Privacy Policy

1. Who we are and this policy

WorkHook (https://workhook.co.za) is operated by PIL DM (Pty) Ltd, a private company registered in South Africa. We are the responsible party for personal information processed through WorkHook, as defined in the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 (POPIA).

This policy explains what personal information we collect, why, who we share it with, how long we keep it and your rights. It applies to visitors, work seekers, employers, private people posting work and advertisers. Please also read our Terms and Conditions.

Information Officer: support@pilmobi.com
Address: Centurion, Gauteng, South Africa

2. Information we collect

You give us:

• Account details: name, email, phone, country, city, password (stored only as a one-way encrypted hash) and any referral code.
• Work seeker profile: headline, summary, skills, job titles you want, work experience, qualifications and NQF level, references (names, relationship and contact details), CVs, cover letter, short profile and an optional photo.
• Employer details: business or private name, contact person, phone, email, website, logo and description.
• Applications and quotes: your message, quote amount, start date, the CV you attach and the outcome the employer records (for example shortlisted, interview, hired).
• Listings, adverts and images you publish, and reports you send about adverts.
• Payments: what you bought, amount, date and payment reference. Your card details are captured by Paystack, not by us.
• Ratings you leave for a worker: stars, comment, your name and an email address or phone number (the contact detail is only seen by our team, to check genuine ratings).
• High fives, vouches and badge recommendations you give, with the vouch note you write.
• Messages you send to businesses or workers through the Hello Pages (with your name, email and phone, so they can reply), and messages you send us by email or WhatsApp.
• Basic accounts ("Just register"): name, email, cell number, country, city and password.

We collect automatically: IP address, browser and device type, pages visited, login times, listing and advert view counts, and error logs. See Cookies.

Special personal information: we do not ask for race, religion, health, disability, political views, trade union membership, biometric data or criminal records. Please leave these out of your profile and CV unless you want employers to see them; if you include them, you consent to us showing them to the employers you apply to. Your photo is shown only if you choose.

Other people's information: if you add references or other people's details, confirm with them first that they agree.

3. Why we use it

We process personal information only for these purposes, on the lawful grounds in section 11 of POPIA:

• To create and run your account, show your profile, listings and adverts, and send applications and quotes to employers - to perform our agreement with you.
• To let employers find you in Find workers - with your consent, which you give and withdraw with the "Let employers find me" box.
• To build your profile, cover letter or short profile with AI - at your request.
• To take payments, renew plans you chose to renew, issue receipts and keep accounting records - agreement and legal obligation.
• To send service emails (password resets, application updates, receipts) and, if WhatsApp notifications are switched on, WhatsApp messages about your applications and listings - agreement.
• To keep WorkHook safe: preventing fraud and scams, moderating content, investigating reports and enforcing our Terms - our legitimate interest and yours.
• To improve WorkHook using usage statistics - legitimate interest.
• To send news and offers - only with your consent or as an existing customer, with an opt-out in every message (section 69 of POPIA).

4. Who sees your information

• The public: your listings and adverts; your public profile (unless you make it private); and, if you opted in to Find workers, your first name, surname initial, headline, area and skills.
• Employers: everything in an application you send them; and, if you opted in to Find workers, your full profile and CV when they are logged in.
• Work seekers and the public: employer and advertiser contact details you choose to publish. In the Hello Pages, phone numbers, email addresses and WhatsApp links are only shown to logged-in users, and each business or private person chooses which details are shown. Private people who add themselves to the Hello Pages are shown with the name, offer, area and details they choose.
• Ratings: the stars, comment and the rater's first name and surname initial are public on the worker's profile; the worker may reply.
• Vouches: your first name and surname initial, your business or role and town, and your vouch note are public in the “Who vouched” list. High fives and badge recommendations are shown only as totals.
• Service providers (operators) who process information for us under contract, confidentially and securely: our web hosting and email providers; Paystack (payments); Anthropic (the Claude AI service, only when you use an AI feature); Meta (WhatsApp Business messages); Tiny Technologies (the text editor); Jitsi (free video interview links); Google (website fonts).
• Authorities where the law requires it, or to protect someone's safety or prevent fraud.
• A buyer of our business, under the same protections, if WorkHook is ever sold.

We do not sell your personal information.

5. Information sent outside South Africa

Some of our service providers store or process information outside South Africa - for example Anthropic and Google in the United States, Meta in the United States and Ireland, and Paystack in Nigeria and other countries where its partners operate. We use providers that are bound by data-protection laws, binding agreements or policies that give protection substantially similar to POPIA, as section 72 requires. When you use an AI feature, the CV or profile text you choose is sent to Anthropic to produce the result.

6. Ranking and automated decisions

WorkHook orders search results by simple rules you can see: boosted items first (highest boost first), then advanced members, then most recent. AI drafts content only when you ask and you approve it before it is saved. We do not make automated decisions that have legal or similarly significant effects on you, such as rejecting an application (section 71 of POPIA). Hiring decisions are made by employers.

7. How long we keep it

• Your account and profile: while your account is open. If you close it, we delete or anonymise it within 30 days.
• Applications: while either account involved is open. Copies already emailed to an employer stay with that employer, who is responsible for them.
• Payment and invoice records: 5 years, as tax law requires.
• Server, security and email logs: up to 12 months.
• Backups: overwritten on a rolling cycle, usually within 90 days.
• Longer only where the law requires it or to deal with a dispute.

8. How we protect it

We use HTTPS encryption, hashed passwords, access-controlled storage for CVs and photos (they are never public files), separate admin logins with inactivity time-outs and an audit log of admin actions. No system is completely secure; if a security compromise affects your personal information, we will notify you and the Information Regulator as section 22 of POPIA requires.

9. Your rights

Under POPIA you may:

• ask whether we hold information about you and for a copy of it;
• ask us to correct or delete information that is wrong, out of date or no longer needed;
• object to processing based on our legitimate interests, and to direct marketing at any time;
• withdraw consent (for example, untick "Let employers find me" or "Show my photo");
• complain to the Information Regulator.

You can update most information yourself on your profile pages. For anything else, contact our Information Officer: support@pilmobi.com. We may ask you to confirm your identity, and will respond within 30 days. Requests for records may also be made under the Promotion of Access to Information Act 2 of 2000 (PAIA); our PAIA manual is available on request.

Information Regulator (South Africa): inforegulator.org.za - its website lists the current complaint forms and email addresses.

10. Cookies and similar technology

WorkHook uses only what it needs to work. We do not use advertising or tracking cookies.

• WORKHOOK (session cookie): keeps you logged in and protects forms. Deleted when you close your browser or log out. Essential.
• wh_ref: remembers a referral code from a link you followed, so the person who referred you gets credit when you sign up. Kept up to 60 days.
• App cache (service worker): stores the site's design files on your device so the app loads fast and shows an offline page. You can clear it in your browser settings.
• Browser storage: small, non-personal preferences such as messages shown once.

Our pages load fonts from Google and, on editing pages, the text editor from Tiny Technologies; those providers receive your IP address when your browser fetches those files.

11. Children

WorkHook is for people aged 18 and older. We do not knowingly collect information about children. If you believe a child has created an account, tell us and we will remove it.

12. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy. The date at the top shows the latest version. If a change materially affects how we use your information, we will tell you by email or on WorkHook before it takes effect.

13. Contact us

PIL DM (Pty) Ltd
Centurion, Gauteng, South Africa
Email: support@pilmobi.com
Phone: 0812797823
Information Officer: support@pilmobi.com