Privacy Policy

Last updated: 18 July 2026

ChatBill helps tradespeople send invoices over WhatsApp. This policy explains what personal information we collect, why we collect it, who we share it with, and what you can do about it. We have tried to write it in plain language rather than legal jargon.

We process personal information in line with the Protection of Personal Information Act, 2013 (POPIA).

1. What we collect

Information you give us about yourself

• Your cellphone number. This is how you sign in, and it is the number our WhatsApp service talks to.
• Your password, which we store only as a secure one-way hash. We cannot read it.
• Your name and surname.
• Business details you choose to add: trading name, VAT number and business address.
• Banking details you choose to add: bank name, account holder, account number and branch code. These are printed on your invoices so your customers can pay you by EFT.
• Your email address, if you joined our launch waiting list.

Information about your invoices

• The WhatsApp messages you send to our service in order to create an invoice.
• The invoices we generate for you, including line items, descriptions and amounts.
• Whether an invoice has been paid.

Information about your customers

When you ask us to create an invoice you give us your customer's details, typically their name and cellphone number. Section 4 explains how we handle this and what it requires of you.

Information collected automatically

• Your IP address, browser type and the pages you visit, recorded in our server logs.
• When you report a bug, whatever you tell us about it, along with the page you were on and the browser or phone you were using, so that we can find the fault.
• Cookies that are strictly necessary to run the service. See section 9.

What we deliberately do not collect

We never see or store your card details. Subscription payments are handled by our payment provider. They send us only a token that lets us charge the card for your subscription. The card number itself stays with them and never reaches our systems.

2. Why we collect it, and our lawful basis

3. Your customers' information

When you send us a customer's name and cellphone number so that we can raise an invoice, we process that information on your behalf and on your instructions. We use it only to produce the invoice you asked for and to make it available to you to send on. We do not market to your customers and we do not sell or share their details with anyone else.

Because they are your customers, POPIA places obligations on you as well. By using ChatBill you confirm that you are entitled to share their information with us for this purpose, and that you will deal with any request they make about their own information. If a customer contacts us directly, we will refer them to you.

4. Who we share it with

We do not sell your personal information. We share it only with the service providers we need in order to run ChatBill, and only to the extent they need it:

• Meta Platforms, to send and receive the WhatsApp messages that carry your invoices.
• Our payment provider, to take your subscription payment and to hold your card details securely on our behalf.
• Our SMS provider, where we send you a verification code by SMS.
• Our hosting provider, which stores the data that runs the service.
• Law enforcement or regulators, where we are legally required to disclose information.

Where these providers act as operators for us, we require them to process your information only on our instructions and to keep it secure.

5. Information sent outside South Africa

Some of our service providers process information outside South Africa. In particular, WhatsApp messages are handled by Meta Platforms, which operates internationally, and parts of our infrastructure may be hosted outside the country.

Where we transfer your personal information across a border, we do so only where POPIA allows it, because the receiving party is bound by rules that provide an adequate level of protection, because the transfer is necessary to perform our contract with you, or because you have consented.

6. How we protect your information

• All traffic between you and ChatBill is encrypted using HTTPS.
• Passwords are stored only as salted one-way hashes and are never recoverable.
• Card details are never stored on our systems at all.
• Access to our systems and databases is restricted to those who need it to operate the service.
• We limit how often verification codes can be requested, to protect your number from abuse.

No system is perfectly secure. If a breach occurs that puts your personal information at real risk, we will notify you and the Information Regulator as POPIA requires.

7. How long we keep it

• Your account details: for as long as your account is open.
• Invoices and their records: for as long as your account is open.
• Waiting list emails: until we launch, or until you ask us to remove you.
• Server logs: 3 months.

When you close your account we delete or de-identify your personal information, except where we are required by law to keep it for longer.

8. Cookies

We use only the cookies the service cannot work without: one that keeps you signed in, and one that protects forms against cross-site request forgery. We do not use advertising cookies, and we do not track you across other websites.

9. Your rights

Under POPIA you have the right to:

• ask what personal information we hold about you, and get a copy of it;
• ask us to correct information that is wrong or incomplete;
• ask us to delete information we no longer have grounds to keep;
• object to processing we carry out on the basis of legitimate interest;
• withdraw consent where our processing is based on it; and
• complain to the Information Regulator.

You can update most of your details yourself under your account settings. For anything else, contact us and we will respond within a reasonable time.

10. Children

ChatBill is a service for people running a trade or business and is not intended for anyone under 18. We do not knowingly collect information about children.

11. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy as the service changes. The date at the top shows when it was last updated, and we will tell you about significant changes before they take effect.

12. How to contact us, or complain

For anything about this policy or your personal information, contact us or email privacy@chatbill.co.za.

If you are not satisfied with how we have handled your information, you may complain to:

The Information Regulator (South Africa)
JD House, 27 Stiemens Street, Braamfontein, Johannesburg, 2001
inforegulator.org.za