Privacy Notice

This notice explains how Dev Ready collects, uses, stores and protects personal information when you visit devready.co.za, contact us, or respond to our advertising on Facebook or Instagram, including when you request a Free Digital Growth Audit or a Free Website Brief.

Who we are. Dev Ready is the business responsible for the personal information described in this notice. We are a remote business based in Mpumalanga, working with businesses across South Africa.

Contact: enquiries@devready.co.za · Phone/WhatsApp: 069 020 9802

This notice is intended to explain our handling of personal information under South Africa's Protection of Personal Information Act, 2013 (POPIA), including your rights.

What personal information we collect

Information you give us through our website enquiry form: your name, business name, email address, phone/WhatsApp number, preferred contact method, the service you're interested in, and your message.

Information you give us through a Facebook or Instagram lead form (when you choose to respond to one of our adverts): your full name, phone number, email address, and business name. We also ask whether your business has a website; if it does, the website address; if it doesn't, how customers currently find your business. Then your town or area, your type of business, your main challenge and, if you choose to share it, a rough budget range. The budget question is optional.

Information you give us directly when you contact us by WhatsApp, phone or email, or during a walkthrough call.

Information we record while handling your request. For example:

• where your enquiry came from (such as which of our adverts or channels you responded to);
• when we contacted you;
• whether your request fits the audit or website brief we offer;
• the status of your audit or brief, walkthrough and quotation;
• the outcome of your enquiry;
• our notes.

Website usage information collected about how visitors use devready.co.za (see "Website analytics" and "Cookies and similar technologies").

We ask only for business-related information needed to handle your enquiry. Please don't send us sensitive personal information (such as health, religious or financial account details); we don't need it.

Why we use your information

We use personal information to:

• respond to your enquiry or request;
• confirm whether your business has a website, so we can prepare the right free deliverable: a Digital Growth Audit (if you have a website) or a Website Brief (if you don't yet have one);
• prepare and deliver that audit or brief;
• contact you to arrange and hold a walkthrough of the findings;
• prepare a recommendation and quotation if you ask for one;
• provide services you engage us for, and manage our relationship with you as a client;
• keep internal records of enquiries and their outcomes, and manage our workload and response times;
• understand which of our advertising and marketing activities produce genuine enquiries and clients, so we can improve our services and spend our marketing budget responsibly; and
• meet legal, tax or accounting obligations that apply to us.

We don't sell your personal information, and we don't use it for purposes unrelated to your enquiry and our services.

When you respond to our adverts on Facebook or Instagram

We advertise on Facebook and Instagram, which are operated by Meta. Some adverts include a form that opens inside Facebook or Instagram. If you choose to complete and submit it, you are submitting your information through Meta's platform, and Meta then makes your submission available to Dev Ready.

• What Meta handles: the form is displayed and submitted within Meta's services, and some contact fields may be pre-filled from your Facebook or Instagram profile (you can edit them before submitting). Meta's own handling of information on its platforms is governed by Meta's Privacy Policy, not this notice.
• What Dev Ready receives and uses: the answers you submit (listed under "What personal information we collect"), the date and time of your submission, and information identifying which of our adverts and campaigns the submission came from. We use this only for the purposes in this notice, mainly to prepare the Digital Growth Audit or Website Brief you asked for and to contact you about it.
• How we contact you: we'll contact you by WhatsApp, phone or email about your request, for example to confirm details and arrange a walkthrough.

Submitting the form doesn't add you to a mailing list and isn't treated as consent to marketing.

The form links to this notice before you submit it.

Website analytics

devready.co.za uses Google Analytics 4, loaded through Google Tag Manager, to understand how visitors use the site. For example, it shows which pages are viewed, how visitors arrive, and whether they submit the enquiry form or click our WhatsApp, phone or email links. Google Analytics may record general location (such as city or region) and device information (such as device type and browser). We use this information in aggregate to improve the website and to understand which channels bring enquiries. We keep Google Analytics data for up to 14 months. Google provides these services.

Links from our adverts or forms to our website may include tracking labels in the web address (for example, identifying that you came from a Facebook or Instagram form), so our analytics can show which channel the visit came from.

Cookies and similar technologies

• Analytics cookies: Google Analytics sets cookies (named _ga and _ga_…) to recognise returning browsers and measure site usage.
• Fonts: our website serves its fonts from our own website, so your browser does not contact Google Fonts.
• Advertising tags: our website does not use advertising tracking tags such as the Meta Pixel, and we don't use website visitor data to build advertising audiences. If we decide to introduce advertising tags or features, we'll update this notice before doing so.
• Third-party services: Google, Netlify and Meta may use their own technologies on their own services, under their own policies. When you interact with our adverts or forms on Facebook or Instagram, Meta's technologies and policies apply on Meta's platforms.

You can block or delete cookies and local storage in your browser settings. Blocking them won't stop the website from working.

How we manage enquiries

We keep a record of each enquiry in an internal lead-management spreadsheet. It contains:

• the contact and business details you provided;
• where the enquiry came from;
• information we add as we handle your request: when we contacted you, whether we could help, the status of your audit or brief, walkthrough and any quotation, the outcome, and notes.

If you become a client, the record may include the package you chose and its value.

Access to this record is limited to Dev Ready. We use it to respond to you on time, keep track of your request, and produce internal reports on how our marketing performs. Internal reports use totals and trends, not your personal details.

Service providers we use

We use a small number of service providers who process personal information on our behalf or as part of providing their services:

When you submit our website enquiry form, it's processed by our website host, Netlify, and sent to us by email at marketing@devready.co.za. Netlify keeps a copy of form submissions in its dashboard for a limited period as part of running its service, under its own terms. Beyond that we don't store form submissions in a website database.

These providers handle information in line with their own terms and privacy policies.

When we share information

We share personal information only:

• with the service providers listed above, to the extent needed for them to provide their services;
• if required by law, regulation or a lawful request from an authority; or
• with your consent.

We don't sell, rent or trade personal information, and we don't share your enquiry details with other businesses for their own marketing.

How we protect your information

We take reasonable steps to protect personal information from loss, misuse and unauthorised access. These include limiting access to Dev Ready, using password-protected accounts with reputable service providers, and not sharing enquiry records publicly. No system is completely secure, but we take care to handle your information responsibly and will act promptly if we become aware of a security issue affecting it.

How long we keep information

• Enquiries we're actively handling: for as long as the enquiry is active.
• Enquiries that are closed or don't proceed: for up to 12 months after our last meaningful interaction with you, then deleted.
• Spam, test or clearly unsuitable submissions: deleted within 30 days.
• Working material for your audit or website brief: only as long as needed, and no longer than 12 months.
• If you become a client: for as long as needed to provide our services and to meet legal, tax or accounting requirements.
• Reports: we may keep aggregated or de-identified information (which doesn't identify you) for longer, for reporting and to improve our services.

Where the law requires or allows us to keep information for longer, we may do so. When information is no longer needed, we delete it or de-identify it.

Your rights and how to use them

You may ask us:

• whether we hold personal information about you, and for a copy or description of it;
• to correct information that is inaccurate, incomplete or out of date;
• to delete information we're no longer entitled to keep;
• to stop using your information for a particular purpose, where you have the right to object; and
• to stop contacting you, including any marketing messages.

To make a request, email enquiries@devready.co.za (please use "Privacy request" in the subject line) or contact us on 069 020 9802 (phone/WhatsApp). We may need to confirm your identity before acting on a request. We'll respond within a reasonable time and tell you what we've done.

Service messages and marketing

• Responding to your request: if you submit an enquiry or a lead form, we'll contact you about that request (for example, to arrange your walkthrough, deliver your audit or brief, or send a quotation you asked for). This is service communication, not marketing.
• Marketing: we don't add you to a mailing list because you submitted an enquiry or lead form, and we don't treat a submission as consent to marketing. We don't send marketing messages to people who have enquired or submitted a lead form but haven't become clients. We'll only send you marketing messages if you've agreed to receive them. Every marketing message will tell you how to opt out, and you can opt out at any time by contacting us.

Processing outside South Africa

Some of our service providers, including Meta, Google and Netlify, operate internationally and may store or process information outside South Africa. Where this happens, the information is handled under those providers' terms and safeguards.

Children

Our services are for businesses. We don't knowingly collect personal information from children. Our adverts target adults aged 21 and over.

Questions and complaints

If you have a question or concern about how we handle your personal information, please contact us first at enquiries@devready.co.za or 069 020 9802, and we'll try to resolve it.

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator (South Africa). Complaints are submitted through the Regulator's online eServices Portal: https://eservices.inforegulator.org.za/complaints/default.aspx. For general enquiries: https://inforegulator.org.za · enquiries@inforegulator.org.za · 010 023 5200 · toll-free 0800 017 160.

Changes to this notice

We may update this notice when our services, providers or data practices change, for example if we introduce new website tools. We'll publish the updated notice on this page with a new "last updated" date. We'll update it before introducing any new way of collecting personal information that it doesn't already describe.