1. Who we are
Justibly (“we”, “us”) operates the website justibly.co.za, an independent directory of South African attorneys. We are the responsible party under POPIA for the personal information processed through this website. You can contact our Information Officer by email at justibly.legal@gmail.com.
2. What we collect
We collect only what we need to run the service:
- Public LPC register data - names, practice numbers, firm associations, admission year, practising status, and disciplinary findings for practising attorneys. This data is already public.
- Account information - name, email and (for attorneys) LPC membership number, when you register or sign in with Google.
- Attorney profile edits - bio, photo, contact details, languages and practice specialisations that a claimed attorney voluntarily uploads.
- Enquiries you send- the content of messages, names and phone numbers when you use an enquiry form, consultation request or review feature. Most attorney profiles on Justibly have not been claimed by the attorney they describe. An enquiry sent to an unclaimed profile is stored by us and is not sent to, or seen by, that attorney unless and until they later claim the profile - see “Sharing” below and our POPIA Notice.
- Feedback you submit - if you answer the short feedback prompt that can appear while browsing, we store your answer, any optional comment, the page it appeared on, and, only if you choose to give it, an email address to reply to. We do not use this email for marketing.
- Email list sign-up- if you sign up to be notified about new legal guides and answers, we store your email address, the fact that you consented, when, and the IP address and browser used at the time, as evidence of that consent. You can unsubscribe at any time - see “Your rights” below.
- Technical data - IP address, browser type, device, referring page, and interactions with the site, collected via cookies and server logs. We also log the text of searches you run on the site and how many results they returned, without any IP address or account link, so we can see what people are searching for that the directory does not yet serve.
3. Why we process it (POPIA lawful basis)
We rely on the following grounds under POPIA section 11:
- Performance of a contract - providing the directory, enabling enquiries, delivering paid subscription features to attorneys.
- Legitimate interests - securing the site, preventing abuse, measuring usage to improve the product.
- Compliance with law - responding to lawful requests, maintaining financial records, publishing public LPC disciplinary findings.
- Consent - where you opt into marketing emails, non-essential cookies, or submit your information through a review or enquiry.
4. How long we keep it
Account data is retained for as long as your account is active and for up to 36 months after closure to comply with our tax and record-keeping obligations. Enquiries and support correspondence are kept for 24 months. Server logs with IP addresses are rotated within 90 days unless retained for fraud investigation. Public LPC data is refreshed regularly and purged when an attorney is struck from the register.
5. Sharing
We share personal information only with operators who help us run the service: hosting (Vercel), email delivery, analytics, payment processing (for paid subscriptions), and Google for authentication if you sign in with Google. Each operator is contractually bound to use the data only to provide services to us. We do not sell personal information.
Enquiries to an unclaimed attorney profile.Most attorneys listed on Justibly have not created an account or claimed their profile, so they have not agreed to receive enquiries through the site and, for the large majority, we do not even hold a working email address for them. When you send an enquiry to an unclaimed profile, we store it for the purpose of showing it to that attorney if they later claim the profile - we do not send, forward or otherwise disclose it to anyone before that point. If the attorney never claims the profile, the enquiry is simply retained (see “How long we keep it”) and never reaches anyone beyond Justibly.
If an attorney has claimed a profile and enabled contact, the personal information you include in an enquiry sent to that profile is shared with that attorney at the time you submit it. The attorney becomes an independent responsible party for how they subsequently process your information.
6. Your rights under POPIA
You have the right to:
- access the personal information we hold about you;
- request correction or deletion of inaccurate information;
- object to processing based on legitimate interests;
- withdraw consent for marketing or non-essential cookies - emailing us to unsubscribe from the email list deletes your stored email address and consent record, not just stops future emails;
- lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator (SA) at inforegulator.org.za.
To exercise any of these rights, email justibly.legal@gmail.com. We respond within 30 days.
7. International transfers
Our hosting and email providers are based outside South Africa. Where personal information is transferred cross-border, we only use providers who offer comparable data-protection safeguards as required by POPIA section 72.
8. Security
We use TLS encryption in transit, access controls, and regular backups. No system is fully immune to compromise - if we discover a breach that affects your information, we'll notify you and the Information Regulator as required by POPIA.
9. Children
Justibly is not intended for users under the age of 18. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If a parent or guardian believes a child has submitted information, email us and we will delete it.
10. Cookies
Details of the cookies we set are in our Cookie Policy.
11. Changes
We may update this policy. The “Last updated” date at the top of the page reflects the latest revision. Continued use of Justibly after a change constitutes acceptance of the revised policy.
Questions? Contact us or email justibly.legal@gmail.com.