Privacy Policy | AdLaunch

Last updated: 6 July 2026

Website: www.adlaunch.co.za / (http://www.adlaunch.co.za)

Business name: AdLaunch

Trading name: AdLaunch

Registration number, if applicable:

Physical address: 1 Angora street, Bonnievale, Western Cape, 6730

Email: privacy@adlaunch.co.za

Telephone: +27 83 886 4512

Information Officer: Jacobus Hough

1. Introduction

AdLaunch respects your privacy and is committed to protecting your personal information in accordance with the Protection of Personal Information Act, 4 of 2013, known as POPIA, and other applicable South African laws.

This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store, share, protect, and delete personal information when you visit or use the AdLaunch website, create an account, submit advertisements, purchase credits or services, receive notifications, contact us, or interact with our platform in any way.

By using AdLaunch, you agree that we may process your personal information as described in this Privacy Policy. If you do not agree with this Privacy Policy, you should not use the website or submit personal information to us.

2. Who this policy applies to

This Privacy Policy applies to:

visitors browsing the AdLaunch website;
users who create accounts;
advertisers who submit ads for approval;
users who buy credits, packages, subscriptions, or promotional services;
users who contact advertisers through the website;
newsletter subscribers;
people who communicate with us by email, WhatsApp, phone, forms, or support channels;
business clients, suppliers, and service providers.

3. Important definitions

In this Privacy Policy:

“AdLaunch”, “we”, “us”, or “our” means AdLaunch, the operator of the AdLaunch website.

“You” or “user” means any person who visits, registers on, or uses the AdLaunch website.

“Personal information” means information that can identify a person or business, including names, contact details, account information, online identifiers, payment-related information, images, communications, location information, and any other information protected under POPIA.

“Processing” means anything we do with personal information, including collecting, storing, using, updating, sharing, deleting, backing up, analysing, or securing it.

“Responsible party” means the party that decides why and how personal information is processed. For AdLaunch, this is AdLaunch.

“Operator” means a third-party service provider that processes personal information on our behalf, such as hosting providers, email providers, payment processors, WhatsApp service providers, analytics providers, and technical support providers.

4. What personal information we collect

We only aim to collect information that is necessary for the operation, security, improvement, and legal compliance of AdLaunch.

Depending on how you use the website, we may collect the following categories of personal information.

4.1 Account registration information

When you create an account, we may collect:

name and surname;
username;
email address;
cellphone number;
WhatsApp number, if provided;
password, stored in encrypted or hashed form;
account role, for example user, advertiser, business client, moderator, or administrator;
email confirmation status;
account creation date;
login history;
account status, such as active, suspended, pending verification, or deleted.

4.2 Business or advertiser information

If you use AdLaunch to advertise, we may collect:

business name;
trading name;
business registration number, if provided;
VAT number, if applicable;
business address or service area;
business category;
business contact person;
business email address;
business phone or WhatsApp number;
website and social media links;
logo, images, or brand material uploaded by you;
billing details;
ad package or credit purchase history.

4.3 Advertisement and listing information

When you submit an advertisement, we may collect and process:

ad title;
ad description;
ad category;
price or offer details;
location, suburb, town, city, province, or service area;
uploaded images, photos, graphics, documents, or media;
contact details shown on or linked to the ad;
ad status, such as draft, submitted, pending approval, approved, rejected, expired, paused, or removed;
moderation notes;
reasons for rejection or removal;
ad submission date;
approval or rejection date;
expiry date;
ad performance data, such as views, clicks, leads, or engagement.

Important: If you include personal information in an advertisement, such as your name, phone number, WhatsApp number, address, or photos, that information may become visible to other users or the public once the ad is approved and published.

4.4 Buyer, visitor, and lead information

If you respond to an ad, contact an advertiser, submit an enquiry, or use a contact form, we may collect:

your name;
email address;
phone or WhatsApp number;
message content;
ad or advertiser you contacted;
date and time of the enquiry;
related technical information, such as IP address and browser details.

Where AdLaunch provides a lead, enquiry, or messaging feature, your enquiry details may be shared with the relevant advertiser so that they can respond to you.

4.5 Payment, billing, credit, and transaction information

If you buy credits, packages, subscriptions, boosts, promoted ads, or other paid services, we may collect:

purchase history;
credit balance;
invoices or receipts;
billing name;
billing email address;
billing phone number;
billing address, if required;
payment status;
transaction ID or payment reference;
payment gateway response;
refund or reversal information;
package expiry information.

We do not intend to store full card numbers, CVV numbers, or full payment-card details on AdLaunch. Card payments should be processed by a secure third-party payment provider. The payment provider may process your payment information according to its own terms and privacy policy.

4.6 Notification and communication preferences

We may collect and store your preferences relating to:

email notifications;
WhatsApp notifications;
account confirmation emails;
password reset emails;
ad submitted notifications;
ad approved notifications;
ad rejected notifications;
ad expiry reminders;
low-credit alerts;
account security notices;
newsletters;
promotional messages;
marketing opt-in and opt-out status;
date, time, and method of consent;
unsubscribe history.

Operational messages, such as email confirmation, password reset, ad approval, ad rejection, expiry notices, billing notices, and security alerts, are not the same as marketing messages. You may be able to disable some operational notifications in your account settings, but we may still need to send important account, legal, payment, or security messages.

4.7 Support and communication information

When you contact us, we may collect:

your name;
contact details;
message content;
screenshots, documents, or files you send us;
support ticket details;
complaints;
feedback;
call notes or communication history;
date and time of communication.

4.8 Technical and usage information

When you use the website, we may automatically collect:

IP address;
browser type and version;
device type;
operating system;
pages visited;
date and time of visits;
referring website;
session information;
approximate location based on IP address;
clicks, actions, searches, and usage patterns;
error logs;
security logs;
cookies and similar tracking technologies.

4.9 Cookies and similar technologies

AdLaunch may use cookies, pixels, tags, local storage, and similar technologies to:

keep you logged in;
remember preferences;
improve website performance;
measure traffic and usage;
detect fraud or abuse;
secure the website;
understand which ads or pages are useful;
support analytics and marketing, where allowed.

Some cookies are necessary for the website to work. Others, such as analytics or marketing cookies, may depend on your consent or preferences where required.

You can control cookies through your browser settings and, where available, through the cookie settings on the website. Blocking some cookies may affect website functionality.

4.10 Information from third parties

We may receive information from third parties, including:

payment providers;
email delivery services;
WhatsApp or messaging service providers;
analytics providers;
fraud prevention tools;
hosting providers;
advertisers or users who report an ad;
public sources, where lawful and relevant.

We will only use third-party information where we have a lawful reason to do so.

5. Special personal information and children's information

AdLaunch is not intended to collect special personal information unless it is voluntarily included by a user in an ad, message, image, or other submitted content.

Special personal information may include information about race, health, religion, biometric information, criminal behaviour, political views, trade union membership, or similar protected categories.

You should not upload or submit special personal information unless it is necessary and lawful for the specific ad or communication.

AdLaunch is not intended for children under the age of 18. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children without appropriate consent from a competent person, such as a parent or legal guardian. If we become aware that a child's personal information has been collected unlawfully or without the required consent, we may delete or restrict the information.

6. Why we collect and use personal information

We may process personal information for the following purposes.

6.1 To create and manage user accounts

We use personal information to:

register accounts;
confirm email addresses;
authenticate users;
allow users to log in;
manage usernames and passwords;
provide forgot-password functionality;
protect accounts from unauthorised access;
manage account settings;
suspend or remove accounts that violate our terms.

6.2 To operate the advertising platform

We use personal information to:

allow users to create, edit, submit, and manage ads;
review and moderate ads before publication;
approve, reject, pause, expire, or remove ads;
provide reasons for rejected ads;
display approved ads to visitors;
allow visitors to contact advertisers, where applicable;
organise ads by category, location, status, and date;
prevent spam, scams, unlawful ads, or abusive content.

6.3 To send account and ad notifications

We may send notifications for:

account registration confirmation;
email verification;
password reset;
username or account recovery support;
ad submitted confirmation;
ad approval;
ad rejection, including reason where applicable;
ad expiry;
low-credit alerts;
credit purchases;
package expiry;
billing or payment matters;
security alerts;
important website or policy updates.

These messages may be sent by email, WhatsApp, SMS, or another selected communication method, depending on the contact details and preferences you provide.

6.4 To manage credits, payments, and billing

We use personal information to:

process purchases;
allocate credits;
track credit usage;
issue receipts or invoices;
manage packages or subscriptions;
process refunds or disputes;
detect payment fraud;
comply with accounting, tax, and financial record obligations.

6.5 To provide support and respond to requests

We use personal information to:

respond to enquiries;
investigate complaints;
assist with account issues;
help with ad submission or approval issues;
resolve technical problems;
communicate about your account or ads.

6.6 To improve and secure the website

We use information to:

monitor website performance;
fix bugs;
analyse usage trends;
improve features and design;
prevent unauthorised access;
detect suspicious activity;
prevent fraud, spam, scams, and abuse;
protect users, advertisers, and the website.

6.7 To send newsletters and promotional content

If you opt in, we may send you newsletters, marketing messages, promotional offers, platform updates, advertising tips, special packages, or other promotional content.

You can unsubscribe or opt out of marketing messages at any time.

We will not treat silence, inactivity, or failure to untick a box as consent for direct marketing where consent is legally required.

6.8 To comply with legal obligations

We may process and keep personal information where necessary to:

comply with POPIA;
comply with tax, accounting, and business record laws;
respond to lawful requests from regulators, courts, or law enforcement;
protect our legal rights;
enforce our website terms and policies;
investigate unlawful, harmful, or fraudulent conduct.

7. Lawful grounds for processing

We process personal information only where we have a lawful basis to do so. Depending on the situation, our lawful grounds may include:

your consent;
performance of a contract with you;
steps taken before entering into a contract;
compliance with a legal obligation;
protection of your legitimate interests;
protection of our legitimate interests or the legitimate interests of another person;
lawful processing of information that you have deliberately made public through an ad or other public submission.

Where we rely on consent, you may withdraw that consent at any time, unless the information is still required for another lawful reason.

8. Public advertisements and user-generated content

AdLaunch is an advertising platform. Information that you include in an approved ad may be displayed publicly on the website and may be visible to search engines, visitors, potential buyers, and other users.

This may include:

ad title;
ad description;
category;
location or service area;
price;
images;
business name;
contact details you choose to display;
website or social links;
other information you include in the ad.

You are responsible for making sure that your ad does not include unnecessary personal information about yourself or another person.

You may not upload another person's personal information, photos, contact details, or private information unless you have the legal right or consent to do so.

9. Direct marketing, newsletters, and promotional messages

AdLaunch may send marketing communications only where allowed by law.

We may send marketing messages where:

you have given consent;
you are an existing customer and the message relates to similar products or services, where allowed by law;
you have not opted out; and
the message includes a way to unsubscribe or opt out.

Marketing messages may include:

newsletters;
promotional packages;
advertising tips;
discounts;
featured ad offers;
platform updates;
business opportunities;
promotional content from AdLaunch.

You can opt out of marketing at any time by:

clicking the unsubscribe link in an email;
changing your notification preferences in your account;
replying “STOP” or using the available opt-out method for WhatsApp or SMS messages, where applicable;
contacting us at privacy@adlaunch.co.za.

Opting out of marketing does not stop important account, payment, legal, security, or ad-status messages.

10. WhatsApp notifications

If you provide your WhatsApp number and choose WhatsApp notifications, we may use WhatsApp to send:

account-related alerts;
ad submitted confirmations;
ad approved notices;
ad rejected notices;
ad expiry reminders;
low-credit alerts;
support messages;
marketing messages, if you opted in to receive them.

You may choose email, WhatsApp, both, or neither for certain categories of notifications, depending on the settings available on the website.

WhatsApp messages may be processed through WhatsApp, Meta, or a WhatsApp Business API provider, and their own terms and privacy practices may also apply.

11. Email confirmation and password reset

When you create an account, we may send an email confirmation link to verify your email address.

If you use the forgot-password feature, we may send a password reset link or token to your registered email address. Password reset links or tokens should expire after a limited time for security reasons.

For security, we do not store your password in plain text. Passwords should be stored using secure hashing or encryption methods.

12. When we share personal information

We do not sell your personal information.

We may share personal information only where necessary and lawful, including with:

12.1 Website hosting and technical service providers

We may share information with hosting providers, server administrators, database providers, backup providers, software developers, and security providers who help us operate and maintain the website.

12.2 Email and communication providers

We may use third-party services to send account emails, password reset emails, ad-status emails, newsletters, WhatsApp messages, SMS messages, or support communications.

12.3 Payment providers

If you make a payment, your payment-related information may be processed by a payment gateway, bank, card processor, or other payment service provider.

12.4 Analytics and performance providers

We may use analytics tools to understand website usage, improve features, measure performance, and detect problems.

12.5 Advertisers and users

If you submit an enquiry about an ad, we may share your enquiry details with the relevant advertiser so that they can respond.

If you publish an ad, the information in the ad may be visible to website visitors and other users.

12.6 Professional advisers and legal authorities

We may share information with accountants, lawyers, auditors, insurers, regulators, law enforcement, courts, or government authorities where necessary and lawful.

12.7 Business transfers

If AdLaunch is sold, merged, restructured, or transferred, personal information may form part of the business assets transferred, subject to appropriate confidentiality and legal safeguards.

13. Third-party service providers

Where third-party providers process personal information on our behalf, we require them to protect the information, process it only for authorised purposes, and use appropriate security measures.

However, some third parties may act as independent responsible parties for their own processing, such as payment providers, banks, WhatsApp, Meta, Google, or other platforms. Their own privacy policies may apply.

14. Cross-border transfers

Some of our service providers may store or process personal information outside South Africa.

Where personal information is transferred outside South Africa, we will take reasonable steps to ensure that the transfer is lawful and that appropriate protection is in place, such as:

the recipient being subject to privacy laws that provide adequate protection;
a binding agreement requiring appropriate safeguards;
your consent, where required;
another lawful basis allowed by POPIA.

15. How we protect personal information

We take reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect personal information from loss, damage, unauthorised access, unauthorised disclosure, misuse, alteration, or unlawful processing.

These measures may include:

secure hosting;
HTTPS/SSL encryption;
password hashing;
access control;
administrator permissions;
database security;
backups;
firewall or security monitoring;
anti-spam and anti-fraud measures;
logging and audit trails;
limiting staff or developer access to what is necessary;
secure coding practices;
regular updates and maintenance;
reviewing security risks where reasonable.

No website or online system is completely secure. You are responsible for keeping your login details confidential and for using a strong password.

You must notify us immediately if you believe your account has been accessed without permission.

16. Data breach and security compromise notification

If we become aware of a security compromise involving personal information, we will take reasonable steps to investigate, contain, and reduce the risk.

Where required by POPIA, we will notify the Information Regulator and affected data subjects as soon as reasonably possible, unless a lawful reason allows a delay.

A notification may include information about:

what happened;
what personal information may be affected;
possible consequences;
steps we have taken;
steps you can take to protect yourself;
how to contact us for more information.

17. How long we keep personal information

We keep personal information only for as long as necessary for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy, unless a longer retention period is required or allowed by law.

Retention periods may include:

account information: for as long as your account is active, and for a reasonable period after closure where needed for legal, security, dispute, or audit purposes;
ad information: for the duration of the ad and for a reasonable period after expiry, rejection, removal, or deletion;
billing, tax, invoice, and transaction records: for the period required by applicable accounting and tax laws;
support records: for as long as needed to resolve the issue and maintain a record of the communication;
marketing consent records: for as long as necessary to prove consent or opt-out status;
security logs: for a reasonable period to detect and investigate fraud, abuse, or unauthorised access;
backup copies: until replaced or deleted according to our backup process.

When personal information is no longer needed, we will delete, destroy, de-identify, or anonymise it where reasonably practical and lawful.

18. Your rights

Subject to POPIA and other applicable laws, you may have the right to:

know what personal information we collect about you;
ask whether we hold personal information about you;
request access to your personal information;
request correction of inaccurate, outdated, incomplete, or misleading information;
request deletion or destruction of information that we are no longer authorised to keep;
object to certain processing;
withdraw consent where processing is based on consent;
opt out of direct marketing;
complain to us;
complain to the Information Regulator.

Registered users can request permanent account deletion from their account settings. For security, AdLaunch requires the current password, an email confirmation link that expires after 24 hours, and a final confirmation. After confirmation, AdLaunch removes the account, business profile, launches, uploaded images, favorites, account tokens, credit and purchase records, notification records, and related enquiries from the active AdLaunch application database and upload folders.

The confirmation email and delivery may pass through our email provider. Payment gateways, banks, email providers, backup systems, or other independent third parties may retain their own records where required by law or under their own retention policies. Contact privacy@adlaunch.co.za if you need help with a deletion request.

We may need to verify your identity before responding to a request.

Some requests may be limited where we are legally required or allowed to keep certain information, such as financial records, fraud-prevention records, dispute records, or information needed to comply with legal obligations.

19. How to make a privacy request

To make a privacy request, contact us at:

Email: privacy@adlaunch.co.za

Telephone: +27 83 886 4512

Information Officer: Jacobus Hough

Address: 1 Angora street, Bonnievale, Western Cape, 6730

Please include enough information for us to identify you and understand your request.

We may ask for proof of identity before giving access to personal information or making changes to an account.

20. Complaints

If you believe that we have processed your personal information unlawfully or failed to protect your privacy, please contact us first so that we can investigate and try to resolve the issue.

You may also lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator of South Africa.

Information Regulator contact details:

Website: www.inforegulator.org.za / http://www.inforegulator.org.za

POPIA complaints email: POPIAComplaints@inforegulator.org.za / POPIAComplaints@inforegulator.org.za

General enquiries: enquiries@inforegulator.org.za / enquiries@inforegulator.org.za

Telephone: 010 023 5200

21. Accuracy of information

You are responsible for making sure that the personal information you provide to AdLaunch is accurate, complete, and up to date.

You can update certain account details through your account settings, or you can contact us for assistance.

We may take reasonable steps to verify or update information where necessary, especially for account security, billing, fraud prevention, or legal compliance.

22. Links to other websites

AdLaunch may contain links to third-party websites, advertiser websites, social media pages, payment platforms, or external services.

We are not responsible for the privacy practices, content, security, or policies of third-party websites. You should read the privacy policy of any third-party website before providing personal information to them.

23. Automated processing and profiling

AdLaunch may use automated tools to:

detect spam;
identify suspicious activity;
prevent fraud;
flag ads for moderation;
measure ad performance;
recommend categories or improvements;
manage platform security.

We do not intend to make legal or similarly significant decisions about users solely by automated means without appropriate human review, where such review is required.

24. Prohibited use of other people's information

You may not use AdLaunch to publish, upload, collect, or share another person's personal information without a lawful reason or their permission.

This includes:

uploading someone else's photos without permission;
publishing another person's phone number or address;
impersonating another person or business;
submitting false contact details;
using the platform to scrape or harvest contact information;
sending spam or unlawful marketing to users or advertisers.

We may remove content, suspend accounts, or take legal action where personal information is misused.

25. Changes to this Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time.

When we make important changes, we may notify users by email, website notice, account notification, or another reasonable method.

The latest version of the Privacy Policy will always apply from the date shown at the top of the policy.

26. Contact us

For privacy questions, requests, complaints, or concerns, contact:

AdLaunch

Legal name: AdLaunch

Information Officer: Jacobus Hough

Email: privacy@adlaunch.co.za / privacy@adlaunch.co.za

Telephone: +27 83 886 4512

Physical address: 1 Angora street, Bonnievale, Western Cape, 6730

Website: www.adlaunch.co.za / http://www.adlaunch.co.za