Privacy Policy

Our privacy promise

Your pricing data is anonymised the moment you submit it. Your identity and your pricing data are stored separately and can never be viewed together by anyone — including us. Your email address is never collected unless you actively choose to sign up for rate alerts, and even then it is stored completely separately from your pricing data. We will never sell your personal information.

What we collect

• Benchmark data (always anonymous): When you submit the comparison form, your provider, package type, monthly cost, suburb, province, and property type are stored anonymously. This happens automatically on form submission — there is no separate opt-in step. The data is used solely to power benchmarks for other users. It contains no personally identifiable information.
• Email address (optional, separate): If you choose to sign up for rate alerts on the results page, we collect your email address. This is entirely optional and has no bearing on your benchmark results. Your email is stored in a separate table with no link to your pricing data — the two can never be associated.
• Anonymous session analytics: We use privacy-friendly analytics (PostHog, configured without cookies) to understand how people navigate Trimly. No personally identifiable information is recorded. We track aggregate events only (e.g. form submissions, page views) — not individual user behaviour.

How we protect your data

• Pricing data and identity (email) are stored in separate database tables with no direct link between them
• A one-way cryptographic hash (SHA-256) is used internally to prevent duplicate submissions — it cannot be reversed to identify you
• Row-level security on the database ensures no user can access another user's data
• Benchmark reports and results are calculated from aggregated data only — individual records are never exposed
• We do not share any individual data with third parties

How we use your data

• Pricing data is used exclusively to calculate benchmark statistics (median, percentile ranges) for the suburb and province you submitted
• Email address (if provided) is used only to send you an alert if better rates appear in your area — one relevant notification, no marketing
• Analytics data is used in aggregate to improve the product (e.g. understanding where users drop off in the form)

Your rights (POPIA)

Under the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA), you have the right to:

• Access the personal information we hold about you
• Request correction of inaccurate information
• Request deletion of your email address and any associated data at any time
• Object to the processing of your personal information

Note: because pricing data is stored without any link to your identity, we are unable to identify or delete a specific contribution once it has been anonymised. This is by design — it is what makes the anonymisation meaningful.

To exercise any of the above rights, email us at privacy@trimly.co.za.

Lawful basis for processing

• Pricing data: Legitimate interest — the data is fully anonymised before storage and used solely to produce aggregate benchmarks. No personal information is retained.
• Email address: Consent — collected only when you explicitly request rate alerts. You may withdraw consent at any time by emailing us.

Data retention

Anonymous pricing data is retained indefinitely to maintain the integrity of benchmarks. Because it contains no personal information, there is no privacy basis for automatic deletion. Email addresses are retained until you request removal or withdraw consent.