Privacy Policy

Last updated: 24 September 2026

CareerTrek ("we", "us") publishes career, money and study guidance for South African students and first-time earners at careertrek.co.za. We take your privacy seriously and handle personal information in line with the Protection of Personal Information Act, 2013 (POPIA). This page explains what we collect, why, and what your rights are.

Who is responsible

CareerTrek is the responsible party for personal information collected through this website.

What we collect

Your email address, only if you choose to subscribe to our newsletter.
Basic usage data such as pages visited, device type, browser and approximate location (city or country), collected through our analytics tool. This is aggregated and does not identify you personally.
Anything you send us through our contact form, such as your name, email address and message.

We do not ask for ID numbers, financial details, or any special personal information, and you don't need an account to read the site.

Why we use it

To send you the newsletter you signed up for.
To understand which articles are useful so we can improve the site.
To reply to your messages.
To keep the site secure and working.

We only use your information for these purposes. We never sell it.

When you subscribe, we store your email address so we can send you updates. You can unsubscribe at any time using the link in every email, or by contacting us. We may use a third-party email service to send newsletters (currently planned: Sender.net). That provider processes your email address on our behalf and may store it on servers outside South Africa.

Cookies and analytics

We use an analytics tool to see how the site is used. It may set cookies or use similar technology. You can block or delete cookies in your browser settings without losing access to the site.

Who we share it with

Only with service providers who help us run the site (hosting, analytics, email delivery), and only as needed to do that job. We may also disclose information if the law requires it. Some providers are based outside South Africa. Where that happens, we choose providers that protect personal information to a standard comparable to POPIA.

How long we keep it

Newsletter email addresses are kept until you unsubscribe. Analytics data is kept in aggregated form for as long as it is useful. Messages you send us are kept only as long as needed to deal with your request.

How we protect it

We use reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect your information, including secure (HTTPS) connections and access limited to people who need it. No system is perfectly secure, so if we ever become aware of a breach that affects you, we will notify you and the Information Regulator as POPIA requires.

Your rights

Under POPIA you can ask us to tell you what personal information we hold about you, correct it, or delete it. You can also object to us using it. Contact us and we will respond within a reasonable time.

If you are unhappy with how we handled your information, you can complain to the Information Regulator (South Africa) at inforegulator.org.za.

Children

Our content is written for students and young professionals. We do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 18. If you are under 18 and want to subscribe, please ask a parent or guardian first.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. The date at the top shows when it was last changed.