Privacy Policy

Who We Are

Afruence (Pty) Ltd is a private luxury membership consultancy operating across Africa's emerging markets. We connect discerning individuals to the private clubs and communities they belong in, and we help clubs and luxury brands find, attract and retain the members who genuinely fit.

We are the Responsible Party for all personal information collected through our website, surveys, intake forms and digital platforms.

What We Collect

We collect the following categories of personal information through our intake forms, surveys and platform interactions:

• Contact details — name, email address, phone number
• Professional information — occupation, industry, employer
• Lifestyle and behavioural data — interests, preferences, aspirations
• Financial profile indicators — income range and spending patterns (not bank account details)
• Membership goals and community preferences.Special Personal Information — Race: In certain parts of our Deep Profile Survey, we ask members to voluntarily share their race. We ask this only with your separate, explicit consent, which you provide via a dedicated checkbox at the point of collection. Under the Protection of Personal Information Act, 2013 (POPIA), race is classified as special personal information. We process this information only for the following specific purposes:Aggregate demographic analysis of our member base, to understand the composition of the community we serve. Culturally-relevant club and community recommendations, to help us match members with groups, events, and experiences that resonate with their cultural context and lived experience.Race is never used to evaluate your individual eligibility for Afruence membership. Our AI-assisted profiling system is technically configured to exclude race from any scoring, tier assignment, or lead categorisation. You may submit the Deep Profile Survey without answering the race question; it is optional even with consent, and you may withdraw this consent at any time by contacting admin@afruence.com, after which the information will be deleted from our records.
• Business information — for partnership and corporate enquiries
• Device and usage data — collected via cookies on our website

Why We Process Your Information

We process personal information for the following purposes, each supported by an appropriate legal basis under POPIA:

• Membership management — processing your enquiry, communicating about your application and managing your membership relationship. Legal basis: contract and legitimate interest.
• AI-assisted profiling — matching you with relevant clubs, communities and opportunities based on your lifestyle and preferences. Legal basis: your explicit consent.
• Market intelligence reports — including anonymised aggregate data in commercial intelligence reports shared with third-party clients. Your name, email and contact details are never included. Legal basis: consent and legitimate interest for statistical research.
• Partner introductions — connecting you with relevant clubs or brands where you have expressed interest. Legal basis: consent only.
• Communications — sending you relevant updates, invitations and opportunities. Legal basis: consent and legitimate interest.

How Long We Keep Your Data

We retain personal information only for as long as is necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, or as required by law.

• Active member and partner profiles are retained for the duration of the relationship plus 12 months.
• Inactive profiles — where there has been no engagement for 12 months — are anonymised. Your name, email and contact details are replaced with anonymised identifiers. Behavioural and lifestyle data is retained for statistical research under POPIA Section 14(2).
• Profiles where consent has been withdrawn or deletion requested are anonymised within 24 hours and fully deleted within 30 days.

Who We Share Your Information With

We do not sell personal data. We share information only in the following circumstances:

• Google (data processor) — we use Google Workspace to store and process data. Google acts as our data processor under a data processing agreement.
• Anthropic (AI processing) — survey responses are processed by Claude AI to generate membership scores and profile categorisations, under Anthropic's enterprise terms.
• Intelligence report clients — only anonymised aggregate data is included in reports. No personal identifiers are ever shared.
• Partner clubs and brands — only with your explicit consent and only for the specific introduction you have requested.
• Legal compliance — we may disclose information where required by law, court order or regulatory authority.

Your Rights

Under POPIA and applicable data protection law, you have the following rights:

• Access — request a copy of the personal information we hold about you
• Correction — request that inaccurate information be corrected
• Deletion — request that your profile be anonymised or deleted
• Objection — object to certain types of processing, including profiling
• Withdrawal of consent — withdraw consent at any time without affecting prior processing
• Unsubscribe — opt out of communications via the unsubscribe link in any email we send

To exercise any of these rights, contact us at admin@afruence.com. We will action your request within 7 business days.

You may also lodge a complaint with the SA Information Regulator at www.inforeg.org.za.

Data Security

We implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal information. These include:

• Google Workspace with two-factor authentication for all authorised personnel
• Role-based access controls — only authorised Afruence personnel can access member data
• Encrypted data transmission via HTTPS across all platforms
• Regular access audits and retention reviews

In the event of a data breach likely to result in harm, we will notify affected parties and the Information Regulator within 72 hours as required by POPIA Section 22.

Cookies

Our website uses cookies to ensure it functions correctly and, with your consent, to understand how visitors interact with it. We use three categories:

• Strictly necessary — required for the website and forms to function. Cannot be disabled.
• Analytics — helps us understand how visitors use the site. Data is anonymised. Only activated with your consent.
• Functional — remembers your preferences on return visits. Only activated with your consent.

You can manage or withdraw cookie consent at any time via "Cookie Settings" in the footer of our website. We never sell cookie data. Consent choices expire after 180 days.

Children

Our services are not directed at persons under the age of 18. We do not knowingly collect personal information from minors. All intake forms and surveys include an age verification step preventing submissions from persons under 18. If we become aware of inadvertent collection from a minor, we will delete it immediately.

Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or applicable law. Where changes are material, we will notify members by email. The effective date at the top of this page always reflects the most recent version.