Privacy notice
How BK Properties handles the personal information of managers, owners, tenants and applicants, in line with the Protection of Personal Information Act, 2013 (POPIA).
Last updated: 6 August 2026
This notice must be reviewed and approved by a qualified data-protection adviser, and the Information Officer's details below confirmed, before it is relied on at go-live.
Who we are
BK Properties is a property-management platform used by letting agents and property owners to manage rentals in South Africa. For the personal information processed through the platform, the property manager or owner who invited you is the responsible party, and BK Properties acts as their operator (processor) under POPIA. This notice describes the processing common to the platform.
What we collect and why
We only collect information needed to let, manage and account for a tenancy:
- Account details — your name, email address, date of birth and sign-in credentials, so you can access the platform securely.
- Applicant details — name, contact details, employment status, employer and declared monthly income, to assess a rental application.
- Tenant details — name, contact details, national ID or passport number and an emergency contact, to administer your lease.
- Documents — ID copies, proof of income and signed leases you or your agent upload, as evidence for the tenancy.
- Payments — rent charges, receipts, allocations and late fees, to keep an accurate account and produce owner statements.
- Maintenance — the requests you raise and any photos attached, to log and complete work orders.
- Technical logs — sign-in times, device and browser details, IP address and access to documents, to keep the service secure and auditable.
On what basis we process it
We process personal information to conclude and carry out your lease or application (performance of a contract), to meet legal obligations such as tax and financial record-keeping, and for the legitimate interests of the responsible party in running the property safely and lawfully. Where we rely on your consent — for example to keep an unsuccessful application on file — you may withdraw it at any time.
How we protect it
Passwords are stored only as one-way hashes, and national ID numbers are encrypted at rest. Uploaded documents are held in private storage and are never served from a public link — they are released only through short-lived, signed links, and every download is recorded. Access to personal information is restricted by role, and sensitive actions are written to an audit log.
How long we keep it
We keep personal information only for as long as it is needed for the purpose it was collected for, or for as long as the law requires. Financial records are kept to meet South African tax and company-law retention periods (generally five years). The table below reflects what the platform actually stores.
| Information | Purpose | Retention |
|---|---|---|
| Account (name, email, date of birth) | Secure sign-in and platform access | While the account is active; removed on account closure or deletion request |
| Sessions (device, browser, IP, sign-in times) | Security and session management | Sessions expire within days; revoked immediately on sign-out |
| Applications (contact, employment, income) | Assess and decide a rental application | Duration of assessment; carried into the tenancy if accepted, otherwise removed on request |
| Tenant profile (contact, ID number, emergency contact) | Administer the lease | Duration of the tenancy plus the statutory record-keeping period |
| Documents (ID, proof of income, signed leases) | Evidence for the tenancy | Duration of the tenancy plus the statutory record-keeping period |
| Payments and charges | Accounting and owner statements | Kept to meet tax and company-law retention (generally five years) |
| Maintenance requests and photos | Log and complete work orders | Duration of the tenancy plus the statutory record-keeping period |
| Audit and access logs | Security and accountability | Kept for the security-audit retention period |
Your rights
Under POPIA you have the right to:
- ask what personal information we hold about you and request a copy;
- have inaccurate or out-of-date information corrected;
- object to processing, or withdraw consent where we rely on it;
- request that your information be deleted or destroyed, subject to records we are required by law to keep;
- complain to the Information Regulator.
Signed-in tenants can update their own contact details directly from the tenant portal.
Requesting deletion of your data
To request deletion, email the Information Officer below from the address on your account, or ask your property manager to raise the request. We verify that the request comes from you, then remove your tenant and account records from active use so they no longer appear anywhere in the platform.
Where the law requires us to keep certain records — chiefly financial records for tax and company-law purposes — those are retained for the required period and then destroyed. We will confirm in writing what was deleted and what had to be kept, and why.
Information Officer
For any privacy question, or to exercise a right above, contact our Information Officer:
- Information Officer
- BK Properties — Managing Director
- privacy@bkproperties.co.za
You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator (South Africa) at inforegulator.org.za.