Privacy Policy

1. Who We Are

Gift of Sight Trust is a registered South African non-profit Trust that facilitates access to eye surgery for individuals who cannot afford it. The Trust is administered by Parallel Tech PTY Ltd. For POPIA purposes, the Trust is the Responsible Party in respect of your personal information.

Information Officer: The Trust's designated Information Officer can be reached at info@giftofsighttrust.org.

2. What Personal Information We Collect

We collect personal information in the following categories:

• Identity information: Full name, date of birth, South African ID number or passport number.
• Contact information: Email address, phone number, residential address.
• Health information (special personal information under POPIA s.26): Details of your eye condition, medical history relevant to your application, and information provided by or about medical practitioners involved in your care.
• Financial information: Proof of income or means-test documentation to assess eligibility. We do not store your payment card or banking details — payments are handled by PayFast.
• Account information: Username, email address, and hashed password when you register an account.
• Usage information: IP address, browser type, pages visited, and general usage patterns, collected to keep the Site secure and functional.

3. Lawful Basis for Processing

We process your personal information on the following grounds under POPIA:

• Consent: You provide explicit consent when you submit an application and accept our terms, particularly for the processing of health information.
• Contractual necessity: Processing is necessary to assess and administer your application and, where approved, to coordinate your surgery.
• Legitimate interest: To keep our platform secure, prevent fraud, and improve our services.
• Legal obligation: Where required by South African law, including the National Health Act (Act 61 of 2003) and the Fundraising Act (Act 107 of 1978).

4. How We Use Your Information

We use your personal information to:

• Assess and administer your eye surgery assistance application;
• Communicate with you about your application status;
• Process and record your application fee payment;
• Coordinate with medical professionals and facilities where your application is approved;
• Manage fundraising campaigns linked to your application;
• Maintain and improve the security and functionality of our platform; and
• Comply with our legal obligations.

We will not use your information for direct marketing without your separate, explicit consent.

5. Sharing Your Information

We do not sell your personal information. We share it only where necessary:

• Medical professionals and facilities: Where your application is approved, relevant health information is shared with the ophthalmologists and hospitals involved in your care.
• Payment processors: PayFast (Pty) Ltd processes payments on our behalf. Their privacy policy governs their handling of your payment data.
• Technology service providers: Parallel Tech PTY Ltd provides platform administration and technical infrastructure. They process data on behalf of the Trust as an operator under POPIA.
• Regulatory bodies: Where required by law, we may disclose information to the South African Information Regulator, SAPS, or other authorities.

All third parties who handle your data on our behalf are required to maintain appropriate safeguards consistent with POPIA.

6. Cross-Border Transfers

Where personal information is processed or stored by service providers outside South Africa, we ensure appropriate safeguards are in place as required by POPIA s.72, including contractual protections that provide an equivalent level of protection.

7. How Long We Keep Your Information

We retain your personal information for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes for which it was collected, and to comply with our legal obligations:

• Application records (successful or unsuccessful): 5 years from the date of final decision;
• Payment records: 5 years, as required for financial record-keeping under South African law;
• Account information: Until you delete your account, plus a 90-day recovery period; and
• Health information: As required by the National Health Act and related regulations.

After the applicable retention period, records are securely deleted or anonymised.

8. Your Rights Under POPIA

You have the right to:

• Access: Request a copy of the personal information we hold about you;
• Correction: Request that inaccurate or incomplete information be corrected;
• Deletion: Request deletion of your information where it is no longer necessary for the original purpose, subject to legal retention obligations;
• Objection: Object to processing where we rely on legitimate interest as our lawful basis;
• Withdraw consent: Withdraw consent at any time where processing is based on consent. Withdrawal does not affect the lawfulness of processing before withdrawal, but may affect our ability to process your application; and
• Complain: Lodge a complaint with the South African Information Regulator at inforegulator.org.za.

To exercise any of these rights, contact our Information Officer at info@giftofsighttrust.org. We will respond within 30 days.

9. Cookies and Tracking

We use essential cookies to keep the Site secure and your session active. These are necessary for the Site to function and cannot be disabled. We do not use third-party advertising or tracking cookies.

Cloudflare Turnstile is used for bot protection during registration and application submission. Its use is governed by Cloudflare's privacy policy.

10. Security

We implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal information against unauthorised access, loss, destruction, or alteration. Measures include encrypted data transmission (HTTPS), server-side encryption of sensitive data, access controls, and regular security reviews.

In the event of a personal information breach that poses a risk to you, we will notify the Information Regulator and, where required, affected data subjects as soon as reasonably practicable.

11. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. The date at the top of this page indicates when it was last revised. We will notify registered users of material changes by email. Continued use of the Site after changes are published constitutes acceptance of the revised policy.

12. Contact

For privacy-related queries or to exercise your rights, contact our Information Officer:

• Email: info@giftofsighttrust.org
• Website: Contact page