Privacy Policy

This policy explains how Stefan Potgieter t/a AHA Venture Studios (“AHA Venture Studios”, “we”, “us”) processes personal information when you visit ahaventurestudios.com, contact us or buy a digital product from us. We process it in line with the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 (POPIA).

1. Who is responsible

Responsible party	Stefan Potgieter t/a AHA Venture Studios (a sole proprietorship)
Information Officer	Stefan Potgieter
Address	123 Cordyline Crescent, Savannah Hills Estate, Sagewood, Midrand, 1685, South Africa
Email	hello@ahaventurestudios.com

2. What this website collects

This website is a static information site. It has no contact forms, no accounts, no analytics, no advertising or tracking scripts, and it sets no cookies.

Like most web servers, the server that delivers this site may keep short-lived technical logs (IP address, date and time, requested page, browser type). We use these only to keep the site secure and working, and we don’t use them to profile visitors.

3. When you email or WhatsApp us

If you email us or send us a WhatsApp message, we process your name, your email address or phone number, and whatever you choose to include in your message, for example the content for a website you want us to build. We use it only to reply, to deal with your request and, if you order a website from us, to build and host it. Giving us this information is voluntary, but we can’t reply without it.

4. If you buy a digital product from us

If you buy a digital product from us, for example a PDF guide:

• What we collect: your name, email address and payment reference, and either the proof of EFT payment you send us (which may show your bank and account details) or the payment provider’s confirmation of your payment. If you pay by card, you enter your card details with the payment provider; we never see or store your card details.
• Why: to deliver the file to you, to keep our accounting records and to handle refunds. We process this information to perform our contract with you and because tax law requires us to keep financial records (POPIA section 11).
• How long: invoices and payment records are financial records, which we keep for 5 years, as tax law requires (section 8).
• Your rights and how to contact us: see section 10.

5. Legal basis

We process personal information where it is needed to respond to a request you have made or to perform a contract with you, where we have a legitimate interest in running and securing this website, or where the law requires it (POPIA section 11).

6. Sharing

We do not sell, rent or trade personal information. We share it only with service providers who help us run this website and our email (hosting and email providers, including Google, whose Gmail service handles our contact address hello@ahaventurestudios.com) and, if you message us on WhatsApp, with WhatsApp LLC (part of Meta Platforms), which carries those messages, under suitable confidentiality and security obligations, or where the law requires us to.

7. Transfers outside South Africa

Some of our hosting or email providers may store information on servers outside South Africa. If we email with you, or you write to our contact address hello@ahaventurestudios.com, that mail is handled by Google (Gmail), which processes it outside South Africa. If you message us on WhatsApp, WhatsApp LLC, which is based in the United States and uses Meta’s global infrastructure, processes your phone number and message information outside South Africa, including in the United States, under WhatsApp’s own terms and privacy policy. You choose to contact us that way, and you can email us instead. When information is transferred we make sure the transfer meets section 72 of POPIA, for example because the recipient is bound by laws or agreements that give a comparable level of protection, or because the transfer is needed to deal with a request you made.

8. How long we keep it

We keep correspondence only for as long as we need it for the purpose it was collected, or for as long as the law requires, and then delete it. Server logs are kept only for a short period. If you buy a digital product from us, we keep the invoice and payment records for 5 years, as tax law requires (section 4).

9. Security

We take reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect personal information against loss, misuse and unauthorised access (POPIA section 19). This site is served over HTTPS.

10. Your rights

Under POPIA you may:

• ask whether we hold personal information about you, and ask for a copy of it;
• ask us to correct or delete information that is inaccurate, out of date, excessive or unlawfully obtained;
• object to processing on reasonable grounds; and
• complain to the Information Regulator.

To make a request, email our Information Officer, Stefan Potgieter, at hello@ahaventurestudios.com. We will respond within a reasonable time, and normally within 30 days.

If you’re unhappy with how we handled your information, you can complain to the Information Regulator (South Africa): inforegulator.org.za.

11. Our products

This policy covers ahaventurestudios.com only. Each of our products (MuniAudit, XSignal, EeziBid and RAF Companion) runs on its own website and has its own privacy notice, which applies when you use that product.

12. Changes

We may update this policy from time to time. The date at the top shows when it was last changed.