Who handles your information
Pieter Venter operates this private rental enquiry service for his properties, including properties in Nooitgedacht Village, Stellenbosch, South Africa. This policy covers information received through the connected WhatsApp business account and recorded in the rental inbox. The Meta app may be displayed as “Pieter”.
For privacy questions, contact pieter@venter.pro.
Information collected
- Your WhatsApp display name and phone number.
- Messages you send, message identifiers, timestamps, delivery information and attachment metadata supplied by WhatsApp. The inbox does not currently download or analyse media attachments.
- Rental preferences and other information you choose to share, such as your intended move date, household requirements or pets.
- Viewing arrangements, enquiry notes, reply records, and summaries or draft replies prepared while handling your enquiry.
- Technical and security information processed by our hosting services, such as IP addresses, request times and error logs.
Please share only information relevant to your enquiry. Identity documents, bank details and screening documents are not needed to arrange an initial viewing. If a rental application proceeds, any additional information needed will be requested separately.
How information is used
Information is used to respond to enquiries, explain property details, arrange viewings, keep track of conversations, and maintain the security and reliability of the service. Your information is not sold or used for unrelated advertising.
AI assistance and replies
Relevant conversation content, enquiry notes, property information and viewing details may be processed using OpenAI’s Codex service to prepare summaries, draft replies and suggested viewing updates. Generated content can be inaccurate. Pieter can review, edit or hold replies before sending. Routine replies, viewing offers and booking confirmations may be sent automatically after a one-hour review period, subject to current conversation and viewing checks. Editing a reply restarts that period and requires another AI check. Held replies, tenant updates, follow-ups and replies requiring personal review are not sent automatically. The service does not make tenant approval decisions.
You can ask to discuss your enquiry directly by phone or email if you prefer not to provide further information through WhatsApp.
Service providers and access
The service uses Meta/WhatsApp for messaging, Vercel for hosting, Neon for database storage, Upstash Redis for temporary recovery storage, and OpenAI for AI assistance. A worker on Pieter’s server retrieves the information needed for processing. These providers may process information outside South Africa under their applicable terms and privacy policies.
The rental inbox requires owner authentication. Relevant information may be shared with a person assisting with a viewing, such as your first name and appointment time, where needed to arrange access. Information may also be disclosed where required by law or to establish, exercise or defend legal rights.
Storage and retention
Enquiry records are kept for as long as reasonably needed to handle the enquiry, follow up on rental arrangements, or meet recordkeeping and legal needs. Records do not currently expire automatically. Access is restricted, and connections to the service use HTTPS. Backups and service-provider logs may remain for their applicable retention periods after a record is removed from the active inbox.
Validated WhatsApp webhook payloads, including message content and phone numbers, are also stored in Upstash Redis to recover from database outages. Recovery copies are removed after successful database processing. They have no automatic expiry while recovery remains pending. A deletion request must also account for any pending recovery copies so that replay does not restore deleted information.
Access, corrections and data deletion
To request a copy, correction or deletion of your personal information, or to object to further processing, email pieter@venter.pro with the subject “Rental enquiry privacy request”. Include the WhatsApp number used for your enquiry and explain your request. Please do not send a password or an identity document with the initial request.
Pieter may ask for reasonable confirmation that the information belongs to you before acting. Deletion requests are handled manually; you will be told if information must be retained for a legal or recordkeeping reason. Deleting records from this inbox does not delete your WhatsApp account or copies retained in WhatsApp or by other recipients.
Cookies and changes to this policy
The dashboard uses necessary authentication cookies for owner sign-in. This app does not add advertising cookies or marketing trackers. Updates to this policy will be published on this page with a revised date.