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PAIA Manual

Prepared in terms of section 51 of the Promotion of Access to Information Act 2 of 2000 (as amended).

Private body: KNOWPRO SA (PTY) LTD, trading as Know a Pro | Registration number: 2024/504159/07

1. Acronyms and abbreviations

  • CEO — Chief Executive Officer
  • IO — Information Officer
  • PAIA — Promotion of Access to Information Act 2 of 2000, as amended
  • POPIA — Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013
  • Regulator — Information Regulator (South Africa)
  • CIPC — Companies and Intellectual Property Commission
  • AWS — Amazon Web Services

2. Purpose of this Manual

This Manual helps members of the public identify records held by Know a Pro, understand how to request access to records, identify records available under other legislation, obtain the relevant access-to-information contact details, understand how to obtain the Information Regulator's PAIA Guide, and understand the main categories of personal information processed by Know a Pro, recipients, cross-border processing and general security measures.

3. Key contact details

Information Officer / Head of private body: Reandra Maree — Founder & CEO

Information Officer email: reandra@knowapro.co.za

General access-to-information / support intake: support@knowapro.co.za

Telephone: +27 82 055 9229

Deputy Information Officer: No Deputy Information Officer is designated at present.

Website: https://knowapro.co.za

Business / physical address: 184 Upper Buitenkant Street, Oranjezicht, Cape Town, 8001, South Africa

Postal address: 184 Upper Buitenkant Street, Oranjezicht, Cape Town, 8001, South Africa

4. PAIA Guide

The Information Regulator publishes a Guide explaining how PAIA works, how to request access to records, applicable forms, fees, assistance and remedies. The Guide and current prescribed PAIA forms can be obtained from the Information Regulator. Know a Pro will also make this PAIA Manual available through its website.

5. Records available without a formal PAIA request

  • Public legal and policy documents published on the Know a Pro website, including the Privacy Policy, Terms & Conditions, Cookie Policy, Review Policy and Community Guidelines.
  • Public professional and business profiles, service categories and public reviews.
  • Public blog articles, FAQs and marketing or educational information.
  • Public Know a Pro business contact information.

The fact that a category is listed above does not mean that every underlying internal record relating to that category is automatically available without a formal request.

6. Records available under other legislation

Where applicable to Know a Pro and the particular record, records may be available or retained under legislation including the Companies Act, Consumer Protection Act, Electronic Communications and Transactions Act, Income Tax Act, Tax Administration Act, Value-Added Tax Act, Basic Conditions of Employment Act, PAIA and POPIA, as amended from time to time.

This list is not intended to state that every listed Act applies to every record or activity.

7. Subjects and categories of records held

  • Corporate and governance records — incorporation and CIPC records, company registers, resolutions, contracts and governance records.
  • Financial and subscription records — invoices, accounting records, payment/subscription status, transaction references and related financial administration.
  • User and account records — account details, authentication records, communications, support and account status.
  • Professional/business profile records — profile information, categories, service areas, public contact information, portfolio content and related listing information.
  • Verification records — verification status/audit information, business-verification records and supporting credential information where applicable.
  • Customer enquiry records — service requests, messages, contact details, professional contacted and related status information.
  • Review and moderation records — ratings, review text, private feedback where offered, reports, moderation decisions and dispute information.
  • Technology and security records — logs, security events, backups, monitoring, access and incident records.
  • Privacy, PAIA and compliance records — requests, complaints, incident records, policies, assessments and registers.
  • Marketing and analytics records — campaign, website analytics, consent/preferences and measurement information where applicable.
  • Service-provider and supplier records — contracts, invoices, correspondence and due-diligence information.

8. Processing of personal information

Know a Pro processes personal information to operate user accounts and professional/business profiles, perform supported verification, connect customers with professionals, administer reviews, manage subscriptions and payments, provide support and communications, secure and improve the platform, measure website/marketing performance where permitted, and comply with legal and regulatory obligations.

8.1 Categories of data subjects and information

  • Professionals and businesses — identity/contact information, profile/business information, verification status, portfolio and credential information, subscription/billing metadata and communications.
  • Clients and other users — account/contact information, enquiries, reviews, private feedback, support communications and platform activity.
  • Reviewers and correspondents — review, complaint, request, communication and related account/contact information.
  • Suppliers and service-provider contacts — business contact, contract, invoice and correspondence information.
  • Personnel or contractors, where applicable — contact, engagement, payment and administrative records.

8.2 Recipients or categories of recipients

  • Amazon Web Services for core cloud infrastructure, including hosting, RDS PostgreSQL database, S3 uploads/images, backups, logs and monitoring in the South Africa region.
  • Verify Now for identity/document/selfie/liveness-related verification. For the current Verify Now flow, Know a Pro receives the verification outcome/status and does not receive or store the underlying ID, selfie or liveness material submitted directly to Verify Now.
  • HURU where an optional background-check verification feature is activated.
  • Paystack and relevant banking/payment providers for subscription payments and transaction administration.
  • Google Workspace for business communications and Resend for transactional platform email delivery.
  • Google Tag Manager, Google Analytics 4 and, where enabled, Meta, LinkedIn and TikTok for analytics or advertising measurement.
  • Professional advisers, regulators, courts, law-enforcement bodies and other recipients where disclosure is authorised or required by law.

8.3 Cross-border processing

Know a Pro's core AWS hosting, RDS database, S3 uploads and backups are located in the South Africa region. Some third-party providers used for payments, communications, analytics, advertising or other services may process information outside South Africa. Where personal information is transferred to a recipient in another country, Know a Pro will address the requirements of section 72 of POPIA and the applicable permitted transfer basis and safeguards.

8.4 General security measures

Know a Pro uses reasonable technical and organisational safeguards appropriate to the information processed. Confirmed controls include AWS-hosted infrastructure in South Africa, AWS logs and monitoring, daily backups with a rolling 7-day cycle, email/password authentication, HTTPS with HSTS, hashing of passwords and one-time codes, role-based administrative permissions, rate limiting, 24-hour admin sessions, lockout after repeated failed login attempts and optional email-based two-factor authentication. These controls are maintained and reviewed as part of Know a Pro's operational security and incident-response processes.

9. How to request access to a record

A request for access to a record should be made using the current prescribed PAIA Form 2 and submitted to the Information Officer or the general access-to-information contact listed in section 3.

For a private body, the requester must identify the record requested, provide the information required by the prescribed form, identify the right the requester seeks to exercise or protect and explain why the requested record is required for the exercise or protection of that right.

Access is not automatic merely because a request is submitted. Know a Pro will consider the request in accordance with PAIA, including applicable grounds for refusal, third-party rights, prescribed procedures and fees.

10. Fees

Any prescribed request, access, reproduction, search, preparation or other fee will be handled in accordance with PAIA and the regulations in force at the time of the request.

11. Availability of this Manual

  • On the Know a Pro website at https://knowapro.co.za.
  • At Know a Pro's business / physical address for inspection as required: 184 Upper Buitenkant Street, Oranjezicht, Cape Town, 8001, South Africa.
  • To a person upon request, subject to PAIA and any applicable prescribed fee.
  • To the Information Regulator as required.

Inspection address: 184 Upper Buitenkant Street, Oranjezicht, Cape Town, 8001, South Africa

12. Updating this Manual

Know a Pro will review and update this Manual when material changes occur to the business, registered address, service providers, processing activities, legal requirements or access-to-information procedures.

13. Issued by

Reandra Maree

Founder & CEO / Information Officer

KNOWPRO SA (PTY) LTD, trading as Know a Pro

Date of revision: 15 September 2026

PAIA Manual | Know a Pro