POPIA Privacy Policy

1. Responsible Party

Tradewise Holdings determines why and how personal information is processed for the Linking Hearts service.

2. Information Officer

3. Information we may collect

Registration and account information

This may include your name, LH reference, date of birth, age, gender, telephone number, email address, username, location, language and registration and consent records.

Matrimonial profile information

This may include marital and family circumstances, children, education, occupation, living arrangements, cultural background, appearance, lifestyle, interests, personality, matrimonial preferences, relocation preferences, spouse preferences and polygamy preferences.

Religious and health information

This may include religious beliefs and practice, school of thought, Deen journey, Salah, Qur’an recitation, dress and health or disability information supplied for matrimonial purposes. POPIA may classify this as special personal information.

Verification information

Verification uses a masked ID or driver’s licence with only the photograph, full name and date of birth visible. Members must cover all other details before uploading. This may include a masked identity document, date-of-birth and identity checks, historical verification records, verification method, outcome and date, and limited notes needed to resolve a verification issue.

Payment information

This may include the amount, payment date, payment method, payment type, transaction or payment reference, status, paid-until date, search tokens, EFT proof, refund or cancellation records and private-arrangement status.

An authorised online payment provider processes the sensitive credentials needed for checkout. Linking Hearts does not intend to collect or store full card numbers, CVV numbers, banking passwords or similar credentials.

Communications and service activity

This may include expressions of interest and responses, questions, survey replies, support requests, notifications, introduction and follow-up activity, reports, complaints and account history.

Technical information

This may include IP address, browser or device type, sign-in and activity dates, security and error logs, notification subscription information and technical information needed to protect and operate the service.

4. Information about other people

A member may provide limited information about a parent, representative, reference or family contact where relevant to the matrimonial service.

Members should provide only what is reasonably necessary and should ensure that they have permission or another lawful reason to provide it. Where appropriate, Linking Hearts may contact that person and provide the privacy information required by POPIA.

5. Information relating to children

Linking Hearts may collect general information about a member’s children where relevant to matrimonial matching, such as the number of children, their general ages or whether they live with the member.

Members should not submit identity documents, contact details or unnecessary identifying information about children.

Where identifiable personal information about a child must be processed, Linking Hearts will require the prior consent of a competent person or another lawful authorisation under POPIA.

6. Where information comes from

Information may come from the member, an authorised parent or representative, a reference supplied by the member, another member reporting an interaction or safety concern, an authorised verification or payment provider, system activity or another lawful source where reasonably necessary.

7. Why information is processed

Linking Hearts processes personal information to:

• register and onboard members;
• create and manage matrimonial profiles;
• provide system-assisted and staff-assisted matching;
• send and manage expressions of interest;
• verify identity or selected profile information;
• manage mutual consent and authorised contact exchange;
• process and confirm payments, membership periods and search tokens;
• consider private-arrangement requests;
• communicate with members and provide notifications, questions and surveys;
• provide support and respond to complaints;
• protect members, accounts and systems;
• prevent misuse, fraud or unauthorised access;
• keep legally required records; and
• improve the reliability and operation of the service.

8. Legal grounds for processing

Depending on the circumstances, Linking Hearts processes information because the member has consented, processing is needed to provide the requested service, processing is required by law, processing protects a legitimate interest, or another lawful ground under POPIA applies.

Religious, health and other special personal information is processed with consent or another authorisation allowed by POPIA.

A member may withdraw consent, but this does not make earlier lawful processing invalid. If information is necessary for matrimonial matching or another requested service, withdrawal may mean that Linking Hearts cannot continue providing that part of the service.

9. Information that is necessary or optional

Providing information is generally voluntary. Certain information is required to create and protect an account, confirm eligibility, prepare a usable profile, perform verification, process payment, resolve a service or legal issue or safely complete an introduction.

If required information is not provided, Linking Hearts may be unable to register the member, verify the account, provide matching, confirm payment or release contact details. Optional fields may be left unanswered where they are not reasonably necessary.

10. Anonymous profiles and possible matches

Matrimonial profiles are normally shared using the member’s LH reference number. Linking Hearts may share appropriate profile and preference information with possible matches for the purpose of considering compatibility.

Full names and private contact details are not released through the anonymous-profile process. They may be released only through the authorised contact-exchange process after mutual consent and completion of applicable verification and payment requirements.

11. Verification information

Identity-verification information is accessed only by authorised persons who need it for verification, safety, support or legal purposes.

Verification is limited and is not a comprehensive background check. Linking Hearts retains verification information only for as long as lawfully needed and securely deletes or de-identifies it when no longer authorised to retain it.

12. Payments

Payment records are used to identify and confirm payments, update membership periods or search tokens, manage refunds and cancellations, support accounting and legal records and resolve payment questions.

An authorised payment provider may process information under its own privacy and security terms.

An EFT proof may contain banking information. Members may hide unrelated transactions and balances before uploading it, provided the payment amount, date, payer, recipient and reference remain clear enough to verify the payment.

13. Messages, questions and surveys

Linking Hearts may send operational communications about registration, verification, matching, introductions, payments, security, support and important service changes. These messages are needed to operate the requested service and are not direct marketing.

Question and survey replies are stored only where a member chooses to reply or information is needed to complete a specific process.

If Linking Hearts sends direct marketing, it will do so only where permitted by law and will provide a simple, free way to object or opt out.

14. Push notifications

Where a member enables phone notifications, Linking Hearts may use a push-notification provider to send private service alerts.

Notification content may appear on the member’s lock screen depending on device settings. Linking Hearts uses limited or general preview wording where reasonably practical.

Members may change notification permissions through device or browser settings. Disabling push notifications does not remove messages delivered to the private Linking Hearts inbox.

15. System-assisted matching

Linking Hearts may use system rules to organise profiles, compare stated preferences and suggest possible matches.

These tools assist staff and members. They do not decide whom a member must marry and are not intended to make a solely automated decision that produces legal or similarly significant consequences. Members and authorised staff remain involved in matching and introduction decisions.

16. Who information may be shared with

Information may be shared only where reasonably necessary with:

• authorised Linking Hearts staff;
• possible matches receiving an anonymous matrimonial profile;
• a mutually approved member during authorised contact exchange;
• authorised hosting, technical, communication, notification, verification and payment providers;
• professional advisers where confidentiality applies;
• regulators, courts, law-enforcement bodies or authorities where required or permitted by law; or
• another person where the member has authorised the sharing.

Linking Hearts does not sell member personal information. Service providers processing information for Linking Hearts must be subject to appropriate privacy, confidentiality and security requirements.

17. WhatsApp and other communication providers

Linking Hearts may use WhatsApp, email, SMS, push notifications or another communication service. These providers may process information according to their own terms and privacy policies.

Linking Hearts limits information sent through them to what is reasonably necessary. Members should avoid sending unnecessary identity, financial or highly private information through general communication channels.

18. Processing outside South Africa

Some authorised providers may store or process information outside South Africa.

Where information is transferred outside South Africa, Linking Hearts will use a transfer permitted by POPIA, such as protection under an appropriate foreign law, a binding agreement providing adequate protection, the member’s consent, a transfer needed to provide the requested service or another ground permitted by POPIA.

19. Security

Linking Hearts uses reasonable and appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal information. Measures may include access controls, secure authentication, restricted staff access, secure connections and storage, backups, monitoring, security logs and provider confidentiality requirements.

Members must also protect their passwords, devices and private communications.

20. Security incidents

If Linking Hearts has reasonable grounds to believe that personal information has been accessed or acquired by an unauthorised person, it will investigate and take appropriate steps.

Linking Hearts will notify the Information Regulator and affected people as soon as reasonably possible where POPIA requires notification.

21. Retention and secure deletion

Linking Hearts keeps personal information only for as long as there is a lawful and reasonable reason to keep it.

The period depends on whether membership is active, the collection purpose, payment and accounting requirements, verification and safety needs, complaints or disputes, agreement and consent records, fraud prevention, system security and another period required or permitted by law.

When information is no longer authorised to be retained, Linking Hearts securely deletes, destroys or de-identifies it so that it cannot reasonably be reconstructed.

A deletion request may not require deletion of records that must be retained by law or are reasonably needed for an unresolved dispute, security matter or legal claim.

22. Your rights

Subject to POPIA and other applicable law, you may:

• ask whether Linking Hearts holds personal information about you;
• request access to that information;
• ask for inaccurate, incomplete, excessive, outdated or misleading information to be corrected;
• request deletion where Linking Hearts is no longer authorised to retain the information;
• object to certain processing;
• withdraw consent;
• object to direct marketing;
• ask about the source or recipients where applicable; and
• lodge a privacy complaint.

Linking Hearts may need to verify the requester’s identity before providing access or making a sensitive change. Requests may be sent to support@linkinghearts.co.za.

23. Account closure

A member may ask Linking Hearts to close their account. Closing it ends normal member access and future matching, subject to a short operational period needed to complete the closure safely.

Relevant records may still be retained where required or permitted by law. Other information will be securely deleted or de-identified according to the retention process.

24. Privacy complaints

A privacy concern should first be sent to the Information Officer:

A complaint may also be lodged with:

25. Changes to this policy

Linking Hearts may update this policy when its services, providers or legal duties change. The latest version and effective date will be displayed.

Members will be notified of material changes and asked for new consent where POPIA requires it.

Optional public website analytics

If you select “Allow analytics”, we use Google Analytics on our public homepage and public Polygamy page to measure visits, the websites that refer visitors to us, and clicks on application buttons and links that leave our website, including our WhatsApp enquiry links. Clicking a button or link does not tell us whether a message was sent or an application completed. Application completion is counted separately, only after our website confirms successful receipt. Google may process cookie identifiers, browser and device information and approximate location derived from the connection. This involves sending data to Google and may involve processing outside South Africa.

Analytics is optional and does not affect your application or membership. We do not install this tracking on private member or staff pages, or send application answers, member references, names or members’ contact details as analytics events. Application-button and completion events contain the public page type, its fixed public address and title, and the referring website’s origin. Advertising signals and personalised advertising are disabled. Reported page addresses exclude query strings and fragments, and referring addresses are reduced to the website origin.

Select “No thanks” to continue without loading Google Analytics. Use “Analytics preferences” in either public page’s footer to change your choice. The choice applies to both pages in this browser. A previous refusal is retained; earlier analytics permission is not extended to measuring completed applications until you accept the updated choice. Withdrawing permission stops future collection and clears Analytics cookies set for this site; it does not erase information already processed by Google. Our Analytics cookies expire after 30 days. Your choice is saved in your browser until you change it or clear browser storage.