Privacy Policy

Privacy Policy

As of: 24 April 2026

Welcome to Digital Optad. We are delighted to have you here and deeply value the trust you place in us. This Privacy Policy is designed to explain clearly and transparently how we collect, use, and protect your personal information when you use our digital transformation, website hosting, and custom software services. We believe that privacy is a fundamental right, and we are fully committed to handling your data with the utmost care, respect, and in strict compliance with South African law. If you have any questions after reading this document, please feel free to reach out to us—we are always here to help.

1. Responsible Party & Contact Details

The Responsible Party (the entity determining the purpose and means of processing your personal information) is:

Information Officer

In accordance with Section 55 of the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA), we have registered an Information Officer with the Information Regulator to oversee our privacy compliance:

A Data Protection Officer has not been appointed as there is no legal obligation to do so.

2. Personal Information Collected

We collect personal information directly from you when you register for an account (using an email and password), use our services, or communicate with us. The categories of personal information we process include:

  • Identity & Contact Data: Name, email address, phone number, and billing details.
  • Technical & Usage Data: IP address, browser type, language settings, session data, and page views.
  • Communication Data: Messages sent via our website, WhatsApp Business integration, or email.
  • User-Generated Content: Any content or materials you choose to upload or share through our platforms.

We do not actively collect Special Personal Information (such as health data or religious beliefs) unless you voluntarily provide it within user-generated content.

3. Purpose of Processing

We process your personal information for specific, explicitly defined, and lawful purposes, including:

  • Providing, configuring, and deploying custom digital solutions, website hosting, and domain registration services.
  • Managing your customer account and processing payments.
  • Communicating with you regarding service updates, support requests, and administrative notices.
  • Sending direct marketing communications (only if you have explicitly opted in).
  • Ensuring the security, reliability, and performance of our digital systems.
  • Complying with our legal and regulatory obligations.

4. Legal Basis for Processing

Under Section 11 of POPIA, we only process your personal information when we have a valid legal justification:

  • Contractual Necessity: Processing is necessary to conclude or perform a contract with you (e.g., providing hosting services).
  • Consent: You have given us explicit, voluntary, and informed consent (e.g., for analytics cookies or email marketing).
  • Legitimate Interests: Processing is necessary for our legitimate business interests, provided these do not override your privacy rights (e.g., fraud prevention, network security, and automated content moderation).
  • Legal Obligation: Processing is required to comply with South African laws, such as the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act (ECTA) or tax regulations.

5. Notification and Voluntary Provision of Data

When we collect personal information from you, we will always inform you of the purpose. Providing your personal information for account creation and service delivery is mandatory; without it, we cannot provide our services. Providing data for marketing or analytics is entirely voluntary. You will not face any penalties for declining optional data collection, though some non-essential website features may be limited.

6. Data Sharing and Operators

To provide our services effectively, we may share your information with trusted third-party service providers (Operators). We enter into strict, written Data Processing Agreements with all Operators to ensure they maintain appropriate security safeguards and only process your data based on our documented instructions. We do not sell your personal information to third parties.

7. Trans-Border Information Flows

Digital Optad utilizes secure global infrastructure to deliver our services. Your data may be transferred to and stored on servers located outside of South Africa. Specifically, our primary servers are located in France (FR) at the IP address 147.93.93.22.

Additionally, we use service providers based in the United States (US) and Germany (DE). In accordance with Section 72 of POPIA, we ensure that any cross-border transfer of personal information is subject to adequate legal protection, either through binding corporate rules, standard contractual clauses, or the recipient being subject to laws that provide an adequate level of data protection.

8. Retention of Personal Information

We only keep your personal information for as long as reasonably necessary to fulfill the purposes for which it was collected. Upon the termination of your contract or subscription, your data will be securely retained for a period of 90 days to facilitate any potential downgrade or switching assistance, after which it will be permanently deleted, unless a longer retention period is required by law (e.g., for tax and accounting purposes).

9. Security Safeguards

We implement and maintain robust technical and organizational measures to protect your personal information against accidental loss, unauthorized access, destruction, or alteration. As the provider, we take full responsibility for creating and managing secure backups of our systems.

In the unlikely event of a security compromise (data breach), we have a comprehensive notification plan in place. We will notify the Information Regulator and all affected data subjects as soon as reasonably possible, in accordance with Section 22 of POPIA.

10. Your Data Subject Rights

We are committed to ensuring you have full control over your personal information. You have the right to:

  • Access: Request confirmation of whether we hold personal information about you and request a copy of that information.
  • Correction: Request the correction of inaccurate, irrelevant, or outdated information.
  • Deletion: Request the deletion or destruction of your personal information where we are no longer authorized to retain it.
  • Objection: Object to the processing of your personal information on reasonable grounds relating to your particular situation, or object at any time to processing for direct marketing purposes.
  • Data Portability: Export your data in a common, machine-readable format (multiple formats available).

11. PAIA Manual and Access Requests

In compliance with the Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA), Digital Optad maintains a Section 51 PAIA Manual. This manual outlines the procedures for requesting access to records held by our company. You may request a copy of our PAIA Manual by contacting our Information Officer. Access requests are processed within 30 days, and statutory fees may apply depending on the nature of the request.

12. Direct Marketing

In strict compliance with Section 69 of POPIA and Section 16 of the Consumer Protection Act (CPA), we only engage in direct marketing via electronic communications (such as our Newsletter or SMS) if you have explicitly opted in. You have the absolute right to withdraw your consent and unsubscribe at any time, free of charge, by clicking the "unsubscribe" link in our emails or contacting us directly.

13. Digital Services Act (DSA) & Content Moderation

As a provider of digital platforms that host user-generated content, we comply with relevant digital service regulations:

  • Notice-and-Action Procedure: We operate a hybrid moderation system. If you spot illegal content, you can report it to us. We commit to a response time of 72 hours for all notices.
  • Automated Moderation: We utilize algorithmic and AI-based tools to assist in detecting policy violations.
  • Appeal Mechanism: If your content is removed or your account is restricted, you have the right to appeal the moderation decision through our internal complaint escalation procedure.
  • Transparency: We publish an annual transparency report detailing our content moderation activities.

14. Cookies and Tracking Technologies

Our website uses cookies and similar tracking technologies to ensure functionality, analyze user behavior, and improve our services. We strictly require your consent for non-essential cookies. Below is a comprehensive list of the services and technologies active on our website:

Service / Provider Category / Purpose Provider Country Legal Basis
Google Analytics (Google Ireland Limited) ANALYTICS - Analyzing user behavior (IP, usage data, page views) [Please complete] Consent
Google Tag Manager Cookies FUNCTIONAL - Tag management (preferences, language) [Please complete] Legitimate Interest
Cookie Consent ESSENTIAL - Storing consent preferences (IP, session data) [Please complete] Legitimate Interest
WhatsApp Business FUNCTIONAL - Chat widget (preferences, language) [Please complete] Legitimate Interest
Cloudflare (Cloudflare Inc.) Infrastructure & Delivery US Legitimate Interest
Amazon Web Services (Amazon) Cloud Infrastructure US Legitimate Interest
PayPal (PayPal Holdings) Payment Processing US Contractual Necessity
Google Analytics 4 (Google LLC) Advanced Analytics US Consent
Facebook Pixel / Tracking (Meta Platforms Inc.) Marketing & Tracking US Consent
WhatsApp (Meta Platforms Inc.) Communication Integration US Legitimate Interest
Meta Pixel (Meta Platforms Inc.) Marketing & Tracking US Consent
Google reCAPTCHA (Google LLC) Security & Spam Prevention US Legitimate Interest
Cloudflare Protection (Cloudflare Inc.) Security & DDoS Protection US Legitimate Interest
OpenAI / ChatGPT (OpenAI) AI Integration & Automation US Legitimate Interest
WooCommerce (Automattic Inc.) E-commerce Functionality US Contractual Necessity
WhatsApp Business (Meta Platforms) Business Communication US Legitimate Interest
Biscotti CMP (Biscotti) Consent Management Platform DE Legal Obligation
Cookie Notice (Developer) Cookie Banner Display US Legal Obligation
WordPress (Automattic Inc.) Content Management System US Legitimate Interest

15. Social Media Presences

We maintain online presences on various social media platforms to communicate with our customers and provide information about our services. When you visit our profiles, your personal data may be processed by the platform operators. We operate these profiles under joint controllership agreements with the respective platform providers. Our active profiles include:

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • WhatsApp
  • TikTok
  • Twitter
  • Threads
  • YouTube
  • Pinterest

16. Complaints to the Information Regulator

If you believe that we have processed your personal information in a manner that violates POPIA, we kindly ask that you contact our Information Officer first so we can resolve the issue promptly. However, you always have the absolute right to lodge a complaint directly with the Information Regulator of South Africa:

The Information Regulator (South Africa)
Physical Address: 33 Hoofd Street, Forum III, Braampark, Johannesburg, 2017
Postal Address: PO Box 31533, Braamfontein, Johannesburg, 2017
Email: inforeg@justice.gov.za
Website: www.inforegulator.org.za

17. Updates to this Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, technology, or legal requirements. Any amendments will be communicated to you via email notice. The most current version will always be available on our website.

Thank you for trusting Digital Optad. We are dedicated to ensuring your digital transformation is secure, compliant, and successful.

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