Privacy Policy

Mzansi Mashup is an independent South African digital media platform focused on news, entertainment, culture, lifestyle, viral stories, public interest content, opinion, interviews, social trends, and related media.

For the purposes of this Privacy Policy, “Mzansi Mashup”, “we”, “us”, or “our” refers to the owner, operator, editors, contributors, contractors, agents, service providers and authorised representatives involved in operating the Mzansi Mashup platform.

Website: www.mzansimashup.co.za

Privacy contact: privacy@mzansimashup.co.za

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

• contact details such as your name, email address, phone number, social media handle or message details when you contact us;
• newsletter or subscription details when you sign up for updates;
• story tips, comments, complaints, right-of-reply requests, submissions, uploaded material or supporting documents you send us;
• advertiser, sponsor, agency or contributor details when you contact us for commercial or editorial collaboration;
• technical information such as device type, browser, approximate location, IP address, pages visited, referral source and interaction data;
• cookie, analytics and advertising data explained in our Cookie Policy;
• competition, giveaway, campaign or promotion entries where those features are offered.

We may use personal information to:

• operate, secure, maintain and improve the website;
• respond to enquiries, complaints, corrections, right-of-reply requests and takedown requests;
• review, verify, edit, publish, reject or follow up on story tips and user submissions;
• send newsletters, updates or communications where you have signed up or requested contact;
• understand audience behaviour, article performance, traffic sources and content trends;
• serve, measure and improve advertising, sponsorships and promotional campaigns;
• detect spam, bots, abuse, fake traffic, impersonation, fraud, security issues or unlawful activity;
• comply with applicable legal, regulatory, platform, tax, accounting or record-keeping obligations.

Mzansi Mashup uses cookies and similar technologies to keep the website working, remember cookie choices, understand audience behaviour, improve content performance and support advertising.

Advertising partners such as Google may use cookies or similar technologies to serve ads, measure ad performance and help prevent abuse.

You can read more in our Cookie Policy.

We process personal information where it is reasonably necessary to operate the website, respond to users, publish and manage content, protect the platform, support advertising, comply with the law, or where a user has given consent.

For non-essential cookies, analytics and advertising technologies, we provide cookie choices where practical. You may accept all cookies, reject non-essential cookies, or manage your preferences through the cookie banner.

We may share limited information with trusted service providers where needed to run the platform. This may include hosting providers, analytics providers, advertising partners, email/newsletter tools, form tools, security tools, content management tools, payment or campaign providers, professional advisers, regulators, courts, law enforcement, or platform operators where required.

We do not sell your personal information to advertisers.

If you submit comments, story tips, images, video, documents, social media posts, complaints, replies or other material, we may review and process that information for editorial, verification, legal, safety and publication purposes.

If your submission is published, some information may become public depending on the context, the nature of the story and any agreement with you.

We keep personal information only for as long as reasonably needed for the purpose it was collected, including editorial records, complaints, legal protection, security, tax, accounting, analytics, campaign reporting and operational needs.

Some information may be kept for longer where required by law, where a dispute exists, where content remains published, or where records are needed to protect Mzansi Mashup, users, sources, contributors or the public interest.

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

No online system is completely secure. Users should avoid sending unnecessary sensitive information through ordinary forms, comments or email unless it is required and appropriate.

Subject to applicable law, you may request access to, correction of, deletion of, objection to, or restriction of the personal information we hold about you.

To make a privacy request, contact privacy@mzansimashup.co.za with enough information for us to identify the relevant record and verify that you are authorised to make the request.

Mzansi Mashup is a general media platform and is not directed at children as a dedicated children’s service. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children without appropriate consent where required.

If you believe a child has provided personal information to us without proper authority, please contact privacy@mzansimashup.co.za.

Our website may link to or embed third-party websites, social platforms, videos, adverts, posts, tools or services. Those third parties may process information under their own privacy policies and terms.

We are not responsible for third-party privacy practices, content, security or data handling.

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. The latest version will be published on this page with the updated date.

Continued use of the website after changes are published means you accept the updated policy where applicable.