Privacy Policy

Effective Date: 14 June 2025

This Privacy Policy describes how Catalyst Events (Pty) Ltd ("Catalyst Events," "we," "us," or "our") collects, uses, and protects the personal information you provide when you use our website or services. We are committed to protecting your privacy and handling your data in an open and transparent manner, in accordance with the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA) of South Africa.

1. Personal Information We Collect

We may collect various types of personal information from you, depending on your interactions with our website:

• Information You Provide Directly: When you fill out our contact form, we collect your first name, last name, email address, phone number, and company name. If you subscribe to our newsletter, we collect your email address.

• Automated Information: When you browse our website, we may automatically collect technical information such as your IP address, browser type, operating system, and Browse behaviour through cookies and similar technologies. We may also infer approximate location data from your IP address for purposes such as targeted advertising.

• Behavioural & Interaction Data: In partnership with services like Microsoft Clarity, we may capture how you interact with our website, including behavioural metrics, heat-maps of your clicks, and session replays to help us improve our site and services.

2. How and Why We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect for the following purposes:

• To Respond to Inquiries: To communicate with you and provide you with information, proposals, and services you request.

• For Marketing Communications: To send you our newsletter and other marketing updates about our services, events, or industry insights, which you can opt out of at any time.

• For Marketing & Client Insights: To understand the needs of our prospective clients, we may use the information you provide in our forms to inform our marketing strategy and tailor our service offerings.

• For Website Improvement: To understand how visitors use our website, analyse trends, and improve the user experience and functionality, and for site optimisation and fraud/security purposes.

• For Targeted Advertising: To deliver relevant advertisements to you based on your interests and approximate location. By enabling features like Google Signals, this may include creating remarketing audiences and understanding user behavior across different devices. This data association only occurs for users who have consented to personalised advertising in their Google accounts and can be controlled by the end-user via Google's My Activity.

• For Internal Operations: For internal record-keeping, client relationship management, and legal compliance.

3. Data Sharing and Third Parties

We use third-party service providers to operate and support our business. These third parties may process personal information on our behalf. We do not sell your personal information. Categories of third parties we may share data with include:

• Website Hosting Provider

• Website Analytics Provider: (e.g., Google Analytics). Our use of Google Analytics may include a feature known as Google Signals to improve our advertising and reporting. In doing so, we adhere to the Google Advertising Features Policy

• Email Marketing Platform

• CRM and Project Management System

• Accounting Software

• Design and Collaboration Tools

We ensure that these third parties are reputable and committed to data protection in accordance with applicable laws.

We partner with Microsoft Clarity and Microsoft Advertising to capture how you use and interact with our website through behavioural metrics, heat-maps, and session replay to improve and market our products/services. Website usage data is captured using first and third-party cookies and other tracking technologies to determine the popularity of products/services and online activity. Additionally, we use this information for site optimisation, fraud/security purposes, and advertising. For more information about how Microsoft collects and uses your data, visit the Microsoft Privacy Statement.

4. Data Security

We are committed to ensuring the security of your personal information. We implement reasonable technical and organisational security measures to protect your data against unauthorised access, loss, damage, alteration, or disclosure. These measures include (but are not limited to) SSL encryption on our website, access controls to data, and regular security reviews of our systems.

5. Data Retention

We will only retain your personal information for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes for which it was collected, to provide our services, to comply with our legal obligations, resolve disputes, or as required by law. When your personal information is no longer required for these purposes, it will be securely deleted or anonymised.

6. Your Rights Under POPIA

Under the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA), you have certain rights regarding your personal information:

• Right to Access: You have the right to request a copy of the personal information we hold about you.

• Right to Correction: You have the right to request that we correct any inaccurate or incomplete personal information.

• Right to Deletion (Erasure): You have the right to request the deletion of your personal information under certain circumstances.

• Right to Object to Processing: You have the right to object to the processing of your personal information under certain conditions.

• Right to Control Your Google Data: You can access and/or delete the data associated with your Google account at any time via Google's My Activity page. You can also manage your ads personalisation settings within your Google account.

7. Use of Cookies

Our website uses cookies and similar technologies to enhance your Browse experience, analyse website traffic, and for advertising purposes. Cookies are small data files placed on your device. We use them for:

• Website Functionality: To make our website work correctly.

• Analytics: To understand how you use our website (e.g., via Google Analytics).

• Advertising/Retargeting: To show you relevant advertisements on other websites based on your Browse behaviour.

You can manage your cookie preferences through your browser settings. Please refer to your browser's help section for more information on how to do this.

8. Contact Information

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or how we handle your personal information, or if you wish to exercise your POPIA rights, please contact our Information Officer:

Information Officer: Janu Opperman

Email: janu@catalystevents.co.za

9. Policy Updates

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or legal requirements. We will inform you of any significant changes by posting the updated policy on our website. The updated policy will be effective as soon as it is posted.