Privacy Policy & POPIA

1. Who We Are (Responsible Party)

Market Africa ("we", "us", "our") is the responsible party as defined by POPIA in respect of personal information collected via this website (marketafrica.co.za) and related services.

We are registered and operate in the Republic of South Africa. All enquiries relating to this policy may be directed to our Information Officer — see Section 11 below.

2. Personal Information We Collect

We only collect information that is adequate, relevant and not excessive for the purpose for which it is collected.

2.1 Information you provide voluntarily

• Full name
• Email address
• Phone number (optional)
• Message content submitted via our contact form
• Service of interest selected

2.2 Information collected automatically

• IP address (logged per form submission for security purposes)
• Browser type and approximate user-agent string (security only)
• Pages visited and time of visit (if analytics are enabled)
• Cookie data (see our Cookie Policy)

2.3 Information we do NOT collect

• We do not collect special personal information (race, religion, health, biometrics, etc.)
• We do not collect children's personal information knowingly
• We do not collect financial or payment information on this website

3. Why We Process Your Information

Your personal information is processed for the following specific, lawful purposes:

• Contact form enquiries: To respond to your enquiry and provide you with information about our services.
• Security and fraud prevention: IP logging and reCAPTCHA to protect the integrity of our contact system.
• Legal compliance: To comply with applicable South African law including POPIA.
• Analytics (if enabled): To understand how visitors use our website and to improve our services.

We will not process your personal information for any purpose other than the purpose for which it was collected without your consent.

4. Lawful Basis for Processing (POPIA)

We process personal information on the following grounds under POPIA Section 11:

• Consent: You voluntarily submit your details via the contact form.
• Legitimate interest: Security logging and fraud prevention.
• Legal obligation: Where required by South African law.
• Contractual necessity: Where processing is required to fulfil a service agreement.

5. Sharing of Personal Information

We do not sell, rent or trade your personal information to third parties. We may share your information only in the following limited circumstances:

• Service providers: Email delivery services and hosting providers who process data on our behalf and are contractually bound to protect it.
• Google reCAPTCHA: The IP address and usage data may be shared with Google for spam prevention purposes. See Google's Privacy Policy.
• Legal requirements: Where required by a court order, law enforcement or regulatory authority.

6. Retention of Personal Information

We retain personal information only for as long as necessary to fulfil the purpose for which it was collected:

• Contact form enquiries: Retained in our email system for up to 3 years or until the business relationship ends, whichever is earlier.
• Security logs (IP addresses): Retained for up to 90 days.
• Marketing communications: Until you unsubscribe or withdraw consent.

Once information is no longer required, it is securely deleted or anonymised.

7. Security Measures

We implement reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect your personal information against unauthorised access, loss or destruction, including:

• SSL/TLS encryption (HTTPS) for all data in transit
• CSRF token protection on all web forms
• Server-side input validation and sanitisation
• Rate limiting to prevent automated abuse
• Access controls limiting exposure of personal data
• Environment-based credential management (no credentials in source code)
• Regular review of security practices

While we take all reasonable steps, no transmission over the internet is completely secure. We cannot guarantee absolute security.

8. Cookies and Tracking

We use cookies and similar technologies on this website. For full details, please read our Cookie Policy. You may withdraw consent for non-essential cookies at any time via the cookie banner on our website.

9. Your Rights as a Data Subject (POPIA)

Under the Protection of Personal Information Act, you have the following rights:

9.1 Right of access

You have the right to request confirmation of whether we hold your personal information and to receive a copy of that information.

9.2 Right to correction or deletion

You may request that we correct inaccurate personal information or delete personal information that we no longer have a lawful basis to retain.

9.3 Right to object

You may object to the processing of your personal information on grounds relating to your particular situation, or where processing is for direct marketing purposes.

9.4 Right to withdraw consent

Where processing is based on your consent, you may withdraw that consent at any time. Withdrawal does not affect the lawfulness of processing prior to withdrawal.

9.5 Right not to be subject to automated decisions

You have the right not to be subject to a decision based solely on automated processing that significantly affects you.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact our Information Officer (see Section 11). We will respond within 30 days.

10. Cross-Border Transfers

Your personal information may be processed and stored outside of South Africa (for example, on servers of our email or hosting providers). Where this occurs, we take steps to ensure that adequate safeguards are in place, consistent with POPIA Section 72 and applicable international data protection standards.

Google reCAPTCHA processes data in accordance with Google's Privacy Policy and may store data outside South Africa.

11. Information Officer

In terms of POPIA, Market Africa has designated an Information Officer responsible for ensuring compliance with this Act.

12. Right to Lodge a Complaint

If you are not satisfied with our response to a privacy concern, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator (South Africa):

13. Children's Privacy

Our website and services are not directed at children under the age of 18. We do not knowingly collect personal information from minors. If we become aware that we have inadvertently collected personal information from a child, we will delete it promptly. If you believe we may have collected such information, please contact our Information Officer.

14. Direct Marketing

We will only send you marketing communications where you have given us your express consent to do so. You may opt out at any time by clicking "unsubscribe" in any marketing email, or by contacting our Information Officer. We will process your opt-out request promptly and within the timeframes required by POPIA.

15. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. The "Last updated" date at the top of this page reflects the most recent revision. We encourage you to review this policy periodically. Where changes are material, we will take reasonable steps to notify you.

Continued use of our website following any update constitutes acceptance of the revised policy.

16. Governing Law

This Privacy Policy is governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the Republic of South Africa, including the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 (POPIA) and the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act 25 of 2002 (ECTA).