Privacy Policy

Rotary Africa respects your privacy and is committed to handling personal information responsibly and securely. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store and protect personal information when you visit our website, subscribe to the magazine, join our mailing list, submit a story, contact us or otherwise interact with us.

1. Who We Are

Rotary Africa is a regional Rotary magazine serving readers across Southern and Eastern Africa.

For the purposes of applicable data protection legislation, Rotary Africa is the responsible party for personal information collected through this website.

Contact details:

Email: admin@rotaryafrica.com
Telephone: +27 (0)64 278 1848

2. Information We Collect

Depending on how you use the website, we may collect:

Your name, email address, telephone number and organisation.
Your Rotary club, district, country or membership information.
Subscription, billing and delivery information.
Information included in enquiry, membership or story submission forms.
Articles, photographs, captions, documents and other material submitted for publication.
Newsletter and communication preferences.
Technical information such as your IP address, browser, device type and pages visited.
Information collected through cookies, analytics tools and similar technologies.

Please only provide personal information that is accurate, relevant and necessary.

3. How We Collect Information

We may collect information:

Directly from you when you complete a form, subscribe, contact us or submit content.
Automatically through cookies, server logs and website analytics.
From Rotary clubs, districts or authorised representatives where appropriate.
From service providers that assist with subscriptions, payments, email delivery, website hosting or administration.
From publicly available sources where permitted by law.

4. How We Use Your Information

We may use personal information to:

Respond to enquiries and requests.
Manage magazine subscriptions and delivery.
Process membership-related enquiries.
Review, edit and publish submitted stories, photographs and captions.
Communicate with contributors, readers, advertisers and Rotary representatives.
Send newsletters, magazine updates and other communications where permitted.
Process payments or confirm transactions.
Improve the website, magazine and reader experience.
Maintain the security and operation of our systems.
Comply with legal, regulatory and administrative obligations.
Protect our rights, users and services.

We will not use personal information for an unrelated purpose without an appropriate legal basis or, where required, your consent.

5. Story and Photograph Submissions

When you submit a story, photograph or caption, the information may be reviewed by our editorial team and may be published in the magazine, on the website, in newsletters or on Rotary Africa’s social media platforms.

Published information may become publicly available and may be shared or copied by third parties outside our control. Contributors should avoid including private, confidential or sensitive personal information unless publication is necessary and the relevant permission has been obtained.

You are responsible for obtaining permission from identifiable individuals appearing in submitted photographs or stories, particularly where children are involved.

6. Newsletters and Direct Communications

We may send you newsletters or other communications when:

You have subscribed or agreed to receive them.
You are an existing reader, subscriber, contributor or business contact and the communication is permitted by law.
The communication is necessary to provide a service you requested.

You may unsubscribe from promotional communications at any time by using the unsubscribe link in the email or contacting us.

Administrative messages relating to an active subscription, enquiry or submission may still be sent when necessary.

7. Cookies and Analytics

The website may use cookies and similar technologies to:

Remember preferences.
Support website functionality.
Understand how visitors use the website.
Measure traffic and performance.
Protect the website against misuse.
Display or measure relevant advertising.

You may block or delete cookies through your browser settings. Some parts of the website may not function correctly when cookies are disabled.

Where required, visitors will be given an opportunity to manage non-essential cookie preferences.

8. Sharing Your Information

We may share personal information with trusted service providers that help us operate the website and magazine, including:

Website hosting and maintenance providers.
Email and newsletter platforms.
Subscription and distribution providers.
Payment processors.
Cloud storage and document management providers.
Analytics and security providers.
Professional advisers.
Printers, designers and editorial contractors.

These parties may only process information for the services they provide to us and must handle it appropriately.

We may also disclose information when required by law, to protect our legal rights, to prevent fraud or misuse, or in connection with a restructuring or transfer of the publication.

We do not sell personal information to third parties.

9. International Processing

Rotary Africa serves readers in several countries and may use service providers located outside South Africa.

Where personal information is transferred or processed internationally, we will take reasonable steps to ensure that appropriate privacy and security protections are in place, as required by applicable law.

10. Information Security

We use reasonable administrative, technical and organisational safeguards to protect personal information against loss, unauthorised access, misuse, alteration or disclosure.

No website, email system or internet transmission is completely secure. We cannot guarantee absolute security, but we will take reasonable steps to respond to suspected security incidents.

11. Information Retention

We retain personal information only for as long as reasonably necessary for:

The purpose for which it was collected.
Editorial and publication records.
Subscription and financial administration.
Legal, tax, contractual or reporting obligations.
The establishment or defence of legal claims.
Historical or archival purposes where appropriate.

Information that is no longer required will be deleted, destroyed or de-identified where reasonably possible.

12. Your Rights

Subject to applicable law, you may request that we:

Confirm whether we hold personal information about you.
Provide access to your personal information.
Correct inaccurate or incomplete information.
Delete information that we are no longer permitted to retain.
Stop or restrict certain processing.
Record an objection to the processing of your information.
Withdraw consent where processing is based on consent.

We may need to verify your identity before completing a request.

Requests may be sent to admin@rotaryafrica.com.

You may also lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator of South Africa where applicable.

13. Children’s Information

Our services are not intentionally directed at children who are able to use the website without appropriate adult supervision.

Stories and photographs involving children should only be submitted when the contributor has obtained all necessary permission from a parent, guardian, school, organisation or other authorised person.

We may request evidence of permission before publishing such material.

14. Third-Party Websites

The website may include links to Rotary organisations, advertisers, social media platforms and other third-party websites.

Those websites operate under their own privacy practices. Rotary Africa is not responsible for how third parties collect, use or protect personal information.

15. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy when our services, systems or legal obligations change.

The latest version will be published on this page together with the updated revision date.

16. Contact Us

Questions, requests or concerns about this Privacy Policy may be sent to:

Email: admin@rotaryafrica.com
Telephone: +27 (0)64 278 1848