Privacy policy
Last updated: 17 October 2026. This explains what personal information Ticked collects, why, who sees it, how long we keep it, and your rights under the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 (POPIA).
1. Who we are
Ticked sends WhatsApp reminders about business deadlines and helps small businesses prepare paperwork. The responsible party for your information is Troye Iyer (a sole proprietor trading as Ticked), Future Found Sanctuary, Hout Bay, 7806. Our information officer is Troye Iyer, reachable at troyeiyer@gmail.com, +27 81 704 6223.
2. What we collect, and where it comes from
We collect information from you directly (on our website, in the chat assistant and on WhatsApp), and from our own records of what you buy and pay.
- Waitlist and website form: your email address, the type of business you run, your WhatsApp number if you choose to give it, a record that you agreed to be contacted (with the date), and, if a bookkeeper's link brought you to us, that bookkeeper's code.
- WhatsApp setup and use: your WhatsApp number, the language you choose, how many people you employ, what kind of business you run and whether you sell or prepare food or drinks, the area your business is in (suburb or township and town, not your street address; used to name your municipality in your reminders; you can skip it), whether your business is a registered company and the month it was registered, a range for your yearly sales, optionally whether the owner is a South African citizen (used only to tell you about support programmes; you can skip it), the plan you choose, which reminders you mark as done, and the messages you send us and we send you.
- Payments: your plan, invoices, and the payment reference, amount and date shown on our bank statement. Bank statement lines can include the name of the person who paid. If you tell us you have paid, we note that until the payment shows.
- Chat assistant on our website ("Ask Ticked"): your questions are sent to our AI provider to produce an answer, and we do not keep a record of the conversation. Your browser remembers the conversation in that tab until you close it. If the assistant cannot answer a question, we keep that question, with phone numbers and email addresses taken out, so we can add an answer. If you choose "Leave a message", we keep your name (optional), your email address or WhatsApp number and your message, so we can reply. The answers to "What applies to my business?" are worked out and shown to you; we only count how many people used it.
- Website visit counts: when you open a page of our website, we count the visit without cookies: which page, the kind of website that sent you (for example Google or Facebook, or a campaign name in the link), whether you use a phone, tablet or computer, and taps on our WhatsApp, call and email buttons. We keep only totals per day. We do not keep your IP address or anything that could identify you or your device, and nothing is stored on your device. If your browser asks websites not to track you (Do Not Track or Global Privacy Control), we do not count your visit at all.
- Bookkeepers and accountants who refer clients (partners): your name, firm, email address and phone number, the customers you referred, and the commission worked out for you.
- Sales contacts: if our team meets or speaks with you, your name, business name, phone number, area, and whether you agreed to be contacted.
Giving us information is voluntary. Without your WhatsApp number we cannot send reminders, and without the setup answers the reminders cannot match your business. We do not collect special personal information (such as health, religion or race), we do not collect information about children, and Ticked is not meant for anyone under 18.
3. Why we use it
- To send the reminders and checklists you signed up for, keep your list of what is done and due, and answer your questions.
- To invoice you, match payments, keep financial records (tax law requires these) and handle cancellations.
- To contact you about the waitlist or your enquiry, only if you agreed.
- If a bookkeeper referred you and you said yes: to pass the tax questions you ask us on to that bookkeeper, and to work out their commission.
- To keep the service secure, fix problems and improve our answers.
We only send marketing to people who agreed to receive it, as section 69 of POPIA requires, and every message says who it is from and how to stop it (see section 8). We do not make decisions about you that have legal or similarly significant effects based only on automated processing: when you start or cancel a plan on WhatsApp, it is because you asked for it.
4. How AI is used
Ticked uses an AI service (Anthropic) to: answer questions on our website and on WhatsApp from our own rule list; understand setup answers you type in words, including which municipality the area you give is in; read your replies to our check-in messages so we can update your details; suggest replies for our team to check; translate messages into your language; and write drafts that a person or our automatic checks approve. Anything about fines, refunds, disputes or legal matters is always handled by a person. Separately, the AI checks our rule list against official government sources and checks our translations; no personal information is used for those two checks.
5. Who else handles it
We use other companies to run the service. They process information for us and not for their own purposes:
- Meta (WhatsApp): delivers our WhatsApp messages.
- Anthropic: the AI service described in section 4. The text of the messages it works on is sent to it.
- Our hosting provider: xneelo, a South African hosting company, stores our records on its servers in South Africa.
- Amboras: our website builder, which shows the pages of bestticked.com and its own cookie settings there. What you type in our waitlist form and our chat assistant is sent to our own server, not kept by Amboras.
- Our email provider: Resend, an email sending service, delivers the emails we send, such as the welcome email after you join the waitlist.
- Our bank: receives your payments.
- Online payments (Paystack): if you pay online (for example by card, Apple Pay, Capitec Pay or instant EFT), you pay on its secure page. We receive the result, the amount and a payment reference, never your card details.
- Your bookkeeper: only if a bookkeeper referred you and you said yes on WhatsApp, we send them the tax questions you ask us, with your WhatsApp number so they can reply.
We do not sell your information. We may share it if the law requires us to.
6. Sending information outside South Africa
Meta, Anthropic, Resend and Amboras may process information outside South Africa. We only use providers where section 72 of POPIA allows the transfer, for example where the provider is bound by agreement or law to protect your information to a standard similar to POPIA.
7. How long we keep it
| Customer, invoice and payment records | While you are a customer, and afterwards for as long as tax law requires (generally five years). |
|---|---|
| Waitlist sign-ups and sales contacts | Until you ask us to delete them, or 12 months without contact. |
| Questions the chat assistant could not answer | 90 days (with phone numbers and email addresses taken out). |
| Messages you leave with the chat assistant | Until we have dealt with them, then 180 days. |
| Tax questions passed to your bookkeeper | With your customer record. |
| If you reply STOP or unsubscribe | Only the fact that you opted out, so that we never message you again. |
8. Your rights
You may ask us what information we hold about you, and ask us to correct it, delete it or stop using it. You may object to our use of it, and withdraw your consent at any time.
- To stop WhatsApp messages, reply STOP. To end a paid plan, reply CANCEL.
- To stop emails, use the unsubscribe link at the bottom of any email from us.
- To have your information deleted, reply DELETE on WhatsApp or see Deleting your information.
- For a copy of your information or anything else, email troyeiyer@gmail.com. A formal request under PAIA is explained in our PAIA manual.
If you are unhappy with how we handled your information, you can complain to the Information Regulator (South Africa): inforegulator.org.za, enquiries@inforegulator.org.za, 010 023 5200.
9. Keeping it safe
Our systems are protected by access codes, encrypted connections (HTTPS), limited access for staff, nightly backups, and checks that WhatsApp messages really come from Meta. Online card payments happen on the secure page of Paystack, so we never see card details. No system is perfectly safe. If your information is ever compromised in a way that could harm you, we will tell you and the Information Regulator, as section 22 of POPIA requires.
10. Not advice
Ticked provides reminders, information and document preparation. It is not legal or tax advice. Always confirm deadlines and requirements with SARS, CIPC, the Department of Employment and Labour, your municipality or your accountant.
11. Changes
We may update this policy. The date at the top shows when it last changed. If a change affects how we use information you already gave us, we will tell you on WhatsApp or by email first.