Legal

Privacy policy

Last updated 20 July 2026

This policy explains how Newt Dev (Pty) Ltd collects, uses, stores and shares personal information. It applies to this website, to the software we build and host for our clients, and to the messaging services we operate on our clients' behalf.

We process personal information in accordance with the Protection of Personal Information Act, 2013 (POPIA).

Who is responsible

Newt Dev (Pty) Ltd is the responsible party for information we collect about our own clients and website visitors.

Where we build or host software for a client, that client is the responsible party for the personal information processed in their system, and we act as an operator on their instructions. If you are a customer of one of our clients, their privacy policy governs how your information is used, and enquiries should be directed to them.

Information we collect

Contact details you give us, such as name, email address, phone number and business details, when you enquire about our services or become a client.
Correspondence, including emails and messages, so we have a record of what was agreed.
Technical information from this website, such as pages requested and general location derived from IP address, used only to keep the site running and secure.
Client system data processed on our clients' behalf in the software we host for them. This may include their customers' names, contact details, booking records and payment status.

WhatsApp messaging

Some of our clients use messaging services we build on the official WhatsApp Business Platform, operated by Meta Platforms, Inc. In this arrangement the client, for example a guesthouse, is the responsible party for the messaging and for its own customers' personal information. Newt Dev acts only as an operator: we process messages on the client's documented instructions, on the client's own WhatsApp number, branded as the client. The relationship is between you and that business, not between you and Newt Dev.

Where a person messages a client through one of these services, we process the message content, the sender's WhatsApp phone number and profile name, and the timestamps of the exchange, so that the client can answer enquiries, confirm and manage bookings, and send transactional notifications the recipient has asked for or agreed to.

A client may also use the service to send marketing messages, such as an occasional offer or a note around an anniversary, but only to customers who have given that client prior, specific consent to receive them, and every marketing message includes a way to opt out. Consent is requested, held and acted on by the client as responsible party. Newt Dev does not decide who is marketed to and does not market to a client's customers on its own account.

Message content is transmitted through Meta's infrastructure and is subject to Meta's own terms and privacy practices in addition to this policy. Newt Dev does not sell message content and does not use it for Newt Dev's own advertising.

Consent and opt-out in chat

When you first message a business that uses one of these services, the assistant identifies the business, tells you in plain language that your messages are used to answer your questions and manage your booking, and links to the relevant privacy policy before the conversation continues. Using the assistant is never conditional on agreeing to receive marketing.

Any marketing is asked for separately and only takes effect if you actively opt in. You can withdraw that consent at any time, for example by replying STOP, and every later marketing message also carries an opt-out. Declining marketing does not affect the service you receive.

For each of these choices, the business records what you were shown, what you agreed to or declined, and when. This record is kept as proof of consent or its withdrawal, as POPIA requires, and belongs to the business as the responsible party. Newt Dev stores and processes it strictly on that business's behalf as operator and for no other purpose.

Why we process information

To respond to enquiries and provide the services we have been engaged to provide.
To operate, maintain, secure and support the systems we host.
To invoice clients and keep the accounting records the law requires us to keep.
To comply with legal obligations.

Newt Dev does not sell personal information and does not use it for Newt Dev's own advertising. Where a client sends marketing to its own customers through a system we host, that client is the responsible party for the marketing and for obtaining the consent the law requires, and we act only as its operator.

Where information is stored

We host client systems on managed server infrastructure. Some of this infrastructure is located outside South Africa, including in the European Union.

Where personal information is transferred outside South Africa, we do so on the basis permitted by section 72 of POPIA: the receiving jurisdiction is subject to laws providing an adequate level of protection, and our hosting providers are bound by written data processing agreements imposing obligations substantially similar to POPIA.

Who we share information with

We share personal information only where it is necessary to deliver our services:

Infrastructure and hosting providers who store and serve the systems we build.
Messaging providers, specifically Meta Platforms, where a client uses WhatsApp messaging.
Payment providers, where a client's system accepts payments. We do not store full card details ourselves.
Professional advisers such as our accountants, and public authorities where the law requires disclosure.

How long we keep it

We keep enquiry correspondence for as long as needed to deal with the enquiry and any resulting relationship. Client records and financial documents are kept for the periods required by South African tax and company law. Data held in client systems is retained according to that client's instructions and deleted when they instruct us to delete it or when our engagement ends.

Security

We use access controls, encryption in transit, key-based server authentication and private networking between our systems. Access to client data is limited to the people who need it to do the work. No system is completely secure, but we take reasonable technical and organisational measures appropriate to the risk.

Your rights

Under POPIA you may ask us to confirm what personal information we hold about you, to correct or delete information that is inaccurate, irrelevant, excessive or out of date, and to object to processing in certain circumstances.

Write to zander@newtdev.co.za and we will respond within a reasonable period. We may need to verify your identity first.

If you are not satisfied with our response, you may lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator of South Africa.

Cookies

This website does not use tracking or advertising cookies. Systems we host for clients may use cookies strictly necessary for keeping a user signed in.

Changes

We update this policy when our practices change. The date at the top shows when it was last revised.