Privacy Policy

1. Introduction

This Privacy Policy explains how The Grow Namibia Foundation, powered by About Africa Co. ("we", "us", "our"), collects, uses, and protects your personal information when you use the Access Namibia — National Park Permits platform ("the Platform"). We are committed to protecting your privacy and handling your data in accordance with the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA) of Namibia and international data protection best practices.

2. Information We Collect

We collect the following categories of personal information when you use the Platform:

• Identity information: full name, email address, phone number, passport or ID number
• Payment information: processed securely by Stripe — we never store full card numbers
• Trip details: park selections, travel dates, party composition (number of adults, children, vehicles)
• Account information: authentication data provided through our sign-in service
• Technical data: IP address, browser type, and device information for security and analytics

3. How We Use Your Information

Your personal information is used for the following purposes:

• Processing and fulfilling your park entrance permit orders
• Generating permit documents and invoices
• Communicating with you about your orders (confirmations, permits, refunds)
• Statutory reporting to MEFT on permit volumes and visitor demographics (aggregated)
• Maintaining audit trails for financial compliance and governance

4. Data Sharing

We share your personal information only with the following parties and only as necessary:

• Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism (MEFT) — permit details and visitor statistics as required under the MOU
• Stripe, Inc. — payment processing (subject to Stripe's Privacy Policy)
• Email service providers — for transactional email delivery (permit notifications, order confirmations)

5. POPIA Compliance

We process your personal information in accordance with the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA) of Namibia. We collect only the minimum information necessary to provide our services, and we do not sell, rent, or trade your personal information to third parties for marketing purposes.

6. International Data Protection (GDPR)

For visitors from the European Economic Area (EEA) and United Kingdom, we also comply with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Under GDPR, you have additional rights including:

• The right to access your personal data
• The right to rectification of inaccurate data
• The right to erasure ("right to be forgotten")
• The right to restrict processing
• The right to data portability

7. Cookies

We use essential cookies to maintain your session and authentication state. We do not use third-party tracking cookies for advertising purposes. Analytics cookies, if used, collect only aggregated, anonymised data to help us improve the Platform.

8. Data Retention

We retain your personal information for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes described in this policy, comply with legal obligations (including MEFT reporting requirements), resolve disputes, and enforce our agreements. Financial transaction records are retained for a minimum of 7 years in accordance with Namibian tax and audit requirements.

9. Your Rights

You have the following rights regarding your personal information:

• Access: request a copy of the personal data we hold about you
• Correction: request correction of inaccurate or incomplete data
• Deletion: request deletion of your personal data (subject to legal retention requirements)
• Objection: object to the processing of your personal data in certain circumstances