Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains how Sidekick (Pty) Ltd (registration number 2023/750155/07), a company based in Cape Town, South Africa (“Sidekick”, “we”, “us”), collects, uses, shares, and protects your personal information when you visit our website, contact us, or use our service to be matched with a personal assistant. We are committed to handling your information lawfully and transparently in accordance with South Africa’s Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA) and the Electronic Communications and Transactions (ECT) Act.

By using our website or service, or by contacting us, you agree to the practices described in this policy.

Who we are

Sidekick is a platform that connects clients with vetted, independent personal assistants in South Africa. For the purposes of POPIA, Sidekick (Pty) Ltd is the responsible party for the personal information described here. Our Information Officer, Josh Perry, can be reached at support@sidekick.cool for any privacy questions or requests.

Information we collect

We collect only the information we need to provide and improve our service:

• Contact details — your name, email address, phone number, and any information you give us when you reach out or sign up.
• Account and service information — the details you share so we can match you with the right assistant and understand the tasks you need help with.
• Billing and payment information — details needed to bill you for the service. Card payments are processed by our third-party payment provider (PayFast); we do not store your full card details on our systems.
• Messages and task content — the content of the messages, requests, and tasks you send us, including over WhatsApp, so your assistant can carry them out.
• Technical and usage data — basic information your browser sends when you visit our website (such as device and approximate location), used to keep the site secure and working well, and to understand how the site is used (see Cookies and analytics).

How we use your information

• To provide, operate, and improve the Sidekick service.
• To match you with a suitable personal assistant and deliver the tasks you request.
• To process billing and payments.
• To respond to your enquiries and provide customer support.
• To send you service-related communications about your account or assistant.
• To comply with our legal obligations and protect against fraud or misuse.

Messaging us on WhatsApp

WhatsApp is a primary way to engage with Sidekick. When you message us — whether to ask a customer-support question or to express interest in using the service — we collect and process your WhatsApp phone number, profile name, and the content of your messages so that we can respond to and assist you.

These conversations are carried over the WhatsApp Business Platform, operated by Meta Platforms, Inc. Your use of WhatsApp is also subject to WhatsApp’s and Meta’s own terms and privacy policy. We use the information you send us on WhatsApp only to handle your query, match you with an assistant, and provide the service — not for unrelated marketing.

Messaging us is voluntary, and you can ask us to stop contacting you on WhatsApp at any time by telling us in the chat or emailing support@sidekick.cool. Please avoid sending sensitive information you would prefer not to share over a messaging app.

How we share your information

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

• Your personal assistant — we share the information needed for your matched assistant to carry out your tasks. Assistants are bound by confidentiality obligations.
• Payment provider — PayFast, to process payments securely.
• WhatsApp / Meta — where you choose to communicate with us over WhatsApp.
• Analytics provider — PostHog, which processes website usage data on our behalf (see Cookies and analytics).
• Service providers — trusted infrastructure and hosting partners (for example, our hosting provider) who help us run the service under appropriate safeguards.
• Legal and safety — where we are required to by law, or to protect our rights, users, or the public.

International data transfers

Some of the providers we rely on — including WhatsApp and Meta, our payment provider, our analytics provider (PostHog, which stores data in the European Union), and our hosting partners — may store or process your information on servers outside South Africa. Where your personal information is transferred across borders, we take reasonable steps to ensure it continues to be protected at a level consistent with POPIA.

Retention

We keep your personal information only for as long as needed to provide the service and to meet our legal, accounting, and reporting obligations. When it is no longer needed, we delete or anonymise it.

How we protect your information

We take reasonable technical and organisational measures to safeguard your personal information against loss, unauthorised access, and misuse. No system can be guaranteed completely secure, but we work to protect your data and to respond promptly if an incident occurs.

Your rights under POPIA

You have the right to:

• Ask what personal information we hold about you and request access to it.
• Ask us to correct or update information that is inaccurate or out of date.
• Ask us to delete information where we are not legally required to keep it.
• Object to certain processing, and withdraw consent where processing relies on it.
• Lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator of South Africa if you believe we have not handled your information lawfully.

To exercise any of these rights, email us at support@sidekick.cool. In particular, you can ask us to delete your personal information at any time, and we will do so unless we are legally required to keep it.

Cookies and analytics

We use PostHog, an analytics service, to understand how visitors find and use our website: which pages are viewed, how people arrive (for example, from a search engine or a campaign link), and which buttons are clicked, such as “Chat with us on WhatsApp” or “Book a call”. This helps us improve the site. PostHog stores this data for us on servers in the European Union. We do not use it for advertising, and we do not sell it.

What is stored on your device depends on the choice you make in the cookie banner:

• Before you choose — a random identifier kept only in your browser tab’s temporary storage (not a cookie). It is deleted when you close the tab.
• If you accept — PostHog sets a cookie and uses your browser’s local storage so it can recognise you when you come back. These hold a random identifier, not your name or contact details.
• If you decline — nothing is stored on your device. We still count page visits anonymously, but we can’t tell whether two visits came from the same person.

With every visit your browser also sends basic technical information, such as your device type, browser, and an approximate location (country and city) derived from your IP address. You can change your choice at any time with Cookie settings at the bottom of every page, or by clearing or blocking cookies in your browser settings.

Some pages include embedded content from third parties — for example, our homepage features a video hosted on YouTube. The video only loads once you choose to play it, and at that point YouTube (Google) may set its own cookies and process data in line with its own privacy policy, over which we have no control.

Children

Our service is intended for adults aged 18 and over. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe a child has provided us with personal information, please contact us so we can remove it.

Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we make material changes, we will update the “last updated” date above and, where appropriate, let you know. Please review this page periodically.

Contact us

If you have any questions about this policy or how we handle your information, contact us at support@sidekick.cool or message us on WhatsApp.