Privacy Policy

1. Who operates WhaBid

WhaBid is operated by K2025 (South Africa) (Pty) Ltd, registration number 2025/074295/07, trading as WhaBid (“WhaBid”, “we”, “us”). K2025 (South Africa) (Pty) Ltd is not registered for VAT.

For privacy questions, contact us at privacy@whabid.co.za.

For general support: support@whabid.co.za · WhatsApp 071 322 5981 · https://whabid.co.za.

2. Personal information we collect

When you use WhaBid, we collect:

• Account information: your name, email address, and account identifier used to register and sign in.
• Mobile number: used as your unique identity across the platform and verified by one-time password (OTP).
• Location (city / suburb / province): for listings, delivery/collection logistics, and verification.
• Listing data: item descriptions, images, pricing, auction configuration, and listing history you create.
• Bidding history: bids you place and your auction participation.
• Communication data: messages you send to other users through WhaBid, and support/contact submissions.
• Identity verification (KYC): where you choose to verify, your full name, contact details, ID or passport number, and verification images (selfie and ID document). Identity documents are stored privately and accessed only through short-lived, authorised links.
• Payment metadata: transaction references, payment status, amounts and dates needed to activate and reconcile your Verified Buyer Pass. We do not store your bank card number, CVV or full card details.
• Device & security data: limited IP address and device/browser information used for security, abuse prevention, and fraud detection.
• Preferences & notifications: your notification preferences and in-app notifications.

3. How we use your information

We use your information to:

• Register and authenticate your account, and verify your mobile number
• Verify your identity and prevent fraud and abuse
• Process listings, bids, and direct-sale requests
• Facilitate secure communication between buyers and sellers after a transaction
• Send transactional notifications about auctions and account activity
• Process BuyerPass payments and issue receipts
• Resolve disputes and protect marketplace integrity
• Comply with our legal and regulatory obligations

4. Identity verification (KYC)

Identity verification helps keep WhaBid safe. Verification is tiered: mobile number verification, identity verification, and enhanced verification for high-value activity. When you complete verification, we may collect your full name, ID or passport number, and verification images. Identity documents are stored in private storage and are only accessible to you and authorised WhaBid administrators through short-lived, signed access links. We do not expose your identity documents or ID number publicly, to other users, or in logs.

5. Payment information

The paid Verified Buyer Pass (previously R99 / 30 days) is no longer sold; historical passes remain honoured until they expire. The only current paid product is optional Featured listing visibility (R49 for 7 days). Payments are processed by our payment provider. Card and payment details you enter at checkout are supplied directly to the payment provider — WhaBid does not collect or store your full card number, CVV, or online banking credentials. We retain transaction references, payment status, amounts and related metadata needed for accounting, access activation, reconciliation, fraud prevention, and support.

WhaBid is not an escrow service and does not hold the purchase price of marketplace items. Payment for any auction or direct-sale item is arranged between the buyer and seller outside WhaBid, unless WhaBid expressly advises otherwise in writing.

6. Automated verification & risk assessment

To assist with identity verification, fraud prevention, and platform safety, WhaBid may use automated or semi-automated checks. These checks help us decide whether verification is approved automatically or routed for manual review. WhaBid does not make solely automated decisions that produce legal or similarly significant effects about you without the opportunity for human review.

If you believe a verification-related decision affecting you should be reviewed by a person, you may request human review by contacting privacy@whabid.co.za or by selecting “Request review of verification decision” on our Contact page. We will not disclose the internal rules, thresholds, or security logic behind these checks.

7. Communications

We use your contact information primarily for operational and transactional communications, such as OTPs, security alerts, account and KYC status, bid notifications (including outbid and ending-soon), auction results, payment receipts, and support or dispute communications. You can manage some email side-channel preferences in your account. These transactional messages are necessary for the service and are not marketing.

8. Security safeguards

We protect your personal information using measures including:

• Encrypted data transmission (HTTPS)
• Access controls so users only see their own data, with sensitive information restricted to authorised administrators
• Private storage for identity documents, accessed only through short-lived signed links
• One-time passwords stored only as non-reversible hashes
• Server-authoritative processing for sensitive actions (payments, bids, listings, verification)
• Audit logging of significant administrative and security events

No system is 100% secure. You are responsible for keeping your login credentials confidential.

9. Retention

We retain your personal information for as long as your account is active and for as long as necessary for the purposes set out in this policy, including to meet legal, financial, accounting, fraud-prevention, dispute-resolution, marketplace-integrity, and regulatory obligations. Certain information — such as transaction records, receipts, dispute records, fraud-prevention information, and security audit logs — may be retained after your account is closed where we are legitimately required to do so.

We are working towards a formal retention schedule. We do not state fixed retention periods in this policy until they are formally adopted.

10. Your rights

Under the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA), you have the right to:

• Request access to your personal information
• Request correction of inaccurate information
• Request deletion of your information, subject to legitimate retention obligations
• Object to processing where applicable
• Withdraw consent where consent is the basis for processing
• Request restriction of processing where applicable
• Request human review of a verification-related decision
• Lodge a complaint about our handling of your personal information

To exercise any of these rights, contact us at privacy@whabid.co.za or use the Contact page and select “Privacy / Personal Information”. We will respond to legitimate requests within a reasonable time. We may need to verify your identity before acting on a request. Certain information may need to be retained where required for legal, financial, fraud-prevention, dispute, marketplace-integrity, or security/audit reasons.

11. Account deletion

You can request deletion of your WhaBid account from Account → Account & Privacy. When you delete your account, we remove or anonymise your personal information where appropriate, including your profile, KYC and verification data, passes, watchlist, notifications, and preferences.

Certain transaction, dispute, financial, fraud-prevention, and audit information may be retained where legitimately required. In addition, the underlying authentication record may be platform-managed; where WhaBid cannot delete that record directly from within the application, you may request that it be closed through the platform authentication provider. Deleting your account does not erase records we are legally entitled or obliged to keep.

12. Children & minors

WhaBid is not intended for transactional use by persons under 18 years of age. You must be 18 or older to create a transactional WhaBid account, list items, place bids, complete identity verification, or apply as a WhaMakulu seller.

WhaBid does not offer parental-consent access for minors. We cannot guarantee that we never receive information submitted by a person under 18. If WhaBid becomes aware that personal information relating to an ineligible minor has been submitted, we will take appropriate steps. You can report such a matter to privacy@whabid.co.za.

13. Cookies & local storage

WhaBid uses browser storage to keep you signed in and to remember your preferences. At present this includes your platform authentication/session and your selected theme. We may also store limited referral attribution information. We do not currently use Google Analytics, Meta Pixel, advertising pixels, or third-party behavioural tracking scripts. We do not currently operate a non-essential tracking consent mechanism because we do not currently deploy non-essential tracking. You can manage browser storage in your browser settings.

14. Direct marketing

WhaBid currently uses your contact information for operational and transactional communications only. We do not currently send promotional newsletters or direct-marketing campaigns through the customer communication system. If we introduce marketing communications in future, we will do so with appropriate consent and opt-out mechanisms.

15. Third-party service providers

We use third-party service providers to operate WhaBid. These providers process personal information on our behalf only for the purposes of providing their service to us. They include providers for:

• Hosting, database, authentication, and secure file storage
• Transactional email delivery
• SMS / OTP delivery
• Payment processing (when BuyerPass payments are live)
• WhatsApp communications where enabled

We do not sell your personal information to third parties. We may share information with a service provider only as needed to operate the platform, or where required by South African law or a court order. We do not disclose API keys, merchant credentials, or internal infrastructure details.

16. Cross-border processing

Some of the technology or communication providers we use may process or store personal information outside South Africa. Where this occurs, it is subject to appropriate safeguards and applicable data-protection requirements. We do not represent that all information remains in South Africa. We are confirming the processing locations of our providers and will update this section accordingly.

17. Privacy complaints & the Information Regulator

If you have a privacy concern, please contact us first at privacy@whabid.co.za and we will try to resolve it.

If we cannot resolve your concern, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator (South Africa), established under POPIA. You can contact the Information Regulator using the details below (sourced from the Information Regulator’s official website):

• Website: inforegulator.org.za
• POPIA complaints: POPIAComplaints@inforegulator.org.za
• General enquiries: enquiries@inforegulator.org.za
• Toll-free: 0800 017 160
• Address: Woodmead North Office Park, 54 Maxwell Drive, Woodmead, Johannesburg, 2191

Before relying on these details, please verify them via the Information Regulator’s official channels, as contact information may change.

18. Information Officer

POPIA requires the responsible party to designate and register an Information Officer. K2025 (South Africa) (Pty) Ltd is completing the external corporate process of designating and registering its Information Officer. Until that process is complete, please direct privacy enquiries to privacy@whabid.co.za.

19. Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will reflect the last-updated date at the top of this page. Continued use of WhaBid after changes constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

20. Contact us

WhaBid Privacy Team

WhaBid is operated by K2025 (South Africa) (Pty) Ltd · Reg No. 2025/074295/07.

Privacy: privacy@whabid.co.za

General support: support@whabid.co.za · WhatsApp 071 322 5981

See also our Terms & Conditions, Refund Policy, and Cancellation Policy.