Privacy Policy

1. Responsible Party & Information Officer

The responsible party as defined in POPIA is Africanis Assistance Network NPC. Our designated Information Officer can be contacted at:

• Email: Contact us via our website
• Registration: NPC 2021/607957/08

2. Personal Information We Collect

We may collect the following categories of personal information:

• Identity & contact details — full name, email address, phone number, and residential address
• Adoption application data — household composition, lifestyle information, employment status, existing pets, landlord permission, and references
• Communication data — messages and correspondence submitted through our contact form
• Donation data — when you donate via a third-party platform (Quicket or BackaBuddy), those platforms' own privacy policies apply to any financial or payment information you provide to them
• Technical data — browser type, IP address, and pages visited, collected automatically when you browse our website

We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under the age of 18 without verifiable parental or guardian consent.

3. How We Collect Your Information

We collect personal information in the following ways:

• Directly from you when you submit an adoption application or contact form on our website
• Automatically through standard web-server logs when you visit our website
• From third parties such as personal references you provide as part of an adoption application

4. Lawful Basis & Purpose of Processing

In accordance with POPIA Section 11, we only process your personal information where at least one of the following lawful grounds applies:

• Consent — you have given us specific, informed consent to process your information for a stated purpose
• Contractual necessity — processing is necessary to process your adoption application or to respond to your inquiry
• Legitimate interest — we have a legitimate organisational interest that is not overridden by your rights (e.g., maintaining website security)
• Legal obligation — we are required to process information to comply with applicable South African law

Specifically, we process your personal information to:

• Receive, evaluate, and process adoption applications
• Contact applicants regarding their application status
• Respond to general enquiries submitted via our contact form
• Conduct home checks and verify suitability of adoption applicants
• Contact personal references provided in an adoption application
• Maintain records required by law and for legitimate organisational purposes
• Improve and maintain the security and functionality of our website

We will not process your personal information for any purpose incompatible with the purpose for which it was originally collected without your prior consent.

5. Sharing of Personal Information

We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal information. We may share your information only in the following limited circumstances:

• Foster carers and volunteers — relevant application details may be shared internally with vetted volunteers involved in rehoming a specific dog
• References — we will contact the personal references you provide solely for the purpose of verifying your adoption application
• Service providers — we use trusted third-party service providers (such as email delivery services) who process data on our behalf under confidentiality obligations and are not permitted to use your data for their own purposes
• Legal obligation — we may disclose personal information where required by law, court order, or lawful instruction from a government authority

6. Third-Party Donation Platforms

Donations made via Quicket or BackaBuddy are processed directly on those platforms. Any personal or financial information you provide to them is governed by their own privacy policies and terms of service. We encourage you to review those policies before making a donation. We receive only confirmation of a donation and, where relevant, a donor's name if voluntarily provided to us by the platform.

7. Retention of Personal Information

We retain personal information only for as long as is necessary for the purpose for which it was collected, or as required by law:

• Successful adoption applications — retained for the lifetime of the adoption agreement and a reasonable period thereafter
• Unsuccessful or withdrawn applications — retained for a maximum of 12 months after the decision, then securely deleted
• Contact form submissions — retained for a maximum of 6 months after the inquiry is resolved, then securely deleted
• Website technical logs — retained for a maximum of 30 days on a rolling basis

8. Security of Your Personal Information

We implement reasonable and appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal information against accidental loss, unauthorised access, use, alteration, or disclosure. These measures include:

• Encrypted data transmission over HTTPS/TLS
• Access controls limiting who within our organisation can access personal data
• Regular review of our data handling practices

Despite these measures, no transmission over the internet is completely secure. In the event of a data breach that is likely to affect your rights and interests, we will notify you and the Information Regulator as required by POPIA Section 22.

9. Your Rights Under POPIA

As a data subject under POPIA, you have the following rights:

• Right of access (Section 23) — you may request confirmation of whether we hold your personal information and request a copy of it
• Right to correction (Section 24) — you may request that we correct or update inaccurate, misleading, or incomplete personal information
• Right to deletion — you may request the deletion of your personal information where it is no longer necessary for the purpose for which it was collected and no other lawful retention ground applies
• Right to object (Section 11(3)) — you may object, at any time, to the processing of your personal information on grounds relating to your particular situation
• Right to withdraw consent — where processing is based on your consent, you may withdraw that consent at any time without affecting the lawfulness of processing carried out prior to withdrawal

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us. We will respond within a reasonable time and in any event within 30 days of receiving your request. We may need to verify your identity before actioning your request.

10. Cookies & Website Analytics

Our website uses only essential functional cookies necessary for the website to operate correctly (such as security tokens). We do not currently use advertising cookies, tracking pixels, or third-party analytics services such as Google Analytics. If this changes, this policy will be updated and a cookie notice will be displayed.

11. Links to Third-Party Websites

Our website may contain links to third-party websites (including Quicket and BackaBuddy). We are not responsible for the privacy practices or content of those websites. We encourage you to read their privacy policies before providing any personal information to them.

12. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, legal requirements, or operational needs. The date at the top of this page indicates when the policy was last revised. We encourage you to review this page periodically. Continued use of our website after any changes constitutes acceptance of the revised policy.

13. Complaints

If you believe we have not handled your personal information in accordance with POPIA, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator of South Africa:

• Website: www.inforegulator.org.za
• Email: complaints@inforegulator.org.za
• Address: JD House, 27 Stiemens Street, Braamfontein, Johannesburg, 2001
• Tel: 010 023 5207

We would appreciate the opportunity to address your concerns directly before you approach the regulator. Please contact us first so we can attempt to resolve the matter.