1. The Short Version
We designed the Scanner to avoid keeping more personal information than we need.
When you use the Scanner: you provide professional information for analysis; the Scanner uses that information to generate your Paid Positioning results; your results are emailed to the email address you provide; the professional information submitted for your scan and your generated scan results are not retained by Baleseng after the scan and delivery process is completed; your email address is retained because requesting your Scanner results also places you on The Paid Squad waitlist; joining the waitlist does not automatically opt you into unrelated marketing communications.
You can ask to be removed from The Paid Squad waitlist by emailing support@paid-squad.com.
2. Information We Collect
To perform your scan, we may ask you to provide information about your professional background.
Depending on the information required by the Scanner, this may include: your email address; your skills; professional experience; education and qualifications; industries in which you have worked; software, platforms, and tools you use; professional interests; services you currently provide or are considering providing; career or business goals; pricing or income preferences you voluntarily provide; Upwork profile information; résumé or CV information; portfolio information; answers to Scanner questions; and other professional information you voluntarily submit for analysis.
We only ask for information reasonably relevant to generating your positioning analysis.
Please do not submit confidential information belonging to an employer, client, or another person unless you have the right or permission to provide it.
3. Why We Need Your Email Address
We require your email address to deliver your Paid Positioning Scanner results.
When you request that your results be emailed to you, your email address is also added to The Paid Squad waitlist.
We may use your email address to communicate with you about your place on that waitlist. These communications may include: confirmation that you are on the waitlist; notice that The Paid Squad is opening or becoming available; information about access; invitations connected to your waitlist status; material changes affecting the waitlist; and information reasonably necessary for you to decide whether you want to join when access becomes available.
Requesting your Scanner results does not give Baleseng blanket permission to send you unrelated newsletters, promotional campaigns, advertising, or general marketing emails.
Where separate consent is required for broader marketing, we will ask for it separately.
You may leave The Paid Squad waitlist at any time by emailing support@paid-squad.com or by using an unsubscribe option provided in an applicable email.
4. Scanner Information Is Not Retained
Information you submit for the purpose of generating your scan is processed for that purpose.
Once your scan has been completed and the results have been sent to the email address you provided, Baleseng does not retain the professional information you submitted or a permanent copy of your generated Scanner results.
We therefore do not intentionally maintain a permanent database containing users': CVs or résumés; Scanner answers; professional histories; portfolio information submitted for analysis; or completed Paid Positioning Scanner reports.
Temporary technical copies may exist for a limited period as part of ordinary processing, transmission, security, logging, backup, or infrastructure operations performed by Baleseng or its service providers.
Where temporary copies exist, they are not retained for the purpose of building permanent professional profiles about Scanner users. Their deletion may be governed by the ordinary retention and deletion processes of the systems used to process or transmit the information.
Your email address is treated differently because it is retained for delivery and The Paid Squad waitlist as explained in this Privacy Policy.
5. How We Use Scanner Information
Information submitted to the Scanner is primarily used to generate your Paid Positioning results.
The Scanner may analyse your professional background to identify possible: positioning opportunities; services or offers; client types; areas of market demand; professional titles; Upwork positioning; pricing direction; portfolio direction; keywords; commercial opportunities; and next steps.
Information may also be processed temporarily where reasonably necessary to operate the Scanner; deliver your results; prevent fraud or abuse; maintain security; diagnose technical problems; and comply with applicable legal obligations.
We do not retain your underlying Scanner information for future professional profiling after your results have been delivered.
6. Artificial Intelligence
The Paid Positioning Scanner uses artificial intelligence and automated systems to analyse information submitted by users and generate recommendations.
Information you provide may therefore need to be transmitted to technology providers that supply artificial intelligence or related technical infrastructure to Baleseng.
These providers may process information on our behalf for the purpose of providing the relevant technology or service.
Some providers may operate outside South Africa. Use of the Scanner may therefore involve cross-border processing of personal information.
Where POPIA applies, Baleseng will take reasonable steps to ensure that cross-border processing complies with applicable requirements, including section 72 of POPIA where relevant.
Baleseng does not intentionally provide your Scanner information to AI providers so that those providers can independently advertise or market products to you.
7. Email Delivery and Resend
Baleseng uses Resend as part of the email infrastructure used by the Paid Positioning Scanner.
Your email address and information necessary to deliver an email may therefore be processed through Resend when we send your Scanner results; send communications associated with The Paid Squad waitlist; or send other communications that you have separately agreed to receive.
Resend acts as a service provider within this process and may process information outside South Africa.
We provide only the information reasonably necessary for the relevant email function.
8. Marketing Communications
Receiving your Scanner results and joining The Paid Squad waitlist does not provide blanket consent for Baleseng to send unrelated marketing communications.
If we want to send communications that require separate marketing consent under applicable law, we will obtain that consent where required.
If you separately opt into marketing communications, you may later withdraw that consent using the unsubscribe mechanism provided in the communication or by emailing support@paid-squad.com.
Withdrawing marketing consent does not affect processing that is necessary for another lawful purpose.
9. Information Collected Automatically
When you access the Scanner, certain technical information may be processed automatically.
This may include: IP address; browser type; device type; operating system; approximate location derived from your IP address; timestamps; referral information; interactions with Scanner features; diagnostic information; and security or performance data.
This information may be processed to operate, secure, troubleshoot, and improve the Scanner.
Where this information constitutes personal information under POPIA, it will be processed accordingly.
10. Cookies and Similar Technologies
The Scanner or services supporting it may use cookies or similar technologies where necessary for functionality, security, analytics, performance, or other technical purposes.
Where applicable law requires consent for non-essential cookies or similar technologies, we will request that consent.
11. We Do Not Sell Your Personal Information
Baleseng does not sell your personal information.
We do not provide your Scanner answers, CV or résumé, professional history, portfolio information, or completed Scanner report to third parties for their independent advertising or marketing purposes.
Information may be processed by service providers where reasonably necessary to operate the Scanner and provide the service you requested.
12. Service Providers
Baleseng may use third-party providers for functions such as artificial intelligence; cloud infrastructure; hosting; databases; email delivery; security; analytics; authentication; payment processing; and technical monitoring.
These providers may process limited personal information on our behalf.
Where required by POPIA, we take reasonable steps to ensure that operators processing personal information on our behalf maintain appropriate safeguards.
Third-party providers may also have independent legal obligations governing their processing activities.
13. Payments and PayFast
Where you purchase a Baleseng product or service associated with the Scanner, payments may be processed through PayFast.
PayFast may collect information necessary to process your payment; verify transactions; prevent fraud; comply with financial and regulatory obligations; and maintain appropriate transaction records.
Baleseng does not necessarily receive or store all financial information you provide directly to PayFast.
Information collected directly by PayFast is also subject to PayFast's own applicable privacy terms and practices.
14. When We May Disclose Personal Information
We may disclose personal information where disclosure is reasonably necessary to comply with applicable law; respond to a lawful court order or regulatory request; investigate fraud or unlawful activity; protect the security of the Scanner or our systems; establish, exercise, or defend legal rights; or protect the rights or safety of Baleseng or another person.
We will not disclose personal information merely because a third party requests it where there is no lawful basis for doing so.
15. How Long We Keep Information
Different categories of information have different retention requirements.
Scanner submissions and results: Professional information submitted for analysis and generated Scanner results are not retained by Baleseng after the scan has been completed and delivered.
Temporary copies may remain for limited periods within technical systems, logs, transmission infrastructure, or backups as explained in Section 4.
Your email address: Your email address may be retained while you remain on The Paid Squad waitlist.
You can request removal from the waitlist at any time by emailing support@paid-squad.com.
Once you leave the waitlist, we will remove your email address from the active waitlist within a reasonable period, subject to information we may lawfully need to retain for compliance, suppression, security, or record-keeping purposes.
A minimal suppression record may be retained where reasonably necessary to ensure that you are not accidentally added back to communications you have opted out of.
Legal and transaction records: Where Baleseng is legally required to retain transaction, accounting, tax, consent, complaint, or compliance records, those records may be retained for the period required by applicable law.
16. Security
Baleseng uses reasonable technical and organisational safeguards designed to protect personal information against loss, unauthorised access, interference, modification, disclosure, or destruction.
These safeguards may include access controls, restricted permissions, authentication, secure infrastructure, monitoring, and encryption where appropriate.
No internet-connected system can guarantee absolute security.
You should therefore avoid submitting information the Scanner does not request, particularly passwords, authentication credentials, banking passwords, or confidential third-party information.
17. Your Rights Under POPIA
Where POPIA applies, you may have the right to ask whether Baleseng holds personal information about you; request access to personal information we hold about you; request correction of inaccurate or incomplete information; request deletion or destruction where legally appropriate; object to certain processing; withdraw consent where processing relies on consent; object to certain direct marketing; request information regarding third parties that have had access to your information where applicable; and lodge a complaint concerning the processing of your personal information.
Some rights may be subject to exceptions or procedures established by law.
Because Scanner submissions and completed reports are not retained after delivery, Baleseng may no longer possess the underlying information when you make an access, correction, or deletion request.
We cannot provide or correct information that has already been deleted.
Requests concerning your personal information may be sent to support@paid-squad.com.
18. Leaving The Paid Squad Waitlist
You may leave The Paid Squad waitlist at any time.
You can do so by using an unsubscribe or removal option provided in an applicable email; or emailing support@paid-squad.com.
Leaving the waitlist does not affect Scanner results that have already been delivered to you.
It also does not affect processing that occurred lawfully before your request.
We may retain a minimal suppression record where reasonably necessary to ensure that you are not accidentally added back to communications you have opted out of.
19. International Transfers
Some technology providers used by Baleseng may operate servers, infrastructure, or personnel outside South Africa.
Your personal information may therefore be transmitted to or processed in another country while performing your scan; delivering your results; operating the Scanner's infrastructure; or managing The Paid Squad waitlist.
Where section 72 of POPIA applies, Baleseng will take reasonable steps to ensure that the recipient is subject to an applicable legal basis, contractual protection, binding corporate rules, or other safeguards recognised under POPIA for transfers of personal information outside South Africa.
20. Children
The Paid Positioning Scanner is intended for adults pursuing professional, employment, freelance, consulting, or business opportunities.
You must be at least 18 years old to use the Scanner.
We do not knowingly seek to collect personal information from children through the Scanner.
21. Third-Party Platforms
Scanner results may refer to third-party platforms, websites, software, marketplaces, or services, including Upwork.
Those services operate according to their own privacy policies and terms.
Baleseng does not control how a third-party platform processes information that you independently provide to it.
The Paid Positioning Scanner, The Paid Squad, Baleseng Co (Pty) Ltd, and Baleseng & Co, LLC are independent from Upwork.
Unless expressly stated otherwise, they are not sponsored, endorsed, administered by, affiliated with, or operated by Upwork.
22. Information Officer
Baleseng Co (Pty) Ltd maintains an Information Officer in accordance with applicable requirements under POPIA.
Requests concerning access to personal information; correction or deletion; objections to processing; exercise of POPIA rights; The Paid Squad waitlist; privacy concerns; or complaints concerning Baleseng's processing of personal information may be directed to the Information Officer at support@paid-squad.com.
Where legally required, a request may need to be submitted using a prescribed form or accompanied by sufficient information to verify your identity.
We may request reasonable proof of identity before disclosing, correcting, or deleting personal information.
This helps prevent somebody else from obtaining or changing your personal information without permission.
23. Complaints to the Information Regulator
If you believe Baleseng has processed your personal information in violation of POPIA, you may contact our Information Officer at support@paid-squad.com so that we can investigate your concern.
You also have the right, where applicable, to lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator of South Africa.
Nothing in this Privacy Policy prevents you from exercising a statutory right to approach the Information Regulator or another competent authority.
24. Changes to This Privacy Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy when the Scanner changes, our technology providers change, our data practices change, or applicable law requires an update.
The current version will display its effective date and last-updated date.
Where a change materially affects how we process personal information, we will take reasonable steps to communicate the change where required by law.
25. Contact Us
For privacy questions, POPIA requests, waitlist removal, objections, or complaints, contact: The Information Officer, Baleseng Co (Pty) Ltd, South Africa, Email: support@paid-squad.com.
26. Documents That Apply
This Privacy Policy should be read together with the Paid Positioning Scanner Terms of Use and Paid Positioning Scanner Disclaimer.
Together, these documents govern the use of the Scanner and the handling of personal information associated with it.
Paid Positioning Scanner © 2026 Baleseng Co (Pty) Ltd and Baleseng & Co, LLC. All rights reserved.
