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Privacy policy.

What we collect, why we collect it, and the choices you have. Written in plain English and aligned with South Africa’s Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA).

Last updated 20 September 2026

In short

We collect only what you choose to send us, such as your name, email address and project details. We use it to reply to you, to prepare quotes and, if you sign up, to send our free weekly email. We don’t sell it and we don’t run advertising trackers. The builder and the project finder run in your browser and send nothing to us. You can ask to see, correct or delete your information at any time.

Who we are

GDS is a small web design studio run by Adriaan Gouws in South Africa. For the purposes of POPIA, GDS is the “responsible party” for the personal information described in this policy, and Adriaan Gouws is our Information Officer.

You can reach us at AdriaanGouws@growthdensocials.com.

What we collect

  • What you send us. Your name, email address and whatever you write about your business, project and budget, through the contact form or by email.
  • Free weekly tips. Your first name, email address and, if you choose to tell us, the kind of business you run, if you sign up for The Growth Den Weekly.
  • Launch notifications. Your email address, if you ask to be told when the site goes live.
  • Client project information. If we work together: business details, content, brand files, billing details, and the account access we need to do the work.
  • Technical information. Things like your IP address, browser type and the pages you visit, which our hosting provider may record in standard server logs to keep the site running and secure.

What we don’t collect. Your choices in the mini website builder and the project finder stay in your browser and are never sent to us. We don’t ask for payment card details on this website.

How the contact form works

The contact form opens your own email app with the message already filled in. Nothing is sent until you press send in that app. When you do, the message travels through your email provider and ours. This website doesn’t store form messages in a database.

The Growth Den Weekly (free tips by email)

If you sign up for our free weekly email, we use your name and email address only to send it to you, about once a week, along with the free guide you asked for. This rests on your consent, which you give by ticking the box on the sign-up form.

When you press the sign-up button, your details are passed to FormSubmit (formsubmit.co), a form-forwarding service that sends them to our inbox as an email. FormSubmit is based outside South Africa and only forwards the message. We keep our subscriber list ourselves and send the emails personally. We never sell or share your address.

You can unsubscribe at any time by replying STOP to any email, or by writing to us. We stop emailing you straight away and remove your details within 30 days, keeping only a note that you unsubscribed so we never email you again by mistake.

Why we use your information

We only use personal information for a clear purpose, and only where POPIA allows it:

  • To reply to your enquiry and prepare a quote. You asked us to, and we need the details to do it.
  • To carry out work for you under a signed or accepted quote.
  • To keep the financial and tax records the law requires.
  • To keep this website secure and working properly. This is a legitimate interest of ours that doesn’t override your privacy.
  • To send you The Growth Den Weekly, if you signed up. This rests on your consent, and you can unsubscribe by replying STOP to any email.
  • To tell you when the site launches, if you asked. This rests on your consent, and you can withdraw it at any time.

We don’t send marketing without your permission.

Who we share it with

We don’t sell your personal information. We share it only with people and services that help us run the studio, and only what they need:

  • Our email and website hosting providers, including the platform the site runs on.
  • FormSubmit, which forwards newsletter sign-ups from this website to our inbox.
  • Google, which supplies the fonts this site uses (see the cookie policy).
  • Our accountant or bookkeeper, where we are paid for work.
  • Tools we use to build and run your project, which we will tell you about first.

We may also disclose information where the law requires it. Some of these providers store data outside South Africa. When that happens we rely on providers that protect information to a standard comparable with POPIA, or on your consent where it is required.

Cookies and similar technologies

This site stores a very small amount of data in your browser. The details, and how to change your choice, are in our cookie policy.

How long we keep it

We keep personal information only for as long as we need it for the purpose we collected it. Enquiries that don’t lead to a project are reviewed and deleted at least once a year. For clients, we keep records for as long as the law requires, which for tax records is generally five years in South Africa. After that we delete or anonymise the information.

How we protect it

We take reasonable technical and organisational steps to protect personal information from loss, misuse and unauthorised access. These include limiting who can see it and using reputable providers. No method of storage or transmission is completely secure, so we can’t promise absolute security. If we ever suffer a breach that puts your information at risk, we will tell you and the Information Regulator as POPIA requires.

Your rights

Under POPIA you can ask us to:

  • confirm whether we hold personal information about you, and give you a copy;
  • correct information that is wrong or out of date;
  • delete information we no longer have a reason to keep;
  • stop using your information for a purpose you object to; and
  • withdraw a consent you gave us.

To use any of these, email us at AdriaanGouws@growthdensocials.com. We may need to confirm who you are first. We aim to respond within 30 days, and we don’t charge for straightforward requests.

Children

This website is for businesses and isn’t aimed at anyone under 18. We don’t knowingly collect information from children. If you think we have, tell us and we will delete it.

This site may link to other websites. We don’t control them and aren’t responsible for how they handle your information, so please read their policies.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. The date at the top shows when it last changed. If a change matters to how we treat your information, we will make that clear on the site.

Complaints

If you have a concern, please talk to us first so we can put it right. You also have the right to complain to South Africa’s Information Regulator: