Legal
Privacy and cookies
This site has no accounts, no sign-up and nothing to buy. It does measure which pages get read. This page says exactly what that means, what is stored on your device, how long anything is kept, and how to switch it off.
Who is responsible
The Private Lending Association of South Africa publishes this website. For the purposes of the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 (POPIA), it is the responsible party for the information described below. Enquiries and requests go to info@privatelendingassociation.co.za.
What is collected
- Analytics
- The site uses Google Analytics 4 through Firebase (measurement ID
G-LPB3EVTMSG) to count which pages are read. It records the page you viewed, the page that referred you, approximate location derived from your IP address, and general device and browser information. Google Analytics 4 does not store full IP addresses. Nothing collected identifies you by name, and nothing is used to build an advertising profile. - Server logs
- The site is served by Firebase Hosting, which keeps standard request logs including IP address, user agent and the file requested. These are operational records — they exist to run and secure the service.
- Anything you send us
- If you write to the editor, we hold your email and whatever you put in it, for as long as is useful to deal with the correspondence. There is no mailing list to join and no newsletter, so your address is not added to one.
Cookies and what is stored on your device
| Name | Set by | Purpose | Typical lifetime |
|---|---|---|---|
| _ga | Google Analytics | Distinguishes one browser from another so visits are not double-counted | Up to 2 years |
| _ga_LPB3EVTMSG | Google Analytics | Holds the session state for this specific property | Up to 2 years |
| Firebase installation ID | Firebase SDK | An identifier for this browser, stored in the browser’s own storage rather than a cookie, used by Google to attribute analytics events | Until you clear site data |
That is the complete list. There are no advertising cookies, no social-media pixels, no embedded third-party content, and no cross-site tracking. The site loads no fonts, images or scripts from anywhere other than its own domain and Google’s analytics endpoints.
What this site does not do
- It does not sell, rent or share personal information with anyone for their own use.
- It does not run advertising or work with an advertising network.
- It does not build marketing profiles, and it does not pass reader data to any partner.
- It has no login, so it holds no accounts, passwords or financial information.
- It never asks for identity documents, banking details or money — if a page on this domain ever appears to, it is not us.
Why analytics at all
Because the site is written to be useful, and the only honest way to know whether a page is doing its job is to know whether it is read and where readers stop. The interest being relied on is that narrow one: improving the material. If you would rather not be counted, the next section says how to opt out, and nothing on this site behaves differently if you do.
How to opt out
- Use your browser’s privacy settings to block cookies for this site, or use private browsing.
- Install Google’s official Analytics opt-out add-on, which works across every site that uses Analytics.
- Block
googletagmanager.comandgoogle-analytics.comwith a content blocker. The site is built so that everything still works when those requests fail. - Clear site data for this domain to remove the identifiers already stored.
Who else is involved, and where the data goes
Google processes the analytics and hosting data described above on our behalf, on infrastructure outside South Africa. POPIA permits that where the recipient is bound by rules affording comparable protection; Google’s data-processing terms are the basis relied on here. No other processor is involved, and no reader data is transferred to any partner, including ProLend.
How long anything is kept
Analytics data is retained on Google’s standard retention setting for this property and then deleted or aggregated. Hosting logs follow Firebase’s own retention. Correspondence is kept while it is useful and then deleted.
Your rights under POPIA
You may ask what personal information we hold about you, ask for it to be corrected or deleted, and object to its processing. Write to info@privatelendingassociation.co.za and we will deal with it. If you are not satisfied, you may complain to the Information Regulator (South Africa).
Changes to this notice
If what the site collects changes, this page changes with it and the date at the top is updated. The technical detail here is meant to match the code exactly; if you find a discrepancy, tell us and we will fix the page or the code, whichever is wrong.
See also: editorial policy (how the material is researched, reviewed and corrected) and about (who publishes this and how it is funded).