Privacy Policy
Last updated: 1 March 2026
1. Introduction
North-West University ("NWU", "we", "us") is committed to protecting your personal information in accordance with the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 ("POPIA"). This Privacy Policy explains how the NWU Registrar Certification & Verification Services platform collects, uses, stores, and protects your personal information.
2. Information We Collect
- Full name, student number, and identity number
- Contact details (email address, phone number)
- Academic qualification records and enrollment history
- Request and document processing information
- Authentication credentials (securely hashed)
3. Purpose of Processing
We process your personal information for the following purposes:
- Issuing completion letters and academic certificates
- Verifying the authenticity of qualifications
- Processing registrar service requests
- Communicating about your requests and account
- Detecting and preventing fraud
- Maintaining audit trails as required by law
4. Legal Basis
We process your personal information on the basis of your consent (provided when submitting requests), our legitimate interest in providing academic services, and legal obligations under the Higher Education Act.
5. Data Retention
Academic records are retained indefinitely as required by the Higher Education Act. Request and processing data is retained for 7 years. Verification tokens expire after 2 years.
6. Your Rights
Under POPIA, you have the right to:
- Access your personal information
- Request correction of inaccurate information
- Object to processing in certain circumstances
- Request deletion where legally permissible
- Lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator
7. Contact
For privacy-related inquiries, contact the NWU Information Officer at privacy@nwu.ac.za.