Privacy Policy

Effective date: 1 June 2026  ·  Version 1.0

1. Who We Are

Hopetel (Pty) Ltd ("Hopetel", "we", "us" or "our") is a South African company that provides VoIP business phone line services and related digital products. We are registered with the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC) and operate the website hopetel.co.za and all associated sub-domains and applications.

Hopetel acts as the Responsible Party as defined under the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 (POPIA).

2. Information We Collect

We collect the following categories of personal information:

• Account data: name, email address, phone number, and password (hashed).
• Transaction data: order history, subscription plan details, payment references, and account activation details.
• Support data: messages and attachments you send via our support ticket system or contact form.
• Technical data: IP address, browser type, device identifiers, pages visited, and referring URLs collected automatically via server logs and cookies.
• Communications: email and WhatsApp messages you send to us.

We do not store full card numbers or CVV codes. Card payments are processed by PCI-DSS-compliant third-party gateways.

3. How We Use Your Information

• To create and manage your account.
• To process and fulfil orders (activating and provisioning your VoIP service).
• To send order confirmations, receipts, and delivery notifications.
• To respond to support tickets and enquiries.
• To detect fraud and prevent unauthorised access.
• To improve our website, products and services through analytics.
• To send marketing communications — only where you have opted in and in line with POPIA Section 69.
• To comply with legal obligations including SARS tax requirements and FICA.

4. Sharing Your Information

We do not sell your personal information. We may share it with:

• VoIP infrastructure and telephony providers to activate and deliver the service you purchase — limited to your account and order details.
• Payment processors for secure transaction handling.
• Hosting and infrastructure providers operating our servers under strict data-processing agreements.
• Legal authorities where required by South African law or a valid court order.

5. Data Retention

We retain personal information only as long as necessary for the purposes for which it was collected or as required by law:

• Account data: for the lifetime of your account plus 5 years after closure.
• Transaction records: 7 years (SARS / Companies Act requirement).
• Support tickets: 2 years after resolution.
• Technical / log data: 12 months.

6. Your Rights (POPIA)

Under POPIA you have the right to:

• Be notified that we hold your personal information.
• Request access to your personal information (Section 23).
• Request correction or deletion of inaccurate information (Section 24).
• Object to the processing of your personal information (Section 11(3)).
• Lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator of South Africa at justice.gov.za/inforeg.

To exercise your rights, email us at [email protected]. We will respond within 30 days.

7. Cookies

We use essential cookies to keep you signed in and functional cookies to remember preferences. Please see our Cookie Policy for full details.

8. Security

All data is transmitted over HTTPS (TLS 1.2+). Passwords are stored as one-way hashes. We perform regular security reviews and restrict internal access to personal data on a need-to-know basis. In the event of a data breach that poses a high risk to your rights, we will notify you and the Information Regulator within 72 hours as required by POPIA Section 22.

9. Children's Privacy

Our services are intended for persons aged 18 and over. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 18. If you believe we have done so, contact us immediately at [email protected].

10. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we do, we will revise the "Last updated" date at the top and, for material changes, notify you by email or a prominent notice on the website.

11. Contact Us

For any privacy-related questions or requests:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: hopetel.co.za/contact