Privacy policy

1. Who we are

TechNest Group (Pty) Ltd (“TechNest”, “we”, “us”) is the responsible party for the personal information collected through gotechnest.co.za.

• Responsible party: TechNest Group (Pty) Ltd, trading as TechNest
• Address: Durban, South Africa
• Information Officer: Lwazi Thabiso Zuma
• Email: contact.gotechnest@gmail.com

2. What we collect

• Contact form: your name, email address, business name (optional), phone number (optional), the service you are interested in and your message. We also record that you agreed to this policy, and when.
• Free website audit request: your name and the website address you enter. The request is sent as a pre-filled WhatsApp message, so WhatsApp (Meta) also receives it, together with your WhatsApp number.
• Messages to us on WhatsApp or by email: whatever you choose to share.
• Technical information: your IP address and browser or device type, which Cloudflare processes to deliver the website and keep it secure. A spam check (Cloudflare Turnstile) runs when you send the contact form, to tell people from bots. We keep a scrambled (hashed) version of your IP address, only to limit how many messages one person can send. It cannot be turned back into your IP address.

Please do not send ID numbers, banking details or health information through the form or in messages.

3. Why we use it

• to reply to your enquiry or audit request
• to prepare quotes and provide the services you ask for
• to manage our relationship with you if you become a client
• to keep the website secure and prevent spam
• to meet our legal and tax obligations

We rely on your consent (the box you tick on the form) and on what is needed to deliver a service you have asked for. We do not sell or rent your information. We only send marketing messages if you have agreed to receive them, and every message includes a simple way to opt out.

4. Cookies and browser storage

We do not use advertising or tracking cookies. See our cookie notice for the few technical items the site uses.

5. Who we share it with

We share information only with service providers who help us run the business, and only as much as they need:

• Cloudflare: hosting, security, the spam check, our enquiry database and email forwarding
• Google (Gmail): to receive and reply to your enquiries by email
• Meta (WhatsApp): conversations and audit requests on WhatsApp
• GitHub: private backups of our enquiry database

These providers handle information on our behalf and for these purposes only. We may also disclose information where the law requires it.

6. Information stored outside South Africa

Our providers operate internationally. Our enquiry database is hosted in Western Europe, and other providers may process information in other countries, including the United States. We use providers that are bound by law or contract to protect your information in a way that is substantially similar to POPIA, as section 72 of POPIA requires.

7. How long we keep it

• Enquiries that do not lead to work: up to 12 months, then they are deleted automatically.
• Client records: while we work together, and afterwards for as long as the law requires. Financial and tax records are generally kept for five years.
• Backups: a weekly backup of the enquiry database is kept for up to 90 days, so a deleted enquiry can remain in a backup for that long.

8. How we protect it

We use reasonable technical and organisational measures: encrypted connections (HTTPS), spam protection and rate limiting on the form, two-factor authentication on our accounts, and access limited to people who need it. No system is completely secure. If a breach affects your information, we will notify you and the Information Regulator, as POPIA requires.

9. Your rights

Under POPIA you may:

• ask what personal information we hold about you
• ask us to correct or update it
• ask us to delete it, where we no longer have a lawful reason to keep it
• object to us processing it, including for direct marketing
• withdraw your consent at any time (this does not affect what we lawfully did before you withdrew it)
• complain to the Information Regulator

To use any of these rights, email contact.gotechnest@gmail.com. We may need to confirm your identity first, and we aim to respond within 30 days.

10. Complaints

If you are unhappy with how we have handled your information, please contact us first so we can put it right. You can also complain to the Information Regulator of South Africa:

• Website: inforegulator.org.za
• General enquiries: enquiries@inforegulator.org.za
• POPIA complaints: POPIAComplaints@inforegulator.org.za
• Phone: 010 023 5200
• Address: Woodmead North Office Park, 54 Maxwell Drive, Woodmead, Johannesburg, 2191

11. Children

Our services are aimed at businesses. We do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 18.

12. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. The latest version is always on this page, with the date it was last updated.