How your photo and data are used
Version 2026-08-04. This is the wording you are asked to agree to at the gate.
Each time you clock in or out, this site takes a photo of you, records where your phone is, or both — depending on how your site manager has set it up. It is used for one thing: to confirm that the hours recorded against your name are really yours.
Your site manager can see the photo and the location. Neither is shared with anyone else, neither is used to identify you anywhere else, and no photo is run through any face-recognition system.
Photos are deleted automatically after the retention period your employer has set. Your hours are kept — those are your pay record.
You can ask your site manager to delete your photos at any time, and to tell you what is held about you. Asking does not affect your work or your pay.
What is collected
| What | Why | Kept |
|---|---|---|
| A photo of you, at each scan | So a manager can confirm the hours are really yours | Deleted automatically at the retention period |
| One reference photo, held against your name | It is what each clock-in photo is compared against | Kept while you are on the crew; deleted on request, or when you are removed |
| Where your phone is, at each scan | To confirm you are at the site, not somewhere else | Kept with the shift record |
| The times you clocked in and out | This is your pay record | Kept as long as the company must keep payroll records |
| Your answers to the safety checklist | Health and safety law, and so the site can show it asked | Kept with the shift record |
Your rights
Under the Protection of Personal Information Act you can ask what is held about you, ask for it to be corrected, and ask for your photos to be deleted. Speak to your site manager, who can do all three from the Workers screen.
Clock-in photos are deleted automatically once they reach the retention period. The one reference photo held against your name is kept while you are on the crew, because it is what each clock-in photo is checked against — you can ask for it to be deleted at any time, and it goes when you are removed. Shift times, which are the payroll record, are kept for as long as the company needs them.
If you are not satisfied with how a request was handled, you can complain to the Information Regulator of South Africa.