Anonymous session data
A random session token, interface language, timestamps, progress state and a 30-day expiry time. The token lets the same browser resume the journey.
Public Beta privacy notice
Privacy and data controls
MATCHmyVOTE processes political answers to produce a private political profile and compare it with documented party positions. This Beta does not confirm who is on your ward ballot and does not tell you who to vote for.
Responsible party: Merchant Innovation (Pty) Ltd, through its PoliNEXUS division, Stellenbosch, Western Cape, South Africa. Product contact: devTECH@polinexus.co.za. The designated Information Officer is Mr P.D. Lotter: info@polinexus.co.za.
What we process
Information used to provide the service
Political answers
Selected or skipped answers, response timing and answer revisions. These produce the participant’s profile and comparison.
Derived results
The twelve-dimension profile, issue positions, priorities, confidence and party-comparison results.
Optional research context
Only after separate consent, coded demographic, locality and previous-vote research answers may be collected under a separate research identifier. They have zero scoring weight.
Limited service records
Security and operational records needed to operate, protect and troubleshoot the Beta. Session tokens are removed from visible result URLs and application logs.
Certificate name, if supplied
If a participant enters a name for a downloadable result certificate, it is rendered in that browser for the download. It is not required for the questionnaire or sent by that certificate action.
Purpose, consent and boundaries
Why we use it
- To create and show the participant’s private political profile.
- To compare that profile with evidence-qualified documented party positions.
- To allow the participant to resume, review, change or delete their anonymous session.
- To secure, maintain and improve the service; optional research is used only when separately agreed.
Political opinions can be special personal information under POPIA. The public-Beta start screen records the participant’s clear consent to this core processing. Where section 26 applies, the consent exception in section 27(1)(a) is the stated basis for the special-information processing. Consent is voluntary; without the core consent the service cannot create a political-profile session. Optional research can be declined without changing the questionnaire, profile or result.
This product does not make automated decisions with legal or similarly significant effects. It does not verify candidate lists, decide eligibility to vote, or tell anyone how to vote.
Retention, deletion and backups
Your controls
An anonymous session expires 30 days after its last activity or completion. While the session token remains in the browser, use Delete saved session to permanently remove the active session, political answers, derived results, research linkage/context and session-linked records from the live service.
Backup copies are held only for service recovery with the local South African provider and are retired within the public-Beta recovery cycle, which is no longer than 35 days. Deleted participant data is not restored for ordinary use.
Clearing browser storage only removes the local resume token; it does not by itself delete the server record. Use the in-product delete control first. If that is unavailable, email the Information Officer with enough detail to identify the anonymous session on your device.
Recipients and safeguards
Where the information goes
Merchant Innovation (Pty) Ltd uses a local South African service provider for the Beta’s hosting, database, backups and necessary operational infrastructure. The provider acts only as an operator under Merchant Innovation’s written instructions and confidentiality and security controls.
We do not sell, rent or disclose participant-level answers, profiles or results to political parties, advertisers or data brokers. Aggregate, de-identified research findings may be produced only from separately consented research records.
Questions, rights and complaints
Contact us
To ask about access, correction, deletion, objection, restriction, withdrawal of optional research consent or a privacy concern, contact Mr P.D. Lotter at info@polinexus.co.za. For product and technical queries, contact devTECH@polinexus.co.za.
You may also complain to South Africa’s Information Regulator. The official contact route and POPIA guidance are available on the Information Regulator website.
Key references
How to read this notice
This notice describes the public-Beta data flow and the participant choices presented in the application. It should be read with the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 (POPIA). MATCHmyVOTE retains its public boundary: it measures documented policy alignment; it is not voting advice or an electoral-ballot service.