Last Updated: July 16, 2025

At Electrocom, we are committed to protecting your privacy and ensuring the security of your personal information in accordance with South African laws, particularly the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 (POPIA). This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard your data when you visit our website at https://www.electrocom.co.za, interact with our services, or engage with us as a customer. As a telecommunications and internet service provider (ISP) based in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, we process personal information to deliver broadband, VoIP, hosted PBX, and VPN services while upholding the principles of lawful, fair, and transparent data handling.

POPIA defines personal information as any data relating to an identifiable living natural person or juristic entity, including names, contact details, IP addresses, and location data. We act as a responsible party under POPIA, meaning we determine the purpose and means of processing your information. We only collect data that is necessary for our operations and ensure it is processed with your consent where required, or based on legitimate interests such as service delivery, legal compliance, or security. If you have any questions about this policy or our data practices, please contact our Information Officer at admin@electrocom.co.za or via our physical address at 34 Noodsberg Road, Wartburg, 3233.

Who We Are

Our website address is https://www.electrocom.co.za. Electrocom is a South African-based ISP established in 2008, specializing in uncapped broadband, VoIP telephony, hosted PBX solutions, and secure VPN services across the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands and surrounding areas. We serve both residential and business clients, leveraging our own wireless tower network and fibre backhaul to provide reliable connectivity, even in rural communities like Pietermaritzburg, Greytown, and Wartburg. As part of our commitment to transparency under POPIA, we outline below how we handle personal information collected through our website and services.

We process personal information to facilitate service inquiries, account management, billing, and technical support. This includes data from website interactions, service applications, and customer communications. All processing adheres to POPIA’s conditions for lawful processing, including accountability, processing limitation, purpose specification, further processing limitation, information quality, openness, security safeguards, and data subject participation.

Comments

When visitors leave comments on the site, we collect the data shown in the comments form, including your name, email address, and the comment content. We also capture the visitor’s IP address and browser user agent string to help detect spam and ensure the integrity of our platform. This collection is necessary for moderating discussions and preventing abuse, aligning with our legitimate interest in maintaining a secure and functional website.

Under POPIA, we obtain your implicit consent for this processing when you submit a comment. An anonymized string created from your email address (also called a hash) may be provided to the Gravatar service to see if you are using it. The Gravatar service privacy policy is available here: https://automattic.com/privacy/. After approval of your comment, your profile picture is visible to the public in the context of your comment, but we do not share additional personal data without your explicit permission.

Comments are moderated to comply with South African laws, including the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act (ECTA) and POPIA, which require us to protect against harmful content while respecting freedom of expression. If you believe your personal information in a comment has been mishandled, you have the right to request correction or deletion.

Media

If you upload images or other media to the website, such as through contact forms or user-generated content areas, you should avoid uploading files with embedded location data (EXIF GPS) included. Visitors to the website can download and extract any location data from images on the website, potentially compromising your privacy.

We process uploaded media to support service-related communications, such as troubleshooting broadband issues or VoIP setups. This processing is based on your consent or contractual necessity. Under POPIA, we implement security measures to protect media files, including encryption and access controls. Media is retained only as long as necessary for the purpose it was uploaded, typically up to one year unless required for legal reasons. You can request the deletion of any media containing your personal information at any time, subject to our retention obligations.

Cookies

Cookies are small text files stored on your device to enhance your browsing experience. If you leave a comment on our site, you may opt-in to saving your name, email address, and website in cookies. These are for your convenience so that you do not have to fill in your details again when you leave another comment. These cookies will last for one year.

If you visit our login page (for account management or client portals), 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 you 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 (in blog or support sections), 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.

Our use of cookies complies with POPIA and the Consumer Protection Act (CPA), requiring transparency and consent. We use essential cookies for site functionality and analytical cookies to improve services, such as tracking usage patterns for broadband optimization. You can manage cookie preferences via your browser settings or our cookie consent banner. Third-party cookies from services like Google Analytics may be used for performance monitoring, but we anonymize IP addresses to minimize personal data collection.

Embedded Content from Other Websites

Articles on this site may include embedded content (e.g., videos, images, articles, etc.) from third-party websites, such as YouTube for tutorials on VoIP setup or maps from fibre providers like Frogfoot. 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. For example, if you view an embedded video on broadband coverage, the provider may log your IP address for analytics.

We embed content to enhance user experience but do not control third-party data practices. Under POPIA, we inform you of potential data transfers and recommend reviewing third-party privacy policies. We select partners compliant with data protection standards and limit embeds to necessary, functional content.

Who We Share Your Data With

We share your data only when necessary for service delivery or legal compliance. For instance, if you request a password reset, your IP address will be included in the reset email for security verification. We may share data with third-party service providers, such as payment processors for billing or fibre partners (e.g., Openserve) for installation, but only under strict data processing agreements compliant with POPIA.

Data is shared with regulatory bodies like ICASA (Independent Communications Authority of South Africa) if required for telecommunications compliance. We do not sell your data and limit sharing to minimum required fields. International transfers (e.g., to Gravatar) are subject to adequacy decisions or standard contractual clauses under POPIA to ensure equivalent protection.

How Long We Retain Your Data

Data retention is guided by POPIA’s purpose specification principle—we keep information only as long as necessary. If you leave a comment, the comment and its metadata are retained indefinitely to facilitate ongoing discussions and moderation.

For users that register on our website (e.g., client portals), we also store the personal information they provide in their user profile for as long as the account is active, plus up to 7 years for tax and audit purposes under the Tax Administration Act. 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.

Broadband or VoIP service data, like usage logs, is retained for 12 months to support billing and dispute resolution. Media uploads are kept for 6 months unless part of ongoing support tickets. We regularly review and delete unnecessary data to minimize risks.

What Rights You Have Over Your Data

Under POPIA, you have extensive rights as a data subject. 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, such as billing records under the Companies Act.

You can object to processing, request corrections, or withdraw consent at any time via admin@electrocom.co.za. We will respond within 30 days, as per POPIA timelines. For sensitive data (e.g., special personal information like health details in support queries), we require explicit consent and apply heightened safeguards.

Where Your Data Is Sent

Visitor comments may be checked through an automated spam detection service, such as Akismet, which processes IP addresses and content. Data may be sent to servers in South Africa or, for third-party tools like Gravatar, internationally, but always with POPIA-compliant safeguards.

For broadband services, data like IP addresses is logged on local servers for network management. VoIP call metadata (not content) is processed via secure cloud providers with data localization where possible. We conduct data protection impact assessments for transfers and use encryption (e.g., TLS) to protect transit.

Additional Security Measures

We implement reasonable organizational and technical safeguards under POPIA Section 19, including firewalls, access controls, and regular audits. In case of a data breach, we notify the Information Regulator and affected individuals within reasonable timeframes, as required by POPIA.

Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy to reflect changes in our practices or legal requirements. Updates will be posted here with the revised date. Continued use of the site constitutes acceptance.

This policy is governed by South African law. For complaints, contact the Information Regulator at enquiries@inforegulator.org.za.