Privacy Policy

1. Introduction

Agri Funda by WeCommerce is a digital agricultural community and intelligence platform operated by WeCommerce Pty Ltd. Agri Funda connects farmers, agricultural professionals, buyers, service providers, learners, young farmers and other participants in the agricultural sector through community features, expert networks, AI-supported tools, market information, study groups, knowledge sharing and related services.

This Privacy Policy explains how WeCommerce Pty Ltd collects, uses, stores, shares and protects information when users access or use Agri Funda, including the mobile app, web-based platform, community groups, messaging tools, AI Fundi assistant, market tools, dashboards and all related services.

This policy applies to all users of Agri Funda, including but not limited to:

• farmers and farm owners;
• farm managers and employees;
• agricultural advisors, experts, consultants and mentors;
• buyers, traders, aggregators and market-access stakeholders;
• agricultural students, young farmers, learners and youth programme participants;
• service providers and suppliers to the agricultural sector;
• researchers, educators and agricultural organisations;
• community moderators and group administrators;
• any other person who creates an account or uses any feature of Agri Funda.

By using Agri Funda, creating an account, submitting information or using any of the features, you agree to the collection and use of information as described in this Privacy Policy.

2. Laws and Principles We Follow

Agri Funda is intended to be operated in line with applicable South African privacy laws, including the Protection of Personal Information Act, 4 of 2013, commonly known as POPIA.

Where applicable, WeCommerce Pty Ltd aims to process personal information according to the following privacy principles:

• accountability;
• lawful, fair and reasonable processing;
• collecting information for a specific and legitimate purpose;
• only collecting information that is relevant and necessary;
• keeping information accurate and up to date where reasonably possible;
• being transparent about how information is used;
• protecting information through reasonable security safeguards;
• allowing users to access, correct or request deletion of their personal information where legally permitted.

3. What Information We Collect

Agri Funda may collect different categories of information depending on how you use the platform and which features you use.

3.1 Account and profile information

When you register or use Agri Funda, we may collect:

• full name;
• email address;
• phone number;
• username or login details;
• role or user type, such as farmer, advisor, buyer, student, expert or service provider;
• organisation, farm or business name;
• profile photo, where uploaded;
• bio or profile description, where provided;
• location, province or region, where provided;
• agricultural focus area or commodity specialisation;
• communication preferences;
• password or authentication information, stored in a protected or encrypted format where technically available.

3.2 Community and social activity

Agri Funda is a community platform. When you participate in the community, we may collect:

• posts, comments, replies and reactions you create or interact with;
• content you share, upload or tag;
• groups you join, create or administer;
• connections, followers or members you add or accept;
• messages sent through the platform's messaging features;
• forum threads, topics and responses you participate in;
• events you create, attend or express interest in;
• content you report or flag for moderation;
• users you block;
• likes, votes, ratings or other engagement actions.

3.3 AI Fundi and knowledge tools

If you interact with the AI Fundi assistant or other AI-supported knowledge features, Agri Funda may process:

• prompts, questions and instructions you submit;
• documents, images or files you upload for AI-assisted analysis;
• outputs, summaries or responses generated from your submissions;
• conversation or interaction history, where enabled;
• metadata connected to uploaded files.

AI-generated responses are for general guidance only and should not be treated as veterinary, agronomic, legal, financial, tax, certification or compliance advice unless reviewed by a suitably qualified professional.

3.4 Market and match readiness information

Where you use market-readiness, match or opportunity features, Agri Funda may collect:

• farm or business profile information relevant to matching;
• commodity, volume or supply capacity details you provide;
• buyer or market preferences;
• certifications, standards or compliance information you provide;
• contact or engagement preferences for market opportunities.

3.5 Device, technical and usage information

When you access Agri Funda, we may automatically collect:

• IP address;
• browser type;
• device type and model;
• operating system;
• pages, features or groups accessed;
• login times and session duration;
• feature usage activity;
• error logs;
• cookies or similar tracking technologies;
• approximate location based on device or network information, where applicable.

3.6 Payment and billing information

Agri Funda may be offered on a free or paid basis. Where paid features, subscriptions or services are available, we may collect:

• billing name and address;
• invoice details;
• payment status;
• subscription plan;
• transaction references;
• VAT or tax information where required.

Payment card or bank information should be processed by a secure payment provider where applicable. WeCommerce Pty Ltd should not store full card details unless this is done through a compliant payment processor.

4. Special Personal Information

Agri Funda does not intentionally request sensitive personal information unless it is necessary for a specific service or legal purpose.

Users should not upload or submit information such as health information, identity documents, financial account details, children's information, biometric information, political opinions, religious beliefs or other sensitive information unless specifically requested and necessary.

Where Agri Funda receives sensitive information, WeCommerce Pty Ltd will aim to protect it with appropriate safeguards and only process it where lawful and necessary.

5. Information About Other People

Users may enter information about other people — for example when tagging another user, mentioning an employer, referencing a supplier or creating content about a third party.

If you submit personal information about another person, you confirm that:

• you have a lawful reason to provide that information;
• you have informed the person, where required;
• the information is accurate to the best of your knowledge;
• the information is relevant to your use of Agri Funda.

6. How We Collect Information

Agri Funda may collect information:

• directly from you when you create an account or use the platform;
• when you post content, participate in groups, send messages or engage with other users;
• when you use the AI Fundi assistant or upload documents, images or files;
• when you use market, match, dashboard or notification features;
• when you communicate with WeCommerce Pty Ltd by email, phone, WhatsApp, online form or social media;
• automatically through app, website or platform usage technologies;
• from third-party tools or integrations that you authorise or that are necessary to provide the service.

7. Why We Use Information

7.1 To provide and operate the platform

We use information to:

• create and manage user accounts and profiles;
• operate community features, groups, messaging, forums and events;
• enable connections, followers and professional networks;
• provide the AI Fundi assistant and knowledge tools;
• provide market and match-readiness features;
• provide notifications, reminders, alerts and platform updates;
• manage support requests.

7.2 To support the agricultural community

We may use information to:

• connect farmers, experts, buyers and service providers;
• facilitate knowledge sharing and study groups;
• support market access and commercial opportunities;
• provide agricultural information, alerts and insights relevant to each user;
• support training, mentorship and youth agricultural programmes.

7.3 To moderate and protect the community

We use information to:

• review and act on content reports and user flags;
• process block requests and protect users from abusive behaviour;
• enforce our End User Licence Agreement and community standards;
• detect and prevent fraud, spam, harassment and platform misuse;
• protect the safety and wellbeing of all users.

7.4 To personalise the user experience

We may use information such as location, role, commodity and activity to:

• show relevant content, groups and connections;
• personalise the AI Fundi assistant's responses;
• provide relevant market alerts and opportunities;
• improve recommendations and platform features.

7.5 To improve Agri Funda

We may use information to:

• improve platform functionality;
• analyse usage trends;
• identify bugs or technical issues;
• develop new features;
• improve user support;
• train staff on platform support, subject to confidentiality obligations.

7.6 For legal, security and business purposes

We may process information to:

• comply with laws and regulations;
• keep records required for accounting, tax, legal or operational purposes;
• enforce our End User Licence Agreement;
• prevent fraud, misuse or unauthorised access;
• protect the rights, safety and property of WeCommerce Pty Ltd, users or third parties;
• respond to lawful requests from regulators, courts or authorities.

8. Legal Basis for Processing Personal Information

Agri Funda may process personal information where:

• the user has given consent;
• processing is necessary to provide the requested services;
• processing is necessary to perform or prepare a contract;
• processing is necessary to comply with a legal obligation;
• processing protects a legitimate interest of WeCommerce Pty Ltd, the user or another authorised party;
• processing is necessary for a lawful business purpose connected to the platform.

Where consent is required, users may withdraw consent, but this may affect Agri Funda's ability to provide certain features or services.

9. Sharing of Information

WeCommerce Pty Ltd does not sell users' personal information.

We may share information only where necessary, lawful and appropriate, including with the categories below.

9.1 With other users through community features

Agri Funda is a community platform. When you post content, join groups, create a profile or participate in public areas of the platform, other users may be able to see information you share. You control what you post and share.

Profile information you make public — such as your name, profile photo, role, location and bio — may be visible to other registered users of Agri Funda.

Private messages are visible only to the participants of that conversation. Group content is visible to members of that group, subject to the group's privacy settings.

9.2 With service providers

We may use trusted service providers to help operate Agri Funda. These providers may include providers of:

• hosting and cloud storage;
• database management;
• authentication and security;
• analytics;
• email, SMS, WhatsApp or notification services;
• payment processing;
• customer support tools;
• AI or automation tools;
• community platform software and integrations.

These service providers may only process information as needed to provide services to WeCommerce Pty Ltd and should be required to protect the information appropriately.

Current transactional email provider: Brevo (Sendinblue SAS), used to send platform notifications and transactional emails. Brevo is based in France and processes email content and recipient metadata as necessary for delivery. Information may therefore be transferred outside South Africa in accordance with section 18 of this policy.

Live chat service: Tawk.to Inc. (United States), used to provide a live chat support channel on the Agri Funda website. Tawk.to processes IP address, browser information and any name, email or message you provide when using the chat widget. Information may therefore be processed outside South Africa.

9.3 With market-access stakeholders

Where you choose to use market-readiness or matching features, Agri Funda may facilitate connections between farmers, buyers, aggregators, commercial partners or programme administrators. Information is only shared with these parties where you have chosen to participate in a matching or market opportunity or have explicitly consented to that sharing.

9.4 With moderators and safety contacts

Where a content report or block is submitted, relevant information about that report may be shared with WeCommerce Pty Ltd staff or authorised moderators for the purpose of reviewing and acting on the report. Where required by law or necessary for safety, information may be shared with law enforcement authorities.

9.5 With authorities, regulators or courts

We may disclose information where required by law, regulation, legal process, court order or lawful request from a competent authority.

9.6 During business changes

If WeCommerce Pty Ltd or Agri Funda is involved in a merger, acquisition, restructuring, investment, sale of assets or transfer of business, user information may be disclosed or transferred as part of that process, subject to appropriate safeguards.

10. AI Fundi and Automated Assistance

Agri Funda includes AI-supported features, including the AI Fundi assistant, to help users find information, understand agricultural topics, connect with experts and receive general guidance. WeCommerce Pty Ltd may use internal tools or trusted third-party AI service providers to provide these features.

Users understand that:

• AI outputs may be incomplete, inaccurate or not suitable for all circumstances;
• AI should not replace professional advice from a veterinarian, agronomist, accountant, lawyer, certifier or other qualified expert;
• users remain responsible for checking outputs before using them for business, compliance, veterinary, financial, legal or market-access decisions;
• Agri Funda may process prompts, uploaded documents and user submissions to provide AI-supported responses;
• WeCommerce Pty Ltd will not intentionally use confidential user submissions to train external AI models unless this is clearly disclosed and lawfully permitted.

11. Cookies and Tracking Technologies

Agri Funda uses the following cookies and tracking technologies on agrifunda.co.za. You can manage your cookie preferences at any time using the cookie consent banner on that site.

11.1 Google Analytics (consent-based)

Google Analytics (property G-RRXZMBJ90H) is used to collect anonymised usage data about how visitors interact with Agri Funda. It is only loaded after you give consent via the cookie banner.

11.2 CookieScript (consent management)

Agri Funda uses CookieScript to manage cookie consent. CookieScript records your cookie preferences so the platform can respect them across sessions.

11.3 SourceBuster.js (traffic attribution)

Agri Funda uses SourceBuster.js (sbjs) to track how visitors arrive at the platform — for example, via a search engine, a direct link, a referral, or a marketing campaign. This information is used to understand how people discover Agri Funda and to measure the effectiveness of outreach activities. SourceBuster.js is an open-source JavaScript library and does not transmit data to a third-party server.

11.4 Tawk.to (live chat)

Tawk.to is used to provide a live chat support channel on Agri Funda. It sets functional cookies to manage your chat session and preserve chat history across page loads.

Users can control cookies through their browser settings. Disabling certain cookies may affect the functionality of Agri Funda, including login persistence and chat features.

12. Direct Marketing and Communications

Agri Funda may send users operational messages, such as account notices, community updates, security alerts, support responses and important service information.

Agri Funda may also send marketing or educational communications about:

• platform updates and new features;
• new groups, events or opportunities;
• farmer programmes and training;
• partner programmes and market opportunities;
• agricultural information and insights;
• WeCommerce Pty Ltd or Agri Funda services.

Where required, WeCommerce Pty Ltd will ask for consent before sending direct marketing. Users may unsubscribe or opt out of marketing messages at any time. However, users may still receive necessary operational or legal messages related to their account.

13. Data Storage and Security

WeCommerce Pty Ltd takes reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect information against loss, unauthorised access, misuse, disclosure, alteration or destruction.

These measures may include:

• access controls;
• passwords and authentication;
• role-based permissions;
• secure hosting providers;
• encryption where appropriate and technically available;
• backups;
• staff or contractor confidentiality obligations;
• monitoring for suspicious or abusive activity;
• limiting access to information on a need-to-know basis.

No system can guarantee complete security. Users are responsible for keeping their login details confidential and for notifying WeCommerce Pty Ltd immediately if they suspect unauthorised access to their account.

14. Data Retention

WeCommerce Pty Ltd will retain information for as long as reasonably necessary for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy, including:

• providing the platform;
• maintaining user accounts and community content;
• meeting legal, tax, accounting or reporting requirements;
• maintaining moderation and safety records;
• resolving disputes;
• enforcing agreements.

Current retention approach:

• account information may be kept for as long as the user account remains active and for a reasonable period after account closure where needed for legal, safety or record purposes;
• community content such as posts, comments and group activity may be kept for as long as it is published on the platform, unless deleted by the user or removed by moderation;
• private messages may be retained for as long as the account remains active, or for a limited period after account closure, where needed for safety, dispute resolution or legal purposes;
• content-moderation and safety records, including reports and block logs, may be retained for as long as necessary to protect the community and enforce this policy;
• backup copies may remain in secure backups for a limited period after deletion before being overwritten or permanently deleted.

15. User Rights

Subject to applicable law, users may have the right to:

• ask whether WeCommerce Pty Ltd holds personal information about them;
• request access to their personal information;
• request correction of inaccurate, outdated or incomplete information;
• request deletion of personal information where legally permitted;
• object to certain processing;
• withdraw consent where processing is based on consent;
• request restriction of certain processing where applicable;
• complain to WeCommerce Pty Ltd or to the Information Regulator.

Requests may be sent through the support page at https://wecommerce.net.za/contact or by email to info@wecommerce.net.za.

WeCommerce Pty Ltd may need to verify the requester's identity before actioning a request. Some requests may be refused or limited where WeCommerce Pty Ltd is legally required or entitled to retain information — for example, moderation and safety records that are needed to protect other users.

16. Community Content and Public Information

Agri Funda is a community platform. Content you post in public areas of the platform — such as public groups, public activity feeds, forums or events — may be visible to other registered users and, depending on platform settings, potentially to the public.

You are responsible for carefully considering what information you share publicly on Agri Funda. Do not post personal information about yourself or others that you would not want to be widely visible.

When you delete content you have posted, it will be removed from the platform. However, other users may have already seen, saved, shared or copied that content before deletion.

17. Content Reporting and Blocking

Agri Funda provides users with mechanisms to report objectionable content and to block abusive users. When you use these features:

• report submissions are sent to WeCommerce Pty Ltd for review;
• information about the reported content and the relevant user may be processed for moderation purposes;
• block actions are recorded to protect your experience and to allow WeCommerce Pty Ltd to monitor patterns of behaviour across the platform;
• moderation and safety records are kept in accordance with section 14 of this policy.

Full details of how to report content and block users are set out in the End User Licence Agreement.

18. Cross-Border Transfers

Some of WeCommerce Pty Ltd's service providers, hosting providers, cloud tools, AI tools or communication tools may process or store information outside South Africa.

Where information is transferred outside South Africa, WeCommerce Pty Ltd will aim to ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place, such as contractual protections, security measures or other lawful transfer mechanisms.

By using Agri Funda, users understand that their information may be processed in other countries where WeCommerce Pty Ltd or its service providers operate.

19. Children, Learners and Young Farmers

Agri Funda may be used by or marketed to agricultural students, young farmers, learners, youth programmes or school groups. A person under the age of 18 may use Agri Funda as a farmer, learner, student or youth programme participant where this is lawful and appropriate.

Because South African privacy law treats the personal information of children with additional care, WeCommerce Pty Ltd may require appropriate consent, authorisation or supervision where legally required. This may include consent or authorisation from a parent, guardian, school, programme organiser or other legally authorised person.

Where Agri Funda is used in a school, competition, training event or youth programme, the school or programme organiser may be responsible for collecting and managing the required permissions, unless WeCommerce Pty Ltd agrees otherwise in writing.

Minors should not upload unnecessary sensitive information, identity documents, private family information, financial details or other information that is not required for their use of Agri Funda.

If WeCommerce Pty Ltd becomes aware that it has collected personal information from a minor without the required consent or lawful basis, WeCommerce Pty Ltd may delete, restrict or de-identify that information, or request appropriate consent before continuing to process it.

20. Third-Party Links and Integrations

Agri Funda may contain links to third-party websites, tools, payment providers, market-data sources, communication tools or partner platforms. WeCommerce Pty Ltd is not responsible for the privacy practices of third-party services. Users should review the privacy policies of those third parties before using them.

21. Data Breach and Security Incidents

If WeCommerce Pty Ltd becomes aware of a security incident involving personal information, WeCommerce Pty Ltd will take reasonable steps to:

• investigate the incident;
• contain and reduce harm;
• restore security where possible;
• notify affected users and/or the Information Regulator where legally required;
• take steps to reduce the risk of similar incidents.

22. Changes to This Privacy Policy

WeCommerce Pty Ltd may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in Agri Funda, features, laws, service providers or business operations.

The latest version will be made available through the app, website, app store listing or other appropriate channel. Where changes are material, WeCommerce Pty Ltd may notify users by email, platform notification or other reasonable method.

Continued use of Agri Funda after changes are published means users accept the updated Privacy Policy.