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Privacy policy

Last updated: 20 October 2026

This policy explains what personal information Shortlist Studio collects when you use our CV and LinkedIn services, why we need it and how we protect it. We follow the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA).

1. Who we are

Shortlist Studio is the responsible party for your personal information. Shortlist Studio is run by Fareed Waggie, Century Drive, Century City, Milnerton, 7446, Cape Town, South Africa. You can contact us on WhatsApp at +27 79 042 3917 or by email at admin@shortliststudio.co.za.

2. What we collect

  • Contact details: your name, phone number, email address and the area you live in.
  • Career information: your CV, work history, education, skills, achievements and references.
  • The job ads you send us.
  • Messages and voice notes you send us on WhatsApp.
  • Confirmation that you've paid. Card details are handled by our payment provider, and we never see or store them.

Please don't send us your ID number, your full home address or photos of yourself. We don't need them, and if they're on your CV we remove them.

3. Why we use it

  • To write and deliver your CV, cover letter, LinkedIn content or portfolio site.
  • To talk to you about your order, including questions about your experience.
  • To handle payments, revisions, refunds and late-delivery discounts.
  • To meet our legal and tax obligations.

We only use your information for the service you asked for. We won't send you marketing unless you agree to it, and we never show your CV to anyone else.

4. How we use AI tools

We use AI writing tools to help draft your documents. Before any of your information goes into these tools, we remove your name, contact details and ID number. The rest of your career information, such as your employers, job titles and qualifications, is used to write your documents. A person reviews and edits every document before it reaches you.

5. Who we share it with

We never sell your information. We share it only with service providers who help us deliver your order:

  • WhatsApp (Meta), to message you.
  • Our payment provider, to process your payment.
  • AI writing tools, which receive your career information with your name, contact details and ID number removed.
  • Secure cloud storage, to keep your files while we work on them.

Some of these providers store data outside South Africa. We only use providers that protect personal information to a standard similar to POPIA.

6. How long we keep it

We delete your CV, job ads, voice notes and documents within 30 days of delivery. You can ask us to delete them sooner at any time. We keep basic payment records for 5 years, because South African tax law requires it.

7. How we protect it

Our chats run on WhatsApp's end-to-end encryption. Our devices are locked and password-protected, and only the people working on your order can see your information.

8. Your rights

Under POPIA, you can:

  • ask what personal information we hold about you
  • ask us to correct or delete it
  • object to how we use it, or withdraw your consent
  • complain to the Information Regulator at inforegulator.org.za

To make a request, message us on WhatsApp or email admin@shortliststudio.co.za. We'll respond within 30 days.

9. If you're under 18

If you're under 18, a parent or guardian needs to agree before you send us your information.

10. This website

This website doesn't use tracking cookies or analytics. Our fonts load from Google Fonts, so your browser connects to Google's servers when you visit.

11. Changes to this policy

If we change this policy, we'll update it on this page and change the date at the top.