Privacy Policy
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Last updated: [date]
This policy explains what personal information My West Rand collects, why we collect it, and your rights under the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA).
Who we are
My West Rand (“we”, “us”) is a business directory and community magazine for the West Rand, Gauteng. The responsible party for your personal information is [full company or trading name], [registration number, if any], [physical address].
Our Information Officer is [name], who you can contact at [email address].
What information we collect
- When you add or claim a business listing, or contact us: your name, your role in the business, email address, phone number, and anything you write to us.
- Business listings: business name, category, area, phone number, street address, opening hours, website and social media pages. For sole proprietors this can include personal information.
- Technical information: your IP address, browser, device, and the pages you visit, collected through cookies and similar technologies.
- Your cookie choice, so we do not ask you again on every page.
How we get it
- Directly from you, through our forms.
- For the first listings we publish, from publicly available sources such as [list your sources, for example business directories, websites and social media pages].
- Automatically, through cookies, when you use the site.
Why we use it
- To publish and maintain the business directory.
- To contact business owners to tell them they are listed, to check that their details are right, and to tell them about advertising options.
- To answer your enquiries and process claims, submissions and advertising requests.
- To keep the site secure and working properly.
- To understand how the site is used so we can improve it.
- To meet our legal obligations.
Contacting business owners
We may email or phone business owners about their listing and about paid advertising. You can ask us at any time to correct your listing, remove it, or stop contacting you, and we will do so promptly. Just email [email address].
Cookies
We use cookies to make the site work, to remember your cookie choice (for 365 days), and [to measure site traffic, for example with Google Analytics: confirm what you use]. You can change your choice at any time using the cookie icon at the bottom left of any page.
Who we share it with
We do not sell your personal information. We share it only with service providers who help us run the site, such as [hosting provider], email delivery, analytics, security and backup services, and when the law requires it. Advertisers do not receive your personal information.
Some of these providers are based outside South Africa. Where that happens, we take steps to make sure your information stays protected in line with POPIA.
Keeping it safe, and for how long
We use reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect your information. We keep it only for as long as we need it for the purposes above, or as the law requires. A business listing stays on the site until the owner asks us to change or remove it. Enquiries and claims are kept for [period, for example 24 months].
Your rights
You can ask us to tell you what personal information we hold about you, to correct it, to delete it, or to stop using it. You can also withdraw your consent at any time. Email [email address] and we will respond within a reasonable time.
If you are unhappy with how we handle your information, you can complain to the Information Regulator of South Africa at inforegulator.org.za.
Children
This site is not aimed at children under 18, and we do not knowingly collect their personal information.
Other websites
We link to other websites, including business and booking sites. We are not responsible for their privacy practices.
Changes to this policy
We may update this policy from time to time. The date at the top shows when it last changed.
Contact us
[Email address]
[Phone number]
[Physical address]