Privacy Policy

1. Who we are
Collective Operations (Pty) Ltd, 2026/514617/07 ("we", "us") provides remote bookkeeping, financial administration and personal assistant services to businesses and individuals in South Africa and the United Kingdom. We are responsible for the personal information described in this policy.
Our Information Officer is Ross Pedder. You can contact us at ross@collective-operations.com

2. What information we collect
When you contact us or use our website:
• Your name, email address, phone number and business name.
• Anything you choose to tell us in your message.
• Basic website data, such as your browser type and the pages you visit, collected through cookies (see section 7).
When you become a client:
• Contact and billing details.
• Financial records needed to deliver our services, such as bank statements, invoices, receipts and access to your accounting software (for example Xero).
• Tax information, such as tax reference numbers and, for individual tax returns, your ID or passport number and income details.
• Payroll information about your employees, where you ask us to run payroll.
• For PA services: access to your email inbox, diary and documents, and details needed to make bookings on your behalf, such as travel preferences.
We only collect what we need to do the work you've asked us to do.

3. How we use your information
• To reply to your enquiry and discuss how we can help.
• To deliver the services you've agreed to, including bookkeeping, VAT and tax return preparation, payroll and PA support.
• To send invoices and manage our relationship with you.
• To meet our legal obligations, including tax and record-keeping laws.
• To send you occasional updates about our services, only if you've agreed to this. You can opt out at any time.
We never sell your personal information.

4. Our legal basis
We process your information because it's needed to perform our agreement with you or to take steps at your request before entering one, because the law requires it, or because we have a legitimate interest in running our business, such as replying to enquiries. Where we rely on your consent, you can withdraw it at any time.

5. Who we share it with
We only share your information where it's needed to provide our services:
• Service providers we use to run our business, such as our website host (Wix), accounting software (Xero) and email and document storage (Google Workspace / Microsoft 365).
• Tax authorities, such as SARS and HMRC, when we submit returns on your behalf.
• Your accountant or other advisers, if you ask us to liaise with them.
• Authorities, where the law requires it.
Everyone we share information with is required to keep it secure and confidential.

6. Sending information across borders
We are based in South Africa and work with clients in the UK. Some of our service providers store information on servers in other countries, including the United States and the European Union. When information moves between countries, we make sure it is protected by appropriate safeguards, such as the provider's data protection agreements.

7. Cookies
Our website uses cookies to make it work properly and to understand how visitors use it. You can control or delete cookies through your browser settings. Blocking some cookies may affect how the site works.

8. How long we keep it
We keep enquiry details for up to 12 months if you don't become a client. We keep client records for as long as we work together, and afterwards for as long as tax and company law requires, generally five years in South Africa and up to six years in the UK. After that, we delete or destroy it securely.

9. How we keep it safe
We use secure, password-protected systems, two-factor authentication where available, and limit access to the people who need it to do their work.

10. Your rights
You have the right to:
• Ask what personal information we hold about you and get a copy.
• Ask us to correct or update it.
• Ask us to delete it, unless we're legally required to keep it.
• Object to or restrict how we use it, including for marketing.
• Withdraw your consent where we rely on it.
To make a request, email us at ross@collective-operations.com. We'll respond as quickly as we can, and within the time the law allows.

11. Complaints
If you're unhappy with how we've handled your information, please contact us first so we can put it right. You also have the right to complain to the data protection authority:
• South Africa: the Information Regulator, inforegulator.org.za
• United Kingdom: the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), ico.org.uk

12. Changes to this policy
We may update this policy from time to time. The latest version will always be on this page, with the date it was last updated.