Privacy Policy

1. Who we are

This website, www.vanine.co.za (the “Site”), is operated by Vanine (Pty) Ltd, registration number 2022/472692/07, a company incorporated in the Republic of South Africa with its registered address at Ext 15, 8 Incubation Drive, Riverside View, Fourways, Midrand, 2021 (“Vanine”, “we”, “us” or “our”).

We respect your privacy and process personal information in accordance with the Protection of Personal Information Act, 4 of 2013 (“POPIA”) and, where applicable to visitors from other jurisdictions, other relevant data protection laws.

This policy explains what personal information we collect through the Site, why we collect it, how we use it and the choices available to you.

2. Information Officer

Our Information Officer may be contacted at hi@vanine.co.za for any query, request or complaint relating to this policy or your personal information.

3. Information we collect

We deliberately collect less than we could. The Site gathers the following categories of information:

Information you provide to us. When you contact us through the Site or by email, we collect the information you choose to share, such as your name, email address, telephone number, organisation and the content of your message.

Information collected automatically. When you visit the Site, our hosting provider collects limited technical information necessary to serve and secure the Site, such as your IP address, browser type and the date and time of your request. This information is used for security, performance and operational purposes only.

The Site does not currently use analytics or marketing cookies. Should this change, this policy will be updated and a consent mechanism will be introduced before any such cookies are set.

We do not knowingly collect special personal information as defined in POPIA through the Site, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under the age of 18.

4. How we use your information

We use the information described above to:

• respond to enquiries and correspond with you;
• provide, operate and improve the Site;
• protect the security and integrity of the Site; and
• comply with legal obligations that apply to us.

We do not sell personal information. We do not use personal information collected through the Site to train artificial intelligence models.

5. Lawful basis for processing

We process personal information where:

• you have consented to the processing;
• the processing is necessary to respond to a request you have made to us;
• the processing is necessary for our legitimate interests in operating and securing the Site, provided those interests are not overridden by your rights; or
• the processing is required by law.

You may withdraw consent at any time. Withdrawal does not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before withdrawal.

6. Third parties who process information on our behalf

We use a small number of service providers to operate the Site and deliver our services. These providers process information on our behalf and under our instructions:

• Vercel Inc., which hosts the Site; and
• cloud infrastructure providers, including Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud Platform, which we use in the delivery of our services.

We take reasonable steps to ensure that these providers protect personal information to a standard consistent with this policy and applicable law.

7. Cross-border transfers

Some of our service providers store or process information outside the Republic of South Africa, including in the United States and the European Union. Where personal information is transferred across borders, we take reasonable steps to ensure that the recipient is subject to laws, binding corporate rules or contractual terms that provide an adequate level of protection consistent with POPIA.

8. Retention

We retain personal information only for as long as is necessary for the purposes described in this policy, or as required by law. Correspondence relating to enquiries is retained for 24 months unless a continuing business relationship requires otherwise.

9. Your rights

Subject to the provisions of POPIA, you have the right to:

• request access to the personal information we hold about you;
• request correction or deletion of your personal information;
• object to the processing of your personal information;
• withdraw any consent you have given; and
• lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator of South Africa.

To exercise any of these rights, contact our Information Officer at hi@vanine.co.za. We may need to verify your identity before acting on a request.

The Information Regulator may be contacted at:

Information Regulator (South Africa) JD House, 27 Stiemens Street, Braamfontein, Johannesburg, 2001 Email: POPIAComplaints@inforegulator.org.za Website: www.inforegulator.org.za

10. Security

We implement reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect personal information against loss, damage, unauthorised access and unlawful processing, including encryption in transit, access controls and the principle of collecting only what is necessary. No method of transmission or storage is entirely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

11. Links to other sites

The Site may contain links to third-party websites. This policy does not apply to those websites, and we are not responsible for their content or privacy practices.

12. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. The effective date at the top of this page indicates when it was last revised. Material changes will be reflected on this page, and continued use of the Site after a change constitutes acceptance of the revised policy.

13. Contact

Questions about this policy or our handling of personal information may be directed to:

Vanine (Pty) Ltd Ext 15, 8 Incubation Drive, Riverside View, Fourways, Midrand, 2021 Email: hi@vanine.co.za