Privacy notice

This notice explains what personal information VELA keeps, why, who handles it, how long we keep it and what you can do about it. We follow the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA).

Who we are

VELA Agency is a promo staffing service in Gauteng, South Africa. Talent sign up and build a profile. Clients, such as brands and agencies, browse approved talent and request bookings. VELA is the responsible party for the information described here.

Information Officer

VELA has an Information Officer who looks after personal information and answers questions about it. Their contact details are shown below this notice. You can also read the VELA PAIA manual at /legal/paia.

What we collect

• Your account: email address and sign-in details. We never see your password.
• Your profile: name, mobile and WhatsApp numbers, date of birth (only to check that you are 18 or older), the kinds of work you do, languages, home area, transport, experience and a short bio.
• Appearance details, only if you choose to add them. They are optional.
• Your photos, so VELA and approved clients can see who they are booking.
• ID verification: VELA verifies your ID number and keeps it encrypted. Admin screens show only the last 4 digits. An admin can open the full number when they need to check it, and every such view is logged. Your data download shows the last 4 digits. VELA may also keep a copy of the document you upload.
• Your consent choices, with the date and the version of each notice you agreed to.
• Booking records: offers, your answers, shifts worked and pay amounts.
• For client contacts: your name, work email and the requests you make.

Why we use it

We use your information to review and approve profiles, match talent to bookings, send offers and reminders, pay for shifts, keep VELA secure and meet the law. Messages about your account and bookings are part of the service. News and announcements are separate (see below).

Who processes it for us

VELA uses a small number of operators who may only use your information to run VELA for us.

• Vercel hosts the website and its server functions.
• Supabase stores the database, sign-in details and private photos.
• Our email provider delivers the emails we send you.

Where it is stored

Your information is stored on servers in Frankfurt, Germany. Storing it there is a transfer of personal information outside South Africa under POPIA section 72. Germany is covered by the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which gives protection at least as strong as POPIA.

How long we keep it

We keep information only as long as we need it. These are the periods VELA applies at the date of this notice. VELA may adjust a period within limits set in advance. If a period changes, we publish an updated notice here with a new version number.

Sign-ups never confirmed

30 days after sign-upDeleted

Unfinished profiles

180 days since last activityDeleted, after a warning email

Not-approved applications

90 days after the decisionDeleted, after a warning email

Inactive profiles

24 months with no sign-in or accepted offerReviewed by VELA, not deleted automatically

Client photo-view records

12 monthsDeleted

Resolved client flags

12 months after they are resolvedDeleted

Sent email records

12 monthsDeleted

Reminder and unsubscribe links

30 days after they expireDeleted

Shift and pay records

5 yearsKept for tax and labour law

Consent records and the security log are kept as legal records for at least 5 years. Shift and pay records are kept for 5 years for tax and labour law.

When you delete your account

• Removed: your profile, appearance details, photos, ID details and contact numbers.
• Kept without your name: booking and shift records that VELA needs for its accounts. Your name and contact details are taken off them.
• Kept as legal records: your consent history and a record that the account was deleted, because the law expects us to be able to show this.

For client contacts, the requests you made stay on the organisation record as Former contact. The organisation contact details stay on the organisation record.

News and announcements

VELA sends news and announcements only if you opt in. Every such message has an unsubscribe link, and you can also switch it off in Privacy and consent. This follows POPIA section 69 on direct marketing. Booking messages are separate and are not affected.

Your rights

You can ask to see the information VELA holds about you, correct it, delete it or object to how we use it. You can download your data as a file.

• In the app: Profile, then Your data, or Privacy and consent.
• Or ask the Information Officer.

Complaints

If you are not happy with how VELA handles your information, please contact the Information Officer first. You can then complain to the Information Regulator of South Africa at inforegulator.org.za.

Changes to this notice

If we change this notice we publish a new version here and show the version number and date at the top. Older versions are kept on record.