Privacy Policy

Acorn Technology (Pty) Ltd, registration number 2018/070733/07, with its registered address at 16 Wilhelmus Road, Surrey Estate, 7800 (“Acorn”, “we”, “us”), respects your privacy and protects your personal information in line with the Protection of Personal Information Act, 2013 (“POPIA”). This policy explains what personal information we collect through acorntechnology.co.za, why we collect it, who we share it with, and the rights you have over it.

1. Who we are and how to reach us

This website is operated by Acorn Technology (Pty) Ltd. Our Information Officer is Owen Francis, Managing Director. For any question about this policy or your personal information, email sales@acorntelecoms.co.za or call 021 001 0009.

2. What personal information we collect

When you request a Complimentary SEO Audit, we collect your website address, your first name, your business name (optional), your email address, and your mobile or WhatsApp number (optional). We also record that you accepted our terms and this policy.

When you contact us, by email, phone, WhatsApp (using the chat button on our site) or through the contact page, we receive whatever details you choose to share, such as your name, company, email address, phone number and the content of your message. The contact page form opens your own email app; it does not send anything from our website.

When you visit our website, two kinds of technical information are collected automatically:

• Our hosting provider’s server logs record standard information such as your IP address, browser type and the pages requested, for security and to keep the site running.
• Google Analytics records how visitors use the site, such as the pages viewed, time on page, approximate location (city or region), device and browser type, and how you arrived (for example a search engine or a link). It uses cookies to do this (see section 8). We use this information in aggregate to understand which pages are useful and to improve the site; we do not use it to identify you personally.

3. Why we collect it and our lawful basis

• Audit requests: to prepare and send your audit report and to follow up with you about it. The lawful basis is your consent, given when you tick the agreement box, and the steps needed to provide the service you asked for.
• Your phone or WhatsApp number: only to contact you about your audit request or enquiry. We will not send you marketing messages by SMS or WhatsApp unless you have separately agreed to receive them.
• Enquiries: to respond to you and, if you become a client, to provide our services.
• Website analytics and server logs: our legitimate interest in keeping the website secure and understanding how it is used, so we can improve it.

4. Who we share it with

We do not sell your personal information or share it with third parties for their own marketing. We share it only with service providers (“operators”) who help us run our business, and only so they can provide that service to us:

We may also disclose personal information where the law requires it.

5. Information stored outside South Africa

Some of our service providers, including Google and Microsoft, store or process information on servers outside South Africa, for example in the European Union or the United States. Where this happens, we rely on providers that are bound by data protection laws or contractual terms giving a level of protection substantially similar to POPIA, as section 72 of POPIA requires.

6. How long we keep it

• Audit requests and enquiries that do not lead to further work: 12 months after our last contact with you, then deleted.
• Client information: for as long as we provide services to you, and afterwards for as long as the law requires us to keep business and tax records.
• Google Analytics data: no longer than 14 months, after which Google deletes it automatically.

You can ask us to delete your information sooner (see section 7).

7. Your rights under POPIA

You have the right to:

• ask whether we hold personal information about you and request a copy of it;
• ask us to correct or update it;
• ask us to delete it;
• object to how we use it, including for direct marketing;
• withdraw your consent at any time (this does not affect anything we did before you withdrew it).

To exercise any of these rights, email sales@acorntelecoms.co.za. We will respond within a reasonable time and may need to confirm your identity first.

You also have the right to complain to the Information Regulator: inforegulator.org.za, complaints.IR@inforegulator.org.za.

8. Cookies

Cookies are small files stored on your device by your browser. Our website uses:

• Essential cookies set by WordPress, needed for the site to work (for example when an administrator logs in).
• Analytics cookies set by Google Analytics (named _ga and _ga_ followed by an ID). These help us count visits and see which pages are used. They do not contain your name or contact details.

We do not use advertising or cross-site tracking cookies. You can block or delete cookies in your browser settings, or opt out of Google Analytics on all websites with Google’s opt-out browser add-on. Blocking cookies will not stop our website from working.

9. Security

We take reasonable technical and organisational steps to protect your personal information against loss, misuse and unauthorised access, including encrypted (HTTPS) connections to our website and access controls on our email and systems. No method of transmission or storage is completely secure, but if we become aware of a breach that affects your personal information, we will notify you and the Information Regulator as POPIA requires.

10. Links to other websites

Our website links to other websites, including the news sources in our Insights & Intelligence section. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of those sites, and we encourage you to read their privacy policies.

11. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. The date at the top shows when it was last changed. The version published on this page when you use the site or submit a form applies.