Privacy Policy

1. Introduction

Welcome to AI Build South Africa ("AI Build", "we", "our" or "us"). This Privacy Policy explains what information we collect, how we use it, when we share it and the choices you have when you visit aibuild.co.za or use any of our guides, tools or content (collectively, the "Site"). By using this Site, you agree to the collection and use of information as described here.

2. Information we collect

This Site is built with the same principle as our sister sites: keep the amount of personal information we hold as small as possible.

Information you provide

If you use our contact form, you provide your name, email address and message. This is processed by Formspree, our third-party form-processing provider. Your details are submitted directly to Formspree and forwarded to us by email. Before your message can be sent, the contact page also runs a Cloudflare Turnstile security check to confirm you're a person rather than an automated script. Turnstile reads technical signals your browser already sends, such as your IP address and browser details; Cloudflare states that it cannot directly identify an individual from these signals, and that it uses them only to detect and block bot traffic. If you email us directly instead, you provide whatever information you choose to include in that message. Either way, we use it only to respond to your enquiry.

Interactive tools

Where this Site offers interactive tools, including the planned PayFast Webhook Generator and POPIA Compliance Checker, those tools are designed to run entirely in your browser. Any code, configuration or compliance answers you enter are processed on your own device and are not transmitted to or stored on our servers.

Automatically collected information

Like most websites, our hosting provider automatically logs limited technical information for security and operational purposes, including your IP address, browser type, the pages you request and the time of your visit. We do not currently combine this with any analytics or advertising service. See Cookies, below.

3. Cookies and analytics

Where you consent, we use Google Analytics 4 (GA4) to understand how visitors use this Site: pages viewed, session duration, device information and general location, so we can see which guides need work. GA4 does not load, and no analytics cookie is set, until you accept via the consent banner shown on your first visit. If you decline, GA4 never loads on that visit. Your choice is remembered in your browser (via localStorage) so you're not asked again.

We do not currently use any other analytics, session-recording or advertising cookie. For more information, see Google's Privacy Policy. You may opt out of Google Analytics specifically by installing the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on.

4. Advertising, affiliate and referral links

The Site displays a small amount of advertising and participates in affiliate and referral programmes, including with Hostinger and Base44. Some links on the Site, including the Hostinger banner shown in the footer, may earn AI Build South Africa a commission or referral reward if you sign up or make a purchase through them, at no extra cost to you. We do not load any ad-network script or set any advertising cookie of our own for these links. If you click through to a partner's site, that platform may set its own tracking cookie on its own domain to attribute the signup to us; that is governed by the partner's own privacy policy, not this one. This commercial relationship never influences which platform, gateway or tool a guide recommends.

5. How we use your information

Where we do collect information, we use it to respond to your enquiries, operate and maintain the Site, detect technical issues and comply with legal obligations. We do not sell your personal information.

6. Sharing your information

We do not sell, rent or trade personal information. We share information only with the service providers who help us run the Site:

• Our website hosting provider: stores the Site's files and serves pages to visitors
• Google Analytics: processes anonymised usage data, only where you've consented (see Cookies and analytics, above)
• Formspree: processes contact form submissions
• Cloudflare Turnstile: runs the contact form's bot-detection security check

If we introduce another third-party provider, this section will be updated to name it before it goes live.

Our guides link to third-party platforms and payment gateways, including PayFast, Yoco, Peach Payments, Ozow, Lovable, Base44, Bolt.new and Hostinger, for reference. We do not transmit any of your information to those providers. If you click through to one of them, any information you provide is entered directly on their site and governed by their own privacy policy, not ours.

7. Data security

We use reasonable administrative, technical and organisational safeguards to protect information under our control. No method of transmitting data over the internet or storing electronic information can be guaranteed completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

8. Data retention

Because our interactive tools run entirely in your browser and we hold very little personal information ourselves, we retain what we do hold only as long as necessary to respond to your enquiry or meet a legal obligation.

9. Children's privacy

AI Build South Africa is intended for a general, professional audience and is not directed at children under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children.

10. Third-party websites

This Site links to third-party platforms, payment gateways and official documentation for reference. We are not responsible for the privacy practices, content or security of those websites. Review their own privacy policies before providing personal information.

11. Your privacy rights under POPIA

Under the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA) and equivalent international privacy laws, you may have the right to:

• Request access to your personal information
• Request correction of inaccurate information
• Request deletion of your personal information
• Object to certain processing
• Withdraw consent where processing is based on consent
• Lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator (South Africa)

Because this Site does not normally store personal data beyond what you send us directly, the amount of information we hold is generally limited. To exercise any of these rights, contact us at admin@aibuild.co.za.

12. International visitors

AI Build South Africa is operated from South Africa and written for South African infrastructure, payment gateways and compliance law. If you access the Site from another country, your information may be processed in South Africa or in other countries where our service providers operate, subject to appropriate safeguards where required by law. Cloudflare, which runs the contact form's Turnstile security check, is a US-based provider; the technical signals it reads (see Section 2) may be processed outside South Africa as part of that check.

13. Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy to reflect legal, technical or operational changes. Revisions are published on this page with an updated "Last updated" date. Continued use of the Site after a change becomes effective constitutes acceptance of the revised policy.

14. Contact us

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or how we process personal information, contact us at admin@aibuild.co.za or via our contact page.