Privacy Policy

For information about our website visitors and account holders, Softechware (Pty) Ltd is the "responsible party" as defined in POPIA. Enquiries and requests about personal information may be directed to our Information Officer using the contact details at the end of this policy.

For information about the customers of a business that uses Softennect (for example, contact lists, chat messages and booking details), that business is the responsible party and Softechware acts as an "operator" processing the information on its instructions. If you are a customer of a business that uses Softennect, please direct requests about your information to that business in the first instance; we will assist them in responding.

Account information: your name, email address, phone number, business name and password credentials when you create an account.

Business communications data: leads, contacts, chat messages (including WhatsApp, SMS and email content routed through the Service), bookings, notes and campaign content that account holders create or receive while using Softennect.

Billing information: plan selection, invoices, wallet balances and payment records. Card details are processed by our payment providers and are not stored on our servers.

Technical information: device and browser type, IP address, pages visited and actions taken in the Service, collected through server logs and cookies to keep the Service secure and improve it.

To provide the Service: creating and administering accounts, routing messages, storing leads and bookings, and generating reports. This processing is necessary to perform our contract with you.

To bill and account: issuing invoices in Rands, managing prepaid wallets and complying with tax and accounting obligations under South African law.

To secure and improve the Service: monitoring for abuse and fraud, debugging, and understanding how features are used, based on our legitimate interests in running a safe and reliable platform.

To communicate with you: service notices, onboarding help and, with your consent where required, product news. You can opt out of marketing communications at any time; every marketing message includes an unsubscribe option.

Softennect connects to the WhatsApp Business Platform operated by Meta Platforms. When you connect a WhatsApp number, message content and metadata are transmitted through Meta systems and are also subject to the WhatsApp Business terms and Meta privacy policies.

We use a small number of service providers to run Softennect, including hosting and database infrastructure, transactional email delivery, SMS gateways and payment processors. Each provider processes personal information only to provide its service to us and under written terms consistent with POPIA section 21.

We do not sell personal information, and we do not share it with third parties for their own marketing.

Some of our service providers store or process information outside South Africa (for example, cloud hosting in international data centres). Where personal information leaves South Africa, we ensure the recipient is subject to laws, binding corporate rules or contractual terms providing a level of protection substantially similar to POPIA, as required by section 72 of POPIA.

We keep personal information only as long as needed for the purposes described above, and thereafter as required by South African law (for example, financial records retained for the periods prescribed by tax legislation).

When you close your account, business communications data is deleted or de-identified within a reasonable period, except where we are legally obliged to retain it. Account holders can export their data before closing an account.

We apply reasonable, appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal information, as required by section 19 of POPIA. These include encryption in transit, access controls, environment separation and audit logging.

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

You have the right to request access to the personal information we hold about you, to request correction or deletion of information that is inaccurate, irrelevant, excessive, out of date, incomplete or misleading, and to object on reasonable grounds to processing based on our legitimate interests.

You may also withdraw consent where processing is based on consent, and you have the right not to be subject to unsolicited direct marketing in contravention of section 69 of POPIA.

To exercise any of these rights, contact our Information Officer. We will respond within a reasonable time and may need to verify your identity before acting on a request.

If you are not satisfied with how we handle your request, you may lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator (South Africa): complaints.IR@inforegulator.org.za, or via inforegulator.org.za.

Softennect uses strictly necessary cookies to keep you signed in and to protect the Service (for example, session and security cookies). Where we use any analytics cookies on the marketing site, they are used to understand aggregate site usage and can be declined without affecting the Service.

Softennect is a business tool and is not directed at children. We do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 18 as an account holder. If you believe a child has provided us personal information, contact us and we will delete it.

We may update this policy from time to time. Material changes will be announced in the Service or by email before they take effect, and the "last updated" date above will always reflect the current version.

Responsible party: Softechware (Pty) Ltd, South Africa.

Information Officer: contact details are published on our contact page at softennect.com/contact. Privacy requests can be sent by email with the subject line "POPIA request".