Last updated: October 2025
ServingSA ("we", "us", or "our") is committed to protecting your personal information and respecting your privacy. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard your personal information in accordance with the Protection of Personal Information Act, 2013 (POPIA) and other applicable South African data protection laws.
By using our platform at servingsa.org, you consent to the data practices described in this policy. If you do not agree with this policy, please do not use our services.
ServingSA
Email: hello@servingsa.org
Registration Number: TBD
When you register as a professional volunteer, we collect:
When you register as an NPO, we collect:
When you visit our website, we may automatically collect:
Note: We currently do not use cookies or tracking technologies beyond basic server logs. If this changes, we will update this policy and notify users.
We process your personal information for the following specific, explicitly defined, and lawful purposes:
We process your personal information based on:
We will only use your personal information for the purposes stated in this policy. Specifically, we use your information to:
We will never:
The core function of ServingSA is to facilitate introductions. We will share your information with potential match partners only:
We may share your information with trusted third-party service providers who assist us in operating our platform, including:
These service providers are contractually bound to protect your information and may only use it for the specific services they provide to us.
We may disclose your personal information if required to do so by law or in response to valid requests by public authorities (e.g., court orders, subpoenas, or regulatory requirements).
If ServingSA is involved in a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets, your personal information may be transferred. We will provide notice before your information is transferred and becomes subject to a different privacy policy.
We implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal information against unauthorised or unlawful processing, accidental loss, destruction, or damage. These measures include:
However, no method of transmission over the internet or electronic storage is 100% secure. While we strive to use commercially acceptable means to protect your personal information, we cannot guarantee absolute security.
We retain your personal information only for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes outlined in this policy, unless a longer retention period is required or permitted by law.
If you have not engaged with our service for 24 months, we will contact you to confirm whether you wish to remain in our matching pool. If we receive no response within 30 days, we will delete or anonymise your personal information.
Upon request, we will delete your personal information within 30 days, except where we are required by law to retain certain records.
Under the Protection of Personal Information Act, you have the following rights:
You have the right to request confirmation of whether we hold personal information about you and to access that information. We will provide a copy of your personal information in a commonly used electronic format.
You have the right to request correction or deletion of inaccurate, irrelevant, excessive, outdated, incomplete, misleading, or unlawfully obtained personal information.
You have the right to request deletion of your personal information where:
You have the right to object, on reasonable grounds relating to your particular situation, to the processing of your personal information.
You have the right to request that we restrict processing of your personal information in certain circumstances, such as while we verify the accuracy of information you have disputed.
You have the right to receive your personal information in a structured, commonly used, machine-readable format and to transmit it to another responsible party.
Where we process your information based on consent, you have the right to withdraw that consent at any time. This will not affect the lawfulness of processing based on consent before its withdrawal.
You have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator if you believe we have not complied with POPIA. Contact details:
Information Regulator (South Africa)
JD House, 27 Stiemens Street, Braamfontein, Johannesburg, 2001
P.O Box 31533, Braamfontein, Johannesburg, 2017
Complaints email: complaints.IR@justice.gov.za
Website: https://inforegulator.org.za/
To exercise any of your rights under POPIA, please contact us at:
Email: hello@servingsa.org
Subject line: "Data Privacy Request - [Your Name]"
We will respond to your request within 30 days (or such period as prescribed by POPIA). We may require proof of identity before processing your request.
We take reasonable steps to ensure that your personal information is complete, accurate, not misleading, and updated where necessary. You can help us maintain accurate information by:
Some of our service providers (such as Formspree and Firebase/Google) may store or process data outside of South Africa. When we transfer your personal information internationally, we ensure that:
Current international service providers include:
Our services are not directed to individuals under the age of 18. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you are a parent or guardian and believe your child has provided us with personal information, please contact us immediately, and we will delete such information.
In the event of a data breach that poses a risk to your rights and freedoms, we will:
By submitting your information through our registration forms, you voluntarily and explicitly consent to:
You may withdraw your consent at any time by contacting us at hello@servingsa.org. Withdrawal of consent will not affect the lawfulness of processing based on consent before withdrawal.
We do not use automated decision-making or profiling that would have legal effects or similarly significantly affect you. All matching decisions involve human review and consideration.
We may send you information about:
You have the right to object to direct marketing at any time by:
Our website may contain links to third-party websites (such as LinkedIn profiles). We are not responsible for the privacy practices of these external sites. We encourage you to read the privacy policies of any third-party sites you visit.
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, technology, legal requirements, or other factors. When we make material changes, we will:
We encourage you to review this policy periodically. Your continued use of our services after changes constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.
If you have questions, concerns, or complaints about this Privacy Policy or our data practices, please contact us:
Email: hello@servingsa.org
Response Time: We will acknowledge your enquiry within 5 business days and provide a substantive response within 30 days.
This Privacy Policy is governed by the laws of the Republic of South Africa. Any disputes arising from this policy will be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the South African courts.
This Privacy Policy is provided in English. If translated into other languages, the English version shall prevail in case of any inconsistency.