Privacy Policy & POPIA

This policy explains how Ekhaya Finders handles your personal information, in line with South Africa's Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA).

1. Information we collect

• Account information — name, username, email, cellphone, WhatsApp number, province, city, preferred language and, where you choose to verify, an ID or passport document.
• Listing information — property or business details, price, description, availability and amenities.
• Contact information — the phone, WhatsApp and email details you publish so people can reach you.
• Photographs you upload of your property, business or profile.
• Location information you supply for a listing, including suburb, township and map coordinates.
• Payment and transaction references — the amount, date, status and reference of your listing fee. We never receive or store your card or banking details.
• Usage information — searches, saved listings, enquiries and basic technical data such as device and browser type.

2. How we use your information

• To create and manage your account and publish your listings.
• To let interested users contact you through the details you chose to publish.
• To process listing fees and keep payment records.
• To review listings, prevent fraud and keep the platform safe.
• To send service notifications about your listings, enquiries and payments.
• To improve search, recommendations and the overall service.

3. What other people can see

A published listing, its photos, its area and the contact details you supply for it are public. Your ID document, email login, date of birth and payment records are never shown publicly.

4. Who we share information with

• Payment provider — PayFast, to process and confirm listing payments.
• Technology providers — hosting, database, email and analytics providers who process data on our behalf under confidentiality obligations.
• Authorities — where the law requires it, or to investigate fraud or abuse.

We do not sell your personal information.

5. Cross-border processing

Some of our service providers store data on servers outside South Africa. We only use providers that apply protection comparable to POPIA.

6. Security

Access to accounts is password protected, data is transmitted over encrypted connections, uploaded documents are stored privately, and access to personal data is limited to what is needed to run the platform. No system is perfectly secure, so please use a strong, unique password.

7. Cookies and similar technology

We use cookies and local storage to keep you signed in, remember your language and country preference, and understand how the site is used. You can clear or block them in your browser, though parts of the site may then not work.

8. Your privacy rights

Under POPIA you may ask us what personal information we hold about you, correct it, delete it, object to certain processing, or withdraw consent for marketing messages. You may also complain to the Information Regulator of South Africa.

9. Keeping your information

We keep your account and listing information for as long as your account is active. Payment and tax records are kept for as long as the law requires. After that, data is deleted or anonymised.

10. Children

Ekhaya Finders is not intended for people under 18.

11. Contact for privacy requests

Email Shadracksello51@gmail.com or WhatsApp 073 381 3891. See our Contact page for more ways to reach us.

12. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy. The latest version is always published here with the date it took effect.