Privacy Policy
Last updated: 8 September 2026 · POPIA compliant
78 on 5th Guest House ("78 on 5th", "we", "us", "our") respects your privacy and is committed to protecting your personal information in accordance with the Protection of Personal Information Act, 2013 (POPIA) of South Africa. This policy explains what data we collect, why, and how we handle it.
1. Information We Collect
- Booking details — name, contact email, phone number, ID/passport, payment information, dates of stay, special requests.
- Communication records — emails, WhatsApp messages, phone notes related to your booking or enquiry.
- Website analytics — anonymised page views, traffic sources, device type, approximate location (city level), via Google Analytics 4. We use Google Consent Mode v2: analytics cookies fire only after you click Accept on our cookie banner.
- Marketing data — only if you opt in to our newsletter or stay-update emails.
- Optional guest content — stay notes, photos, or videos that you choose to upload on our guest sharing page for manual review and possible approved organic use. There is no field for your name, e-mail address or phone number on that page, and what you send is not linked to your booking.
2. How We Use Your Information
- To process and confirm your reservation.
- To communicate about your stay (arrival info, special requests, post-stay feedback).
- To comply with legal obligations (SARS records, immigration register).
- To improve the website and guest experience (anonymised analytics).
- To send marketing communication — only with your explicit opt-in consent.
Optional guest photos, videos and stay notes
If you choose to share a photo, video, or stay note, you upload it on our guest sharing page at share.78on5th.co.za. That page is the only route we use for this: please do not send photos or videos in the Jose JNR WhatsApp conversation, because that conversation does not record what you are allowing us to do with them. Sharing is voluntary overall. If you want to be considered for the separate guest-appreciation offer, sharing qualifying content is the condition for consideration. The offer is discretionary and subject to availability. A review, follow, like, tag, public post, or permission to publish content is not required.
When you upload a photo or video, our system re-saves the file before storing it, which removes the hidden information your camera or phone adds — including the GPS coordinates of where it was taken. We do not keep your original file. If a video has sound, the words are transcribed by software running on our own server; the audio is not sent to any outside service.
We will consider only the exact words or exact photo/video you send for possible organic use on the 78 on 5th website, Facebook, or Instagram. Uploading an item is not permission to publish it. The sharing page asks you separately, as its own questions, whether we may use that exact photo or video, whether we may quote those exact words, and where we may use it — private review by our team only, our website, our Instagram, our Facebook. You may allow one and refuse another, and you may tick private review only, in which case the item is never turned into a post. The page also asks whether anyone identifiable appears, asks you to confirm that no children appear, how you would like to be credited, and whether we may crop the item or add our branding. This route does not cover paid advertising, partner use, email, unrelated campaigns, future reuse, or AI training.
Nothing is published automatically. Every item is reviewed and approved by a person at 78 on 5th before anything is posted.
This pilot does not request or accept content featuring children. Please do not send content showing children or other identifiable people who have not agreed to appear. Content with a child, unclear ownership, private information, or unclear consent will be rejected or removed.
Unused or declined content is deleted within 7 days of review. Approved content is kept only while it is being used and for no longer than 12 months from permission, unless permission is renewed. Immediately after you share, the page shows a Withdraw permission and remove button, which works while your session is still open — about half an hour. The page also shows you a sharing reference; it is worth saving. After that, to withdraw permission or request removal, message Jose JNR on WhatsApp, or email hello@aeonsync.io or info@78on5th.co.za. You do not need to give a reason and we will not ask for one. We will stop future use, remove the item from our website and social accounts, and delete our retained copy within 7 days of the request. Copies held by third-party platforms may be subject to their own systems and retention.
3. Cookies
Our website uses cookies for three purposes:
- Essential cookies (always on) — basic site function, your cookie-consent choice.
- Analytics cookies (Google Analytics 4, Google Tag Manager) — fire only after your explicit Accept on the consent banner. Reject to opt out entirely.
- Advertising cookies (Meta pixel) — used to measure our Facebook and Instagram advertising. These load when the page opens. Click Reject to switch them off; your choice is remembered on later visits.
You can change your cookie choice anytime via the Cookie Settings link in the footer.
4. Information Sharing
We share your information only with:
- NightsBridge (our booking engine), to manage reservations.
- Payment processors (NightsBridge / PayGenius), to process payment securely. We do not store full card details on our systems.
- Google Analytics, for anonymised website analytics — only after your consent.
- AeonSync BI (Pty) Ltd, our operator/service provider for the guest-content pilot.
- Anthropic (the company behind the AI assistant Claude), only for content you share on the sharing page. A reduced-size copy of your photo, or a few still frames from your video, together with your note, is sent to Anthropic so that a suggested caption can be drafted. The AI only suggests wording; it cannot approve or publish anything, and a person at 78 on 5th still decides.
- Postiz, the tool we use to schedule our own Facebook and Instagram posts. If an item is approved, the picture and the wording are sent there as an unpublished draft until someone at 78 on 5th publishes it.
- WhatsApp/Meta, to deliver messages and media sent to the Jose JNR WhatsApp conversation.
- Website, Facebook, or Instagram providers, only when content has been separately approved for publication on that channel.
For the guest-content pilot, the intended storage location is our service provider's server in Helsinki, Finland. The pilot covers optional stay notes, testimonials, photos and videos and the minimum conversation context needed to respond.
We do not sell or rent your personal information to third parties.
5. Your POPIA Rights
Under POPIA you have the right to:
- Request access to the personal information we hold about you.
- Request correction or deletion of your information.
- Object to processing or withdraw consent at any time.
- Lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator (inforegulator.org.za).
To exercise any of these rights, email info@vitri-law.com with the subject line "POPIA Request".
6. Data Retention
We retain booking records for 5 years after your stay to meet SARS, immigration, and operational requirements. Marketing data is held until you withdraw consent.
7. Security
All booking and payment data flows over encrypted (HTTPS) connections. NightsBridge and PayGenius hold PCI-DSS compliance for payment processing. Internal staff access to your information is limited to those who need it for your stay.
8. Contact
Information Officer: Vitri van der Westhuizen
Email: info@vitri-law.com
Property phone: +27 82 725 8049
Property address: 78 Fifth Street, Voelklip, Hermanus 7200, South Africa