Privacy Policy

1. Who we are

LetDirect is operated by LETDIRECT (PTY) LTD (registration number 2026/672103/07) ("LetDirect", "we", "us", or "our"). We are the responsible party for the personal information processed through letdirect.co.za.

For anything related to this policy or your personal information, contact us at support@letdirect.co.za.

2. Information we collect

We only collect what we need to run LetDirect:

• Account details: your name, email address, phone number (if you add one), and whether you are a tenant, buyer, landlord, or seller. If you sign in with Google, we receive your name, email address, and profile picture from Google.
• Listing details: if you advertise a property, its address, photos, price, description, and the contact details you choose to show on the listing.
• Enquiries: messages you send to a landlord or seller through the site, together with your name and contact details.
• Saved searches, alerts, and favourites: the searches you save, how often you want alerts, and the listings you favourite.
• Reviews and reports: ratings and reviews you write about a listing you enquired about, and any reports you send us about a listing.
• Payment records: the amount, payment reference, payment method (SnapScan or EFT), and any proof of payment you email to us. Card and banking details are handled by SnapScan or your bank. We never see or store them.
• Usage information: pages and listings viewed, clicks on "Show contact number" and WhatsApp, the page that referred you, and a short-lived session identifier (see Section 6).

We do not ask for your ID number, employment history, income, or bank account details, and we do not collect special personal information (such as race, religion, health, or criminal history). If a future feature (for example, tenant screening) needs any of this, we will update this policy and ask for your consent before collecting it.

3. How we use your information

We use your personal information only for these purposes:

• To provide the service: creating and managing your account, publishing and moderating your listings, and showing your dashboard and performance statistics.
• To connect you: passing your enquiry to the landlord or seller you contact, and showing a listing's contact number to signed-in users who ask for it.
• To send you emails: account emails (confirmation, password reset), listing and payment updates, and the property alerts you have signed up for.
• To process payments: matching payments to listings, issuing invoices, and keeping financial records the law requires.
• To keep LetDirect safe: preventing fraud, spam, and misuse, and enforcing our Terms & Conditions.
• To improve LetDirect: producing aggregated statistics about how the site is used. These statistics do not identify you.

We process your information because it is needed to perform our agreement with you, to comply with the law, for our legitimate interests in running a safe and reliable service, or because you have consented (for example, to property alerts or marketing emails).

4. Who we share it with

We never sell your personal information. We only share it:

• With the landlord or seller you contact: your message, name, and contact details, so that they can reply to you. Landlords' and sellers' email addresses are never shown to people viewing their listings.
• With service providers who run LetDirect for us: Supabase (database, sign-in, and photo storage), Netlify (website hosting), Google (sending email, and Google sign-in if you choose it), SnapScan (if you pay with SnapScan), PostHog (website analytics, hosted in the EU, and only if you accept analytics cookies), Google Ads (to measure our Google adverts, only if you accept analytics cookies), and Typebot (our help chat, which receives whatever you type into the chat). They may only use your information to provide their service to us.
• Where the law requires it: for example, in response to a lawful request from a court or regulator, or to report fraud.

We do not share your personal information with estate agents, advertisers, or other third parties for their own marketing.

5. Information stored outside South Africa

Our database and file storage are hosted by Supabase in Ireland, in the European Union, and some of our other service providers process data outside South Africa. We only transfer personal information to countries with data protection laws that offer protection similar to POPIA (such as the EU's General Data Protection Regulation), or under agreements that require the recipient to protect it, as section 72 of POPIA requires.

6. Cookies and local storage

LetDirect uses a small number of cookies and browser storage items:

• Sign-in cookies: keep you signed in. These are essential; without them you cannot use your account.
• Session cookie: a random identifier that expires after 30 minutes of inactivity. We use it to count visits and see which pages are useful. It is not shared with anyone. When you create an account, the website or advert that brought you to LetDirect is saved with your account so we can tell which adverts work. Only totals are ever shown to our team, and it is deleted with your account.
• Analytics cookies (PostHog): only if you tap Accept on our cookie notice. They record which pages you visit and what you click, and on public pages (such as the home page, search results and listings) a replay of how you used the page, with anything you type blanked out and landlords' contact details hidden. They are not linked to your name or account. You can change your choice at any time with the Cookie settings link at the bottom of every page.
• Source cookie: only if you tap Accept on our cookie notice. It remembers for 90 days which website or advert first brought you to LetDirect, so that if you create an account later we can tell which adverts work. It holds only that source (for example "Facebook"), nothing about you. Choosing Decline in Cookie settings deletes it.
• Google Ads conversion cookies: only if you tap Accept on our cookie notice. If you reached LetDirect by clicking one of our Google adverts, they let Google count that the click led to an account being created or a listing being submitted, so we can see which adverts work. We do not send Google your name, email address, phone number or anything you typed. Choosing Decline in Cookie settings deletes them.
• Draft storage: when you create a listing, your unsubmitted draft is saved in your own browser so that you do not lose your work.

Apart from the Google Ads conversion cookies above, we do not use advertising cookies, and we never use cookies to show you adverts. You can block or delete cookies in your browser settings, but you will not be able to sign in without them.

7. Marketing emails

We will only send you marketing emails (such as news or special offers) if you have agreed to receive them, by ticking the newsletter option in your account. Every marketing email has an unsubscribe link, and you can withdraw your consent at any time by using that link, unticking the option under Newsletters in your dashboard, or emailing support@letdirect.co.za.

Account, listing, and payment emails are part of the service and are not marketing. Property alerts are only sent when you set them up, and you can change or stop them at any time using the link in any alert email.

8. How long we keep your information

• Account, listing, and enquiry information: for as long as you have an account. When you delete your account, we delete this information, except where we must keep it as described below.
• Accounts you stop using: if you don't use your account for 12 months, we email you first. If you still don't sign in within 30 days of that email, we delete the account. Signing in is all it takes to keep it.
• Sign-ups that are never confirmed: if you don't confirm your email address within 30 days of signing up, we delete the account. We send one reminder before then.
• Payment records and invoices: for at least five years, or longer where tax or company law requires it, including after your account is deleted. We keep the name and email address they were issued to so they remain valid records.
• Usage information: kept only as long as it is useful for running and improving the service, and otherwise reduced to aggregated statistics that do not identify you.

You can delete your account at any time from the User Account page in your dashboard.

9. How we protect your information

We use reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect your information, including encrypted connections (HTTPS), database access rules that limit each user to their own data, and restricting administrative access to authorised LetDirect staff.

If we believe your personal information has been accessed or acquired by an unauthorised person, we will notify you and the Information Regulator as soon as reasonably possible, as section 22 of POPIA requires.

10. Your rights

Under POPIA, you have the right to:

• ask whether we hold personal information about you, and request a copy;
• ask us to correct information that is inaccurate, incomplete, or outdated;
• ask us to delete your information, or delete your account yourself;
• object to us processing your information, on reasonable grounds;
• withdraw consent you have given, such as for alerts or marketing emails; and
• lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator (see Section 13).

To make a request, email support@letdirect.co.za. We may need to confirm your identity before acting on it, and we will respond within a reasonable time.

11. Children

LetDirect is intended for people aged 18 or older. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe a child has given us their information, contact us and we will delete it.

12. Information Officer

Our Information Officer is responsible for making sure LetDirect complies with POPIA. You can contact the Information Officer, LETDIRECT (PTY) LTD, at support@letdirect.co.za.

13. The Information Regulator

If you are not satisfied with how we have handled your personal information, you can lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator of South Africa:

• Website: inforegulator.org.za
• Complaints: POPIAComplaints@inforegulator.org.za

We would appreciate the chance to resolve your concern first.

14. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. When we do, we will change the "Last updated" date at the top of this page, and if the changes are significant, we will let you know by email.