swool.io privacy policy

Last updated: 11 November 2026

1. Introduction

1.1 In terms of POPI, a “Responsible Party” (in this case being Solunetix (Pty) Ltd) has a legal duty to process a “Data Subject’s” Personal Information (in this case being your personal information and related details) in a lawful, legitimate and responsible manner. In order to discharge this duty, Solunetix requires your express and informed permission to process your Personal Information.

 

2. Process

2.1 In the event of you refusing to give the required consent, Solunetix will still have the right, in terms of POPI, to process your information without your consent under any of the following circumstances:

2.2 where such processing and use of your personal information is necessary in order to give effect to a contractual relationship as between you and Solunetix;

2.3 where such processing is required in terms of a law, such as without limiting the generality thereof, the Financial Advisory And Intermediary Services Act, 37 of 2002 (FAIS), the Financial Intelligence Centre Act 38 of 2001 (FICA) and/ or the National Credit Act, 34 of 2005 (NCA); or

2.4 where such processing is necessary to protect the legitimate interests of Solunetix or a third party.

 

3. Purpose for the Collection

3.1 The reason why Solunetix requires your Personal Information is to enable Solunetix to:

 

3.2 Voluntary:

3.2.1 provide access to and operate our software and related services;

3.2.2 create and manage user profiles and accounts;

3.2.3 provide maintenance, support, customer service and service-related communications;

3.2.4 analyse website and platform usage, improve our website, software and services, and monitor performance and security;

3.2.5 send service, administrative, billing, support, account, legal and security communications where necessary for the delivery and operation of our services, by email and, where you have opted in, by WhatsApp;

3.2.6 where permitted by law, send marketing or product update communications using third-party email platforms such as HubSpot or Mailgun. Such communications will include an unsubscribe link, and you may opt out at any time;

3.2.7 communicate with you in response to enquiries, demo requests, onboarding requests or other requests initiated by you.

 

3.3 Mandatory:

3.3.1 comply with applicable tax, financial and other legal obligations;

3.3.2 conclude, perform and administer a contract with you;

3.3.3 report to government or regulatory authorities where required by applicable law.

3.4 All Personal Information which you provide to Solunetix will only be used for the purposes for which it is collected and as otherwise permitted or required by law.

3.5 If you unsubscribe from marketing communications, we may still send you important non-marketing communications relating to your account, service usage, billing, support, legal notices or security.

3.6 Solunetix does not send unsolicited one-to-one promotional emails outside of its authorised communication systems and service processes.

3.7 Where a person has opted in, the schools, clubs and other service providers that use swool.io may send that person’s invoices, statements and payment reminders by WhatsApp as well as by email. These messages are sent from swool.io’s WhatsApp Business number on the service provider’s behalf and show the service provider’s name. WhatsApp delivery can be switched off at any time in the swool app, by replying to a WhatsApp message, or by asking the service provider. Replies to our WhatsApp number are recorded for the service provider and answered automatically with the service provider’s contact details; the number is not monitored as a support channel.

 

4. Consequences of Withholding Consent or Personal Information

4.1 Should you refuse to provide Solunetix with the required consent and/ or information, Solunetix will be unable to provide the product swool.io, or provide you with Solunetix’s goods or services.

 

5. Storage and Retention and Destruction of Information

5.1 All Personal Information which you provide to Solunetix will be held and/ or stored securely for the purposes set out in this policy. Personal Information may be stored electronically in a database, within the swool.io platform, in customer support systems, in billing systems, in communication systems, and in other systems reasonably required for the operation of our services.

5.2 Where appropriate, some information may also be retained in hard copy.

5.3 In either event, storage will be secure and audited regularly regarding the safety and the security of the information.

5.4 Where data is stored electronically outside the borders of South Africa, such is done only in countries that have similar privacy laws to our own or where such facilities are bound contractually to no lesser regulations than those imposed by POPI. WhatsApp messages are processed by WhatsApp LLC, a Meta company, in the United States of America under WhatsApp’s Business Data Processing Terms, which bind WhatsApp to process the information only on our instructions and to protect it. A person who opts in to WhatsApp delivery consents to that transfer and may withdraw the consent at any time by switching WhatsApp delivery off.

5.5 Solunetix retains Personal Information for as long as reasonably necessary to provide the swool.io service, support users and organisations, maintain business records, comply with legal obligations, resolve disputes, prevent fraud or abuse, maintain platform security, and enforce agreements.

5.6 Where Personal Information relates to a swool.io account, organisation, administrator, staff member, billing contact, support contact, or direct relationship with Solunetix, Solunetix may retain that information for as long as the relevant account or customer relationship remains active, and thereafter for the retention periods required or permitted by applicable law.

5.7 Where Personal Information is entered into, uploaded to, or managed within swool.io by a customer of Solunetix, such as a swim school, club, studio, or other service provider, the relevant customer is generally responsible for deciding how long that Personal Information is retained and whether it should be corrected, deleted, or de-identified, subject to applicable law and the customer’s own legal obligations.

5.8 If Solunetix receives a request from an individual to delete, correct, or access Personal Information that is managed by one of Solunetix’s customers, Solunetix may refer the individual to the relevant customer or service provider. Solunetix may also assist the relevant customer with the request where reasonably required and where Solunetix is authorised to do so.

5.9 If a customer of Solunetix requests deletion or de-identification of Personal Information held in swool.io on its behalf, Solunetix will process that request within a reasonable period, unless retention is required or permitted for legal, regulatory, tax, accounting, security, fraud-prevention, dispute-resolution, backup, or legitimate business purposes.

5.10 Where Personal Information must be retained for legal, tax, accounting, contractual, or statutory record-keeping purposes, including records required under applicable South African law, Solunetix may retain such information for up to 7 years after the end of the relevant customer relationship, transaction, or legal obligation, or for a longer period where required by applicable law.

5.11 Backup copies, audit logs, security logs, and system logs may retain limited Personal Information for a further period after deletion from active systems. These copies are protected against ordinary use and are deleted, overwritten, anonymised, or de-identified in accordance with Solunetix’s backup, security, and data retention procedures.

5.12 Once Personal Information is no longer required for the purposes described in this policy, Solunetix will securely delete, destroy, anonymise, or de-identify it.

 

6. Right to Object

6.1 In terms of section 11(3) of POPIA, you have the right to object, in the prescribed manner, to Solunetix processing your Personal Information in certain circumstances.

6.2 You may also opt out of direct marketing communications at any time by using the unsubscribe link included in those communications or by contacting us using the details set out below. You may also switch off WhatsApp delivery of account documents at any time in the swool app, by replying to a WhatsApp message, or by asking the school, club or service provider that sends them.

6.3 On receipt of your objection or opt-out request, Solunetix will place a hold on any further non-essential processing of your Personal Information until the cause of the objection has been resolved, subject to any processing required by law or necessary for the performance of a contract.

 

7. Accuracy of Information and Onus

7.1 POPI requires that all your Personal Information and related details supplied, are complete, accurate and up to date.

7.2 Whilst Solunetix will always use its best endeavours to ensure that your Personal Information is reliable, it will be your responsibility to advise Solunetix of any changes to your Personal Information, as and when these may occur.

 

8. Sharing of Information

8.1 Your Personal Information will be stored electronically in a centralised database.

8.2 In particular, the following persons or departments within Solunetix will have access, under strict confidentiality, to your Personal Information:

8.2.1 swool.io System Administrators

8.3 Solunetix may share Personal Information with trusted third-party service providers who assist us to operate our business, provide our services, host data, deliver customer communications, send emails, provide technical support, monitor system performance, or perform related operational functions on our behalf.

8.4 These third-party service providers may include communication and email delivery platforms such as Mailgun, and WhatsApp LLC (a Meta company), which delivers account documents to persons who have opted in to WhatsApp delivery and reports to us whether they were delivered and read.

8.5 Whenever we commission other organisations to provide support or operational services to us, we will require them to keep Personal Information confidential and to process it only in accordance with our instructions, applicable law, and appropriate data protection and security obligations.

 

9. Access to the Information

9.1 You have the right at any time to ask Solunetix to provide you with:

9.1.1 the details of any of your Personal Information which Solunetix holds on your behalf; and

9.1.2 the details as to what Solunetix has done with that Personal Information,

 

10. Account and Data Deletion Requests

10.1 Users who have a direct swool.io account or direct relationship with Solunetix may request access to, correction of, or deletion of their Personal Information by contacting Solunetix at hello@swool.io or hello@solunetix.co.za.

10.2 Where a person’s Personal Information is held in swool.io because they are a client, learner, member, swimmer, parent, guardian, contact, or other end-user of a swim school, club, studio, or other service provider using swool.io, the request should usually be directed to that service provider. That service provider is generally responsible for deciding whether the Personal Information should be accessed, corrected, deleted, or retained.

10.3 If Solunetix receives a request relating to Personal Information managed by one of its customers, Solunetix may refer the requester to the relevant customer or service provider, or may assist the relevant customer with the request where reasonably required and where Solunetix is authorised to do so.

10.4 Where Solunetix receives a valid deletion request from a customer in respect of Personal Information held in swool.io on that customer’s behalf, Solunetix will delete or de-identify the relevant Personal Information within a reasonable period, unless retention is required or permitted for legal, regulatory, tax, accounting, security, fraud-prevention, dispute-resolution, backup, or legitimate business purposes.

10.5 Some information may remain in backups, logs, invoices, transaction records, support records, audit records, or other legally required business records for the retention periods described in this policy, but will not be used for ordinary account activity after deletion.

 

11. Company Information Officer and Complaints

11.1 hello@swool.io (email)

11.2 hello@solunetix.co.za (email)

11.3 If you believe your Personal Information has been processed unlawfully, you may lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator (South Africa): Woodmead North Office Park, 54 Maxwell Drive, Woodmead, Johannesburg, 2191; POPIAComplaints@inforegulator.org.za; enquiries@inforegulator.org.za; 010 023 5200; https://inforegulator.org.za/.

 

12. Declaration and Informed Consent

12.1 I declare that all Personal Information supplied to Solunetix for the purposes of performing its services and related legal and operational reasons is accurate, up to date, not misleading, and complete in all respects.

12.2 I undertake to immediately advise Solunetix of any changes to my Personal Information should any of these details change.

12.3 I furthermore acknowledge and agree that Solunetix may process my Personal Information for the purposes set out in this policy, including the provision of services, support, administration, compliance, and, where permitted by law, direct marketing communications with an unsubscribe facility.