Privacy Policy

1. Who is responsible

This website, worm-composting-help.com, is run by Stephan Rolf Kloppert, 51 Riebeek Street, Goodwood, Cape Town 7460, South Africa, South Africa. Email: info@worm-composting-help.com.

I am the “responsible party” under South Africa’s Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA) and the “controller” under the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). As the owner, I am also the Information Officer under POPIA. You can reach me about anything privacy-related at the email address above.

2. What I collect and why

Visiting the site

The site runs on WordPress, hosted by Hostinger, which also delivers it through its content delivery network (CDN). Like any web server, it receives technical data such as your IP address, browser type, the page requested and the time. This is needed to deliver the page and keep the site secure. The legal basis is my legitimate interest in running a safe, working website (GDPR Art. 6(1)(f); POPIA s11(1)(f)). These logs are kept by Hostinger for a limited period for security and operation.

The site uses the LiteSpeed Cache plugin to make pages load faster (its QUIC.cloud online service is switched off) and the Rank Math plugin for search-engine settings such as page titles and descriptions. Rank Math is not connected to Google Analytics or Google Search Console. Neither plugin is used to track you.

Newsletter and free checklist

If you sign up, your email address (and name, if you give it) goes to Brevo (Sendinblue SAS, France), which sends the newsletter for me. The signup form is loaded from Brevo’s servers, so Brevo receives your IP address when you view it. Sign-up is double opt-in: you only receive emails after clicking the confirmation link. The legal basis is your consent (GDPR Art. 6(1)(a); POPIA s11(1)(a)). Every email has an unsubscribe link, and you can withdraw consent at any time. Brevo may record whether an email was opened or a link clicked, so I can see whether the newsletter is useful. I keep your newsletter data until you unsubscribe.

Question form (helpline)

The question form on the helpline page uses the WPForms Lite plugin. What you type (such as your name, email address and question) is emailed to me at info@worm-composting-help.com so I can answer you. Submissions are not stored in the website’s database, and no copy is sent to WPForms. Spam is blocked with a built-in check on this server (a hidden token and a minimum time to fill in the form). No CAPTCHA service such as Google reCAPTCHA, hCaptcha or Cloudflare Turnstile is used. The legal basis is your request for an answer (GDPR Art. 6(1)(b) and (f); POPIA s11(1)(a) and (f)).

Emailing me

If you email me or use the question form, I keep your message and email address for up to 2 years so I can answer and follow up, and then delete them. My mailbox is hosted by Hostinger.

Comments

If you leave a comment on a blog post, WordPress stores the name, email address and website you enter, your comment, your IP address and your browser’s user agent string. This helps with spam detection. Your name, website and comment are shown publicly; your email address is never shown. Comments and the data kept with them stay on the site until you ask me to delete them, or until I remove the comment.

WordPress may create an anonymised string from your email address (a “hash”) and send it to the Gravatar service (Automattic Inc., USA) to check whether you use Gravatar and show your profile picture next to your comment. Gravatar’s privacy policy is at automattic.com/privacy.

If you tick the box to save your details, WordPress sets cookies with your name, email and website so you don’t have to type them again next time. These cookies last one year. If you don’t tick the box, no comment cookies are set. The legal basis is your consent (GDPR Art. 6(1)(a); POPIA s11(1)(a)).

Buying the Planner or Refill Packs

Purchases go through Lemon Squeezy (Lemon Squeezy LLC, USA), which acts as merchant of record: Lemon Squeezy is the seller in the transaction and handles checkout, payment, sales tax/VAT and invoices under its own privacy policy, at lemonsqueezy.com/privacy. I never see or store your card details. I receive order details such as your name, email address, country and what you bought, so I can deliver your download and help with your order. Order records are kept for as long as tax law requires, by Lemon Squeezy as merchant of record.

3. Cookies and tracking

This site uses no analytics, no advertising and no social media tracking. Normal visitors get no cookies. Cookies are only set by WordPress if you log in, or if you choose to save your details when commenting (see above). If I ever add analytics, I will update this page first and ask for your consent where the law requires it.

4. Google Fonts

The fonts on this site (Lora and Source Sans 3) are currently loaded from Google’s servers (fonts.googleapis.com and fonts.gstatic.com, Google Ireland Ltd / Google LLC, USA). This means your browser sends your IP address and browser details to Google when a page loads. Google’s privacy policy: policies.google.com/privacy. The legal basis is my legitimate interest in a consistent, readable design (GDPR Art. 6(1)(f); POPIA s11(1)(f)). You can block this with a font- or script-blocking browser extension; the site still works, with standard fonts.

5. Links to other sites

Some pages link to other websites, such as Amazon for my books. These are plain links: they are not affiliate links, and I earn no commission from them. Once you leave this site, the other site’s privacy policy applies.

6. Who receives your data

I use these service providers (“operators” under POPIA, “processors” under the GDPR). Each handles data only for the purpose described above:

• Hostinger – website hosting, CDN and email
• Brevo – newsletter (EU)
• Lemon Squeezy – checkout, payments and tax, as merchant of record (USA)
• Google – font delivery (see section 4)
• Gravatar (Automattic) – comment profile pictures (USA)

I do not sell, rent or trade your personal information.

7. Transfers outside South Africa and the EU

I am based in South Africa, so if you live in the EU, your data comes to South Africa when you contact me. Some providers (Lemon Squeezy, Google, Automattic) also process data in the USA or other countries. These transfers rely on adequate protection, such as the EU–US Data Privacy Framework or the EU Standard Contractual Clauses, as GDPR Art. 44–49 and POPIA s72 require. Transfers to answer your own request are also necessary to perform that request.

8. How long I keep it

• Newsletter: until you unsubscribe
• Question-form messages and emails: up to 2 years
• Comments: until you ask for deletion or the comment is removed
• Orders: as long as tax law requires (held by Lemon Squeezy as merchant of record)
• Server logs: a limited period set by Hostinger

9. Security

The site uses an encrypted (HTTPS) connection, and I keep WordPress and its plugins up to date. If a security breach affects your personal information, I will notify you and the relevant regulator as the law requires.

10. Your rights

Under POPIA and the GDPR you have the right to:

• find out whether I hold personal information about you and get a copy of it
• have it corrected or deleted
• object to its use, or have its use restricted
• receive your data in a common, machine-readable format (data portability)
• withdraw your consent at any time, without affecting anything done before you withdrew it
• object to direct marketing at any time (just unsubscribe)

To use any of these rights, email info@worm-composting-help.com. I will reply within one month.

How to complain

Please talk to me first – I’ll do my best to fix it. You may also complain to a regulator at any time:

• South Africa: the Information Regulator, inforegulator.org.za
• EU: the data protection supervisory authority in the country where you live or work (in Germany, the authority of your federal state). A list is on the European Data Protection Board website.

11. Children

This site is not aimed at children under 16, and I do not knowingly collect their personal information. If you are under 16, please ask a parent or guardian before signing up, commenting or sending a question.

12. Changes

If my setup changes, I will update this page and the date at the top.