Privacy Policy

Effective Date: 1 April 2026
Last Updated: 1 April 2026

Criminal Record Expungement Services (Pty) Ltd (Registration No. 2023/754468/07), trading as CRES, is committed to protecting your personal information in accordance with the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 (POPIA) and other applicable South African legislation.

This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store, and protect your personal information when you use our website www.expunge.co.za or engage our services.

1. Important Notice

CRES is a private company that assists individuals with criminal record expungement applications. We are not the South African Police Service (SAPS), the SAPS Criminal Record Centre, the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development, or any government entity. All personal information you provide to us is handled in our capacity as a private service provider.

2. Responsible Party

For purposes of POPIA, the Responsible Party is:

  • Entity: Criminal Record Expungement Services (Pty) Ltd
  • Address: Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa
  • Email: hello@expunge.co.za
  • Telephone: +27 12 883 6843

3. Information We Collect

3.1 Enquiry Information

When you contact us or request a free assessment, we may collect:

  • Full name
  • Email address
  • Telephone number
  • Brief description of your enquiry or criminal record history

3.2 Service Information

When you engage our services, we collect additional information required to process your expungement application, including:

  • Full legal name, date of birth, and identity number
  • Gender and race (as required by SAPS and DoJ forms)
  • Physical and postal addresses
  • Copies of identity documents
  • Power of Attorney and Indemnity forms

3.3 Special Personal Information (POPIA Section 26)

Due to the nature of our services, we process the following categories of special personal information as defined by POPIA:

  • Criminal history: Details of criminal convictions, court outcomes, case numbers, and sentences
  • Biometric information: Fingerprints (required for SAPS criminal record checks)

We process this special personal information with your express written consent as required by POPIA Section 27(1)(a). You will be asked to provide explicit consent before we collect or process any special personal information.

4. Purpose of Processing

We process your personal information for the following purposes:

  • Assessing your eligibility for criminal record expungement
  • Preparing and submitting expungement applications to the Department of Justice
  • Liaising with the SAPS Criminal Record Centre and the DoJ on your behalf
  • Communicating with you about the status of your application
  • Processing payments and issuing invoices
  • Complying with legal and regulatory obligations

5. Data Sharing and Third Parties

We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal information to any third party.

Your information may be shared with the following parties only as required to deliver our services:

  • Department of Justice and Constitutional Development – for lodging expungement applications
  • South African Police Service (SAPS) – for criminal record checks and verifications
  • Afiswitch – authorised SAPS channel for criminal record verification
  • Secure cloud storage providers – for encrypted data storage
  • Payment processors – for secure payment processing only

6. Your Rights Under POPIA

As a data subject, you have the right to:

  • Access your personal information held by us
  • Correct any inaccurate or incomplete personal information
  • Object to the processing of your personal information
  • Request deletion of your personal information, subject to legal retention requirements
  • Withdraw consent previously given for the processing of your personal information
  • Lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator if you believe your rights have been infringed

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at hello@expunge.co.za.

7. Data Security

We take reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect your personal information, including:

  • SSL/TLS encryption on all website communications
  • Encrypted storage of sensitive documents and data
  • Access controls limiting who can view your information
  • Secure disposal of physical documents after digitisation

Criminal records are classified as special personal information under POPIA and are handled with the highest level of security and confidentiality.

8. Data Retention

We retain your personal information only for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes for which it was collected, or as required by law. Upon written request, we will delete your personal information unless we are legally obligated to retain it.

9. Cookies and Website Analytics

Our website uses cookies to improve your browsing experience:

  • Session cookies: Temporary cookies that expire when you close your browser. These are essential for website functionality.
  • Persistent cookies: Cookies that remain on your device to remember your preferences. These expire after a maximum of 6 months.
  • Analytics cookies: We may use third-party analytics services (such as Google Analytics) to understand how visitors use our website. This data is anonymised and used solely to improve our website.

You can control cookies through your browser settings. Disabling cookies may affect website functionality.

10. Marketing Communications

We may send you marketing communications about our services via email or SMS, but only with your prior consent. You may opt out of marketing communications at any time by:

  • Clicking the “unsubscribe” link in any marketing email
  • Emailing us at hello@expunge.co.za with “UNSUBSCRIBE” in the subject line
  • Replying “STOP” to any SMS communication

Opting out of marketing does not affect service-related communications about your active application.

11. Children’s Data

Our services are intended for individuals aged 18 and older. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 18 without parental or guardian consent. If we become aware that we have collected information from a child under 18 without appropriate consent, we will take steps to delete that information.

12. Cross-Border Data Transfers

Your personal information is primarily stored and processed in South Africa. In the event that data needs to be transferred outside South Africa (for example, through the use of international cloud storage providers), we will ensure that adequate safeguards are in place as required by POPIA Section 72.

13. Data Breach Notification

In the event of a data breach that poses a risk to your rights and freedoms, we will notify you and the Information Regulator as required by POPIA Section 22, as soon as reasonably possible after becoming aware of the breach.

14. Information Regulator

If you believe your personal information has been processed in violation of POPIA, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator:

  • Address: JD House, 27 Stiemens Street, Braamfontein, Johannesburg, 2001
  • Email: POPIAComplaints@inforegulator.org.za

15. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Changes will be published on this page with an updated revision date. We encourage you to review this policy periodically.

For any privacy-related queries, please contact us at hello@expunge.co.za or call +27 12 883 6843.

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