Privacy Notice

This Privacy Notice explains how the practice of Dr Matthew Hannington Inc. processes your personal information through interactions with our website in accordance with the requirements of the Protection of Personal Information Act, 4 of 2013. We are committed to protecting your privacy and ensure that your personal information is processed properly, lawfully, and transparently. The policy explains the steps taken to protect personal information collected through interactions with us through our website at https://www.capegeneralsurgeon.co.za

The Privacy Notice describes the type of personal information we collect, the purposes for which it is used, your rights regarding personal information about you, security measures and how you can review, object, and correct your personal information. We encourage all persons to read this Privacy Notice. By using our website services, you acknowledge that you understand and agree to be bound by this Privacy Notice and agree that Dr Matthew Hannington Inc. may collect, process, transfer, use and disclose personal information as described in this Privacy Notice.

If you do not agree with any part of this privacy notice, you should not use our website services.

Personal Information

As per the Protection of Personal Information Act, 4 of 2013, “Personal Information” refers to information relating to an identifiable, living, natural person, and where it is applicable, an identifiable, existing juristic person.

What Personal Information Do We Collect?

Personal information that we collect when you visit our website may include but not be limited to:

  • Name
  • Email Address
  • Contact Details
  • Medical aid details
  • Private and Confidential Information relating to Medical Conditions.

You are not required to provide all this information. However, if you choose not to, we may not be able to provide you with effective service. If you provide us with personal information of third parties, please make sure that you are authorised to do so or are a parent or guardian of a child and able to provide the requisite consent.

When you browse our website, we may also collect information about your computer and your visits to the Website such as your IP address, geographical location, browser type, computing device for example tablet, personal computer, smartphone, the website you came from, length of visit and number of page views. We use this information to better understand how visitors use our website and how this can be improved to better meet your needs, as well as to gauge interest in our products and services and to improve our security measures. In some cases, where you submit a web form such as to request more information, we can link this data to your email address. Special personal information is processed in accordance with the legal requirements relating to such information.

The information will only be collected and processed:

  • with your consent.
  • if the processing is necessary for the establishment, exercise or defence of a right or obligation in law.
  • the processing is necessary to comply with an obligation of international public law;
  • If any of the authorisations set out in s28 – s33 of POPIA exist.

We will always ensure that the processing of special personal information is done in a way that does not adversely affect your privacy to a disproportionate extent. We will not use or disclose special personal information for purposes other than those for which it was collected unless we subsequently receive your consent to use it for another purpose.

Generally, the collection will occur when you submit a request on our website.

In some circumstances, it may be necessary for us to collect personal information about you from a third party. Where this occurs, we will rely on the authority (through consent or law) of the person providing us with the personal information. By providing your personal information to us, you will be deemed to have consented to your personal information being collected by us and used and disclosed in accordance with this Privacy Notice.

You must let us know immediately if you become aware that your personal information has been provided to us without your consent or if you did not obtain the consent of another person or persons to provide us with their personal information.

We will only process your personal information for lawful purposes, and it may be used for the following purposes:

  • to administer a service to you
  • to make an appointment
  • to assess any medical treatment that you may require
  • to provide you with advice
  • to respond to your enquiries and/or requests

Dr Matthew Hannington Inc. does not sell, re-sell or distribute your personal information for re-sale. We strive to maintain the quality, accuracy, and completeness of your personal information which we process. The quality of personal information degrades over time, and you can assist us by contacting us if there are any changes to your personal information or if you become aware that we have inaccurate personal information of you. We will not be held responsible for any losses arising from poor quality personal information which is inaccurate or incomplete, that is provided to us by yourself or person acting on your behalf.

Disclosure of Personal Information

In certain instances, we provide your personal information to third parties. We do not sell, rent, or trade any personal information to any third parties. We will only disclose your personal information to third parties as per the information set out in this Privacy Notice. We will not disclose any personal information without your consent unless we reasonably believe that the disclosure is required in terms of an obligation imposed by law, if it is necessary for the proper performance of a public law duty by a public body, to protect your legitimate interest or the legitimate interest of us or a third party or if you have specifically requested us to do so.

Transborder Flow of Personal Information.

In certain instances, we may disclose your personal information to third parties that are based in foreign countries. The transfer of this information will only be completed if:

  • the third party who is the recipient of the information is subject to a law, binding corporate
    rules or binding agreement which provide an adequate level of protection.
  • You consent to such transfer.
  • The transfer is for your benefit, and it is not reasonably practicable to obtain your consent to
    that transfer; and if it were reasonably practicable to obtain such consent, you would be likely
    to give it.

Although we will take every precaution, it is possible that your personal information will be transferred to a third party in a foreign country that is in a jurisdiction where you will not be able to seek redress under POPIA, and it does not have an equivalent level of data protection as in South Africa. We will not be held liable for how such third parties process your personal information.

Security

Dr Matthew Hannington Inc. is committed to protecting the security of personal information. While no security measures can guarantee against compromise, we use a variety of security technologies and procedures to help protect data from unauthorised access, use, or disclosure. Although these measures are in place, the transmission of data over the internet is never completely secure and as such we cannot guarantee the security of data transmitted to or by Dr Matthew Hannington Inc-.

We have implemented and maintain appropriate technical and organisational measures to ensure a level of security appropriate to protect personal information and prevent:

  • loss of, damage to or unauthorised destruction of personal information; and
  • unlawful access to or processing of personal information.

Retention of Data

Dr Matthew Hannington Inc. will retain personal information only for as long as is necessary for

the purposes set out in this Privacy Notice unless there is a valid technical, legal, or business
reason for it to be deleted, destroyed or de-identified.

We may keep some of your personal information:

  • For as long as it is required by law
  • If it is required by a code of conduct
  • If it is reasonably needed for lawful purposes related to our functions and activities; or
  • If it is reasonably required for evidentiary purposes

Cookies, Device Data, and How it is Used

Cookies are small files that websites save to your hard disk or to your web browser’s memory. A cookie contains limited information, usually a unique identifier and the name of the website. When you use our website, we may use them to track how many times you have visited the website, to track the number of visitors to the website, your activity within the website, unique identifiers associated with your device, to store data you provide and to store technical information related to interactions with the website. Our cookies can only be read by Dr Matthew Hannington Inc., they do not contain any code or viruses, and they do not contain any personal information.

We may automatically collect the following information about your use of the website through cookies, web beacons, and other technologies:

  • Domain name.
  • Browser type and operating system.
  • Web pages you view.
  • Links you click on.
  • IP address.
  • Length of time to visit the website.
  • Referring URL or the webpage that led you to the website.

We may also use session cookies, which are deleted when you close your browser, to store your user identification, to facilitate your movement around the website and other information useful in administering the session.

You may modify your browser setting to decline cookies or to notify you when a cookie is being placed on your computer or device. If you choose not to accept cookies, you may not be able to experience all the features of our website.

Links to Other Websites

Our website may contain links to other websites, including those of other companies. Although we try to link only to websites that share our high standards and respect for privacy, we do not control and are not responsible for the content, security or privacy practices employed by other websites. You should review the Privacy Policies of those websites to determine how they protect and use personal information. You hereby acknowledge and agree that Dr Matthew Hannington Inc. is not responsible for the privacy practices, data collection policies & procedures, or the content of such third-party sites, and you hereby release Dr Matthew Hannington Inc. from any and all claims arising out of or related to the privacy practices, data collection policies and procedures, and/or the content of such third-party sites.

The Right to be Notified

  • You have the right to be notified when your personal information has been accessed or
    acquired by an unauthorised person.
  • When this occurs, we will notify the Information Regulator and you of the breach as soon as
    reasonably possible after discovering the breach.
  • This will be communicated to you in one of the following ways:
  • By mail (to last known address)
  • By email (to last known email address)
  • Placed in a prominent position on our website.
  • Published in the news or media.
  • As may be directed by the Information Regulator.

The Right to Establish Whether We Hold Your Personal Information and to Request Access to Such Information

  • You have the right to be informed of whether we process personal information of you, receive
    a copy of such information and how we process your personal information.
  • You can also request the above relating to any third parties.
  • To do this, please use the contact details set out at the bottom of this Privacy Notice and
    specify what information you require.
  • We will try and provide you with suitable means of accessing the requested information,
    where you are entitled to it.
  • Note that you will be requested to provide identification before we can consider such
    requests
  • Requests for the personal information we hold will be done free of charge however a fee may
    apply for such information processed by third parties.

There may be instances where we cannot grant access to your personal information. If we refuse access, we will give written reasons for the refusal.

The Right to Request Correction, Destruction or Deletion of Personal Information

  • You may request us to correct or delete any information that is inaccurate, irrelevant, excessive, out of date, incomplete, misleading, or obtained illegally.
  • If you believe that any personal information that we hold about you is excessive or has been unlawfully obtained or that we are no longer authorised to retain it, you may ask us to destroy or delete it.
  • If we do not agree that there are grounds for action, you may ask us to add a note to the personal information stating that you disagree with it.
  • We will require a copy of your identification document to confirm your identity before we will release this information.
  • Once this is completed, we will notify you of such.

The Right to Object to Processing in Certain Circumstances

  • You may object at any time to the processing of your personal information in the prescribed
    form on reasonable grounds to your situation unless legislation prohibits such objection.
  • You can object to the processing of your personal information for the purposes of direct
    marketing at any time.

The Right to Submit a Complaint to the Information Regulator
Any person may submit a complaint to the Information Regulator alleging interference with the protection of the personal information of a data subject.

Interference with the protection of personal information means:

o Any breach of the 8 conditions for the lawful processing of personal information
o Non-compliance with section 22
o A breach of the provisions of a code of conduct (currently only one for the Credit Bureau)

The Right to Institute Civil Proceedings

  • You (or the Information Regulator at the request of yourself) may institute civil proceedings for
    damages against you for a breach which you deem to be interference with the protection of your
    personal information.

The Right to Restrict the Processing of Personal Information
We will restrict the processing of Personal Information in the following circumstances:

  • You have contested the accuracy of personal information, for a period which enables us to
    verify the accuracy of the information,
  • The processing is unlawful, and you oppose the destruction or deletion and request us to
    restrict it instead
  • You have requested us to transmit the personal data into another automated processing
    system

All requests must be made in the prescribed manner and form. The various forms are available from the Information Regulator.

Complaints to the Information Regulator

If you would like to make a compliant to the Information Regulator about the processing of your personal information, complete Form 5 available on the website of the Information Regulator.

The Information Regulator’s details are as follows:
https://inforegulator.org.za
Email: Enquiries @inforegulator.org.za

Changes to this Privacy Notice

Dr Matthew Hannington Inc. may occasionally update this Privacy Notice. When we do, we will revise the “last updated” date as set out below.
This Privacy Notice was last updated on 27/10/2025.

Contact Us If you have questions regarding this Privacy Notice or our handling of personal information, please contact us as follows:

Information Officer: Dr Matthew Hannington
Email: info@capegeneralsurgeon.co.za

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