FahamuPrivacy policy
This policy explains how Fahamu (Pty) Ltd, a company registered in South Africa (“Fahamu”, “we”), collects and uses personal information when you use the Fahamu assistant on WhatsApp and this website. We process personal information in line with the Protection of Personal Information Act, 2013 (POPIA).
What we collect
- Your WhatsApp details: your phone number and WhatsApp profile name.
- What you send us: messages, voice notes, photos, documents, locations and contacts you choose to share. Voice notes are converted to text so they can be understood.
- Records you ask us to keep: credit and payment entries, sales, expenses, stock, reminders and facts you ask Fahamu to remember.
- Technical information: message identifiers, timestamps and an activity log of what Fahamu did for you.
Information about other people
When you record that someone owes you money, you share that person's name (and sometimes a phone number) with us. We use it only to keep your records for you. We do not contact these people. You are responsible for having a lawful reason to record their information.
How we use it
- To understand your messages and keep your records, balances, summaries and reminders.
- To reply to you on WhatsApp, including voice replies when you send voice notes.
- To keep the service secure, prevent abuse, and fix problems.
We do not sell your personal information and we do not use your conversations for advertising.
Who helps us provide the service
We share information only with service providers that process it on our behalf:
- Twilio and Meta (WhatsApp): to receive and deliver WhatsApp messages.
- OpenAI: to understand text, voice notes and images and to generate replies. We configure the service so that OpenAI does not keep stored copies of our requests for later retrieval.
- Railway: to host our servers and store your records.
Some of these providers are located outside South Africa (for example in the United States or Europe). Where information is transferred, we rely on providers that are bound to protect it to a standard comparable to POPIA.
How long we keep it
We keep your records while you use Fahamu so that your balances and history stay correct. If you ask us to delete your data, we delete your records and conversation history within 30 days, except where we must keep something by law.
Security
Messages to our server are verified as coming from WhatsApp's delivery partner, connections are encrypted, and access to the database is restricted. No system is perfectly secure; we will notify you and the Information Regulator if a breach affects your personal information, as POPIA requires.
Your rights
You may ask to see the personal information we hold about you, ask us to correct or delete it, or object to how we use it. Contact us at hello@joinfahamu.com. You may also complain to the Information Regulator of South Africa (inforegulator.org.za).
Children
Fahamu is intended for people aged 18 and older.
Changes
If we change this policy, we will update the date above and, for important changes, tell you on WhatsApp.
Contact
Fahamu (Pty) Ltd. Information Officer: the company director. Email: hello@joinfahamu.com.