01 Who we are

vmb-cloud.com is operated by VMB-CLOUD, a software development business based in Johannesburg, South Africa, serving clients in South Africa and internationally. For the purposes of POPIA, VMB-CLOUD is the responsible party for the personal information described in this policy — the party that decides why and how it is processed.

You can reach us at any time at vinayv@vmb-cloud.com or +27 84 755 8876. We are based in Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa.

02 What we collect

We only collect personal information when you actively choose to contact us — either through the contact form on the homepage, or through the chat widget. We don't collect personal information from simply browsing the site.

The contact form

The form at the bottom of the homepage asks for your full name and work email (both required), and optionally your company, phone/WhatsApp number, the service and indicative budget you select from a dropdown, and a free-text message about your project (required). The form also carries a couple of hidden technical fields — an account key and a fixed subject line we use to route the message, and an invisible "honeypot" field that exists purely to catch automated spam bots and is not something a real visitor fills in.

The chat widget

If you ask our chat widget to book a call, get a quote, or leave your details, it will ask you in plain conversation for your name, email address, and a short brief of what you're trying to build or fix. This only happens if you engage the widget and choose to answer — it isn't collected silently in the background.

What our form-processing provider collects automatically

Both the contact form and the chat widget's lead capture are delivered to us by a third-party form-processing service, Web3Forms (described in full below). Like any web form service, when a submission is sent, Web3Forms' own systems automatically record a few technical details alongside the fields you typed: your IP address, your browser's user-agent string, a timestamp, and the page URL the form was submitted from. This happens as a normal part of any web request — we don't request it separately, and we don't use it for anything beyond receiving your message.

03 Cookies & local storage

This site does not use tracking cookies. It does use two small pieces of your browser's own local storage, purely to make the site work better for you on return visits — neither is ever sent to us or to any third party:

• Theme preference — whether you're viewing the site in light or dark mode, saved in your browser's localStorage so it's remembered next time you visit.
• Chat widget state — a flag noting you've opened the chat once (so the "Need a quote?" nudge only shows once per browsing session), and, if you've chatted with the assistant, a copy of that conversation — both saved in your browser's sessionStorage so the conversation is still there if you re-open the chat panel, but cleared automatically once you close the browser tab.

Both of these live only in your own browser. We have no access to them and they are not part of any database we operate.

04 Why we collect it, and on what basis

We collect the information above for one purpose: to respond to your enquiry, understand what you need, and follow up about a possible project or engagement. We do not use it for marketing lists, profiling, or any purpose beyond dealing with the conversation you started.

Giving us this information is entirely voluntary — no law requires you to contact us or fill in any field on this site. If you don't complete the required fields (name, email and message on the contact form), we simply won't be able to reply to you. Our lawful basis for processing what you do send us is your consent in submitting the form or chatting with the widget, and the fact that processing it is necessary to take the steps you've asked for — replying to your enquiry and, if you want to proceed, working out a quote or scope with you.

05 Who we share it with

We don't sell, rent, or trade your personal information. It is shared only with the specific third-party services below, each strictly to deliver the function you'd expect from this site.

More about Web3Forms

Web3Forms is operated by Web3Creative, a business registered in Kerala, India. Its infrastructure runs primarily on Amazon Web Services in the United States (US-East region), fronted by Cloudflare's global edge network, with some of its own application infrastructure hosted in the EU (Germany and Finland). Web3Forms also uses two spam-prevention providers, CleanTalk and Akismet, which may check a submitter's IP address and email address purely to screen out spam — this is a default part of Web3Forms' service, not something we configure separately. We have not connected any further integrations (such as Google Sheets, Slack or Discord) to our Web3Forms account, so your enquiry does not flow anywhere beyond what's listed on this page.

You can read Web3Forms' own privacy policy and data processing agreement for their full account of how they handle submitted data.

06 Cross-border transfers

Both third-party services above are foreign companies processing data outside South Africa, which POPIA treats as a cross-border transfer requiring its own safeguard. In plain terms: Web3Forms' infrastructure sits mainly in the United States (with some in the EU) and the company itself operates out of India; Google Fonts is served from Google's servers and global content-delivery network, predominantly outside South Africa.

We rely on the fact that these transfers are necessary to provide the specific function you're using (sending us your enquiry, or rendering the page's typefaces), together with each provider's own published privacy and security commitments, as our current basis for these transfers. We haven't yet put a dedicated, POPIA-referencing data processing agreement in place with either provider — Web3Forms' own agreement, for instance, addresses the GDPR, UK GDPR and India's DPDP Act by name, but does not currently reference POPIA or South Africa specifically. We're being upfront about that gap rather than overstating our position, and we'll formalise stronger contractual safeguards as South Africa's Information Regulator issues clearer guidance on cross-border transfers.

07 How long we keep it

• Form and chat submissions are retained on Web3Forms' servers for a maximum of three years from the date you submit them, after which they are automatically deleted — this is the retention ceiling Web3Forms itself commits to, across every plan, in its own privacy policy.
• The email your enquiry generates lands in our own inbox and is kept for as long as we reasonably need it to respond to you and manage the resulting conversation or project, and is deleted once it's no longer needed.
• Your theme preference stays only in your own browser's storage until you clear your browser data or switch it again — we never receive or store it ourselves.
• Chat session data in your browser's sessionStorage is cleared automatically when you close that browser tab.

08 Analytics & advertising

As of the date at the top of this policy, vmb-cloud.com does not run any analytics or advertising tracking — no Google Analytics, no Meta/Facebook Pixel, no ad network, and no other visitor-tracking script of any kind. We don't build advertising profiles of visitors and no visitor data from this site is used for ad targeting or retargeting anywhere.

If that ever changes — for example, if we later add a privacy-respecting analytics tool to see which pages are useful — we will update this section first to name the tool, explain exactly what it collects, and, where the law requires it, ask for your consent before it loads.

09 Security

This site is served over HTTPS, so information you type into the contact form or chat widget travels to Web3Forms in encrypted form, not in the clear. Web3Forms states that submitted data is encrypted at rest on its AWS infrastructure. We keep access to the inbox that receives your enquiries limited to the people who need it to respond to you. No online system is completely risk-free, but we take reasonable, proportionate steps to protect the information you share with us.

10 Children

This site is a business-to-business marketing site aimed at people old enough to commission software development work, and it isn't directed at children. We don't knowingly collect personal information from children through this site.

11 Your rights

Under POPIA, you have the right to:

• Access the personal information we hold about you.
• Correct any of it that is inaccurate, incomplete, or out of date.
• Request deletion of personal information we no longer have a valid reason to keep.
• Object to us processing your information, on reasonable grounds.
• Withdraw consent at any time for processing that was based on your consent, without affecting anything already done before you withdrew it.

To exercise any of these, email us at vinayv@vmb-cloud.com and we'll action it directly.

12 Complaints & Information Officer

If you're unhappy with how we've handled your personal information, please tell us first at vinayv@vmb-cloud.com — we'd genuinely like the chance to put it right.

You also have the right to lodge a complaint directly with South Africa's Information Regulator, the independent body that oversees POPIA:

• POPIA complaints: POPIAComplaints@inforegulator.org.za
• General enquiries: enquiries@inforegulator.org.za
• Phone: 010 023 5200, or toll-free on 0800 017 160
• Address: Woodmead North Office Park, 54 Maxwell Drive, Woodmead, Johannesburg, 2191, South Africa

Requesting records under PAIA

Separately from POPIA, South Africa's Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) gives you the right to request access to records we hold — not just personal information about you, but records more generally. Businesses are normally expected to publish a PAIA manual explaining how to make such a request. VMB-CLOUD has not yet published one, and we're saying so plainly rather than leaving the gap unmentioned. Until it's in place, you can send a PAIA request the same way as any other privacy question — to vinayv@vmb-cloud.com — and if you'd rather go straight to the regulator, PAIA-specific complaints can be sent to PAIAComplaints@inforegulator.org.za.

13 Changes to this policy

We may update this policy as the site, our tools, or the law changes. Any update will be posted on this page with a revised "Last updated" date at the top. We encourage you to check back occasionally, especially before sending us personal information.

14 Contact us

Questions about this policy, or about how we handle your information, are welcome any time.

• Emailvinayv@vmb-cloud.com
• Phone / WhatsApp+27 84 755 8876
• Where we areJohannesburg, South Africa