Privacy Policy

1. Who we are

Element UI is a South African web and software development company based in Pretoria. For the purposes of the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 (POPIA), Element UI is the responsible party for the personal information described in this policy.

Trading name: Element UI
Registered name: Available on request from info@elementui.co.za
Registration number: Available on request from info@elementui.co.za
Information Officer: The owner of Element UI acts as Information Officer
Email: info@elementui.co.za
Telephone and WhatsApp: +27 76 332 8765
Physical address: Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa (full street address available on request from info@elementui.co.za)
Website: www.elementui.co.za

2. Scope of this policy

This policy applies to personal information we process through this website, our enquiry and quote forms, email, telephone and WhatsApp conversations, client projects, hosting services, invoicing and online payments. It applies to visitors, prospective clients, clients and their staff, and people who leave a review. It does not apply to other websites we link to, including websites we have built for clients, which have their own privacy policies.

3. Personal information we collect

Information you give us

Enquiries and quote requests: name, email address, phone number, company name, the service you are interested in and the details of your project.
Clients: contact person details, company details, billing address, VAT number where applicable, project content you supply, quotes, invoices and payment records.
Reviews: first name, last name, optional company name, star rating and review text.
Correspondence: the content of emails, calls and WhatsApp messages you send us.

Information collected automatically

Essential technical data: your browser stores your cookie choice so we do not ask again on every page.
Analytics data (only with your consent): pages visited, referring website, approximate location, device and browser type, and an online identifier, collected through Google Tag Manager and Shown.io. See our Cookie Policy.

Information from other sources

Google reviews: if you review us on Google, your public Google name, profile photo, rating and review are shown on this website. Ask us to hide your review at any time.
Payments: PayFast confirms whether a payment succeeded and gives us a payment reference. We never receive or store your full card details.
Publicly available information: business contact details and public online posts in which a person or business asks for a website or software developer. We use this only to identify businesses that may need our services, as described in section 6.

We do not intentionally collect special personal information (such as health, religious or biometric information) or information about children.

4. Why we use your information

POPIA allows us to process personal information only when there is a lawful reason. We rely on the following:

To respond to your enquiry and prepare a quote - because you asked us to (steps before a contract) and with your consent.
To deliver projects, hosting and support - to perform our contract with you.
To issue invoices, process payments and keep financial records - to perform our contract and comply with tax and company law.
To publish approved reviews - with your consent, which you give when you submit a review.
To understand how the website is used and improve it - with your consent through the cookie banner.
To keep our systems secure and prevent spam or fraud - our legitimate interest in protecting our business and our users.
To comply with the law - for example responding to lawful requests from authorities.

We do not use automated decision-making that has legal or similarly significant effects on you.

5. Direct marketing

We send electronic marketing (email, SMS or WhatsApp) only in line with section 69 of POPIA: to existing clients about similar services, or to other people who have given consent. Every marketing message tells you who it is from and gives you a simple way to opt out free of charge.

If we contact a business after identifying it from a public request for website or software services, we will say how we found the request, keep the first contact relevant to that request, and stop contacting you as soon as you ask. You can object to direct marketing at any time by emailing info@elementui.co.za.

7. Transfers outside South Africa

Some of our service providers, including our cloud hosting, database and analytics providers, store information on servers outside South Africa. In line with section 72 of POPIA, we only use providers that are bound by law, binding corporate rules or agreements that give a level of protection substantially similar to POPIA, or where the transfer is needed to perform our contract with you.

8. How we protect your information

We take reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect personal information, including:

Encrypted connections (HTTPS) across the website and our administration systems.
Role-based access, so staff only see the client records assigned to them.
Database access rules, rate limiting and spam protection on public forms.
Passwords and payment credentials kept in secured storage and never shown in the browser.
Keeping personal information out of system logs.

If we have reasonable grounds to believe your personal information has been accessed by an unauthorised person, we will notify you and the Information Regulator as required by section 22 of POPIA.

9. How long we keep information

Enquiries that do not become projects: up to 24 months after our last contact, unless you ask us to delete them sooner.
Client, quote, invoice and payment records: at least five years, as required by the Tax Administration Act, and longer where the Companies Act or another law requires it.
Published reviews: until you ask us to remove them.
Analytics data: in line with the retention settings of the analytics provider.

10. Your rights

You have the right to ask whether we hold personal information about you, to access it, to have it corrected or deleted, to object to its processing, to withdraw consent, and to lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator. Our POPIA Compliance page explains each right and how to make a request. Requests for records can also be made under our PAIA Manual.

Withdrawing consent does not affect processing that took place before you withdrew it.

11. Children

Our website and services are intended for businesses and adults. We do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 18. If you believe a child has sent us personal information, contact us and we will delete it.

12. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy when our services or the law change. The date at the top of this page shows when it was last updated. Where a change materially affects how we use your information, we will let clients know directly.

13. Contact us

For any privacy question or request, email info@elementui.co.za with the subject "Privacy request", or call +27 76 332 8765 during business hours (Monday to Friday 09:00-18:00, Saturday 10:00-14:00, closed on Sundays and public holidays).