Privacy Policy & POPIA Notice

Last updated: August 2026

1. Introduction

The South African Pharmacy Council (“Council,” “SAPC,” “we,” “us”) publishes Pharmaciae as its official electronic publication. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store and protect personal information submitted to us through pharmaciae.co.za, in accordance with the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 (POPIA).

2. Responsible Party and Information Officer

The responsible party for personal information processed through this website is the South African Pharmacy Council, 553 Vermeulen Street, Arcadia, Pretoria, 0083.

In terms of POPIA, Council has appointed an Information Officer who is responsible for encouraging compliance with the conditions for lawful processing of personal information and for dealing with requests made in terms of POPIA. The Information Officer’s details are:

Information Officer: [Full name to be inserted by Council]
Email: [Information Officer email to be inserted by Council]
Telephone: +27 (0) 12 319 8500

3. Information We Collect

We collect personal information that you voluntarily provide to us, including but not limited to:

• Full name, email address and contact number submitted through our contact form
• The content of any message, enquiry, complaint or submission you send us
• Information you provide when subscribing to updates or downloading resources
• Standard technical information collected automatically by our website, such as IP address, browser type and pages visited, for security and analytics purposes

We do not knowingly collect sensitive personal information (such as health, biometric or financial information) through this website. If you are a registered pharmacy professional and your registration details appear in Pharmaciae content, that information is drawn from Council’s public regulatory registers, published in terms of the Pharmacy Act, 53 of 1974, and its Regulations.

4. Children’s Information

Pharmaciae is intended for pharmacy professionals, students and members of the public generally, and is not directed at children. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children without the consent of a competent person (such as a parent or legal guardian), as required by POPIA. If we become aware that we have inadvertently collected personal information from a child without such consent, we will take reasonable steps to delete that information.

5. Purpose of Processing

We use the personal information you provide to us for the following purposes:

• To respond to enquiries, complaints, article submissions and advertising requests
• To verify your identity where necessary before responding to sensitive requests
• To improve the content and functionality of pharmaciae.co.za
• To comply with our legal and regulatory obligations as a statutory body

We do not sell, rent or trade your personal information to third parties for marketing purposes.

6. Direct Marketing

We do not send unsolicited direct marketing communications. Where Council does send electronic communications relating to Pharmaciae or Council matters, this is done only with your consent or in reliance on an existing relationship, in accordance with section 69 of POPIA. You may object to receiving such communications, or withdraw consent, at any time using the contact details in section 12 below.

7. Third-Party Service Providers and Cross-Border Transfers

We use reputable third-party service providers to operate parts of this website and its related services, including our website hosting provider and form-processing tools such as Fluent Forms (contact form) and Microsoft Forms (survey tools). Some of these providers may process or store personal information on servers located outside South Africa. Where this occurs, we take reasonable steps to ensure that any such provider is subject to a level of data protection consistent with POPIA, whether through contractual safeguards, the provider’s own compliance with equivalent data protection laws, or your explicit consent to the transfer.

8. Legal Basis for Processing

We process your personal information on the basis of your consent (given when you submit our contact form or other online forms), our legitimate interest in responding to enquiries directed to us, and, where relevant, our statutory obligations as the regulatory body for the pharmacy profession in South Africa.

9. Storage and Security

Personal information submitted through our contact form is stored securely and is only accessible to authorised Council staff who require it to respond to your enquiry. We take reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect the personal information in our possession against loss, unauthorised access, disclosure or destruction.

10. Security Compromises

In the event of a security compromise where there are reasonable grounds to believe that your personal information has been accessed or acquired by an unauthorised person, we will notify the Information Regulator and affected data subjects as soon as reasonably possible, in accordance with section 22 of POPIA.

11. Retention

We retain personal information submitted through our contact form only for as long as necessary to address your enquiry and for a reasonable period thereafter for record-keeping purposes, after which it is securely deleted or anonymised, unless a longer retention period is required by law.

12. Your Rights

In accordance with POPIA, you have the right to:

• Request access to the personal information we hold about you
• Request correction of inaccurate, outdated or incomplete personal information
• Request deletion or destruction of your personal information, subject to our legal obligations
• Object, on reasonable grounds, to the processing of your personal information
• Withdraw consent previously given, without affecting the lawfulness of processing before withdrawal
• Lodge a complaint with our Information Officer or with the Information Regulator of South Africa

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us using the details below. We will respond within the timeframes required by POPIA.

13. Third-Party Links

Pharmaciae contains links to external websites, including the South African Pharmacy Council’s main website and third-party sponsor websites. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of external websites, and we encourage you to review their privacy policies independently.

14. Cookies

Our website may use cookies or similar technologies to support core functionality and to understand how visitors use our site. You can control cookie preferences through your browser settings.

15. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. The date at the top of this page reflects the most recent update. We encourage you to review this page periodically.

16. Contact Us

For any questions about this Privacy Policy, or to exercise your rights under POPIA, please contact us:

South African Pharmacy Council
553 Vermeulen Street, Arcadia, Pretoria, 0083
Email: editor@pharmaciae.co.za
Telephone: +27 (0) 12 319 8500

17. Information Regulator

You have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator of South Africa if you believe your personal information has been processed unlawfully:

Information Regulator (South Africa)
JD House, 27 Stiemens Street, Braamfontein, Johannesburg, 2001
Complaints email: complaints.IR@justice.gov.za
General enquiries: inforeg@justice.gov.za
Website: inforegulator.org.za

Please verify the Information Regulator’s current contact details on their website, as these may change from time to time.