many panels, single- or double-storey, and how we get access.
• Photos or videos you send us of your panels, solar geyser or windows.
• Our messages, emails and call history with you.
• Your quote, booking, invoice and payment records (amount, date and reference).

When we work at your property

• Access notes you give us, such as a gate code or where to find the outside tap.
• Job photos. Cobus may photograph the work, and anything he finds such as cracked glass, as a record for you and for us.
• We publish job photos on this website, or anywhere else, only with your permission. Before we do, we blur house numbers and number plates. We try not to photograph people.

When you use this website

• This site has no forms. It never asks you to type in personal information.
• If you choose "Accept analytics", Google Analytics records how the site is used. That means the pages you view, how you arrived, and your type of device and browser. It also records your approximate location (such as the town) and whether you tapped a WhatsApp, call or email button. We see this as totals and trends, not as your name or number.
• Our website's hosting service may record basic technical information, such as IP addresses and pages requested, to run and protect the site.

When someone else gives us your details

• Sometimes a managing agent, body corporate, landlord, tenant or family member books a job for you. We use the details they give us only for that job.

What we don't collect

• We don't need your ID number, date of birth or bank card details, so please don't send them.
• We don't ask for special personal information, such as health information or religious beliefs.

Why do we use your information?

We use it to reply to you, quote, book and do the work, invoice you and keep proper records.

• To answer your enquiry and send you a quote.
• To book the job, confirm the time and find your property.
• To do the work, and to record anything we find that you should know about.
• To invoice you, receive payment and keep the financial records the law requires.
• To deal with questions, complaints or follow-up work after the job.
• To see how this website is used, but only if you accept analytics cookies.
• To send you service reminders, but only if you ask for them.
• To publish job photos, but only with your separate permission.

We won't use your information for an unrelated purpose without telling you first and, where POPIA requires it, asking for your consent [1].

On what lawful basis do we use it?

Each use of your information rests on one of the grounds in section 11 of POPIA [1].

Do you have to give us your information?

No, it's your choice, but without some details we can't help you.

Without a phone number or email address we can't send you a quote. Without the service address we can't do the work. You can decline analytics cookies and still use every page of this website.

Who sees your information, and does it leave South Africa?

We share your information only with the services we need to run the business, and some of them store it outside South Africa.

Who receives it

• WhatsApp (owned by Meta). Your messages, number, photos and videos pass through WhatsApp and are stored in WhatsApp on Cobus's phone.
• Google. Our email address is a Gmail account. If you accept analytics cookies, Google Analytics also receives website usage data.
• The cloud service that backs up Cobus's phone, such as Google or Apple, which stores copies of WhatsApp chats and photos.
• Our website administrator, who builds, hosts and runs this website for Cobus. As his operator under a written agreement (POPIA s21), they can access our email inbox and Google Analytics account only to run them [1].
• Banks or payment providers, when you pay us.
• SARS, and a tax practitioner if we use one, for tax purposes.
• A plumber or solar installer, only if you ask us to refer you and agree that we pass on your details.
• The police, a court or a regulator, only when the law requires it.

We don't sell your personal information, and we don't give it to anyone for their own marketing.

Transfers outside South Africa (POPIA s72)

Meta and Google process and store data in other countries, so your information may leave South Africa.

Section 72 of POPIA allows this in set cases [1]. They include when:

• the transfer is needed for an agreement you've asked us to enter into or carry out;
• the recipient is bound by laws, binding corporate rules or an agreement that give adequate protection; or
• you consent.

We rely on the transfer being needed to answer and serve you, and on these companies' own data-protection terms.

How long do we keep it?

We keep personal information only as long as we need it for your job, and tax records as long as the law requires. Section 14 of POPIA sets this rule [1].

When we no longer need information, we delete it or, if we can't, remove anything that identifies you.

How do we keep it secure?

We take reasonable, practical steps to protect your information, as section 19 of POPIA requires [1].

• Cobus's phone, which holds our WhatsApp chats, has a screen lock and is backed up.
• Cobus reads and answers customer messages. Our website administrator can also access the email inbox and Google Analytics account, but only to run them. A written operator agreement covers this (POPIA s21) [1].
• If someone gets hold of your personal information without permission, we must tell you and the Information Regulator. POPIA says we must do so as soon as reasonably possible (s22) [1].

What are your rights?

You can ask what we hold about you, have it corrected or deleted, object, withdraw your consent and complain to the Information Regulator [1].

• See what we hold. Ask us to confirm whether we hold personal information about you; POPIA makes that confirmation free of charge. You can also ask for a copy or a description of it (s23). If a copy costs anything, we'll give you a written estimate first.
• Correct or delete. Ask us to correct or delete information that is wrong, irrelevant, excessive, out of date, incomplete, misleading or unlawfully obtained (s24). You can also ask us to delete information we're no longer allowed to keep.
• Object. Object to us using your information on the ground of our legitimate interest, or for direct marketing (s11(3)).
• Withdraw consent. Withdraw your consent for analytics, reminders or photos at any time. This doesn't affect what we did before you withdrew it (s11(2)(b)).
• Complain. Complain to the Information Regulator (s74). Its details are in the next section.

To use any of these rights, WhatsApp, call or email Cobus. We may ask you to confirm who you are before we share or change anything. POPIA's regulations have forms for objections (Form 1) and for correction or deletion requests (Form 2), and Cobus can send them to you.

WhatsApp Cobus about your information

Email solarandwindowclean@gmail.com

To ask for other records we hold, follow the steps in our PAIA manual.

How do you complain to the Information Regulator?

Please tell Cobus first so he can put it right, but you can complain directly to the Information Regulator at any time.

Information Regulator (South Africa)

• Address: Woodmead North Office Park, 54 Maxwell Drive, Woodmead, Johannesburg 2191
• Phone: 010 023 5200 (toll-free 0800 017 160)
• General enquiries: enquiries@inforegulator.org.za
• POPIA complaints: POPIAComplaints@inforegulator.org.za
• Website: inforegulator.org.za

We checked these details on the Regulator's website on 8 October 2026 [2].

Do we send marketing messages?

No, not unless you've said yes.

• We don't send promotional WhatsApps, SMSs, emails or calls to anyone who hasn't agreed to them (POPIA s69) [1]. The Information Regulator's guidance treats phone calls as electronic communication for this rule [4].
• If you ask for service reminders, we may let you know when a clean could be due. Every reminder tells you how to stop them.
• We don't buy or rent contact lists.

How do we use cookies and analytics?

This site uses Google Analytics cookies only, and only after you choose "Accept analytics".

The cookies on this site

• Your cookie choice (always on). A small setting in your browser remembers whether you accepted or declined, for 12 months. It holds your choice and nothing else.
• Google Analytics 4 (off until you accept). These cookies help us see which pages are useful, and which lead to a WhatsApp message or a call.

Google lists these cookies and how long they last in its Google Analytics documentation [6].

What we don't use

• No advertising or remarketing cookies, no Meta Pixel and no social media plugins.
• If that ever changes, we'll update this page and ask for your consent first. The Information Regulator's direct-marketing guidance lists the use of cookies among direct-marketing methods [4].

How your choice works

• On your first visit, a small panel offers "Accept analytics" and "Decline". Both buttons carry the same weight, and nothing is pre-ticked.
• Until you accept, Google Analytics stays off. Its consent setting stays at "denied", and the analytics code doesn't load.
• If you decline, no analytics cookies are set and nothing is sent to Google Analytics.
• To change your mind, use "Cookie settings" at the bottom of every page. You can also delete cookies in your browser's settings.

When you leave this site

• WhatsApp buttons open WhatsApp, and the call button opens your phone app. Once you're in WhatsApp, Meta's own privacy policy applies.

Does this website take payments?

No. This website doesn't take payments, and we'll never ask for your card number, PIN or online-banking password.

ECTA asks a supplier's website to explain how it protects payment and personal information [5]. How and when you pay is set out in your quote and in our terms.

What about children's information?

This website and our services are meant for adults arranging work on a property. We don't knowingly collect personal information about children.

When does this notice change?

We update this notice when the way we handle information changes, and the "Last updated" date at the top shows the current version.

For quotes, bookings, cancellations and the cooling-off period, read our terms.

Questions about your information?

Ask Cobus directly. He aims to reply to WhatsApp messages within an hour, Monday to Saturday, 08:00–17:00.

Sources

1. Republic of South Africa, Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 (2013): s1, s11, s14, s18, s19, s21, s22, s23, s24, s69, s72, s74.
2. Information Regulator, Contact us (checked 8 October 2026).
3. Information Regulator, Guidance Note on Information Officers (2021).
4. Information Regulator, Guidance Note on Direct Marketing in terms of the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 (2024), §7.1–7.3.
5. Acts Online, Electronic Communications and Transactions Act 25 of 2002, section 43: Information to be provided (2002).
6. Google Analytics Help, [GA4] Cookie usage on websites (checked 8 October 2026): _ga and _ga_<container-id>, default expiry 2 years.