Privacy Policy

Effective Date: May 2025 Issued by: APIRender.com Pty Ltd trading as Property News Africa

1. Who We Are

This website is operated by APIRender.com Pty Ltd, trading as Property News Africa. We are the data controller responsible for personal information collected through this site.

2. Information We Collect

We collect personal information in the following circumstances:

  • Comments: When you leave a comment, we collect your name, email address, website URL (if provided), comment content, IP address, and browser user-agent string. This information helps us detect spam and manage the integrity of our comment system.
  • Account registration: If you register for an account, we collect the profile information you provide, including your name, email address, and chosen username.
  • Media uploads: If you upload images or files, we may receive metadata embedded in those files, including location data. See Section 4 for guidance.
  • Password reset requests: If you request a password reset, your IP address will be included in the reset email.
  • Automatic data: We may collect standard technical information such as your IP address, browser type, referring URLs, and pages visited through our hosting and analytics systems.

 

3. How We Use Your Information

We use the personal information we collect to:

  • Publish and manage comments submitted to the site.
  • Detect, prevent, and address spam, fraud, and security incidents.
  • Administer user accounts and authenticate registered users.
  • Respond to enquiries and provide support.
  • Comply with our legal obligations.

We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal information to third parties for marketing purposes.

4. Uploaded Media and Location Data

If you upload images to the site, please be aware that image files may contain embedded metadata, including GPS location data (EXIF data). Visitors to the site may be able to download images and extract this location information. We recommend stripping embedded location data from any image before uploading it.

5. Cookies

We use cookies — small text files stored in your browser — to enhance your experience on the site. The cookies we set are as follows:

  • Comment preference cookie: If you opt in, we save your name, email address, and website in a cookie so you do not need to re-enter them when leaving future comments. This cookie lasts for one year.
  • Cookie test: When you visit the login page, we set a temporary cookie to check whether your browser accepts cookies. This cookie contains no personal data and is deleted when you close your browser.
  • Login cookies: When you log in, we set cookies to save your login information and screen display preferences. Login cookies last for two days; screen display cookies last for one year. If you select “Remember Me”, your login will persist for two weeks. Login cookies are removed when you log out.
  • Article edit cookie: If you edit or publish an article, a cookie is saved recording the ID of that article. It contains no personal data and expires after one day.

You can manage or delete cookies through your browser settings at any time. Disabling cookies may affect the functionality of certain features on the site.

6. Third-Party Services and Data Sharing

We may share your data with third parties in the following limited circumstances:

  • Gravatar: An anonymised hash of your email address may be sent to the Gravatar service (operated by Automattic) to retrieve your profile picture, if you use that service. Gravatar’s privacy policy is available at https://automattic.com/privacy/.
  • Spam detection: Comments submitted on the site may be checked through an automated spam-detection service. Your IP address and comment content may be shared with that service for this purpose.
  • Embedded third-party content: Articles on this site may include embedded content from external platforms. Interacting with embedded content is equivalent to visiting those platforms directly, and they may collect data about you independently.
  • Legal requirements: We may disclose your information if required to do so by law or in response to valid requests by public authorities.

 

7. How Long We Retain Your Data

  • Comments: Comments and associated metadata are retained indefinitely. This allows us to recognise and automatically approve follow-up comments from verified users.
  • Registered user data: We retain personal information in user profiles for as long as the account remains active. Users may update or delete their profile information at any time (see Section 8).
  • Technical logs: Server and access logs are retained for a limited period for security and operational purposes.

 

8. Your Rights Over Your Data

You have the following rights regarding your personal data:

  • Right of access: You may request a copy of the personal data we hold about you, including any data you have provided to us.
  • Right to rectification: You may request that we correct any inaccurate data we hold.
  • Right to erasure: You may request that we delete your personal data. Note that we may be required to retain certain data for legal, administrative, or security reasons.
  • Right to data portability: You may request an exported file of your personal data in a commonly used format.
  • Profile self-management: Registered users can view, edit, or delete their personal information at any time via their account settings. Note that usernames cannot be changed.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us via the contact form on our website.

9. Data Security

We take reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect your personal information against unauthorised access, loss, or misuse. However, no method of transmission over the internet is completely secure and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

10. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Any changes will be posted on this page with a revised effective date. Continued use of the site after changes are posted constitutes your acceptance of the updated Policy.

11. Contact

For any questions, concerns, or data requests, please contact us via the contact form on our website. APIRender.com Pty Ltd, trading as Property News Africa.