BookX Privacy Policy

BookX is a student-focused online marketplace that enables users to discover, buy, sell, and access educational resources and services, including textbooks, notes, past papers, and tutoring services.

For purposes of the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 ("POPIA"), BookX is responsible for processing the personal information described in this Privacy Policy.

Information Officer: Hanro Olivier

Email: hanro@bookx.co.za

Address: 65 Goud Street, Potchefstroom

Depending on how you use BookX, we may collect the following information:

We may use your personal information to:

• Create and manage your BookX account
• Provide and operate the BookX Services
• Allow users to create and manage listings
• Facilitate communication between buyers, sellers, tutors, and other users
• Process or facilitate transactions
• Provide customer support
• Verify accounts or listings where reasonably necessary
• Improve the functionality, security, and performance of BookX
• Understand how users interact with our Services
• Personalise certain aspects of the user experience
• Send important service-related communications
• Send marketing communications where permitted by law
• Prevent fraud, abuse, scams, and other misuse of the platform
• Comply with applicable laws and legal obligations
• Protect the rights, property, and safety of BookX, our users, and others

We will not use your personal information for purposes that are incompatible with the purposes described in this Privacy Policy unless permitted or required by applicable law.

Where required by applicable law, including POPIA, we process personal information on one or more of the following grounds:

• Your consent;
• Performing a contract with you or taking steps at your request before entering into a contract;
• Complying with a legal obligation;
• Protecting legitimate interests;
• Pursuing legitimate interests of BookX or another party, where those interests do not override your rights; or
• Other grounds permitted by applicable law.

Where we rely on consent, you may withdraw your consent at any time, although this will not affect processing that was lawfully carried out before your withdrawal.

BookX may allow certain information to be visible to other users.

For example, a seller or tutor may have a public profile or listing containing information such as their name, institution, subjects, modules, services, or other information they choose to publish.

You should therefore avoid including unnecessary personal or sensitive information in public listings, profiles, notes, descriptions, or messages.

We may share personal information with third parties where reasonably necessary to provide the Services or where permitted by law. These parties may include:

• Payment processors and financial service providers
• Hosting and cloud service providers
• Analytics and technology providers
• Communication and email service providers
• Customer support providers
• Professional advisers, such as lawyers, accountants, or auditors
• Fraud prevention and security providers
• Government authorities or law-enforcement agencies where legally required
• A purchaser, investor, or successor in connection with a merger, acquisition, restructuring, or sale of BookX or part of its assets

We do not sell your personal information to third parties.

Where we use service providers to process personal information on our behalf, we take reasonable steps to require them to protect that information and process it only for authorised purposes.

• Where BookX facilitates payments, payment information may be processed by third-party payment providers.
• Depending on the payment method used, BookX may not directly receive or store complete payment card details.
• Payment providers may process your information according to their own privacy policies and terms.
• We recommend reviewing the privacy policy of any payment provider you use through BookX.

BookX may use cookies and similar technologies to:

• Keep you signed in;
• Remember preferences;
• Understand how our Services are used;
• Improve website performance;
• Detect security issues and fraudulent activity; and
• Measure the effectiveness of our marketing.

You can configure your browser to refuse or restrict cookies. However, disabling certain cookies may affect the functionality of BookX.

Where permitted by applicable law, we may send you marketing communications about BookX, new features, educational resources, promotions, or other relevant services.

You may unsubscribe from marketing communications at any time by using the unsubscribe mechanism included in the communication or by contacting us.

Even if you opt out of marketing communications, we may still send you essential service-related communications, such as account, security, transaction, or policy updates.

We take reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect personal information against:

• Loss;
• Damage;
• Unauthorised access;
• Unauthorised disclosure;
• Unauthorised alteration; and
• Other unlawful processing.

However, no online service can guarantee absolute security.

You are responsible for keeping your account credentials confidential and should notify us if you believe your account has been accessed without authorisation.

We retain personal information only for as long as reasonably necessary for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy, including to:

• Provide our Services;
• Maintain business and transaction records;
• Resolve disputes;
• Prevent fraud and abuse;
• Comply with legal and regulatory obligations; and
• Enforce our agreements.

When personal information is no longer reasonably required, we will take reasonable steps to delete, destroy, or anonymise it, subject to applicable legal requirements.

Subject to applicable law, you may have the right to:

• Request access to personal information we hold about you;
• Request correction of inaccurate or incomplete information;
• Request deletion of personal information where legally permitted;
• Object to certain forms of processing;
• Withdraw consent where processing is based on consent;
• Request information about how your personal information is being processed; and
• Lodge a complaint regarding the processing of your personal information.

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

BookX is intended primarily for students and other users of educational services.

We do not knowingly collect personal information from children where doing so would be unlawful.

If you are under the age required to provide valid consent under applicable law, you should use BookX only with the involvement or permission of a parent, guardian, or other person legally authorised to provide consent where required.

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

• BookX may contain links to websites, applications, payment providers, or other services operated by third parties.
• We are not responsible for the privacy practices, security, or content of third-party services.
• We recommend reviewing the privacy policies of third-party services before providing them with personal information.

Some of our technology or service providers may process personal information outside South Africa.

Where personal information is transferred outside South Africa, we will take reasonable steps to ensure that the transfer is conducted in accordance with applicable data protection laws, including applicable requirements under POPIA.

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes to BookX, our Services, technology, or applicable legal requirements.

When we make material changes, we may notify users through the BookX website, application, email, or another appropriate method.

The "Last updated" date at the top of this Privacy Policy indicates when it was most recently updated.

If you have a concern about how BookX handles your personal information, please contact us first so that we can attempt to resolve the matter.

You may also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator of South Africa where applicable.

For questions, requests, or concerns regarding this Privacy Policy or your personal information, please contact:

BookX

Email: hanro@bookx.co.za

Information Officer: Hanro Olivier

Address: 65 Goud Street, Potchefstroom

We will endeavour to respond to privacy-related requests within a reasonable period and in accordance with applicable law.