Afruence is committed to protecting your personal information with the same discretion and care we bring to every aspect of our service. This policy explains how we collect, use and protect your data in accordance with the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA, Act 4 of 2013) and applicable data protection legislation across all African markets in which we operate.
Section 01
Who We Are
Afruence (Pty) Ltd is a private luxury placement consultancy operating across Africa's frontier markets. We connect discerning individuals to the private clubs and communities they belong in, and we help clubs and luxury brands find, attract and retain the members who genuinely fit.
We are the Responsible Party for all personal information collected through our website, surveys, intake forms and digital platforms.
POPIA Information Officer
Registration No.
2026-007176
Contact the Information Officer
Section 02
What We Collect
We collect the following categories of personal information through our intake forms, surveys and platform interactions:
- -Contact details — name, email address, phone number.
- -Professional information — occupation, industry, employer.
- -Location information you provide — selected country and city/town on forms, surveys, member preferences, concierge requests and partner requests.
- -Lifestyle and behavioural data — interests, preferences, aspirations.
- -Financial profile indicators — income range and spending patterns, not bank account details.
- -Placement goals and community preferences.
Special Personal Information
The current Deep Profile Survey does not ask for race or other optional special personal information. If Afruence introduces any special personal information collection in future, it will require separate explicit consent at the point of collection.
Special personal information is excluded from deterministic weighted scoring, tier assignment, lead categorisation, and AI brief prompts. You may withdraw any special personal information consent by contacting admin@afruence.com.
- -Business information — for partnership and corporate enquiries.
- -Submission context — approximate country hints from browser timezone/locale or host country headers, hashed IP, browser language, device category, screen/viewport size, referrer and campaign attribution parameters. We do not collect exact GPS location or request browser location permissions in this flow.
- -Device and usage data — collected through strictly necessary, functional or analytics cookies as described in the Cookie Policy.
Section 03
Why We Process Your Information
We process personal information for the following purposes, each supported by an appropriate legal basis under POPIA:
- -Placement management — processing your enquiry, communicating about your application and managing your placement relationship. Legal basis: contract and legitimate interest.
- -Consent-led profiling — matching you with relevant clubs, communities and opportunities based on your lifestyle and preferences. Legal basis: your explicit consent.
- -Market intelligence reports — including anonymised aggregate data in commercial intelligence reports shared with third-party clients. Your name, email and contact details are never included. Legal basis: consent and legitimate interest for statistical research.
- -Partner introductions — connecting you with relevant clubs or brands where you have expressed interest. Legal basis: consent only.
- -Communications — sending you relevant updates, invitations and opportunities. Legal basis: consent and legitimate interest.
Section 04
How Long We Keep Your Data
We retain personal information only for as long as is necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, or as required by law.
- -Active member and partner profiles are retained for the duration of the relationship plus 12 months.
- -Inactive profiles — where there has been no engagement for 12 months — are anonymised. Your name, email and contact details are replaced with anonymised identifiers. Behavioural and lifestyle data is retained for statistical research under POPIA Section 14(2).
- -Profiles where consent has been withdrawn or deletion requested are anonymised within 24 hours and fully deleted within 30 days.
Section 05
Who We Share Your Information With
We do not sell personal data. We share information only in controlled circumstances and only where there is a lawful basis, an operational need, or your explicit consent.
We use trusted providers to support storage, platform operations, member profiling, communications, and reporting:
- - Google Workspace (Data processor) — Storage and processing.
- - Afruence local platform (Responsible party system) — Membership CRM, surveys, scoring, communications.
- -Intelligence report clients — only anonymised aggregate data is included in reports. No personal identifiers are ever shared.
- -Partner clubs and brands — only with your explicit consent and only for the specific introduction you have requested.
- -Legal compliance — we may disclose information where required by law, court order or regulatory authority.
Section 06
Your Rights
Under POPIA and applicable data protection law, you have the following rights:
- -Access — request a copy of the personal information we hold about you.
- -Correction — request that inaccurate information be corrected.
- -Deletion — request that your profile be anonymised or deleted.
- -Objection — object to certain types of processing, including profiling.
- -Withdrawal of consent — withdraw consent at any time without affecting prior processing.
- -Unsubscribe — opt out of communications via the unsubscribe link in any email we send.
To exercise any of these rights, contact us at admin@afruence.com. We will action your request within 7 business days.
You may also lodge a complaint with the SA Information Regulator at www.inforeg.org.za.
Section 07
Data Security
We implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal information. These include:
- -Google Workspace with two-factor authentication for all authorised personnel.
- -Role-based access controls — only authorised Afruence personnel can access member data.
- -Encrypted data transmission via HTTPS across all platforms.
- -Regular access audits and retention reviews.
In the event of a data breach likely to result in harm, we will notify affected parties and the Information Regulator within 72 hours as required by POPIA Section 22.
Section 08
Cookies
Our website uses cookies to ensure it functions correctly and, with your consent, to understand how visitors interact with it. We use three categories:
- -Strictly necessary — required for the website and forms to function. Cannot be disabled.
- -Analytics — helps us understand how visitors use the site. Data is anonymised. Only activated with your consent.
- -Functional — remembers your preferences on return visits. Only activated with your consent.
You can manage or withdraw cookie consent at any time via Cookie Settings in the footer of our website. We never sell cookie data. Consent choices expire after 180 days.
Section 09
Children
Our services are not directed at persons under the age of 18. We do not knowingly collect personal information from minors. All intake forms and surveys include an age verification step preventing submissions from persons under 18. If we become aware of inadvertent collection from a minor, we will delete it immediately.
Section 10
Changes to This Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or applicable law. Where changes are material, we will notify members by email. The effective date at the top of this page always reflects the most recent version.
Questions about this policy?
Contact our Information Officer at admin@afruence.com.
POPIA Registration No. 2026-007176 · Afruence (Pty) Ltd · Johannesburg, South Africa