Privacy notice

Last updated: 26 October 2026

1. Who we are

This online licensing service is operated by the Commission for Trade, Commerce and Licensing of the Rodrigues Regional Assembly (“the Commission”, “we”, “us”), through its Trade, Commerce and Licensing Unit and its Legal Metrology Unit.

For the purposes of the Data Protection Act 2017 of the Republic of Mauritius, the Commission is the controller of the personal data processed through this service.

Trade, Commerce & Licensing Office, Invest Rodrigues Building, Malabar, Rodrigues · Telephone 83 24 778 or 83 24 780 · Fax 83 24 850.

2. What this notice covers

This notice explains how we handle personal data when you:

visit this website, use the Licence Finder or track an application;
create an account and sign in;
apply for, renew, transfer or change a trade licence, and upload supporting documents;
respond to requests from licensing officers or other authorities;
contact us through the contact form, by telephone or in person about this service;
make a complaint to the Legal Metrology Unit.

It also applies to personal data about other people that you give us, such as company directors, authorised representatives, landlords named in a lease, or employees. Please make sure they know you are sharing their details with us.

3. Personal data we collect

Information you give us

Account details: first name, surname, email address, mobile number, your notification preferences, and a record of when you accepted this notice. Your profile also keeps your residential address, National Identity Card number and date of birth, so they can be filled in for you on your next application; they are taken from your latest application, and you can change or delete them at any time in My account.
Identity details: National Identity Card number and a copy of the card; date of birth; the capacity in which you apply (individual, company director or authorised representative).
Contact details: residential address, email address and telephone number.
Business details: business or trade name, Business Registration Number and card, description of the activity, number of employees, and for companies the details of directors.
Premises details: address and locality, floor area, whether you own or rent the premises, and documents such as lease agreements, title deeds, owners’ consent letters, site plans, permits and certificates.
Correspondence: messages you send us, information you give in reply to an officer’s or agency’s request, and complaints you submit.
Declarations and consents: your declaration that the information is true, your agreement to inspections, and your choices about notifications.

Information we create during processing

Your application reference number and, if approved, your licence number, conditions and expiry date.
The workflow history of your application: each stage, the officer or agency responsible, decisions, dates, and the notes recorded by officers, agencies and the Licensing Committee.
Results of site visits, inspections and clearances, and Legal Metrology verification records.
The amount of the trade fee and whether it has been paid.

Information collected automatically

Security data: your IP address and the time of sign-in attempts, registrations and tracking searches, kept briefly to detect abuse and block repeated failed attempts.
Technical data: standard web server logs kept by our hosting provider (IP address, browser type, pages requested, date and time), used to keep the service running and secure.

We do not use advertising trackers or third-party analytics on this service, and we do not buy personal data from other sources. We may receive information about your application from the authorities we consult (see section 5).

Information you do not need to give

Please do not include information that is not needed for your application, especially health information, religious beliefs or political opinions. If a document you upload contains such information, we will use it only as far as required for your application.

4. Why we use your data, and on what basis

Purpose	Lawful basis
Creating and managing your account, and signing you in securely	Necessary to provide the online service you request
Receiving, validating, assessing and deciding on trade licence applications, renewals, transfers and changes of premises under the RRA (Licenses) Regulation No. 3 of 2003	Necessary to perform a task carried out in the public interest and in the exercise of official authority; compliance with legal obligations
Referring your application to other authorities for clearances, and arranging site visits	Performance of a task in the public interest; legal obligation
Issuing licences, recording fees, keeping the register of licences and handling renewals	Legal obligation; public task
Sending you updates about your application by email and, if you choose, by SMS	Public task for essential messages (for example a request for documents or a decision); your consent for optional updates, which you can withdraw in your profile
Enforcing legal metrology legislation and investigating complaints from consumers and traders	Public task; legal obligation
Answering questions sent through the contact form	Your consent, given when you send the form; public task
Protecting the service against fraud, misuse and security threats, and keeping audit records of actions taken on applications	Public task; legal obligation to keep personal data secure
Producing anonymous statistics on licensing activity (for example the number of applications per sector)	Public task — statistics do not identify individuals

Providing the information marked as required in the application form is necessary for us to process your application. If it is missing, we may not be able to issue a licence.

We do not use your personal data for marketing, and we do not sell it.

Your data is seen only by people who need it for the purposes above:

Authorised staff of the Commission: licensing officers, supervisors and the Licensing Unit administration. Each person has a personal account and sees only what their role requires.
The Licensing Committee, which decides on applications.
Clearance authorities, only for applications referred to them and only the information they need: the Public Health authorities, the Fire and Rescue Service, the planning and land-use authorities, the Police (for liquor licences) and the Legal Metrology Unit. Each authority sees only the applications referred to it.
Service providers who host the website, store data and deliver our emails and text messages. They act on our instructions under contract, must keep your data confidential and secure, and may not use it for their own purposes.
Other public bodies where the law requires or allows it, for example auditors, courts, law enforcement or the Data Protection Office.

Licence details such as the business name, licence type and premises may be entered in the public register of licences where the law requires it. Your identity documents and personal contact details are not published.

6. Where your data is stored

Your data is stored on servers operated by our hosting provider. Where personal data is stored or processed outside Mauritius, we make sure it is protected by appropriate safeguards as required by the Data Protection Act 2017, such as contractual protections with the provider. You can ask us for more information about these safeguards.

7. How long we keep it

We keep personal data only for as long as needed for the purposes in this notice and to meet our legal and record-keeping obligations:

Applications, licences and their workflow records: for as long as the licence is valid, and afterwards for the period required by law and by public records rules for licensing files.
Refused, withdrawn or lapsed applications: for the period during which a decision may be reviewed or challenged, and afterwards as required by public records rules.
Accounts with no applications or licences: we may close an account that has not been used for a long period, after notifying you by email.
Unfinished draft applications saved with “Save and continue later”: deleted automatically after a limited period if not completed.
Contact form messages: for as long as needed to answer you and keep a record of the exchange.
Security records of sign-in attempts and tracking searches: for a short period only, usually minutes to hours, unless needed to investigate an incident.

When data is no longer needed, it is securely deleted or anonymised.

8. How we protect it

The whole service uses encrypted connections (HTTPS).
Uploaded documents are stored in a protected area. They cannot be opened by direct web address, and can be downloaded only by you and by staff authorised to handle your application.
Staff and agency accounts are personal. Access is limited by role, sessions expire automatically, and repeated failed sign-in attempts are blocked.
Every action on an application is recorded with the person and time, so access can be audited.
Public tracking shows only the progress of an application, and only to someone who knows both the reference number and the last four characters of the applicant’s National Identity Card.
Our staff and service providers are bound by confidentiality obligations.

No system is completely secure. If a personal data breach occurs that is likely to put your rights at risk, we will notify the Data Protection Commissioner and, where required, inform you without undue delay.

Please help us by keeping your password private, signing out on shared computers, and contacting us immediately if you think someone has accessed your account.

9. Your rights

Under the Data Protection Act 2017 you have the right to:

be informed about how we use your personal data (this notice);
access the personal data we hold about you and receive a copy;
rectification: ask us to correct data that is inaccurate or incomplete. You can update your name, email, mobile number and notification preferences yourself in My account;
erasure: ask us to delete data that is no longer needed, unless we must keep it by law or for the performance of our public task;
object to or ask us to restrict certain processing;
withdraw your consent at any time where we rely on consent, for example for optional SMS updates. This does not affect processing already carried out;
not be subject to a decision based solely on automated processing (see section 11).

To exercise a right, contact us using the details in section 14. We may ask you to confirm your identity before acting on a request. We will reply as soon as possible and within the time limits set by law. Exercising your rights is free of charge.

10. Cookies and similar technologies

This service uses only the cookies needed to make it work. We do not use advertising or analytics cookies.

Cookie	Purpose	Duration
`wordpress_logged_in_`, `wordpress_sec_`	Keep you securely signed in to your account	Until you sign out, or up to 2 days (14 days if you tick “Remember me”; staff sessions are limited to 12 hours)
`wordpress_test_cookie`	Checks that your browser accepts cookies so that sign-in works	Session
`wp-settings-*`	Remembers display preferences for signed-in staff using the administration area	1 year

Your answers in the Licence Finder are processed in your own browser and are not sent to us or stored. If you block cookies, the public pages still work, but you will not be able to sign in.

The “Get directions” link on the Contact page opens Google Maps, a separate service with its own privacy policy. No map is loaded on our pages unless you follow that link.

11. Decisions about your application

Decisions on trade licences are taken by people: licensing officers, the authorities we consult and the Licensing Committee. The service suggests which clearances may be needed for a licence type and calculates reference numbers and expiry dates automatically, but an officer reviews every application, and no application is refused automatically.

12. Children

This service is intended for adults applying for trade licences. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children through this website. If a parent or guardian believes a child has given us personal data, please contact us.

13. Changes to this notice

We may update this notice when the service or the law changes. The date at the top shows when it was last updated. If the changes are significant, we will tell account holders by email or with a notice when they sign in.

14. Contact us and complaints

For any question about this notice or your personal data, or to exercise your rights, contact the Commission’s Data Protection Officer:

in writing to the Data Protection Officer, Commission for Trade, Commerce and Licensing, Trade, Commerce & Licensing Office, Invest Rodrigues Building, Malabar, Rodrigues;
through the contact form, choosing the subject “Other” and starting your message with “Data protection request”;
by telephone on 83 24 778, or in person at the Licensing Office.

If you are not satisfied with our answer, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Data Protection Office of the Republic of Mauritius, the supervisory authority under the Data Protection Act 2017.