Privacy Policy

AI-CHAT (PTY) LTD is a private company registered in South Africa (Registration Number: 2026/307634/07). We operate the AI Chat platform, a WhatsApp Business chatbot SaaS solution that enables South African businesses to deploy AI-powered customer service assistants on WhatsApp.

For the purposes of the Protection of Personal Information Act, 2013 (POPIA), AI-CHAT (PTY) LTD is the Responsible Party (data controller) for personal information collected through our platform.

Director and responsible person: Bontle Mabiletsa

Contact: bontle@ai-chat.co.za

Registered address: 17 Shelley Road, Salt River, Cape Town, Western Cape, 7925, South Africa

2.1 Information from Business Owners (Platform Users)

When a business owner registers and uses the AI Chat platform, we collect:

• Name and email address, used for account creation and authentication
• Business name and contact details
• WhatsApp Business Account credentials and phone number IDs, provided during Meta Embedded Signup
• Business documents, FAQs, and website content uploaded to the knowledge base
• Payment information processed via Stripe (we do not store raw card details)
• Usage data including message counts and subscription status

2.2 Information from End Customers (WhatsApp Users)

When a business's customers interact with an AI Chat-powered chatbot on WhatsApp, we process:

• WhatsApp phone number (wa_id) of the customer
• Message content sent to and received from the chatbot
• Message timestamps and delivery status

We do not collect names, profile photos, or any other personal details from end customers beyond what is included in WhatsApp message payloads.

2.3 Automatically Collected Technical Data

• IP addresses and browser information for security and fraud prevention
• Login timestamps and session data
• API usage logs for debugging and performance monitoring

We do not sell your personal information to any third party. We do not use your data for advertising purposes.

AI Chat integrates with the WhatsApp Business Cloud API provided by Meta Platforms, Inc. Our use of Meta Platform Data complies with Meta's Platform Terms and Developer Policies.

4.1 What Meta data we access

• whatsapp_business_messaging: to send and receive WhatsApp messages on behalf of connected business accounts
• whatsapp_business_management: to read phone number IDs and WhatsApp Business Account (WABA) details during connection setup
• public_profile: basic app authentication during the Meta Embedded Signup flow

4.2 How we use Meta Platform Data

Meta Platform Data is used solely to:

• Authenticate and connect a business's WhatsApp Business number to the AI Chat platform
• Send automated AI-generated responses to customers who message the business on WhatsApp
• Display conversation history within the business's AI Chat dashboard

4.3 Restrictions

We do not use Meta Platform Data for advertising, profiling, selling to third parties, or any purpose beyond the core WhatsApp Business chatbot functionality described above.

We share data with the following trusted third-party processors only to the extent necessary to operate the platform:

All third-party processors are contractually bound to process data only on our instructions and in accordance with applicable data protection laws.

Your data is stored on servers located in South Africa and the European Union. We implement the following security measures:

• All data transmitted between your browser and our servers is encrypted using TLS/HTTPS
• WhatsApp access tokens are stored in encrypted form in our database
• Access to production systems is restricted to authorised personnel only
• We use Supabase JWT-based authentication for all API requests
• Regular security reviews of our infrastructure and codebase

Despite these measures, no method of electronic storage is 100% secure. If you become aware of any security vulnerability related to our platform, please contact us immediately at bontle@ai-chat.co.za.

Upon account deletion, we will delete or anonymise all personal data within 30 days, except where retention is required by law.

As a data subject under the Protection of Personal Information Act, 2013 (Act No. 4 of 2013), you have the following rights:

• Right to access: request a copy of the personal information we hold about you
• Right to correction: request correction of inaccurate or incomplete information
• Right to deletion: request deletion of your personal information (subject to legal retention obligations)
• Right to object: object to the processing of your personal information
• Right to withdraw consent: where processing is based on consent, you may withdraw it at any time
• Right to lodge a complaint: with the Information Regulator of South Africa

To exercise any of these rights, email us at bontle@ai-chat.co.za. We will respond within 30 days.

Information Regulator (South Africa)
Website: inforegulator.org.za
Email: inforeg@justice.gov.za

The AI Chat platform (app.ai-chat.co.za) uses the following types of cookies and local storage:

• Authentication tokens: stored in browser local storage to keep you logged in. These are essential for platform functionality.
• Session data: temporary session information cleared when you close your browser.

We do not use advertising cookies, tracking pixels, or third-party analytics cookies on the platform. The marketing website (ai-chat.co.za) may use basic analytics to measure page visits.

If you have any questions, concerns, or requests relating to this Privacy Policy or the handling of your personal information, please contact us:

This Privacy Policy was last updated in May 2026. We reserve the right to update this policy at any time. Material changes will be communicated to registered users via email.