Rent-a-Skill ("we", "us") runs the online marketplace at rentaskill.co.za, where people offer their skills and others find and hire them. This policy explains what personal information we collect, why, how we protect it and the choices you have. We process personal information in line with South Africa's Protection of Personal Information Act, 2013 (POPIA).
1. Information we collect
Information you give us
- Account details — your name, phone number, optional email address, password (stored only as a secure hash), province, city and town, and whether you are a professional or a seeker.
- Profile content — for professionals: headline, biography, skills, rates, experience, availability, profile photo and portfolio items; for seekers: optional company name and biography.
- Marketplace activity — job requests (listings) you post, applications and quotes, bookings, reviews and ratings, and messages you exchange with other members.
- Enquiries — what you send us through the contact or advertising forms.
Information collected automatically
- Technical data — IP address, browser type, device information and pages visited, used to run, secure and improve the site.
- Cookies — see our Cookie Policy.
2. How we use your information
- To create and manage your account and verify your email address.
- To show your public profile or listing and let other members find, contact, book and review you.
- To deliver messages and booking updates between members.
- To keep the platform safe — moderating listings and reviews, preventing fraud and abuse, and enforcing our Terms of Service.
- To answer your questions and support requests.
- To show advertising that helps keep Rent-a-Skill free (see section 5).
- To meet legal obligations.
We rely on your consent, the performance of our agreement with you, our legitimate interest in running a safe marketplace, and legal obligations as the lawful grounds for this processing.
3. What other people can see
Professional profiles (name, photo, headline, biography, city, skills, rates, portfolio, job history and reviews) and approved job requests are public and may appear in search engines. Your phone number and email address are never shown publicly; a member's phone number is shared with the other party only once they are connected through a booking or an accepted application. Seeker profile pages are not indexed by search engines.
4. Sharing your information
We do not sell your personal information. We share it only:
- with other members, as described above, when you use the marketplace;
- with service providers who host the site, send email, provide advertising and measure site use, under contracts that require them to protect it;
- when required by law, or to protect the rights and safety of our members and the public.
5. Advertising and analytics
We may show advertisements provided by Google AdSense. Google and its partners use cookies to serve ads based on your prior visits to this and other websites. Google's use of advertising cookies enables it and its partners to serve ads based on your visits to our site and/or other sites on the Internet. You can opt out of personalised advertising by visiting Google Ads Settings, or opt out of third-party vendors' use of cookies for personalised advertising at www.aboutads.info. Learn more in how Google uses information from sites that use its services. When ads are enabled you can also choose "Essential only" in our cookie banner to receive non-personalised ads.
We also use Google Analytics to understand how the site is used (for example, which pages are visited and how people find us), so we can improve it. Google Analytics only sets cookies if you choose "Accept all" in our cookie banner; until then it receives only anonymous, cookieless signals. We never send it the private links in password-reset emails, newsletter emails, quotes or invoices. You can also use the Google Analytics opt-out browser add-on.
6. How long we keep information
We keep your information while your account is active. When an account is removed we delete or anonymise the contact details and keep only what we need for legal, security and record-keeping purposes (for example, bookings and reviews that involve other members).
7. Security
We use HTTPS encryption, hashed passwords, access controls for staff, rate limiting and regular updates to protect your information. No system is perfectly secure, so please use a strong, unique password and tell us straight away if you suspect misuse of your account.
8. Your rights
Under POPIA you may ask to access the personal information we hold about you, ask us to correct or delete it, object to certain processing, and withdraw consent at any time. You can update most details yourself in your dashboard. For anything else, email support@rentaskill.co.za. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator of South Africa (inforegulator.org.za).
9. Children
Rent-a-Skill is intended for people aged 18 and over. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children.
10. Changes to this policy
We may update this policy from time to time. We will post the new version on this page and change the "last updated" date; significant changes will be highlighted on the site or sent by email.
11. Contact
Questions about privacy? Contact our information officer at support@rentaskill.co.za or through our contact page.