Privacy notice

Who we are

Abundance Connect is run by Communities of Abundance Africa NPC (“CoA”), a faith-based non-profit company in South Africa. CoA is the responsible party for your personal information.

What we collect

• Your name, phone number, year of birth, language and ward.
• The organisations you link to, and your role in them.
• Needs you log, seeds you offer, surveys you answer, groups you join and hours you volunteer.
• Your conversations with My AI, if you use it.
• For sponsors and organisations: company details, VAT number and billing details.
• A sign-in cookie that keeps you signed in. We don't use advertising or tracking cookies.

Why we use it

• To connect needs in your ward with seeds, volunteers and Kingdom Partners.
• To run your ward: surveys, the ward matrix, projects, groups and the calendar.
• To show sponsors what their support does, using totals only, never your name.
• To keep people safe, including following up when someone may be in danger.
• To send you notifications and links by WhatsApp or SMS.

We use your information because you consent to it when you sign up, and where we need it to provide the service you asked for. We never sell it, and we never show adverts.

Faith and health information

Some needs and conversations mention faith, health or safety. POPIA calls this special personal information. We only keep it with your consent, only to help you and your ward. Needs about health, abuse, addiction or safety are only seen by your Ward Admin and, where needed, our safeguarding officer.

Children

Accounts are for people aged 13 and older. Anyone under 18 needs a parent or guardian to approve their account. Under-18s can't join group chats, and there is no private messaging between adults and children.

Who can see your information

• You can always see your own needs, seeds, survey answers and conversations.
• People helping with a need see your first name and the initial of your surname, never your phone number.
• Your Ward Admin, Ward Activator and organisation admins see what they need to run your ward or organisation.
• Sponsors see ward totals and stories you agreed to share, not individual people.
• Survey answers are anonymous in all results.
• Your My AI conversations are private to you. Not even our admins can read them.

Services outside South Africa

Some services we use process information outside South Africa: the AI provider that answers My AI questions (the text of your messages only), and WhatsApp (Meta) for notifications. We only use providers bound by agreements that protect your information, and we send them only what the task needs.

How long we keep it

• Your account information, for as long as you have an account.
• My AI conversations, until you delete them (“Delete my chats”) or close your account.
• Financial records, for as long as the law requires.

How we keep it safe

Access is limited to the people who need it, enforced in the database itself. Important actions are logged, and admins use two-step sign-in.

Your rights

You may ask us to:

• show you the personal information we hold about you;
• correct or delete it;
• stop using it for a purpose you object to;
• withdraw your consent, which may mean we can no longer help with some things.

Contact and complaints

CoA is confirming its Information Officer's contact details. Until they appear here, ask your Ward Activator or Ward Admin to pass on your request.

If you're not happy with our answer, you can complain to the Information Regulator (South Africa) at inforegulator.org.za.