Privacy policy

DignitySA respects your privacy. This policy explains what personal information we collect through www.dignitysouthafrica.org, why we collect it, how we protect it, and the choices you have. It is written to meet the Protection of Personal Information Act, 2013 (POPIA).

Who we are

Dignity South Africa (Dignity SA NPC, registration number 2025/680715/08; registered non-profit organisation 097-936-NPO; public benefit organisation 9050/247/22/1) is the responsible party for the personal information described here. Our Information Officers are our Executive Directors. You can reach them at [email protected].

What we collect, and why

We only collect what each relationship needs.

• Visiting the site. Our hosting and security providers keep short-lived technical logs (IP address, browser type, pages requested) to keep the site running and to protect it from abuse. Our visitor statistics are cookieless and aggregated; they cannot identify you.
• Contacting us. The contact form asks for your name, email address, subject and message so that we can reply. Submissions pass through an automated spam check; suspected spam is held in a moderated inbox and never used for anything else.
• Becoming a member. Your name, email address and password (stored only as a one-way hash), and optionally your WhatsApp number and postal address, so that we can run your account, tell you about DignitySA's work and send you member resources. If you sign in with Google, Google shares your name and email address with us and nothing else. You choose whether to receive our newsletter.
• Signing the petition. Your name and email address, and optional details about where you live, so that your signature counts and cannot be duplicated. Because a petition reveals your views, POPIA treats this as special personal information and we treat it with the highest care: we publish only the running total and the first names of recent signers, and we never share the list.
• Donating. Donations are processed by our payment providers (Paysoft Impact, and Stitch for Dignity Navigator payments). Card and bank details go directly to them and are never stored on our servers. We keep the donor's name, contact details, amounts and dates so that we can thank you, issue Section 18A tax certificates and keep proper financial records.
• Applying to be an ambassador. The details you give in your application, including any files you upload, so that we can assess it and run the programme.
• Using the Dignity Navigator. The Navigator has its own detailed statement, which you read and accept before you start; it covers your answers, documents and the people you nominate. This policy applies alongside it.
• Media contacts. Journalists' professional contact details, so that we can send press releases.

We do not sell personal information, and we do not use it for automated decision-making.

Cookies

We use only the cookies the site needs to work: a session cookie when you sign in, short-lived cookies that carry a sign-in or invitation link to completion, and the security cookies set by Cloudflare and its Turnstile bot check. We set no advertising or tracking cookies. Our visitor statistics do not use cookies at all.

Where your information is kept

Our database, documents and backups are stored in South Africa (Cape Town), encrypted in transit and at rest, with backups encrypted before they leave the application. A few of the services that help us run the site process limited information outside South Africa under contract, as POPIA permits: our email provider (Resend, United States) for transactional email and newsletters, Cloudflare for site security and delivery, Google for Google sign-in and the Turnstile bot check, and our payment providers. Our source-code hosting holds no personal information.

Who can see it

Only the DignitySA staff and volunteers who need it to do their work, and the service providers above, who act only on our instructions. We share information when you ask us to (for example when you request an introduction to a provider through the Navigator), and when the law requires it.

How long we keep it

For as long as the relationship lasts and as long as the law requires: member and donor records while you are a member or donor and for the periods tax law requires for financial records; petition signatures for the life of the campaign; contact-form messages until dealt with. When a record is deleted, it may persist in encrypted disaster-recovery backups for up to 12 months; those backups are used for no other purpose. Our internal data retention policy sets the detail.

Your rights

Under POPIA you may ask us what personal information we hold about you and receive a copy; ask us to correct or delete it; object to processing; withdraw consent at any time; and unsubscribe from any newsletter with the link in every email. Write to [email protected]. If you believe we have mishandled your information you may complain to the Information Regulator of South Africa (www.inforegulator.org.za).

Children

The site and its services are intended for adults. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 18.

Changes to this policy

We will publish changes on this page with a new date. Where a change matters to something you have consented to, we will ask you again.

Contact

Dignity South Africa · [email protected] · www.dignitysouthafrica.org