Privacy Policy
Last updated: June 10, 2026
1. Introduction
BIKO TODAY (PTY) LTD (“Biko Today”, “we”, “us”, or “our”) respects your privacy and is committed to protecting personal information processed through our website, platform, applications, services, communications and related business operations.
This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store, share and protect personal information when you visit our website, create an account, apply as a student or young professional, register as an SME or client, use our platform, make payments, communicate with us, participate in programmes, or connect through third-party services such as Google.
This policy applies to website visitors, students, interns, young professionals, SMEs, clients, partners, suppliers, contractors, institutions, programme participants and any other person whose personal information we process.
This policy is designed to support compliance with:
- Protection of Personal Information Act, 2013 (POPIA)
- General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), where applicable
- Google API Services User Data Policy, including Limited Use requirements
- US and California privacy requirements, where applicable
- Other applicable data protection and privacy laws
2. Who we are
BIKO TODAY (PTY) LTD
Registration Number: 2025/404673/07
Registered Address: 155 Loop Street, Gardens, Cape Town, 8001, South Africa
Website: https://www.bikotoday.com
Email: office@bikotoday.com
Privacy Requests: privacy@bikotoday.com
For POPIA purposes, Biko Today is the responsible party where it determines the purpose and means of processing personal information.
For GDPR purposes, Biko Today may act as a controller or processor depending on the service, contract or relationship.
3. Information we collect
We may collect the following categories of personal information:
3.1 Information you provide directly
- Name and surname
- Email address
- Phone number
- Physical, postal or business address
- Company name and company registration details
- Job title or role
- Account registration details
- Login credentials or authentication information
- Student, intern or applicant information
- CVs, portfolios, education history, qualifications, work experience and skills information
- Identity, verification or compliance information where required
- Banking or payment-related information where required for payments, invoices, stipends, refunds or subscriptions
- Project briefs, files, documents, uploads, images, audio, video or other content submitted to the platform
- Communication history, messages, support requests and form submissions
- Preferences, survey responses and feedback
- Any other information you choose to provide
3.2 Information collected automatically
When you use our website or platform, we may automatically collect:
- IP address
- Browser type and version
- Device type
- Operating system
- Pages visited
- Date and time of access
- Referring URLs
- Usage activity
- Clickstream data
- Cookies and similar tracking data
- General location inferred from IP address
- Error logs
- Security logs
- Performance and analytics data
3.3 Information from third parties
We may receive personal information from:
- Google services where you use Google sign-in or connect Google services
- Payment providers such as Yoco, PayFast, Stripe, Paystack or similar providers
- Universities, colleges, training institutions or programme partners
- SMEs, clients, supervisors or project partners
- Publicly available sources
- Social media platforms where you interact with us
- Recruitment, verification, onboarding or compliance providers
- Analytics, hosting, automation, CRM and communication tools used to operate our services
4. Google user data
Where Biko Today uses Google Sign-In, Google OAuth, Google Workspace APIs, Gmail, Calendar, Drive, Sheets or other Google services, we may access limited Google user data only where the user has granted permission.
Depending on the feature used, this may include:
- Google account name
- Google email address
- Google profile picture
- Google account ID
- Google Calendar data, where calendar functionality is enabled
- Google Drive files or file metadata, where file access is specifically requested
- Gmail-related data, only where a user has granted access for a specific user-facing feature
- Google Sheets or document-related data, where required for a user-facing workflow
- Other Google data only where clearly requested by the user and required for the service
We use Google user data only to provide and improve user-facing features of Biko Today, including login, account access, scheduling, workflow support, document access, communication support, automation, task management and project delivery.
Biko Today’s use and transfer of information received from Google APIs will adhere to the Google API Services User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements.
We do not sell Google user data.
We do not use Google user data for advertising.
We do not use Google user data for retargeting.
We do not use Google user data to train general AI models.
We do not transfer Google user data to third parties except where necessary to provide the requested user-facing service, comply with law, protect security, or where the user has given permission.
We request only the minimum Google permissions required for the relevant feature.
Users may revoke Google access at any time through their Google Account permissions page or by contacting privacy@bikotoday.com.
5. How we use personal information
We process personal information to:
- Provide, operate and improve the Biko Today website and platform
- Create and manage user accounts
- Authenticate users and protect accounts
- Register and manage student, SME, client and partner profiles
- Match students and young professionals with training, work or project opportunities
- Deliver business support services to SMEs and organisations
- Manage onboarding, training, supervision, quality control and project delivery
- Communicate with users about accounts, services, projects, updates and support
- Process applications, contracts, payments, stipends, invoices, refunds and subscriptions
- Provide AI and ML-assisted productivity, training, workflow and support tools
- Analyse platform performance, service quality and user experience
- Improve work-readiness, employability and operational outcomes
- Send service updates, administrative notices and policy updates
- Send marketing communications where permitted by law or with consent
- Comply with legal, tax, accounting, regulatory and contractual obligations
- Detect, prevent and respond to fraud, abuse, security threats and unlawful activity
- Respond to enquiries, complaints, access requests and support tickets
6. Legal basis for processing
Depending on the context, we process personal information based on one or more of the following legal grounds:
- Consent
- Contractual necessity
- Legal obligation
- Legitimate business interest
- Protection of rights, safety and security
- Compliance with statutory duties
- Public interest or lawful institutional collaboration where applicable
Where we rely on consent, users may withdraw consent at any time.
7. Sensitive personal information and special personal information
We may process sensitive or special personal information only where necessary, lawful and appropriate.
This may include:
- Student or education-related information
- Financial or banking information
- Identity or verification information
- Information relating to minors where programmes involve students under 18
- Demographic information where required for programme reporting, transformation, funding, compliance or lawful institutional purposes
We will process sensitive or special personal information only with consent, under contract, to comply with law, to protect legitimate interests, or where otherwise permitted by applicable law.
8. AI, ML and automated processing
Biko Today may use AI and ML-assisted tools to support training, workflow management, productivity, task guidance, work-readiness analysis, quality control, client delivery and business support.
These tools may process user information to:
- Help students understand briefs and tasks
- Provide learning or work guidance
- Support supervisors and clients with quality checks
- Analyse skills gaps and productivity patterns
- Improve project delivery and platform performance
- Recommend workflows, resources or support actions
- Assist SMEs with business, marketing, administration, automation and data tasks
We may use third-party AI service providers to provide some AI features.
We do not use AI systems to make final legal, employment, credit, financial or similarly significant decisions without appropriate human review.
We do not intentionally use Google user data to train general AI models.
Where automated tools are used, we aim to keep processing fair, explainable, secure and aligned with the purpose for which the data was collected.
10. Payments
Where payments are made through third-party payment providers, payment data may be processed by those providers under their own privacy and security terms.
Payment providers may include:
- Yoco
- PayFast
- Stripe
- Paystack
- Other payment providers used by Biko Today
Biko Today does not intentionally store full card details unless explicitly required and lawfully handled through secure payment infrastructure.
12. International transfers
Some of our service providers may store or process data outside South Africa.
Where personal information is transferred internationally, we take reasonable steps to ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place and that the transfer complies with applicable data protection laws.
13. Data retention
We keep personal information only for as long as necessary for the purpose for which it was collected, unless a longer retention period is required or permitted by law.
Retention periods may depend on:
- Account activity
- Contractual obligations
- Legal, tax and accounting requirements
- Programme reporting requirements
- Dispute resolution needs
- Security and fraud prevention requirements
- User deletion requests
- Backup and disaster recovery requirements
When personal information is no longer required, we will delete, anonymise or securely destroy it.
Users may request deletion of their personal information by contacting privacy@bikotoday.com. Some information may need to be retained where required by law, contract, audit, accounting, security or legitimate business purposes.
14. Data security
We use reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect personal information against loss, misuse, unauthorised access, disclosure, alteration or destruction.
These measures may include:
- Access controls
- Password protection
- Encryption where appropriate
- Secure hosting
- Role-based permissions
- Audit logs
- Data minimisation
- Staff and contractor confidentiality controls
- Security monitoring
- Regular review of systems and processes
No online system is completely secure. Users are responsible for keeping login details confidential and reporting suspicious activity.
15. Data breaches
If we become aware of a data breach affecting personal information, we will investigate and take reasonable steps to contain, assess and remediate the incident.
Where required by law, we will notify affected users and the relevant regulator, including the Information Regulator in South Africa.
Users should contact us immediately at privacy@bikotoday.com if they believe their account or personal information has been compromised.
16. Children and minors
Our services are not intended for children under the age of 18 without appropriate consent from a parent, guardian, institution or lawful representative where required.
Where we process information relating to minors as part of education, training, youth development or institutional programmes, we will do so only where lawful and with appropriate safeguards.
17. User rights
Subject to applicable law, users may have the right to:
- Be informed about how their personal information is processed
- Access personal information we hold about them
- Request correction of inaccurate or incomplete information
- Request deletion of personal information
- Object to processing
- Restrict processing
- Withdraw consent
- Request data portability where applicable
- Object to certain automated decision-making
- Lodge a complaint with a regulator
To exercise these rights, users can contact privacy@bikotoday.com.
We may need to verify identity before processing a request.
18. Marketing communications
We may send service updates, product updates, newsletters or marketing messages where permitted by law or where consent has been provided.
Users may opt out of marketing communications at any time by using the unsubscribe link, replying “STOP” where applicable, or contacting us directly.
Service-related communications may still be sent where necessary.
19. Third-party websites and services
Our website and platform may link to third-party websites, tools, platforms or services.
We are not responsible for the privacy practices of third parties. Users should review the privacy policies of those third-party services before using them.
20. POPIA and South African privacy rights
Users in South Africa may request access to or correction of personal information under POPIA.
Users may also object to processing or request deletion where permitted by law.
If users are unsatisfied with how we handle a privacy complaint, they may contact the Information Regulator South Africa:
Website: https://inforegulator.org.za
General enquiries: enquiries@inforegulator.org.za
Complaints: POPIAComplaints@inforegulator.org.za
21. GDPR rights
Where GDPR applies, users may have the right to:
- Access personal data
- Rectify inaccurate data
- Erase data
- Restrict processing
- Object to processing
- Data portability
- Withdraw consent
- Lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority
Where required, Biko Today will respond to GDPR-related requests within applicable legal timelines.
22. US and California privacy rights
Users in the United States, including California residents where applicable, may have additional privacy rights under state privacy laws.
These may include the right to:
- Know what personal information we collect, use, disclose or share
- Request access to personal information
- Request correction of inaccurate personal information
- Request deletion of personal information
- Opt out of the sale or sharing of personal information
- Limit the use of sensitive personal information where applicable
- Not be discriminated against for exercising privacy rights
Biko Today does not sell personal information.
Where legally required, users may opt out of sharing or targeted advertising by contacting privacy@bikotoday.com or using cookie preference controls where available.
To exercise US privacy rights, users can contact privacy@bikotoday.com. We may need to verify identity before responding.
23. Changes to this policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our services, technology, legal obligations or data processing practices.
The latest version will always be available on this page.
Where changes are material, we will take reasonable steps to notify users or request consent where required.
24. Contact us
For privacy questions, data requests or complaints, contact:
BIKO TODAY (PTY) LTD
Registration Number: 2025/404673/07
155 Loop Street, Gardens, Cape Town, 8001, South Africa
Privacy Email: privacy@bikotoday.com
General Email: office@bikotoday.com