Privacy Policy

Effective Date: 14 May 2025

1. Introduction

Welcome to Meet Falu. This website is operated by Falu Ekandji. We are committed to protecting your privacy and handling your personal information with care and transparency.

This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and protect your information when you visit our website W (the "Site"). It also outlines your rights regarding your personal information.

We are mindful of the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA) in South Africa and aim to process your personal information in accordance with its principles.

2. Information We Collect

We may collect information about you in the following ways:

Information You Voluntarily Provide:
- When you contact us through a contact form (e.g., your name, email address, message).
- When you leave comments on blog posts (e.g., your name, email address, website URL, comment content).
- Any other information you choose to provide to us directly.
Information Collected Automatically:
- Usage Data: Information about how you access and use the Site, such as your IP address, browser type, operating system, referring URLs, pages viewed, time spent on pages, and dates/times of access. This is often collected through analytics services (like Google Analytics).
- Cookies and Tracking Technologies: Information collected through cookies, web beacons, and similar technologies. Please see our Cookie Policy section below for more details.

3. How We Collect Your Information

We collect information through:

Direct interactions with you (e.g., submitting forms).
Automated technologies (e.g., cookies and analytics as you browse the Site).

4. How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect for various purposes:

To operate, maintain, and improve the Site.
To respond to your comments, questions, and requests.
To understand how visitors use the Site through analytics, which helps us improve content and user experience.
To monitor and analyse trends, usage, and activities in connection with the Site.
To detect, investigate, and prevent fraudulent transactions and other illegal activities and protect our rights and property.

To comply with legal obligations.

5. Legal Basis for Processing (Relevant to POPIA)

We will only process your personal information when we have a lawful basis to do so under POPIA, which may include:

Consent: Where you have given us explicit consent to process your personal information for a specific purpose (e.g., leaving a comment, submitting a contact form). You have the right to withdraw consent at any time.
Legitimate Interests: Where processing is necessary for our legitimate interests (e.g., operating and improving the website, security), provided these interests are not overridden by your fundamental rights and freedoms.
Legal Obligation: Where processing is necessary to comply with a legal obligation.

6. How We Store Your Information

Your information is stored using reasonable physical, technical, and administrative security measures to protect against loss, misuse, and unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration, or destruction. However, please note that no method of transmission over the internet or electronic storage is 100% secure.

7. Data Sharing and Disclosure

We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal information. We may share your information with:

Service Providers: Third-party vendors, consultants, and other service providers who perform services on our behalf and need access to your information to carry out their work (e.g., website hosting, analytics services, comment system providers). These third parties are obligated to protect your information.

Legal Requirements: If required to do so by law or in response to valid requests by public authorities (e.g., a court or a government agency).
Protection of Rights: To protect our rights, property, or safety, or the rights, property, or safety of others.

8. Cookies and Tracking Technologies

The Site uses cookies and similar tracking technologies to track activity on our Site and hold certain information.

Cookies are files with a small amount of data which may include an anonymous unique identifier. Cookies are sent to your browser from a website and stored on your device.

Tracking technologies also used are beacons, tags, and scripts to collect and track information and to improve and analyse our Site.

You can instruct your browser to refuse all cookies or to indicate when a cookie is being sent. However, if you do not accept cookies, you may not be able to use some portions of our Site.

Examples of Cookies we may use:

Session Cookies: We use these cookies to operate our Site.
Preference Cookies: We use these cookies to remember your preferences and various settings.
Security Cookies: We use these cookies for security purposes.

Analytics Cookies: We use these cookies to understand how the Site is being used.

9. Your Data Protection Rights (Aligned with POPIA)

Under POPIA, you have certain rights regarding your personal information. These rights may include:

The right to be informed: You have the right to be notified that your personal information is being collected and the purpose for which it is collected.
The right of access: You have the right to request access to the personal information we hold about you.
The right to rectification: You have the right to request that we correct any inaccurate or incomplete personal information.

The right to erasure ("right to be forgotten"): You have the right to request that we delete your personal information under certain circumstances.

The right to restrict processing: You have the right to request that we restrict the processing of your personal information under certain circumstances.

The right to object to processing: You have the right to object to the processing of your personal information under certain circumstances (e.g., direct marketing).

The right to data portability: You have the right to receive your personal information in a structured, commonly used, and machine-readable format.

The right not to be subject to automated decision-making: You have the right not to be subject to a decisionbased solely on automated processing.

The right to lodge a complaint: You have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator of South Africa if you believe your rights have been violated.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us using the contact details provided below. We will respond to your request in accordance with POPIA and applicable laws.

10. Links to Other Websites

Our Site may contain links to other websites that are not operated by us. If you click on a third-party link, you will be directed to that third party's site. We strongly advise you to review the Privacy Policy of every site you visit. We have no control over and assume no responsibility for the content, privacy policies, or practices of any third-party sites or services.

11. Children's Privacy

Our Site is not directed at anyone under the age of [State your age, e.g., 13 or 16]. We do not knowingly collect personally identifiable information from anyone under the age of [Your chosen age]. If you are a parent or guardian and you are aware that your child has provided us with Personal Information, please contact us. If we become aware that we have collected Personal Information from children without verification of parental consent, we take steps to remove that information from our servers.

12. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update our Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of any changes by posting the new Privacy Policy on this page and updating the "Effective Date" at the top of this Privacy Policy. You are advised to review this Privacy Policy periodically for any changes. Changes to this Privacy Policy are effective when they are posted on this page.

13. Contact Us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, please contact us:

By email: [Insert Your Email Address Here]

By visiting this page on our website: [Link to your Contact Page Here]

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