VASBYT SOLUTIONS — PRIVACY POLICY
In accordance with the Protection of Personal Information Act, 2013 (POPIA) • Republic of South Africa
1. Responsible Party & Scope
Vasbyt Solutions (Pty) Ltd ("Vasbyt", "we", "us", or "our") acts as the responsible party under the Protection of Personal Information Act, 4 of 2013 ("POPIA") for personal information processed through the Vasbyt software suite and our online website (www.vasbyts.co.za).
This Privacy Policy explains what information we collect, why we collect it, how it is stored and shared, how long it is retained, and your statutory rights under South African law.
2. Categories of Information We Actually Process
Vasbyt provides specialised operational tools for commercial agriculture. We collect and process only the information reasonably required to deliver these software services:
Account & Authentication Information
User email address, hashed passwords, encrypted session tokens, and login activity. Managed via Supabase authentication infrastructure.
Farm Setup & Spatial Information
Farm name, agricultural region, block identifiers, crop varieties, rootstocks, tree age, planted hectares, and orchard layout.
Spray & Chemical Records (VasbytPG)
Chemical product names, batch numbers, dosage rates, target pests/diseases, application dates, tractor speeds, and statutory withholding periods.
Irrigation Management (VasbytFlow)
Flow meter readings, pump runtimes, irrigation cycles, cubic metres applied, and soil moisture sensor logs.
Worker & Labour Records (VasbytWork)
Farm worker names, employee identification numbers, piece-rate counts, daily hours worked, tasks performed, and calculated wages.
Harvest Records (VasbytCrop)
Block harvest logs, bin and crate counts, gross tonnages, fruit grades, picking team records, and packhouse delivery notes.
Fuel & Vehicle Data (VasbytFuel)
Vehicle and tractor registration numbers, equipment hours, driver names, fuel litres dispensed, and bulk storage tank readings.
Documents & Signatures (VasbytSign)
Digitally captured signatures, signer names, associated agreements or checklists, and cryptographic audit timestamps.
Subscription & Billing Data
Eligible new users receive a 14-day free trial with no card or payment method required. The trial does not automatically convert to a paid subscription. Recurring monthly billing (R100 per user/month, VAT included) begins only after the user actively and explicitly authorises payment via PayFast. Vasbyt stores subscription status, billing contact email, and PayFast transaction references. Full credit card numbers, CVVs, and banking passwords are never collected, processed, or stored on Vasbyt servers.
VasbytMark Marketplace Listings
Seller and buyer contact details, produce listings, prices, quantity, and geographic location submitted by users for direct trading. VasbytMark is free with 0% commission and does not process payments between buyers and sellers.
3. Purpose of Processing
We process personal and operational farm information for the following legitimate purposes:
- Providing, operating, and maintaining the specialised Vasbyt farm applications;
- Enabling farm owners to securely invite and manage delegates and farm managers;
- Processing subscription billing through authorised payment providers (such as PayFast);
- Facilitating direct communication between buyers and sellers on VasbytMark;
- Providing customer support and troubleshooting via [email protected] and [email protected]; and
- Complying with statutory South African legal, tax (VAT Act), and financial obligations.
4. Service Providers & Authorised Recipients
We do not sell personal information. We disclose information only to authorised technical service providers (operators) necessary to deliver the service:
- Database & Authentication: Supabase (for secure user authentication and cloud database hosting);
- Payment Processing: PayFast (authorised South African payment gateway for subscription transactions);
- Cloud Infrastructure: Managed cloud hosting and content delivery network providers;
- Transactional Email: Services used to transmit verification emails and invitations.
5. Security Safeguards
In terms of Section 19 of POPIA, Vasbyt implements reasonable, verified technical and organisational measures to secure the integrity and confidentiality of personal information in its possession:
- Transport Security: All communications between user browsers, application servers, Supabase, and PayFast are encrypted in transit using standard Transport Layer Security (HTTPS / TLS).
- Credential Protection: Account passwords are cryptographically hashed by the authentication service (Supabase Auth) and are never accessible or stored in plain text.
- Access Segregation: User sessions are partitioned so that farm managers and users access only the farms and applications to which they have been explicitly invited or authorised. Farm owners retain full authority to revoke manager access at any time.
- Payment Data Isolation: Vasbyt does not collect, receive, or store full debit/credit card numbers, CVV codes, or banking passwords; all payment authorisation is handled directly within PayFast's PCI-DSS compliant infrastructure.
6. Data Retention & Subscription Cancellation
Cancelling a paid Vasbyt subscription does NOT automatically delete the user's account or farm records.
When a subscription is cancelled, future recurring PayFast charges are stopped immediately, while paid application access continues until the end of the current paid billing cycle.
Existing farm records—including farms, orchards, spray recommendations, chemical spray records, fertilizer logs, irrigation records, worker and labour records, harvest records, vehicle and fuel logs, and signed documents—are retained for resubscription so that you can resume using your data when you resubscribe.
Vasbyt retains records for legitimate operational continuity, tax, and accounting compliance, but does not guarantee permanent or indefinite data retention.
7. Account Deletion & Your POPIA Rights
Subscription cancellation and permanent account deletion are separate actions. Under Section 24 of POPIA, you have the right to request the permanent deletion or destruction of your personal information (account deletion request), subject to statutory record-keeping and tax requirements.
Under POPIA, you also have the right to:
- Access: Request confirmation of whether we hold personal information about you and receive a copy;
- Correction: Request the correction or updating of inaccurate, irrelevant, excessive, or out-of-date personal information;
- Deletion / Destruction: Request the deletion or destruction of your personal information (account deletion request);
- Objection: Object on reasonable grounds to the processing of your personal information where processing is based on legitimate interest.
To exercise any of these rights, contact us in writing at [email protected].
8. Information Regulator (South Africa)
If you are unsatisfied with the handling of your personal information, you have the statutory right to lodge a complaint with the South African Information Regulator:
9. Contact Us
For questions, data access requests, or privacy concerns:
Email: [email protected]
Billing Inquiries: [email protected]
Website: www.vasbyts.co.za
Jurisdiction: Republic of South Africa