Privacy (POPIA)

How we look after your information

Last updated: October 2026

We take your privacy seriously and follow the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA). This page explains, in plain language, what we collect, why, and what you can ask us to do with it.

1. Who we are

TheFirstPage is a product of BligGroup (Pty) Ltd, [add physical address]. We are the "responsible party" for your information. Our Information Officer is [add name], and you can reach them at hello@thefirstpage.co.za.

2. What we collect

What you type into our forms: your business or organisation name, your name, WhatsApp number, email address, trade, area, domain, the answers in the price check, and anything you tell us in the free website application.
What you send us to build your site: your words, photos and logo.
Basic technical details: your IP address and browser type, which help us stop spam. We use your IP address to make a rough guess of your town (city level only) so the page can feel more local. This lookup is done by a service called geojs.io.
On your own device: if you type your business name into our pop-up, your browser remembers it so the page stays personalised. It stays on your device. We don't use advertising or tracking cookies.

3. Why we use it

To give you a price, contact you about your website, build it and look after it.
To send you invoices and payment links, and to keep proper business records.
To assess applications for our free non-profit website.
To keep our site safe from spam and abuse.

We only send you marketing messages if you're a customer or you've agreed to them, and you can opt out anytime by replying "stop" or emailing us.

4. Who we share it with

We never sell your information. We only share it with the service providers we need to do our job, and they must keep it safe:

Our hosting provider, where our website and database run.
PayFast, to process your payments.
The domain registry and registrar, to register your .co.za in your name.
geojs.io, for the rough town guess described above.

Some of these providers may store information outside South Africa. When that happens, we make sure it's protected to the standard POPIA requires. We'll also share information if the law requires us to.

5. How long we keep it

We keep enquiries that don't become customers for up to 12 months, then delete them. We keep customer records for as long as you're a customer and afterwards for as long as the law requires (for example, tax records for 5 years).

6. Keeping it safe

Our site uses a security certificate (https), our admin area is password protected, and only our team can see your details.

7. Your rights

You can ask us, for free, to:

tell you what information we have about you,
correct it or update it,
delete it, or
stop using it for marketing.

Just WhatsApp us or email hello@thefirstpage.co.za. If you're not happy with how we've handled your information, you can complain to the Information Regulator at inforegulator.org.za.

8. Changes to this policy

If we change this policy, we'll update this page and the date at the top.