Privacy & POPIA Policy

1. Who we are

Tread Automotive ("we", "us") is an editorially independent automotive publication operating from Johannesburg, South Africa. For the purposes of the Protection of Personal Information Act, 4 of 2013 ("POPIA"), Tread Automotive is the responsible party for the personal information described in this policy.

Tread Automotive is operated from Johannesburg by its founder and editorial principal, Tai de Wet.

2. What this policy covers

This policy explains what personal information we collect through TreadAutomotive.com and related channels, why we collect it, how we use and protect it, who we share it with, and the rights you hold under POPIA. It should be read together with our Cookie Policy, our Terms of Use, and our AI & Editorial Standards.

3. What we collect

Information you give us

• Newsletter sign-up. Your email address, submitted through the dispatch form. Sign-ups are handled by Netlify Forms and, once activated, managed in our newsletter platform.
• Correspondence. Your email address and anything you choose to include when you write to us, including pitches to write or photograph for Tread Automotive.

Information collected automatically

• Technical and usage data. Your IP address, browser and device type, referring page, and the pages you view. This is standard server and security logging.
• Analytics. If you consent, aggregate, privacy-respecting analytics that do not identify you individually and do not track you across other websites.
• Cookies. See the Cookie Policy. Non-essential cookies are set only with your consent.

We do not knowingly collect special personal information (as defined in POPIA) and we do not ask for it.

4. Why we use it, and on what basis

We process your personal information for the following purposes, each with a lawful basis under POPIA:

• To send you the dispatch newsletter you asked for, on the basis of your consent. You can withdraw that consent at any time by unsubscribing.
• To respond to your correspondence, on the basis that it is necessary to act on your request.
• To keep the site secure and working, and to understand readership in aggregate, on the basis of our legitimate interests in running the publication.
• To meet our legal obligations where the law requires us to process or retain information.

We apply the eight conditions for lawful processing set out in POPIA: accountability, processing limitation, purpose specification, further processing limitation, information quality, openness, security safeguards, and data subject participation.

5. Who we share it with

We do not sell your personal information, and we do not share it with advertisers. We use a small number of operators who process information on our behalf, under contract and on our instructions:

• Netlify, for website hosting and form handling.
• Our newsletter platform, to store newsletter subscriptions and send the dispatch.
• Our analytics provider, for privacy-respecting, aggregate analytics, where you have consented.
• Email, to receive and reply to correspondence sent to our address.

We may also disclose information where we are required to do so by law, or to protect our rights, safety, or property.

6. Information sent outside South Africa

Some of our operators store or process information on servers outside South Africa. Where that happens, we take reasonable steps to ensure the information is protected by a comparable standard to POPIA, by contract or by the operator's own binding rules, or we rely on your consent. By subscribing or contacting us, you understand that your information may be processed in this way.

7. How long we keep it

We keep newsletter information until you unsubscribe or ask us to remove it. We keep correspondence for as long as needed to deal with your query and a reasonable period afterwards. Technical logs are kept for a limited period for security and diagnostics. We do not keep personal information longer than we need it, unless the law requires otherwise.

8. How we protect it

We take reasonable and appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal information against loss, unauthorised access, and misuse. No method of transmission or storage is completely secure, but we work with reputable operators and limit access to information to those who need it.

If a security compromise affects your personal information, we will notify you and the Information Regulator as POPIA requires.

9. Your rights

Under POPIA you have the right to:

• be told what personal information we hold about you, and to access it;
• ask us to correct or delete information that is inaccurate, irrelevant, excessive, out of date, or unlawfully held;
• object to the processing of your information on reasonable grounds;
• withdraw consent you have given, at any time;
• not have your information used for direct marketing without your consent; and
• complain to the Information Regulator.

How to exercise your rights

Email the Information Officer at treadautomotive@gmail.com. We will respond within a reasonable period. Formal requests for access to information are dealt with under the Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA); we will guide you through the process and the prescribed form on request.

10. Automated decisions and AI

We do not make decisions that affect you legally or significantly based solely on automated processing of your personal information. We do not feed your personal information, such as your email address or your correspondence, into public or third-party artificial intelligence systems for the purpose of training those systems. How Tread Automotive uses AI in its work, and where it does not, is set out in our AI & Editorial Standards.

11. Children

Tread Automotive is intended for an adult readership and is not directed at children. We do not knowingly collect the personal information of a child without the consent of a competent person. If you believe we have, contact us and we will remove it.

12. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy as the publication grows or the law changes. The effective date at the top of the page shows when it was last revised. Material changes will be made clear on the site.

13. Complaints

If you are not satisfied with how we have handled your personal information, you may lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator:

We would always prefer to resolve a concern with you directly first. Write to us at treadautomotive@gmail.com.