Privacy & POPIA notice

1. Who is responsible

TrueScope Build is the responsible party for personal information processed through this website and its quote-review service. Our Information Officer contact channel is enquiries@truescopebuild.co.za. “We”, “us” and “our” refer to TrueScope Build.

2. Information we process

• Contact and account information: name, email address, telephone number, account identifiers and authentication records when accounts are activated.
• Project and document information: project type, province, approximate area, quote value, contractor quotes, bills of quantities, drawings, specifications, photographs and instructions you choose to provide.
• Transaction information: selected service, price, consent record, invoice and refund records, and the Yoco transaction reference and payment status. Yoco processes payment credentials; TrueScope does not receive or store full card details.
• Communications: enquiries, support messages, complaints, consent choices and records of our response.
• Technical and usage information: IP address, browser/device information, request and security logs, and essential local-storage choices needed to operate and protect the site.
• Derived information: structured quote data, risk flags, comparison ranges and report outputs produced from the information supplied.

3. Free tools, member portal and Smart checkout

The public Free Tools Library runs in your browser and does not accept or upload a document. The DIY Quote Comparison Planner uses only the headline totals, broad scope classifications, allowance assumptions and commercial terms you enter manually. It does not read, extract, verify or benchmark contractor documents. Free-tool entries and results are not sent to us by those tools.

The member portal is different: registration creates an authenticated account and quotes submitted from the dashboard are stored in private cloud storage linked to that account. Uploading alone does not start AI analysis. For Smart Quote Breakdown or Smart Multi-Quote Analysis, you must select the service, accept the Terms and early-performance consent, and complete Yoco's hosted checkout. Analysis starts only after TrueScope receives Yoco's signed payment confirmation, after which the selected documents are sent securely to our AI-processing provider for the review described below.

4. Why and on what basis we process it

We process information only for a specific, lawful purpose and use an appropriate ground under POPIA, including your consent, steps requested before or needed to perform a contract, compliance with law, or our legitimate interests where those interests do not unjustifiably prejudice you.

• to provide, personalise and support a quote review;
• to create accounts, authenticate users and deliver reports;
• to process payments, refunds and tax or accounting records;
• to communicate about an enquiry or purchased service;
• to secure, troubleshoot and improve the service;
• to prevent fraud, misuse and unlawful activity; and
• to comply with legal obligations and enforce our terms.

We will not send unsolicited electronic direct marketing unless POPIA permits it. Where consent is required, marketing consent will be separate, optional and capable of withdrawal.

5. Sources and required information

We collect information directly from you, your authorised representative, your device, and service providers involved in authentication, hosting or payment, including Yoco's payment-status notifications. Information marked as required is needed to provide the requested service or meet a legal duty. If it is not supplied, we may be unable to open an account, assess the document or complete the transaction.

6. Who may receive it

Access is limited to authorised TrueScope personnel and vetted operators who need it for the stated purpose. Information may be shared with hosting and security providers, account/authentication providers, communication/support providers, AI or document-processing providers, professional reviewers engaged for the service, advisers, and public authorities where law requires it. Yoco receives the information needed to host checkout and process Smart-service payments. OpenAI currently provides the AI document-analysis service when a member requests analysis. We do not sell personal information or contractor leads.

Service providers must act under suitable confidentiality, security and data-protection terms. If information is processed outside South Africa, we will use a lawful POPIA mechanism and require protection that is substantially similar to POPIA or otherwise permitted by section 72.

7. Automated and AI-assisted processing

AI helps extract, organise and explain information in a quote, check internal arithmetic, identify unclear scope and payment terms, and prepare questions for the contractor. A rate comparison is shown only when an item can be matched to a dated, curated benchmark source held by TrueScope. If no verified match is available, the report says so and does not invent a market range.

Analysis requests are sent with provider response storage disabled. Temporary provider files are configured to expire after one hour and the worker also attempts to delete them immediately after processing. OpenAI states that API data is not used to train its models unless the customer opts in; under its standard service controls, content may still be retained in abuse-monitoring logs for up to 30 days. Outputs can be incomplete or wrong and should be checked before a building or payment decision. We do not intend to make a solely automated decision that produces legal or similarly significant effects for you. See the professional disclaimer.

8. Retention and deletion

We keep account, project, uploaded-document and report information only while needed for the requested service, account access, dispute handling, security, or a legal retention period. Transaction and tax records may be kept for the applicable statutory period. You may request deletion or de-identification through the contact channel below; we will assess the request against legal and operational retention duties. We securely delete or de-identify information when retention is no longer authorised.

9. Security and incidents

We use reasonable technical and organisational safeguards appropriate to the sensitivity of the information, including access controls, provider due diligence, secure transmission and controlled retention. No online system is risk-free. If a security compromise affects your personal information, we will investigate and notify the Information Regulator and affected data subjects as required by POPIA.

10. Your rights

Subject to POPIA and PAIA, you may ask whether we hold personal information about you; request access; ask for correction, deletion or destruction of information that is inaccurate, irrelevant, excessive, outdated, incomplete, misleading, unlawfully obtained or no longer authorised; object to certain processing; withdraw consent without affecting earlier lawful processing; object to direct marketing; and complain to the Information Regulator.

We may need reasonable proof of identity before acting. Access may be limited where law protects another person’s privacy, confidential commercial information, legal privilege or another protected interest.

11. Children and third-party information

The service is intended for adults aged 18 or older. Do not provide children’s personal information unless you are legally authorised and the information is genuinely necessary. If documents contain information about a contractor, employee or other third party, you must be entitled to share it and should remove unnecessary identity, banking or special personal information.

12. Complaints and changes

Please contact us first so we can try to resolve a concern. You may also complain to the South African Information Regulator through its official channels at inforegulator.org.za. We may update this notice when the service, providers or law changes; the effective date and version above show the current publication.