Ika Privacy Policy

Welcome to Ika. This Privacy Policy explains how IKA MEDIA GROUP (PTY) LTD ("Ika", "we", "us", "our") collects, uses, discloses, and protects your Personal Information when you use our newsletter platform (the "Platform"). We are committed to protecting your privacy and handling your data in an open and transparent manner. This policy has been developed to be compliant with the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 (POPIA) of South Africa.

It is crucial to understand the different roles we play under POPIA.

Ika as a Responsible Party: For the Personal Information we collect from all users to create and manage their accounts and operate the Platform, Ika is the "Responsible Party". We determine the purpose and means of processing this data.

The Creator as a Responsible Party: For the Personal Information a Creator collects from their Readers (e.g., email addresses), the Creator is the "Responsible Party". Ika acts as the Creator's "Operator," processing this data on their behalf and according to their instructions.

"Personal Information" refers to any information relating to an identifiable person. We collect the following types of information:

• Information You Provide Directly: This includes account information like your name, email, and password. For Creators, our payment processor, Paystack, collects payout and verification information like bank details and KYC documents. We also process your content and any communications you send to us.
• Information We Collect Automatically: We collect usage data about how you interact with the Platform, device information (IP address, browser type), and use cookies to operate and improve the service.
• Special Personal Information: POPIA gives special protection to sensitive data like race or political opinions. We do not require this information. Creators who include such information in their Posts are the Responsible Party for it and must have a lawful basis for its publication.

We only process your Personal Information when we have a lawful basis under POPIA. This includes processing data to perform our contract with you, for our legitimate interests (like security and platform improvement), with your consent (for things like marketing), or to comply with a legal obligation (like KYC requirements).

We do not sell your Personal Information. We share it only in the following limited circumstances:

• When a Reader subscribes to a Creator's newsletter, we share the Reader’s email and name with the Creator.
• We share transaction and verification information with our payment processor, Paystack.
• We use third-party service providers (our "Operators") for services like cloud hosting, who are bound by legal agreements to protect your data.
• We may disclose information if required by law or to protect the safety, rights, or property of Ika, our users, or the public.
• Your information may be transferred as part of a business transaction like a merger or acquisition.

When we transfer your Personal Information to a country outside of South Africa, we will do so in compliance with POPIA. This means ensuring the recipient country has adequate data protection laws or that a binding agreement is in place to protect the data to a similar standard.

We have implemented appropriate and reasonable technical and organizational measures to protect your Personal Information. Our payment processing is handle by Paystack, a PCI-DSS Level 1 certified provider. In the event of a data breach, we will notify the Information Regulator and you as soon as reasonably possible.

We retain your Personal Information only for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes for which it was collected, provide our services, and comply with legal obligations. When we no longer have a legitimate need to process your information, we will delete or de-identify it.

As a data subject, you have the following rights, which you can exercise by contacting our Information Officer:

• Right of Access: You can request a copy of the Personal Information we hold about you.
• Right to Rectification: You can ask us to correct or update your information.
• Right to Erasure: You can request that we delete your Personal Information.
• Right to Object: You can object to us processing your information on reasonable grounds.
• Right to Restrict Processing: You can ask us to temporarily halt processing your data under certain conditions.
• Right to Complain: You have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator of South Africa if you believe we are unlawfully processing your data. They can be contacted at: complaints.IR@justice.gov.za.

Our Platform is not intended for use by individuals under the age of 18. We do not knowingly collect Personal Information from children.

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of any material changes by posting the new policy on this page and updating the "Effective Date".