Privacy Policy

1. Introduction

PayTools.co.za ("we", "our", "us") is committed to protecting your privacy in accordance with the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 (POPIA) and any other applicable South African privacy legislation. This Privacy Policy explains what information we collect, how we use it and your rights as a data subject.

By using PayTools.co.za, you acknowledge that you have read and understood this Privacy Policy.

This Privacy Policy covers your personal data only. It does not cover how you may reuse the diagrams and charts we publish, which is governed by our separate Image Licensing Policy.

2. Calculator Data: What We Do NOT Collect

All calculations performed on PayTools.co.za, including salary figures, years of service, leave days, UIF contributions and any other values you enter into our calculators, are processed entirely within your web browser. This data is never transmitted to our servers, never stored and never logged.

We have no access to the numbers you enter into any calculator. When you close or navigate away from a calculator page, your data is gone permanently.

3. Information We Do Collect

3.1 Contact Form Submissions

When you submit the contact form on PayTools.co.za, we collect the information you provide: your name, email address and message content. This information is processed through Formspree (a third-party form processing service) and delivered to our email inbox. We use this information solely to respond to your enquiry.

To keep automated spam out, the contact page also runs a Cloudflare Turnstile security check. It usually works in the background without asking you to do anything. To confirm that a person, not a bot, is sending the message, Cloudflare receives technical signals such as your IP address and browser details. Cloudflare's privacy policy is available at cloudflare.com/privacypolicy.

We do not add you to any mailing list without your explicit consent.

3.2 Newsletter Signup

If you subscribe using the newsletter signup form shown on our pages, we collect the email address you provide. This information is processed through MailerLite (a third-party email service provider based in the European Union) and is used solely to send you occasional updates about payroll and tax rate changes, new calculators and site updates. You'll receive a confirmation email to verify your subscription before any newsletter is sent. Subscribing is your explicit consent to receive these emails. You can unsubscribe at any time using the link included in every email we send, or by contacting us at admin@paytools.co.za.

3.3 Website Analytics

Where you consent, we use Google Analytics 4 (GA4) to understand how visitors use our site: which pages are visited, how long people stay and which tools are most used. GA4 collects anonymised usage data including browser type, device type, approximate geographic region and pages visited. We also use Microsoft Clarity, a session-recording and heatmap tool that helps us see which parts of a calculator visitors use and where they run into friction, so we can fix confusing layouts and broken flows.

Neither tool loads until you accept analytics cookies via the consent banner (see Cookies, below). Both are gated behind the same consent choice. If you decline, neither Google Analytics nor Microsoft Clarity loads on your visit, and no analytics cookies are set. Neither service collects personally identifiable information through our implementation.

You can opt out of Google Analytics specifically by installing the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on. See Microsoft Clarity's Terms for more on how Clarity processes data.

We also use Ahrefs Web Analytics, a cookie-free analytics service that does not collect personal data and is not gated behind the consent banner because it sets no cookies. It reports aggregate traffic statistics such as page views and referring sites without tracking individual visitors.

3.4 Cookies

Cookies are small text files stored on your device that help websites function properly. On your first visit, a POPIA-compliant consent banner asks whether you'd like to accept analytics cookies or stick to essential-only. If you accept, we set cookies via Google Analytics and Microsoft Clarity to measure website traffic and understand how visitors use our calculators. If you decline, no analytics or tracking cookies are set, only what's strictly necessary for the site to function (for example, remembering your cookie choice itself).

We do not use advertising-tracking or third-party marketing cookies beyond what's described in Advertising, below, and we do not use cookies to sell your personal information. Ahrefs Web Analytics does not use cookies at all. Most browsers also let you disable or delete cookies through your browser settings, though this may affect some site functionality.

3.5 Advertising

We may in future display advertisements through Google AdSense. If and when AdSense is active, ads are served on a non-personalised basis by default (before you make a cookie choice, and if you decline analytics), using Google's Consent Mode v2 with ad storage and personalisation signals set to "denied." If you accept analytics cookies, ad personalisation signals are updated to "granted," which may result in more relevant advertising based on your browsing activity. For more information on how Google uses data from advertising, see Google's Privacy & Terms.

4. How We Use Your Information

• To respond to enquiries submitted via the contact form
• To send you newsletter updates, if you've subscribed
• To understand how our tools are being used so we can improve them
• To monitor site performance and identify technical issues
• To comply with legal obligations

5. Information Sharing

We do not sell, rent or trade your personal information to third parties. We may share information with:

• Formspree, for contact form processing. Their privacy policy is available at formspree.io.
• Cloudflare, for the Turnstile security check on the contact form. Their privacy policy is available at cloudflare.com/privacypolicy.
• MailerLite, a third-party email service provider based in the European Union, for newsletter signup and delivery. Their privacy policy is available at mailerlite.com/legal/privacy-policy.
• Google, for analytics (GA4) and advertising, where you have consented, as described above.
• Microsoft, for Clarity session-behaviour analytics, where you have consented, as described above.
• Ahrefs, for cookie-free website traffic analytics as described above.
• Law enforcement or regulatory authorities, where required by South African law.

6. Your Rights Under POPIA

As a data subject under POPIA, you have the right to:

• Request access to personal information we hold about you
• Request correction of inaccurate personal information
• Request deletion of your personal information (subject to legal obligations)
• Object to the processing of your personal information
• Lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator of South Africa

To exercise any of these rights, contact us at admin@paytools.co.za. We will respond within a reasonable time and in accordance with POPIA requirements.

7. Data Security

We take reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect any personal information we hold. Our website is served over HTTPS (SSL encryption). Contact form data is transmitted securely via Formspree.

8. Data Retention

Contact form submissions are retained in our email inbox for as long as necessary to respond to your enquiry and for a reasonable period thereafter for reference. Newsletter subscriber email addresses are retained until you unsubscribe or ask us to remove them. Analytics data collected by Google Analytics and Microsoft Clarity (only where you consented) is retained by those providers in accordance with their own data retention policies. Because calculator data never leaves your browser and analytics only runs with consent, the amount of personal information we hold ourselves is generally limited.

9. Third-Party Links

Our website may contain links to third-party websites including SARS, the Department of Labour and the CCMA. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of these external sites. We encourage you to read their privacy policies before providing any personal information.

10. Children's Privacy

PayTools.co.za is not directed at children under the age of 18. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children.

11. International Visitors

PayTools.co.za is operated from South Africa, and our content is written for South African payroll, tax and labour law. If you access the site from another country, your information may be processed, subject to appropriate safeguards where required by law, in South Africa or in other countries where our service providers operate. These include the United States, where Formspree, Cloudflare, Google Analytics, Microsoft Clarity and Ahrefs are based, and the European Union, where MailerLite is based.

12. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Changes will be posted on this page with an updated revision date. We encourage you to review this policy periodically.

13. Contact the Information Regulator

If you believe we have not handled your personal information correctly, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator of South Africa:

• Website: inforegulator.org.za
• Email: POPIAComplaints@inforegulator.org.za

14. Contact Us

For any privacy-related questions or to exercise your POPIA rights, contact us at:
admin@paytools.co.za
Or use our contact form.