Privacy policy
Last updated
Artificial Intelligence South Africa (AIZA) is a community housed by Prolific Idea (Pty) Ltd. The company is the responsible party for the personal information described here. This policy covers the AIZA website, our forms, and information handled by our organisers for community activities, under South Africa’s Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA).
What we collect and why
- Speaker proposals: your name, organisation, role, talk type, talk title, and talk summary, to assess your idea and plan the programme.
- Partnership enquiries: your name, email, organisation, message, and optional WhatsApp number, to respond and discuss support for AIZA.
- WhatsApp introductions: your name, organisation, role, and optional WhatsApp number, to understand who is joining and manage the community.
- Correspondence and community activity: information you choose to share with organisers, including follow-up messages, arrangements, and conduct reports, to handle your request or participation.
We record when a form is submitted and whether it was received successfully. Please provide accurate details and only information needed for your request. Avoid confidential material, identity documents, financial details, or sensitive information about yourself or anyone else. Only share another person’s details if you are authorised to do so.
Submitting a form is voluntary. Fields marked optional may be left blank; the remaining fields are needed to process that form. If you do not belong to an organisation, you can enter “Independent”. You can browse the website without submitting information.
How we use your information
We use information for the purpose explained when you provide it, related administration, community safety, and legal obligations. Depending on the activity, our lawful basis is your consent, steps towards or performance of an agreement with you, a legal obligation, or a legitimate interest in running and protecting the community, balanced against your rights.
Submitting a form doesn’t subscribe you to an email newsletter or give partners permission to market to you. We do not sell personal information or use submissions for unrelated advertising. Any future email marketing will have a separate, lawful sign-up and opt-out process.
Organisers review proposals and enquiries. We do not use your submissions to make decisions with legal or similarly significant effects through automated profiling. Automated checks help validate forms and prevent spam.
Joining the WhatsApp group
Saving your introduction gives you an invitation link. You choose whether to open WhatsApp and join; submitting the form does not add you automatically.
Your phone number will be visible to other group members if you join, even if you leave the optional WhatsApp number blank on our form. Your profile information may also be visible depending on your settings. Members can read, save, screenshot, or forward what you share, so do not post confidential or sensitive information.
You can leave the group through WhatsApp at any time. Leaving does not automatically delete your introduction held by AIZA, or copies of messages held by other members. Contact us separately to request deletion of information we control.
WhatsApp operates its own service under its own terms and privacy policy. Meetup and other external platforms similarly control information you give them. We remain responsible for how AIZA’s organisers use information from those services.
Event listings, profiles, and photographs
Our archive includes event descriptions and speaker information originally published on AIZA’s Meetup listings, together with information provided by organisers or contributors. Public pages can be indexed by search engines. Let us know if a listing about you is inaccurate or you have a privacy concern.
A private proposal is not automatically published. We will agree the public speaker details and any use of slides or recordings with the contributor. For event photography or filming, organisers will explain the arrangements and seek permission where required. Raise any concern with the organiser before an event, or contact us about an existing image.
Website data and cookies
Operating the website involves connection information such as IP addresses, request times, browser information, and error or security records. We use the information needed to deliver the site, investigate faults, and limit abuse.
When you submit a form, Cloudflare Turnstile checks browser and connection information to help distinguish people from automated spam. You can read more in the Cloudflare Turnstile privacy policy.
We use Google Analytics to understand how people find and use the website and improve the community’s online experience. It uses cookies to measure visits and collects information such as pages viewed, referral sources, browser and device details, and approximate location. We do not send the contents of your form submissions to Google Analytics, and we disable its advertising personalisation and Google Signals features.
Google may process this information outside South Africa. Read more about how Google uses information from sites that use its services. You can manage cookies in your browser or use Google’s Analytics opt-out browser add-on. External services you choose to visit have their own cookie and tracking practices.
Retention and security
We keep information only as long as reasonably necessary for the purpose for which it was collected, or as otherwise permitted or required by law. For proposals and enquiries, this depends on the review, follow-up, and any resulting arrangements. Community records support group administration; event archives preserve a public history of AIZA.
We review records for continued need and delete or de-identify information when that need ends. A limited record may be retained for a legal obligation, a dispute, or to document how a request was resolved. We will explain any reason we cannot fulfil a deletion request. Copies in backups may remain until the relevant backup is replaced or expires, with access restricted.
We use reasonable organisational and technical safeguards against loss, misuse, and unauthorised access. No system is completely secure. If a security compromise affects personal information, we will investigate and notify the Information Regulator and affected people as required by POPIA, as soon as reasonably possible and subject to lawful exceptions.
Children’s information
Our forms are intended for people aged 18 or over. If you are under 18, ask a parent or guardian to contact us before submitting personal information, so we can arrange appropriate permission or another lawful basis. Please tell us if a child’s information has been submitted without the necessary authorisation, so we can assess it and delete it where appropriate.
Your rights and complaints
Subject to applicable law, you can ask whether we hold your personal information and request access, correction, or deletion. You may object to processing on applicable grounds, or withdraw consent where we rely on it. Withdrawal does not invalidate earlier lawful processing. Some requests may affect our ability to handle a proposal, enquiry, or community activity.
Send requests to the privacy contact above, explaining the information or activity involved. We may ask for proportionate information to verify your identity or authority. Please do not send identity documents unless we specifically explain why they are necessary. We will respond within applicable legal time limits and explain any lawful restriction, prescribed process, or permitted fee before proceeding.
You may complain directly to South Africa’s Information Regulator at POPIAComplaints@inforegulator.org.za or call 010 023 5200. You do not have to contact us first.
Our Terms and conditions explain participation in the community. This policy’s update date appears above; we will draw material changes to your attention where required and seek fresh permission if a new use requires it.