Privacy Policy
Last updated:
1. Who is responsible
BoreholeZA ("we", "us") is an independent online directory and guide for borehole drilling in South Africa. The owner and operator of the site is the responsible party under the Protection of Personal Information Act, 4 of 2013 (POPIA). To get our full legal details or to reach our information officer, use the contact form and choose "Privacy request".
2. What we collect
When you send a quote request, a claim, an enquiry or a message we collect what you type:
- Your name, email address and phone number
- Your suburb or town, and the company name and website if you write as a business
- What you need, the property type, when you want the work done and any depth or message you add
- The time you agreed to our consent statement, and which form you used
Our web server also keeps ordinary technical logs (IP address, browser, pages requested) for security and fault finding. We use Google Analytics only if you accept it (see section 6).
3. What we do with it
- To contact you about your request and answer your questions.
- For a quote request, to send your details to one or more drilling or pump companies that are listed for your area so they can contact you. We choose which companies. You agree to this by ticking the box on the quote form.
- To handle claims and corrections from listed companies.
- To keep the site secure and to count visits, if you accept analytics.
We do not send marketing email. We do not sell your details to advertisers or data brokers. Some companies may pay us for introductions, either per request or as a share of work won, and that is one reason we pass requests on. If we ever want to send you marketing we will ask separately.
4. The companies we pass requests to
Listed companies are independent businesses and become responsible for the details once they have them. We do not currently verify any company's registration, insurance or workmanship, so please check a company yourself before you hire it.
5. Where your information is stored, and who processes it
- Upstash (Redis database): stores the requests you submit. Its servers may be outside South Africa.
- Resend (email service): delivers the alert that tells us a new request has arrived.
- Our hosting provider and Cloudflare: run the website and pass your traffic through Cloudflare's network.
- Google (analytics): only if you accept the banner.
We keep your request until you ask us to delete it. We take reasonable steps to protect it: the admin area is behind a login, the site is served over HTTPS, and requests are rate limited. No system is perfectly secure, and if a breach affects your information we will tell you and the Information Regulator as the law requires.
7. Your rights
Under POPIA you may ask us to:
- tell you what personal information we hold about you and give you a copy
- correct information that is wrong
- delete your information, or stop using it
- stop passing your details to companies, or withdraw your consent
Send the request through the contact form (choose "Privacy request") and say which request you are making. We may ask you to confirm it is you before we act. If you are not satisfied, you can complain to the Information Regulator (see our POPIA page for its details).
8. Children
The site is for adults. We do not knowingly collect information from anyone under 18.
9. Changes
If we change this policy the date at the top changes. If a change affects how we use details you have already sent, we will tell you.