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Privacy Policy

Last updated: 3 April 2026

1. Who We Are

RateCheck is a South African web application that helps property owners check their municipal property valuations and generate official objection documents. RateCheck is operated by Spiros Fatouros as a sole proprietorship.

2. Information Officer (POPIA)

As required by the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA), our designated Information Officer is:

3. What Data We Collect

3.1 Waitlist

When you join our waitlist, we collect your email address and municipality preference.

3.2 Property Search

When you search for a property, you enter a street address. This is queried against the relevant municipal valuation portal. Search results may be cached for up to 7 days to improve performance. Search queries are not linked to your identity and contain no personal information beyond the property address searched.

3.3 Objection Form

When you purchase an objection pack, we collect: full name, email address, phone number, ID number, physical address, municipal account number, property details, and comparable sales data. This information is used to generate your objection documents.

3.4 Payment

Payments are processed by PayFast (Pty) Ltd. We do not store your credit card or bank details. We receive confirmation of payment from PayFast, including a transaction reference.

3.5 Analytics

We use Google Analytics to collect anonymised usage data (pages visited, time on site, device type). This data cannot be used to identify you personally.

4. Why We Collect It (POPIA Section 11)

  • Waitlist email: Consent — you voluntarily signed up to be notified.
  • Objection form data: Contract — necessary to generate the documents you purchased.
  • Payment data: Contract and legal obligation — to process your purchase and maintain financial records.
  • Analytics: Legitimate interest — to understand how people use our service and improve it.

5. How We Use Your Data

  • Generate your objection form and motivation letter
  • Email your documents to you
  • Process payments via PayFast
  • Notify you about RateCheck launches in your municipality (waitlist)
  • Improve our service based on anonymised usage patterns

6. Who We Share Data With

  • PayFast (payment processing) — South Africa. Subject to PayFast's privacy policy.
  • Supabase (database hosting) — servers may be located outside South Africa. Cross-border transfer is conducted in accordance with POPIA Section 72.
  • Resend (transactional email delivery) — servers in the United States. Cross-border transfer is conducted in accordance with POPIA Section 72.
  • Google Analytics / Google Ads — anonymised usage data and conversion tracking. Subject to Google's privacy policy.

We do not share your personal data with municipalities, property valuators, or any third parties for marketing purposes.

7. Data Retention

  • Waitlist emails: retained until you unsubscribe or the service launches in your municipality.
  • Order and form data: retained for 5 years to meet financial record-keeping requirements.
  • Analytics data: retained as per Google Analytics default retention settings.

8. Your Rights Under POPIA (Sections 23–25)

You have the right to:

  • Access the personal information we hold about you
  • Request correction of inaccurate or incomplete data
  • Request deletion of your personal information
  • Object to the processing of your personal information
  • Withdraw your consent at any time

To exercise any of these rights, email our Information Officer at spiros@ratecheck.co.za. We will respond within 30 days as required by POPIA.

9. Security

  • Personal data is encrypted at rest using Supabase Vault
  • All data transmitted between your browser and our servers is encrypted via HTTPS
  • Payment data is handled by PayFast, which is PCI-DSS compliant
  • We restrict access to personal data to authorised personnel only

10. Cookies

We use the following cookies:

  • Google Analytics (GA4): Collects anonymised usage data to help us improve the service.
  • Google Ads: We use Google Ads conversion tracking to measure whether a visit from a Google ad results in a purchase. We do not use this data to show you personalised ads.

You can disable cookies in your browser settings or opt out of Google's advertising cookie at adssettings.google.com.

11. Changes to This Policy

We may update this privacy policy from time to time. The "Last updated" date at the top of this page reflects the latest version.

12. Contact

13. Complaints

If you believe your personal information has been mishandled, you may lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator (South Africa):