Introduction
Digitise SA is a free entrepreneur support platform operated by Hodisa SA NPC, a registered South African non-profit company. We are committed to protecting the privacy of every person who uses our platform, visits our website, or interacts with our services.
This Privacy Policy explains what personal information we collect, why we collect it, how we use it, and what your rights are under the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 (POPIA) and other applicable South African law.
By using digitisesa.co.za, registering as a member, downloading templates, subscribing to our newsletter, or attending our events, you agree to the terms of this Privacy Policy.
Who we are
Hodisa SA NPC is the responsible party as defined under POPIA. We determine the purpose and means of processing your personal information.
What personal information we collect
We only collect personal information that is necessary for the purposes described in this policy.
Information you provide directly
- Your first name and last name
- Your email address
- Your business name, industry and province (optional, provided during registration)
- Your business stage (starting out, building, scaling)
- Your answers to the business readiness check, if you choose to save your result
- Messages you send us via the contact form
- Information you share when registering for events or webinars
Information collected automatically
- Your IP address and approximate location (country or city level)
- Browser type and device type
- Pages you visit on our website and time spent on each page
- How you arrived at our website (search engine, social media, direct link)
- Files you download from our templates library
We do not collect any special personal information as defined under POPIA, including race, health information, religious beliefs, political views, or biometric data.
Why we collect your information and the legal basis
We collect and process your personal information only for specific, lawful purposes. Under POPIA, we are required to have a lawful basis for processing.
To provide the platform and its services
We use your name and email address to create and manage your member account, send you resources you have requested, and enable access to platform features. This is necessary to perform the service you have signed up for.
Business readiness check
Anyone can take the check without an account, and we store nothing while you do. If you choose to save your result, we keep your answers, your scores, your stage and the date you completed it on your member profile, so we can suggest what to do next. We use these results in totals only, for example how many members completed the check, and never report on you or your business individually. You can ask us to delete them at any time.
To send you our newsletter and email updates
If you have subscribed to our mailing list, we use your email address to send newsletters, platform updates, new resource announcements, and event invitations. The lawful basis is your consent. You may withdraw consent at any time by unsubscribing.
To register you for events and webinars
When you register for an event, we use your name and email to confirm your registration, send reminders, and deliver the recording afterwards. This is necessary to fulfil the event registration service.
To respond to your enquiries
When you contact us via the contact form or by email, we use the information you provide to respond to your message. This is in our legitimate interest as an organisation.
To improve the platform
We use anonymised and aggregated usage data to understand which resources are most useful, which pages are visited most often, and where we can improve. This data does not identify you personally.
To comply with legal obligations
We may process your information where required to comply with South African law or to respond to lawful requests from regulatory authorities.
How we use your information
We use your personal information only for the purposes described above. We will not use your information for any incompatible purpose without informing you and, where required, obtaining your consent.
We will never:
- Sell your personal information to any third party
- Share your information with advertisers or use it for targeted advertising
- Use your information to build profiles for commercial resale
- Send you unsolicited commercial communications unrelated to the Digitise SA platform
How long we keep your information
We keep your personal information only for as long as it is necessary for the purposes described in this policy, or as required by law.
| Type of information | Retention period |
|---|---|
| Member account details | Active period plus 12 months after account closure |
| Newsletter subscriber data | Until you unsubscribe, plus 30 days for system processing |
| Event registration data | 24 months from the date of the event |
| Contact form enquiries | 24 months from the date of your enquiry |
| Website usage data (analytics) | 26 months (standard Google Analytics retention) |
| Template download records | 24 months |
| Digitise SA Assistant conversations | Not kept by us. Kept by Anthropic for a limited period under its commercial terms |
| Coded network address for assistant message limits | 1 day |
| Help requests sent to our team through the assistant | 12 months after your request is closed |
When we no longer have a lawful basis to retain your information, we securely delete or anonymise it.
Third parties and data processors
To operate the platform, we use a number of trusted third-party tools and services. These tools may process your personal information on our behalf as data operators under POPIA. We require them to process your data only as instructed.
FluentCRM
Email marketing and contact management. Stores subscriber data on our WordPress server. Privacy policy available at fluentcrm.com.
WordPress and WordPress plugins
Our website runs on WordPress. Plugin data is stored on our hosting server in South Africa or within the applicable data residency of the hosting provider.
Google Analytics
We use Google Analytics to understand website traffic. It collects anonymised usage data. You can opt out using the Google Analytics opt-out browser add-on. Google’s privacy policy is available at policies.google.com.
YouTube
Our video content is hosted on YouTube. When you watch embedded videos on our website, YouTube may collect data in accordance with Google’s privacy policy.
Complianz
Cookie consent and POPIA compliance management. Stores your cookie preferences.
Anthropic, PBC
Produces the replies of the Digitise SA Assistant, our AI chat tool. Processes information outside South Africa, including in the United States. See Section 7A.
We do not share your personal information with any third party for their own marketing or commercial purposes.
The Digitise SA Assistant
The Digitise SA Assistant is an AI chat tool on our website. It helps you find your way around the site, answers questions, and gives general guidance about running a business. It can also pass your request to our team.
What the assistant processes
- Your messages and the assistant’s replies during the conversation.
- The page you are on when you send a message, so the assistant can help with that page.
- If you are signed in: your first name, and the business stage and areas of interest recorded in your profile and business readiness check, so that guidance fits your business.
- A coded version of your network address, used only to apply the daily message limit. We do not keep the address itself, and the coded version is deleted after a day.
We keep daily totals (for example, how many messages were sent and how many people asked for help). These totals contain no personal information.
What we do not keep
We do not save your conversations on our systems. Your own browser keeps the conversation until you close the tab, so it is still there if you move to another page of our site. You can clear it at any time with the new chat button. We do not use your conversations for marketing.
Our AI provider
To produce each reply, your message, the recent conversation and the information listed above are sent to our AI provider, Anthropic, PBC, which processes them on our behalf. Anthropic processes this information outside South Africa, including in the United States.
We transfer this information under section 72 of the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA) on the basis of your consent, which you give before your first message, and Anthropic’s binding commercial terms and data processing addendum, which require it to protect the information. Under those terms, Anthropic does not use your messages to train its models. It keeps them for a limited period for security and abuse monitoring, as its terms set out.
Please do not share identity numbers, banking or card details, passwords, PINs, or information about your health or anyone else’s in the assistant.
Asking for help from our team
If you ask for help from our team, we collect your name, email address, phone number if you give it, how you would like us to contact you, and what you need help with. If you choose to include it, we also receive the conversation.
We send this to our team’s mailbox, info@digitisesa.co.za, and email you a confirmation with a reference number. If you are a signed-in member, we also add a note and a label to your member record so we can follow up. If you are not a member, we do not add you to our member records or mailing lists.
We use these details only to respond to your request. We keep them for 12 months after your request is closed, then delete them.
Decisions about you
The assistant gives general information and suggestions. It does not make any decision about you that has legal consequences or that significantly affects you. Its answers are not legal, tax or financial advice.
Your choices
Using the assistant is optional. Everything on our website is available without it. You can ask us what we hold about you, ask us to correct or delete it, or withdraw your consent at any time by emailing info@digitisesa.co.za, as described in the rest of this Privacy Statement.
Cookies
Our website uses cookies: small text files stored on your device that help us understand how you use the site and remember your preferences.
Strictly necessary cookies
Required for the website to function correctly. These cannot be disabled. Examples include session cookies and cookie consent preferences.
Analytics cookies
Help us understand how visitors use our website so we can improve it. Only set with your consent.
Functional cookies
Remember your preferences such as language or region settings. Only set with your consent.
You can manage your cookie preferences at any time using the cookie preference centre in the footer of our website, or by adjusting your browser settings. For full details see our Cookie Statement.
Your rights under POPIA
The Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 gives you the following rights regarding your personal information:
You may request a copy of the personal information we hold about you at any time.
You may ask us to correct any personal information that is inaccurate, incomplete or outdated.
You may ask us to delete your personal information where we no longer have a lawful basis to retain it.
You may object to us processing your personal information for direct marketing purposes at any time.
Where we rely on your consent, you may withdraw it at any time without affecting prior processing.
You may lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator of South Africa at inforegulator.org.za.
To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at info@digitisesa.co.za with the subject line “Privacy Request”. We will respond within 30 days.
Security
We take reasonable steps to protect your personal information from unauthorised access, loss, misuse or alteration. Our measures include:
- Secure HTTPS encryption on all pages of our website
- Restricted access to personal data within our team
- Regular review of data access and security practices
- Use of reputable, security-conscious third-party tools
No method of electronic transmission or storage is completely secure. We cannot guarantee absolute security, but we are committed to protecting your information to the best of our ability.
If we become aware of a data breach that may affect your rights and freedoms, we will notify the Information Regulator and affected individuals in accordance with POPIA requirements.
Children
Our platform is intended for entrepreneurs and adults. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under the age of 18. If you are under 18, please do not submit personal information without the consent of a parent or guardian.
If we become aware that we have collected personal information from a child without appropriate consent, we will delete it promptly.
Links to other websites
Our website contains links to third-party websites including YouTube, government funding portals, and partner websites. This Privacy Policy applies only to digitisesa.co.za. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of external websites and encourage you to read their privacy policies before providing personal information.
International transfers
We primarily store and process data within South Africa. Where we use third-party tools that may transfer or store data outside South Africa (such as Google Analytics, and Anthropic for the Digitise SA Assistant, described in Section 7A), we ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place and that such transfers comply with POPIA requirements.
Changes to this Privacy Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, the platform, or applicable law. When we make significant changes, we will update the “Last updated” date at the top of this page and, where appropriate, notify you by email.
Your continued use of the platform after any changes constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.
Contact us
If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, wish to exercise your rights, or want to raise a concern about how we handle your personal information, please contact us:
We aim to respond to all privacy-related requests within 30 days.
Information Regulator
If you are not satisfied with our response to your privacy concern, you have the right to contact the Information Regulator of South Africa:
The Information Regulator (South Africa)
- Website: inforegulator.org.za
- Email: inforeg@justice.gov.za
This Privacy Policy is governed by the laws of the Republic of South Africa.
Effective date: 1 May 2025. Last updated: 28 October 2026. Responsible party: Hodisa SA NPC, operating digitisesa.co.za.