Privacy Policy

1. Who we are

EstateWise is estate administration software for South African professional firms and estate practitioners. We are committed to protecting personal information in accordance with the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 (POPIA). This policy explains what information we collect, why we collect it, and how it is handled.

2. Scope of this policy

This policy applies to information processed through the EstateWise platform, including the web application and any associated services. It applies to firms and their users, and to estate-related information entered on behalf of deceased persons, beneficiaries, and heirs.

3. Account and profile information

When you create an account, we collect your name, email address, and authentication credentials. Firm administrators may additionally provide firm name and contact details. Practitioner profiles may include identity number (last four digits stored for form pre-population) and signing city.

4. Estate and client information

The platform is designed to hold detailed estate administration information, which may include: deceased person details (full name, identity number, date of birth and death, marital status, domicile), executor details, beneficiary and heir details, asset and liability information, and estate correspondence.

This information is entered by authorised firm users and practitioners in the course of administering an estate. EstateWise processes this information on behalf of the firm.

5. Uploaded documents

Firms and users may upload supporting documents including wills, death certificates, identity documents, financial statements, and other estate-related records. These are stored in access-controlled cloud storage and are accessible only to authorised users.

6. Generated documents

EstateWise generates estate administration forms (including J-series forms) from information in the platform. Generated documents are stored and may be downloaded by authorised users. They are not submitted to any authority by EstateWise.

7. Usage and audit logs

We maintain audit logs of significant platform actions, including document views, downloads, and key estate workflow events. These logs are used for security, compliance, and administrative purposes. They may record user identifiers, timestamps, and the nature of the action taken.

8. Authentication and session data

We collect authentication tokens, session identifiers, and related data necessary to manage your login session securely. This data is managed through Supabase Auth and associated cookies.

9. How we use your information

We use your information to provide and maintain the EstateWise service, authenticate users and control access, pre-populate estate administration forms, maintain audit trails, and communicate service-related information.

We do not sell personal information to third parties. We do not use estate or client personal information for marketing purposes.

10. Lawful basis for processing

We process personal information on the following bases under POPIA: performance of a contract (providing the platform service to the firm), legitimate interest (security, fraud prevention, audit logging), and consent where applicable. Firms using the platform to process client estate data are likely to be responsible parties under POPIA for that client data.

11. How information is stored

Data is stored on infrastructure provided by Supabase, which operates on Amazon Web Services (AWS). Data is encrypted in transit using TLS and is protected at rest through infrastructure-level encryption. Row-level security policies ensure that users can only access data they are authorised to access. Field-level encryption for sensitive structured fields is being progressively implemented.

12. Who may access your information

Access is restricted to authorised users of the firm that manages the relevant estate. EstateWise staff do not access client estate data except for the purposes of maintenance, support, or where required by law. Access is logged.

13. Service providers and subprocessors

We use the following categories of service providers: cloud database and storage (Supabase / AWS), application hosting (Vercel), and authentication services (Supabase Auth). These providers operate under their own terms and privacy policies. We take reasonable steps to ensure appropriate data handling agreements are in place.

14. Security measures

Security measures include role-based access control, row-level security policies on the database, access-controlled document storage, short-lived signed URLs for document access, and audit logging. See our Security Overview page for further detail.

15. Data retention

Account data is retained while your account is active. Estate records, uploaded documents, and generated documents are retained for the duration of the firm's use of the platform, or as required by applicable law and professional obligations. Firms may request deletion of estate data subject to applicable legal retention requirements. See our Data Retention and Deletion Policy for further detail.

16. Your rights under POPIA

You have the right to request access to your personal information, request correction of inaccurate information, request deletion of your information (subject to legal retention obligations), object to processing, and lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator. To exercise these rights, contact us at info@estatewise.info.

17. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. We will notify users of material changes via the platform or email. Continued use of the platform after notification constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

18. Contact us

For privacy-related queries or to exercise your rights, contact our Information Officer at info@estatewise.info.