Privacy Policy (POPIA)

1) Responsible Party & Contact

Responsible Party: Koos Gagiano Design (Riversdale, Western Cape, South Africa)

Primary email: koos@koosgagiano.co.za

2) What We Collect

• Identity & contact details (name, business name, email, phone, address)
• Website content you provide (text, images, logos)
• Billing & transaction data (plan selected, invoices, payment confirmations)
• Technical/usage data (IP, device, browser, pages viewed, cookies)
• Support communications (emails, messages, change requests)

3) How & Why We Process Personal Information

• To provide, bill, and support our Rent-a-Website service
• To register and manage domains/hosting and maintain security/backups
• To communicate about onboarding, maintenance, updates, and renewals
• To comply with legal/record-keeping duties and prevent fraud/abuse
• With consent, to send service updates or marketing (you can opt out anytime)

4) Legal Grounds (POPIA)

We process personal information on the following grounds where applicable: performance of a contract; compliance with law; legitimate interests (service operation, security, billing); and consent (e.g., marketing emails).

5) Operators (Processors) & Sharing

We use reputable service providers (“operators”) solely to deliver our services, e.g., hosting, domain registrars, email, analytics, payment gateways. They may only process your data per our instructions and must apply appropriate security controls. We do not sell your data.

6) Cross-Border Transfers

Some operators may store/process data outside South Africa. Where that happens, we take reasonable steps to ensure essentially equivalent protection aligned with POPIA (contractual safeguards, reputable vendors, and minimal necessary transfer).

7) Cookies & Tracking

We use essential cookies for security and site functionality; optional analytics cookies help us understand usage. You can control cookies in your browser and via our cookie banner.

8) Direct Marketing

We will only send marketing with your consent or as permitted by POPIA. You can opt out using the unsubscribe link or by emailing koos@koosgagiano.co.za.

9) Security

We follow reasonable technical and organisational measures: SSL/TLS, access controls, backups, patching, and vendor due diligence. No system is perfectly secure; we manage risk pragmatically and respond to incidents without undue delay.

10) Your POPIA Rights

Under POPIA, you may:

• Request access to the personal information we hold about you
• Request correction, update, or deletion where appropriate
• Object to or restrict certain processing
• Withdraw consent (where processing is based on consent)
• Lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator (South Africa)

How to exercise rights: use the form below or email koos@koosgagiano.co.za with the subject “POPIA Request”.

Information Regulator (South Africa): contact details are available on the Regulator’s official website. You should first contact us to resolve your concern.

11) Retention

We retain personal information only as long as necessary for service delivery, legal/accounting obligations, and legitimate business purposes. We securely dispose of data once no longer required.

12) Children

Our services are intended for businesses and adults. We do not knowingly collect children’s personal information.

13) Changes to This Policy

We may update this policy from time to time. Material changes will be highlighted on this page with a new effective date.