Privacy Policy & POPIA Notice

1. Who this policy covers

This notice explains how we handle personal information when you visit this website, use the enquiry form, or message us via WhatsApp or telephone. It does not cover personal information we may hold about you separately as an existing client under a signed engagement letter or mandate — that is governed by the terms of that engagement.

2. Information we collect

When you submit the enquiry form, we collect: your full name, organisation (if provided), email address, phone number (if provided), the enquiry type you select, and the message you write. We do not collect this information through any other means on this site — there are no tracking cookies, no account logins, and no data collected simply by browsing.

3. How your information is used

We use it only to respond to your enquiry, assess whether we can assist, and — if an engagement proceeds — to open a client file. We do not sell, rent, or use your information for marketing you haven't asked for.

4. Legal basis for processing

You provide this information voluntarily by choosing to submit the form, which constitutes your consent under POPIA. Where we retain enquiry records briefly for administrative purposes, we rely on our legitimate interest in managing incoming business enquiries responsibly.

5. Where your information goes

Submitting the form does two things at once, both described honestly below rather than glossed over:

• WhatsApp: your details and message are formatted into a pre-filled WhatsApp message, which opens on your own device for you to send to Adv. Wilton's WhatsApp number. This is subject to WhatsApp/Meta's own privacy policy, which we don't control.
• Website database (optional, if enabled): a copy of the same enquiry may also be saved to a database hosted on Cloudflare's infrastructure, so the enquiry is on record even if the WhatsApp message is never sent. If email notifications are enabled on top of that, a copy is also sent via Resend, an email delivery service.

All of the above are processors acting on our instruction, not independent recipients who use your information for their own purposes.

6. Security

This site is served over HTTPS (encrypted in transit). Any stored enquiries sit in a database with access restricted to the site's Cloudflare account. As with any system, no method of transmission or storage is 100% secure, but reasonable technical safeguards are in place appropriate to the sensitivity of the information collected (which does not include ID numbers, financial details, or special personal information via this form).

7. How long we keep it

Enquiries that don't turn into a client relationship are kept only as long as reasonably needed to follow up, then deleted. Records relating to an actual engagement are retained in line with our professional record-keeping obligations as a legal and governance advisory practice.

8. Your rights under POPIA

You have the right to ask us what personal information we hold about you, request correction of inaccurate information, request deletion of information we no longer have a valid reason to keep, and object to processing you believe is unlawful. To exercise any of these, contact us using the details in section 10. If you're not satisfied with our response, you may lodge a complaint with South Africa's Information Regulator (inforegulator.org.za).

9. Cookies & analytics

This site does not use tracking or advertising cookies. If Cloudflare Web Analytics is active, it measures aggregate traffic (e.g. page views, general location, device type) without cookies, without collecting IP-level identifiers tied back to you individually, and without tracking you across other websites. It exists purely to understand which pages are useful, not to profile visitors.

10. Contact us about privacy

Adv. Alice Wilton
Email: alicewilton@mweb.co.za
Phone: +27 (0)82 931 7395

11. Changes to this policy

We may update this notice from time to time as the site or our processes change. The "last updated" date at the top will always reflect the most recent version.