Privacy Policy for Zamzi Interview Genie

1. Introduction and Who We Are

Welcome to Zamzi Interview Genie (“we,” “us,” or “our”). Our official website address is: https://zamzi.co.za.

This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, process, and protect your Personal Information in full compliance with the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 (POPIA) and other applicable data protection laws in South Africa.

We are the Responsible Party for the processing of your Personal Information collected through this website. Our commitment is to handle your information with the utmost transparency, care, and security.

If you have any questions about this policy or wish to exercise your rights, please contact our designated Information Officer:

Email: admin@zamzi.co.za

2. Definitions

"Personal Information" has the meaning assigned to it in POPIA, referring to any information relating to an identifiable, living, natural person, and where it is applicable, an identifiable, existing juristic person. This includes, but is not limited to, your name, email address, IP address, and any content you provide.

"Processing" means any operation or activity concerning Personal Information, including its collection, use, storage, dissemination, modification, or destruction.

"Data Subject" refers to you, the person to whom the Personal Information relates.

"Responsible Party" refers to us, Zamzi Interview Genie, as we determine the purpose of and means for processing your Personal Information.

"Operator" refers to a third party that processes Personal Information on our behalf, such as a hosting or analytics provider.

3. Personal Information We Collect and the Purpose of Processing

We collect and process different types of Personal Information for specific, explicitly defined, and lawful purposes related to our business functions. Our lawful bases for processing are your consent, the performance of a contract, compliance with a legal obligation, and our legitimate interests.

a. Comments and User Accounts

Information Collected: When you leave comments, we collect the data shown in the comments form (e.g., your name, email), your IP address, and your browser user agent string. If you register for an account, we collect your name, email address, and any other profile information you voluntarily provide.

Purpose of Processing: To display your comments publicly, to create and manage your user account, and for spam detection and website security.

Lawful Basis: Our legitimate interest in preventing abuse and fostering community interaction, and the performance of a contract with you to provide account services.

b. Contact Forms & Direct Communication

Information Collected: When you contact us via our contact forms or by direct email, we collect your name, email address, and the content of your message.

Purpose of Processing: To receive, process, and respond to your enquiries, requests, or feedback.

Lawful Basis: Your consent (by initiating contact) and our legitimate interest in providing customer service and communicating with our users.

c. Media Uploads

Information Collected: Any images or other media files you voluntarily upload to the website.

Purpose of Processing: To allow you to share media within our community features.

Note: We strongly advise you to avoid uploading images containing embedded location data (EXIF GPS), as this is Personal Information that can be extracted by any visitor. You are responsible for the information contained in the media you upload.

d. Cookies

Cookies are small text files stored on your device. They may contain Personal Information.

Information Collected: Cookie identifiers, IP address, Browse history on our site.

Purpose of Processing: To ensure website functionality, remember your preferences, enhance user experience, and for analytics.

Strictly Necessary Cookies: A temporary cookie is set to check if your browser accepts cookies. Login cookies are set to manage your session. These are essential for site operation.

Functional Cookies: If you leave a comment, you may opt-in to saving your name and email in cookies for your convenience. “Remember Me” cookies keep you logged in for two weeks.

Analytics Cookies: Used to understand website traffic and user behaviour.

Lawful Basis: Performance of a contract and legitimate interest for necessary cookies. Your explicit consent for all non-essential cookies (e.g., analytics, convenience cookies). You can manage your cookie preferences through your browser settings.

e. Analytics and Embedded Content

Information Collected: We may use analytics tools like Google Analytics to collect anonymized and aggregated usage data, such as page views, device type, and general location.

Purpose of Processing: To understand how our website is used so we can improve its performance, content, and user experience.

Lawful Basis: Our legitimate interest in improving our service offering.

Embedded Content: Articles on this site may include embedded content (e.g., videos, images, articles) from other websites. This content behaves in the exact same way as if you had visited the other website. These websites may collect data about you, use their own cookies, and monitor your interaction with that embedded content, especially if you have an account and are logged in to that website. We encourage you to review their respective privacy policies.

4. Who We Share Your Personal Information With

We do not sell, rent, or trade your Personal Information. We may share your information with trusted third-party Operators under the following circumstances:

• Service Providers: We engage third parties for services such as website hosting, spam detection (e.g., Akismet), and analytics (e.g., Google Analytics). These Operators are contractually bound to protect your information and may only use it to perform services on our behalf.
• Gravatar Service: If you use Gravatar, an anonymized hash of your email is sent to the Gravatar service to display your profile picture. This is subject to the Gravatar Privacy Policy.
• Legal Authorities: We may disclose your Personal Information if required to do so by law or in response to a valid subpoena, court order, or other legal request from a public authority.
• Publicly Shared Information: Any information you post in public areas, such as comments, will be visible to other users of the website.

5. International Transfers of Personal Information

Some of our service providers (e.g., cloud hosting, analytics tools) may be located outside of South Africa. In such cases, we will only transfer your Personal Information to countries that have adequate data protection laws or where we have put in place binding corporate rules or agreements that ensure your information is protected to the standard required by POPIA.

6. Data Retention Period

We retain your Personal Information only for as long as is necessary to fulfil the purposes for which it was collected, or as required by law.

• Comments: Comments and their metadata are retained indefinitely to maintain the context of the discussion thread.
• User Accounts: Information for registered users is retained for as long as your account remains active.
• Contact Form Submissions: Retained for a period necessary to resolve your query, typically up to 12 months.
• Analytics Data: Retained for a period of up to 26 months before being anonymized or deleted.

7. Data Security

We are committed to protecting the security of your Personal Information. We implement appropriate and reasonable technical and organisational measures to safeguard the integrity and confidentiality of your information and to prevent loss, damage, unauthorised destruction, or unlawful access. These measures include encryption, access controls, regular security assessments, and secure software development practices.

8. Your Rights as a Data Subject under POPIA

As a Data Subject in South Africa, you have the following rights regarding your Personal Information:

• Right to be Notified: To be notified that your Personal Information is being collected.
• Right of Access: To request a copy of the Personal Information we hold about you.
• Right to Correction, Destruction, or Deletion: To request the correction, or in certain circumstances, the destruction or deletion of your Personal Information.
• Right to Object: To object to the processing of your Personal Information on reasonable grounds, unless legislation provides for such processing.
• Right to Restrict Processing: To request the restriction of the processing of your Personal Information in specific circumstances.
• Right to Withdraw Consent: To withdraw your consent at any time, where processing is based on your consent.
• Right to Lodge a Complaint: To lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator of South Africa if you believe we are not complying with POPIA.

To exercise any of your rights (1-6), please contact our Information Officer at admin@zamzi.co.za. We will respond to your request in accordance with the timelines and requirements of POPIA.

9. Children’s Privacy

Our website and services are not intended for or directed at children under the age of 18. We do not knowingly collect Personal Information from children. If you are a parent or guardian and believe that your child has provided us with Personal Information, please contact us immediately at admin@zamzi.co.za so we can take steps to delete that information.

10. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or for legal and regulatory reasons. We will post any changes on this page and update the "Last Updated" date at the top. For material changes, we may notify you via email or through a prominent notice on our website. We encourage you to review this policy periodically.

11. How to Contact Us

For any questions, concerns, or requests related to this Privacy Policy or your Personal Information, please do not hesitate to contact our Information Officer.

Email: admin@zamzi.co.za

Website: https://zamzi.co.za