Privacy Policy

Effective Date: 8 March 2026 | Last Updated: 16 April 2026

This Privacy Policy explains how Rapid Costing Solutions (Pty) Ltd, trading as Cost Consulting ("we", "us", "our"), collects, uses, stores, and protects your personal information in accordance with the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 (POPIA) of South Africa.

1. Information Officer

Responsible Party: Rapid Costing Solutions (Pty) Ltd
Email: info@costconsulting.co.za
Location: Pretoria, South Africa
Registered address available upon request.

For any privacy-related queries, please contact our Information Officer at the email address above.

In relation to personal information processed on behalf of our users (including matter data and client information entered into the Service), we act as an operator as defined in POPIA and process such information only on the instructions of the user, who acts as the responsible party. For personal information we collect directly (such as account and billing information), we act as the responsible party.

2. Personal Information We Collect

We collect the following categories of personal information:

Account Information: Name, surname, email address, phone number, company name, language preference
Authentication Data: Encrypted passwords, session tokens
Billing Information: Subscription details, payment history, invoicing records
Matter Data: Legal matter details, client information, court details, billing items entered by users in the course of using the service
Usage Data: Log files, IP addresses, browser type, pages visited (via Google Analytics)

3. Purpose of Processing

We process your personal information for the following purposes:

Service Delivery: To provide and maintain the Cost Consulting platform, including bill of costs preparation, matter management, and document generation
Account Management: To create and manage your user account, authenticate your identity, and provide customer support
Billing and Payments: To process subscription fees, generate invoices, and manage payment transactions
Communication: To send service-related notifications, updates, and support correspondence
Analytics: To understand how the service is used and to improve its functionality
Legal Compliance: To comply with applicable laws and regulations

We will not process personal information for purposes incompatible with those listed above. Users are responsible for ensuring that they have the necessary legal basis to process any personal information entered into the Service.

4. Legal Basis for Processing

We process your personal information on the following legal grounds under POPIA:

Consent: You consent to processing when you register for an account and accept our Terms and Conditions
Contract Performance: Processing is necessary for the performance of the subscription agreement between you and Cost Consulting
Legitimate Interest: Processing for analytics and service improvement, where this does not override your rights
Legal Obligation: Where required by South African law

5. Data Sharing and Third Parties

We may share your personal information with the following third parties:

Payment Gateway (PayFast): To process subscription payments securely. PayFast processes payment information under their own privacy policy.
Google Analytics: We use Google Analytics to collect pseudonymised usage data, which may include identifiers such as IP address and device information, to improve our service. You may opt out via our cookie consent mechanism.
Hosting Providers: Our infrastructure providers who host and maintain the platform, bound by data processing agreements

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

Personal information may be transferred to and processed in countries outside South Africa where our third-party service providers operate. We take reasonable steps to ensure that such transfers comply with POPIA and that adequate safeguards are in place to protect your personal information.

6. Data Retention

We retain your personal information for as long as your account is active or as needed to provide our services. Upon termination of your account:

Account and billing data is retained for a period of 5 years to comply with South African financial and tax legislation
You are responsible for exporting any required matter data prior to account closure. You may request an export within 30 days of termination. After closure, matter data is retained for 12 months before permanent deletion in accordance with our data retention obligations
Usage logs and analytics data are retained in anonymised form

7. Security Measures

We implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal information, including:

HTTPS encryption for all data in transit
Encrypted password storage
Session-based authentication with automatic expiry
Regular secure database backups
Access controls limiting data access to authorised personnel on a need-to-know basis

In the event of a data breach involving personal information, we will notify affected users and, where required by POPIA, the Information Regulator, without unreasonable delay.

8. Your Rights as a Data Subject

Under POPIA, you have the following rights:

Right of Access: You may request confirmation of whether we hold your personal information and request access to it
Right to Correction: You may request correction of inaccurate, irrelevant, excessive, out-of-date, incomplete, or misleading personal information
Right to Deletion: You may request deletion of your personal information, subject to legal retention requirements
Right to Object: You may object to the processing of your personal information on reasonable grounds
Right to Data Portability: You may request that we provide your data in a structured, commonly used format
Right to Withdraw Consent: Where processing is based on consent, you may withdraw consent at any time

To exercise any of these rights, please contact our Information Officer at info@costconsulting.co.za.

9. Cookies

Our website uses cookies and similar technologies. For detailed information about the cookies we use and how to manage them, please see our Cookie Policy.

10. Children's Information

Cost Consulting is a business-to-business service intended for use by legal professionals. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under the age of 18. If we become aware that a child has provided us with personal information, we will take steps to delete such information.

11. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify registered users of material changes via email or an in-application notice. The updated policy will be effective from the date stated at the top of this page.

12. Complaints

If you are not satisfied with how we handle your personal information, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator (South Africa):

Email: enquiries@inforegulator.org.za
Website: https://inforegulator.org.za

You also have the right to seek legal remedies in accordance with applicable law.