Privacy policy

Who we are

FairGig Technologies (“FairGig”, “we”) operates the freelance marketplace at this website. For the purposes of the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 (POPIA), we are the responsible party for the personal information described below.

You can reach our information officer at hello@fairgig.co.za. We reply to privacy requests within 4 business hours.

What we collect

We collect only what the platform needs to function:

• Account details — your name, email address, password (stored only as a hash, never in readable form), account type and, optionally, your city and province.
• Profile content — your headline, bio, skills and rate, all of which you choose to publish.
• Platform activity — gigs you post or apply for, proposals, saved gigs, ratings and reviews, and messages exchanged about a contract.
• Payment information — the bank details needed to pay you. Card details for subscriptions are handled by our payment processor and are never stored on our servers.
• Technical data — IP address, browser type and pages visited. Under POPIA an IP address is personal information, which is why analytics is consent-gated (see below).

We do not collect special personal information as defined in section 26 of POPIA — no health data, religious or philosophical beliefs, political persuasion, sexual orientation, race or biometric information. Please do not put any of it in your profile or a proposal.

Why we process it

Each category has a specific purpose and a lawful basis under POPIA:

• To provide the service — creating your account, matching you with gigs, processing escrow and paying you. Lawful basis: performance of our contract with you.
• To keep the platform safe — detecting fraud, spam and abuse, and investigating disputes. Lawful basis: our legitimate interest in a platform people can trust with money.
• To meet legal obligations — retaining transaction records for tax and financial reporting. Lawful basis: compliance with an obligation imposed by law.
• To understand and improve the site — analytics. Lawful basis: your consent, which you give or withhold on your first visit and can change at any time.

Who we share it with

We do not sell personal information. We share it only where the platform cannot work otherwise:

• With the other party to a gig — when you apply for a gig, the client sees your profile and proposal. Your contact details are not shared until you apply.
• With our operators — hosting, database, email delivery and payment processing providers, each under a written agreement that limits them to processing on our instructions.
• Where the law requires it — in response to a valid legal process, or to protect someone’s rights or safety.

Some operators process data outside South Africa. Where they do, section 72 of POPIA applies and we only use providers subject to laws or binding agreements offering comparable protection.

Cookies and analytics

We use two kinds of browser storage, and they are not equivalent:

• Strictly necessary — your chosen display currency and, on the prototype sign-in screens, a display name. Both are stored locally in your browser and never reach our servers.
• Analytics — Google Analytics 4, but only if you agree. Nothing loads until you choose “Allow”. IP anonymisation is on, and we do not enable advertising or remarketing features.

Declining analytics changes nothing about how the site works for you. You can change your mind by clearing this site’s data in your browser, which brings the choice back.

How long we keep it

• Account and profile data — while your account is open, and for 30 days after you delete it, so an accidental deletion can be reversed.
• Transaction and escrow records — five years from the end of the tax year in which they occurred, as required by South African financial record-keeping rules. This applies even after you close your account.
• Reviews — indefinitely, in the interest of the people relying on them. If you delete your account, your reviews are anonymised rather than removed.
• Support messages — two years from your last message.

How we protect it

Passwords are hashed — we cannot read your password, and neither can anyone who obtains our database. All traffic is served over HTTPS. Access to production data is limited to the people who need it.

No system is perfectly secure. If a breach occurs that is likely to affect you, we will notify you and the Information Regulator as section 22 of POPIA requires.

Your POPIA rights

You have the right to:

• Ask what personal information we hold about you, and get a copy of it.
• Have inaccurate information corrected, or irrelevant information deleted.
• Object to processing based on legitimate interest.
• Withdraw consent for analytics at any time.
• Ask us to delete your account and the data we are not legally required to keep.
• Complain to the Information Regulator of South Africa if you believe we have mishandled your information.

Email hello@fairgig.co.za to exercise any of these. We respond within 30 days and do not charge for a reasonable request.

Children

FairGig is not intended for anyone under 18, and we do not knowingly collect information from children. If you believe a child has created an account, tell us and we will remove it.

Changes to this policy

When we change this policy we update the date at the top. For changes that materially affect how we use your information, we email you before they take effect rather than relying on you to notice.