Privacy Policy

Who we are

Lithium River is a boutique technology and operations consultancy based in Johannesburg, South Africa. We are the responsible party (data controller) for the personal information described in this policy.

Our Information Officer is Sylvester Kuisis. You can reach the Information Officer about any privacy matter by email at info@lithiumriver.co.za.

Information we collect and why

We only collect what we need to respond to you. When you submit an enquiry through our contact form, we collect:

• your name;
• your email address;
• your phone number (optional);
• your company or organisation (optional);
• your area of interest;
• the message you send us; and
• a record of your consent, together with the date and time it was given.

We use this information for one purpose: to read your enquiry and respond to it. We do not collect special-category (sensitive) personal information through this site, and we do not use your enquiry for marketing without your separate agreement.

Payments

Where we invoice you or offer a package for purchase, you can pay online. Depending on which payment provider we have enabled, this is either by card or by Pay by Bank, an instant transfer that you authorise in your own banking app. When you make a payment we process:

• your email address, if you provide it, so we can send you a receipt; and
• transaction metadata — a payment reference, the amount and currency, the payment status, timestamps and, for a card payment, a masked indication of the card used (for example, the last four digits).

You enter your card details, or authorise the payment with your own bank, on a secure payment page hosted by our payment provider — Peach Payments (Peach Payments (Pty) Ltd) for card payments, or Ozow for Pay by Bank — and it is processed by that provider. We never receive, see, or store your full card number, expiry, or security code, or your online-banking credentials — for card payments this keeps our handling of card data within the lightest PCI DSS scope (SAQ-A). We use the transaction metadata above to take your payment, issue a receipt, keep proper financial records, and reconcile our accounts.

Our lawful basis

We process your enquiry on the basis of your consent, which you give by ticking the consent box when you submit the form. You may withdraw your consent at any time by contacting us (see “Contacting us” below); withdrawing consent does not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before you withdrew it.

How long we keep your information

We retain enquiry information for 24 months from the date of your enquiry, after which it is deleted or anonymised. We keep it for this period so we can respond to follow-up correspondence and maintain a reasonable record of our communications. If you ask us to delete your information sooner, we will do so unless we are required by law to keep it.

Payment and financial records are kept separately and for longer. Where you make a payment, we retain the related transaction records (the payment metadata described under “Payments” — never your card details or banking credentials) for approximately five years, as required by South African tax and company law. This period is longer than, and independent of, the 24-month enquiry retention above. The exact retention period is subject to confirmation with our accountant.

Who we share it with

We do not sell your personal information, and we do not share it for advertising. We rely on a small number of service providers (operators) who process information on our behalf and only on our instructions:

• our email provider, Resend (Resend, Inc.), used to deliver enquiry notifications to us and an acknowledgement to you;
• our payment provider — Peach Payments (Peach Payments (Pty) Ltd) for card payments, or Ozow for Pay by Bank — which securely processes the payment; we share only the payment amount and reference and, for Peach Payments, (if you provide it) your email — never card details or banking credentials, which you enter directly with the provider or your bank; and
• our hosting provider, which runs the infrastructure this website is served from.

We may also disclose information where we are legally required to do so.

Where your information is processed

Your information is processed and hosted in South Africa, on a single-host deployment (the enquiry database is hosted in the South Africa region). Where any operator processes information outside South Africa, we take reasonable steps to ensure it receives a comparable level of protection.

Cookies and analytics

This website does not use cookies for tracking or advertising. Where we measure how the site is used, we use a privacy-first, cookieless analytics tool that collects only aggregated, anonymous usage statistics. It does not set cookies, does not store any personal information on your device, and does not track you across other websites.

Because this analytics is cookieless and processes no personal information on your device, a cookie-consent banner is not required, and we do not display one. If we ever introduce non-essential cookies, we will add a consent banner and seek your consent before they are set.

If you choose a light or dark appearance using the theme toggle, we remember that single preference in your browser’s local storage so the site keeps your choice on your next visit. It is a strictly functional setting, contains no personal information, is never sent to us, and you can clear it at any time through your browser.

Your rights

Subject to applicable law, you have the right to:

• access the personal information we hold about you;
• ask us to correct information that is inaccurate or out of date;
• ask us to delete your information;
• object to, or ask us to restrict, our processing; and
• withdraw your consent at any time.

To exercise any of these rights, contact our Information Officer at info@lithiumriver.co.za. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator (South Africa) if you are unhappy with how we have handled your information:

• Information Regulator (South Africa): inforegulator.org.za

Contacting us

For any question about this policy or your personal information, please email our Information Officer, Sylvester Kuisis, at info@lithiumriver.co.za. Our access-to-information procedures are described in our PAIA Manual.