WorkBridge

Privacy

Privacy Policy

Effective date: 26 September 2026

Platform: WorkBridge

Operator: SmartHelix Technology Solutions

This policy explains how personal information is handled across the WorkBridge marketplace and its worker, employer, administrative, communication, verification, and work-outcome services.

Last updated: 26 September 2026

1. Who we are

WorkBridge is a SmartHelix platform operated by SmartHelix Technology Solutions in South Africa. This Privacy Policy explains how WorkBridge collects, uses, stores, shares, and protects personal information when you use the WorkBridge website, marketplace, worker and employer services, applications, messaging, verification, reporting, work-completion, and payment-status features.

For purposes of this policy, “WorkBridge”, “we”, “us”, or “our” refers to the WorkBridge platform and its operator, SmartHelix Technology Solutions.

We process personal information in accordance with applicable South African law, including the Protection of Personal Information Act, 2013 (POPIA).

2. Personal information we collect

Depending on how you use WorkBridge, we may collect the following categories of information:

Account and identity information

  • Name and surname
  • Mobile number and email address
  • Authentication and session information
  • Account role, permissions, and account status
  • Profile photograph and basic profile details

Worker information

  • Location or area
  • Skills, work categories, work preferences, availability, and experience information
  • Applications, shortlisted roles, accepted jobs, work status, and work-completion information
  • Proof-of-work notes and supporting uploads where submitted
  • Banking or payment-support information where required for an employment or work outcome

Employer information

  • Business name, business address, company logo, and employer contact information
  • Job posts, applicant reviews, shortlisting, hiring decisions, and work-management activity
  • Business or company verification information where required
  • Reporting and marketplace activity associated with the employer account

Verification information

Where verification is required, WorkBridge may collect supporting information such as:

  • Certified identity document copies
  • Proof of residence
  • Bank confirmation documents
  • Company registration or other business-verification documents
  • Verification status, timestamps, and authorised review notes

Communication and support information

  • In-platform chat messages
  • Notifications and system messages
  • Support requests and related correspondence
  • Information supplied when reporting safety, trust, payment, or account concerns

Technical and usage information

  • Device and browser information
  • IP address and session activity where available
  • Pages, jobs, and platform features viewed or used
  • Job-engagement events such as views and apply clicks
  • Security, diagnostic, audit, and rate-limit events
  • Cookies, local storage, session storage, or similar technologies needed to operate the service

3. Why we process personal information

We process personal information where reasonably necessary to:

  • Create, authenticate, and manage accounts
  • Provide worker and employer marketplace services
  • Verify profiles and support marketplace trust
  • Publish and manage jobs and applications
  • Support matching, shortlisting, hiring, chat, work completion, and payment-status workflows
  • Deliver notifications and service communications
  • Generate employer reports and operational insights
  • Protect users, prevent fraud, enforce platform rules, and investigate misuse
  • Operate, secure, maintain, troubleshoot, and improve WorkBridge
  • Respond to legal, regulatory, audit, and lawful information requests

4. Lawful grounds for processing

The lawful basis for processing depends on the information and the purpose for which it is used. We may process personal information with your consent, to perform or prepare for a service requested by you, to comply with a legal obligation, to protect a legitimate interest that does not unjustifiably override your rights, or on another basis permitted by applicable law.

Where we rely on consent, you may withdraw that consent subject to legal and operational limits. Withdrawal does not affect processing that was lawful before withdrawal.

5. Matching, ranking, and automated assistance

WorkBridge may use rules, analytics, and AI-assisted signals to help surface relevant jobs or applicants, estimate match quality, prioritise review queues, and improve marketplace discovery.

These tools are intended to support human decision-making. Employers remain responsible for hiring decisions, and WorkBridge administrators remain responsible for platform-governance decisions that require human review.

If you believe a material outcome was based on inaccurate profile or application information, you may request correction or contact WorkBridge for assistance.

6. How we share personal information

We do not sell personal information.

We may share limited personal information where necessary with:

  • Employers reviewing worker profiles or applications they are authorised to access
  • Workers viewing employer and job information relevant to marketplace participation
  • Service providers that support hosting, authentication, storage, communications, notifications, monitoring, analytics, and platform operations
  • Authorised verification, support, or operational personnel
  • Payment or operational service providers where a payment or work-outcome service requires them
  • Professional advisers, auditors, insurers, regulators, law-enforcement bodies, courts, or other authorities where disclosure is lawful and necessary

Sensitive verification documents are not intended for public display. Access is restricted to authorised users and workflows where the information is required.

7. Information visible to other marketplace participants

Workers may see relevant employer and job information, including employer identity, verification status where applicable, job terms, compensation, location, and application status.

Employers may see relevant worker profile and application information, including name, skills, location, profile completeness, application details, and verification indicators where permitted.

Direct contact details and sensitive supporting documents may be restricted until the relevant workflow and access rules permit disclosure.

8. Security safeguards

WorkBridge uses reasonable technical and organisational safeguards designed to protect personal information against accidental loss, unauthorised access, misuse, alteration, disclosure, or destruction.

Safeguards may include:

  • OTP-based authentication and session controls
  • Role-based access and least-privilege permissions
  • Database row-level security and scoped API access
  • Restricted storage access for verification and supporting documents
  • Encryption provided by hosting and infrastructure services where applicable
  • Audit trails for privileged and sensitive workflow activity
  • Rate limiting, monitoring, health checks, and security logging
  • Controlled environment-variable and secret management

No online service can guarantee absolute security. Users are responsible for protecting access to their devices and authentication channels and should report suspected unauthorised access promptly.

9. Retention

We retain personal information only for as long as reasonably necessary for the purposes described in this policy, including service delivery, marketplace records, security, fraud prevention, dispute handling, audit, legal, and regulatory requirements.

Retention periods may vary by data type and legal requirement. When information is no longer required, we may delete it, de-identify it, or securely archive it where permitted by law.

10. Your privacy rights

Subject to applicable law and appropriate identity verification, you may request to:

  • Confirm whether we hold personal information about you
  • Access personal information we hold about you
  • Correct or update inaccurate or incomplete information
  • Request deletion or destruction where legally applicable
  • Object to certain processing
  • Withdraw consent where consent is the basis for processing
  • Raise a complaint about our handling of personal information

We may need to retain certain information despite a deletion request where retention is required by law or reasonably necessary for fraud prevention, disputes, audit, security, or the establishment, exercise, or defence of legal claims.

11. Cookies and similar technologies

WorkBridge uses cookies, local storage, session storage, and similar browser technologies where needed for authentication, security, preferences, and reliable operation of the platform.

Additional information is available in the WorkBridge Cookie Policy.

12. Cross-border processing

Some infrastructure or service providers may process information outside South Africa. Where cross-border processing occurs, WorkBridge will take reasonable steps to use providers and safeguards appropriate to the information and applicable legal requirements.

13. Children and minors

WorkBridge is intended primarily for people legally able to participate in work or hiring activities. A person under 18 should not create or use an account unless their use is lawful and any consent or assistance required by applicable law has been obtained.

14. Security incidents

If WorkBridge becomes aware of a security compromise involving personal information, we will investigate and take appropriate containment and remediation steps. Where required by law, affected individuals and the relevant regulator will be notified.

15. Changes to this Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy to reflect changes in the platform, our processing practices, service providers, or applicable law. Material changes will be published on WorkBridge with an updated effective date.

16. Contact and privacy requests

For privacy questions, access or correction requests, objections, complaints, or security concerns, contact SmartHelix Technology Solutions for WorkBridge:

Email: info@smarthelix.co.za Phone: +27 11 312 0268 Address: 394 Norfolk Road, Halfway Gardens, Midrand, 1686, South Africa Website: https://www.smarthelix.co.za/

You may also lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator of South Africa where you believe your rights under POPIA have been infringed.