Privacy Policy

2. How We Use Your Information

We use your information for the following purposes:

• Provide Services: Account management, content delivery, AI features
• Personalization: Recommendations, search results, content curation
• Communication: Newsletters, event updates, service announcements
• Quality & Safety: Content moderation, spam detection, fraud prevention
• Analytics: Understanding usage patterns to improve the platform
• Legal Compliance: Responding to legal requests, enforcing Terms of Service

3. Legal Basis for Processing (POPIA Compliance)

Under South Africa's POPIA, we process your information based on:

• Consent: You provide explicit consent when creating an account, subscribing to newsletters, or using AI features
• Contract Performance: Processing is necessary to provide services you've requested
• Legitimate Interests: Improving platform functionality, preventing fraud, analytics
• Legal Obligations: Compliance with South African laws and regulations

4. Data Sharing & Third Parties

We Share Data With:

• Supabase (Database Provider): Stores user accounts, content (EU/US servers with encryption)
• OpenAI (AI Provider): Processes chat queries, search terms (anonymized, not used for training)
• Vercel (Hosting): Hosts website infrastructure (global CDN)
• OpenWeatherMap: Provides weather data (no personal data shared)
• EskomSePush: Provides load shedding data (no personal data shared)

We Do NOT:

• ❌ Sell your personal information to advertisers or data brokers
• ❌ Share your data with social media platforms without consent
• ❌ Use your chat history to train public AI models
• ❌ Share your email address with third-party marketers

5. Your POPIA Rights

Under the Protection of Personal Information Act, you have the right to:

To exercise any of these rights, contact us at privacy@032.co.za

6. Data Security

We implement industry-standard security measures to protect your information:

• 🔒 Encryption: All data transmitted via HTTPS/TLS
• 🔐 Password Security: Passwords hashed using bcrypt
• 🛡️ Database Security: Row-level security policies on Supabase
• 👁️ Access Control: Strict permissions, admin-only areas
• 📊 Monitoring: Automated security alerts and logging
• 🔄 Backups: Regular encrypted backups

7. Data Retention

• Active Accounts: Data retained while account is active
• Deleted Accounts: Permanently deleted within 30 days of request
• Chat History: Anonymized after 90 days, deleted after 1 year
• Analytics Data: Aggregated data retained indefinitely (no personal identifiers)
• Legal Holds: Data may be retained longer if required by law

8. Cookies & Tracking

We use cookies for:

• Essential Cookies: Authentication, session management (required)
• Preference Cookies: Theme (dark/light mode), language settings
• Analytics Cookies: Anonymous usage statistics (optional, can opt-out)

You can manage cookies in your browser settings. Disabling essential cookies may affect functionality.

9. Children's Privacy

032.co.za is not intended for children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe a child has provided us with personal information, contact us at privacy@032.co.za and we will delete it immediately.

10. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy periodically. We will notify you of significant changes via email or prominent notice on the website. Continued use after changes constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

11. Contact & Complaints

12. International Data Transfers

Some of our service providers (Supabase, OpenAI, Vercel) may process data outside South Africa. We ensure these transfers comply with POPIA through:

• ✓ Contracts requiring POPIA-equivalent protections
• ✓ Encryption of data in transit and at rest
• ✓ Regular security audits of third-party providers
• ✓ Your data remains subject to South African law and your POPIA rights