Privacy Policy

Introduction

We believe that protecting your privacy is your constitutional right and it's important to us. We also respect everyones right to freedom of speech and expression.

Vanilla is committed to the protection of personal information of all our customers, staff and website users. We collect certain personal information about customers and visitors to our websites and other services hosted by us. Such information will include both identifiable personal data, as well as non-identifiable personal information.

In terms of South African laws we are obliged to obtain and keep certain identifiable personal data of customers when entering into service agreements. Segueing, we undertake to protect the confidentiality of our customers and users including all personal information supplied in the course of contracting with us for services. We undertake not to sell your personal information to third parties for commercial or marketing purposes. Our staff and any third parties who have access to personal information are obliged to respect the privacy and confidentiality of such personal information.

Identifiable data generally includes a customer's name, address, telephone numbers; gender; ID/passport and company registration numbers, IP address; billing information (such as a bank account details) etc. Non-identifiable data generally includes (and is not limited to) the type, method, application, software, date and time that services are used in order to monitor demand and improve usefulness of the service. Identifiable personal information will be collected when you agree/contract for service/s with us, or use our website for a transaction or subscription service. Non-identifiable information is gathered automatically when you visit our website or those websites hosted by us, and stored for use in our systems and/or third party systems.

This privacy policy statement is based on the recommendations of the OECD concerning Guidelines Governing the Protection of Privacy and Transborder Flows of Personal Data (OECD C(80)58/FINAL) as well as recommendations from the South African Internet Service Providers Association (ISPA).

Information Collection

We may collect the following information:

Information that you provide - specifically the personal identifiable information that you provide when you agree to use our services - is kept safely and used for financial purposes (i.e. billing and debtor management). Your contact information may be used occasionally in order to inform you about improvements and updates on our products and services. We do not trade in your personal details for marketing or any other purpose, engage in spam or monitor your communications except when required to do so by law.

Cookies - When you visit our web sites we may send one or more cookies to your computer or other device. We use cookies to improve the quality of our service, including for storing user preferences, improving the ease of use and access, and tracking general trends and statistics such as how people use our sites.

Log information - When you access Vanilla services our servers automatically record certain information. These server logs may include information such as your requests, your interaction with a service, Internet Protocol address, software, language, the date and time of your request and one or more cookies that may uniquely identify your application or your account.

User communications - When you send email or other communications to us, we may retain those communications in order to process your inquiries, respond to your requests and improve our services. We may use your email address to communicate with you about our services.

Other sites - This Privacy Policy applies to Vanilla services only. We do not exercise control over the sites or services you engage in using access that we have provided nor using any service or application that we have recommended or provided.

In addition to the above, we may use the information we collect to: - Provide, maintain, protect, and improve our services (including advertising services) and develop new services; and - Protect the rights or property of Vanilla or our users.

If we use this information in a manner different than the purpose for which it was collected, then we will ask for your consent prior to such use. Vanilla processes personal information on our servers in Africa and in other countries. In some cases, we process personal information outside your own country.

We will not gather, retain, sell or distribute such information to any other party without your explicit written consent, except where required to do so by law.

Your Choice

You can ask us using email, phone or snail mail whether we are keeping any personal information about you, and you can also request to receive a copy of that personal information. As a safeguard against abuse Vanilla will ask you to provide proof of your identity before providing you with any personal information. If you are not able to do so, Vanilla reserves the right to refuse to send you the personal information.

You may request at any time that Vanilla corrects your personal information in its records. You may also request the deletion of such information, provided your account is up to date, except when it has been collected for a specific purpose for which you have given your consent, for the performance of a contract to which you are a party, or in order to comply with a legal obligation. For such requests, please send an e-mail to contactus@vanilla.co.za.

iCode

On October 8 2013, Vanilla formally adopted the iCode (see http://icode.org.za). Other than inserting this paragraph to confirm our support for this community effort, we believe that it's a concept that has always been supported entirely by us and our terms and conditions.

Notification of Changes

As Vanilla creates new services that may generate a need to amend this privacy policy statement, you will find here the Previous Privacy policy statement.

Enforcement

Vanilla complies with the South African ECT Act and Consumer Protection Act, the U.S.-EU Safe Harbor Framework and the U.S.-Swiss Safe Harbor Framework as set forth by the S.A. Department of Communications regarding consumer privacy, the U.S. Department of Commerce regarding the collection, use, and retention of personal information from European Union member countries and Switzerland. Vanilla certifies that it adheres to the Safe Harbor Privacy Principles of notice, choice, onward transfer, security, data integrity, access, and enforcement.

Vanilla regularly reviews its compliance with this Privacy Policy. When we receive formal written complaints, it is our policy to contact the complaining user regarding his or her concerns. We will cooperate with the appropriate regulatory authorities, including local data protection authorities, to resolve any complaints regarding the transfer of personal data that cannot be resolved between Vanilla and an individual.

Privacy Support

If you have any inquiries about our privacy policy statement, please contact: Vanilla - Chief of Staff 125 Buitengracht St, Cape Town, 8018, South Africa E-mail: abuse@vanilla.co.za Tel: 086 11 22 345