SignWayData Retention & Deletion Policy
GigWay (Pty) Ltd (2022/302503/07), operating SignWay. This policy explains how long SignWay keeps personal information and documents, and how they are deleted.
Last updated: 8 August 2026
1. Purpose
This policy explains how long SignWay keeps personal information and documents, and how they are deleted. It balances two duties under POPIA: not keeping personal information longer than necessary, and keeping records we are legally required to retain.
2. Retention periods
| Data | How long we keep it | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Account information | While the account is active, then 12 months after closure | To operate the account and handle post-closure queries |
| Completed signed documents & audit trails | While the account is active, and for 5 years after, unless the user requests earlier deletion | A signed document is a legal record that may need to be relied on later |
| Draft / unsent documents | Until deleted by the user, or 12 months of inactivity | No longer needed once abandoned |
| Signer mobile numbers | Only as long as needed to deliver notifications and codes | Data minimisation |
| One-time verification codes | Stored only as a hash; deleted shortly after expiry | Security; not needed once used |
| Payment / billing records | 5 years | Legal and tax obligations |
| Support correspondence | 24 months | To handle follow-ups |
Confirm each period with your lawyer/accountant — especially financial records and signed-document retention.
3. Deletion on request
Users may request deletion of their personal information by contacting the Information Officer (Letlhogonolo Modiga, privacy@signway.co.za). We will delete or de-identify the information, except where we are legally required or entitled to keep it (for example, financial records, or a completed signed document that another party may need to rely on). We will explain what we can and cannot delete and why.
4. Documents held on behalf of customers
Where SignWay holds documents as an operator on behalf of a customer, the customer controls that information. Deletion of such documents follows the customer's instructions and this policy.
5. Secure deletion
When information is deleted, we remove it from active systems and it is purged from backups in the ordinary backup cycle.
6. Review
We review this policy periodically and update it as our practices or the law change.
Starting content pending legal review. Not legal advice.