GDPR Compliance

Cape Town Current is committed to protecting your privacy and complying with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) for users in the European Economic Area (EEA) and the United Kingdom.

What is GDPR?

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is a European Union regulation that strengthens data protection rights for individuals in the EEA and UK. It gives you more control over how your personal data is collected, used, and stored.

Your Rights Under GDPR

Under GDPR, you have the following rights regarding your personal data:

1. Right to be Informed

You have the right to know what personal data we collect, why we collect it, how we use it, and who we share it with. This information is provided in our Privacy Policy and Cookie Policy.

2. Right of Access

You have the right to request a copy of any personal data we hold about you. We will provide this information within 30 days, free of charge.

3. Right to Rectification

You have the right to correct any inaccurate or incomplete personal data we hold about you.

4. Right to Erasure (Right to be Forgotten)

You have the right to request that we delete your personal data under certain circumstances, including when the data is no longer needed for the purpose it was collected.

5. Right to Restrict Processing

You have the right to limit how we use your personal data while we verify its accuracy or address a complaint.

6. Right to Data Portability

You have the right to request a copy of your personal data in a machine-readable format and to transfer it to another organization.

7. Right to Object

You have the right to object to our processing of your personal data for direct marketing purposes or where processing is based on legitimate interests.

8. Rights Related to Automated Decision-Making

You have the right not to be subject to a decision based solely on automated processing, including profiling, if that decision has legal or significant effects on you.

How We Collect Your Data

Directly from you: When you subscribe to our newsletter, contact us via email, submit guest posts, or comment on articles.
Automatically: Through cookies and similar technologies (e.g., Google Analytics, CookieAdmin).
Third-party sources: We do not currently purchase or receive personal data from third-party sources.

Lawful Basis for Processing

Consent: For newsletter subscriptions and non-essential cookies.
Legitimate Interests: For website analytics, security, and improving our content.
Legal Obligations: For compliance with tax, accounting, or legal requirements.
Contract: For fulfilling any service you have requested (e.g., sending newsletters).

Data Transfers Outside the EEA

Our website is hosted in South Africa. When you visit our site from the EEA, your data may be transferred to and processed in South Africa. We ensure appropriate safeguards are in place, including:

Using GDPR-compliant data processing agreements
Relying on standard contractual clauses where applicable
Limiting data collection to what is strictly necessary

Data Retention Periods

Newsletter subscribers: Until you unsubscribe (we retain your email indefinitely unless you ask us to delete it).
Cookie consent preferences: 1 year.
Google Analytics data: 26 months (aggregated and anonymized).
Contact form inquiries: 12 months.
Guest post submissions: Retained indefinitely as part of published content, but you can request removal.

How to Exercise Your Rights

To exercise any of your GDPR rights:

Email: privacy@capetowncurrent.com
Subject line: “GDPR Request” followed by your specific request (e.g., “Access Request” or “Erasure Request”)
Provide: Your full name, email address (so we can identify your data), and a clear description of your request

We will respond within 30 days. We may need to verify your identity before processing certain requests.

Cookie Consent

When you first visit our site, you will see a cookie consent banner that allows you to:

Accept all cookies
Reject all non-essential cookies
Customize your cookie preferences by category

Your consent is recorded and stored for 1 year. You can change your preferences at any time by clicking the cookie icon in the bottom-left corner of the screen.

Data Breach Notification

In the event of a data breach that poses a risk to your rights and freedoms, we will notify the relevant supervisory authority within 72 hours of becoming aware of the breach. If the breach is likely to result in a high risk to your rights, we will also notify you directly.

Our Data Protection Officer (DPO)

Cape Town Current has not appointed a Data Protection Officer as we do not meet the threshold requirements under GDPR (our data processing is not large-scale or high-risk). For data protection inquiries, contact us directly at privacy@capetowncurrent.com.

Supervisory Authority

If you are unsatisfied with our response to your data protection request, you have the right to lodge a complaint with your local supervisory authority. For users in the EEA, you can file a complaint with:

Your national Data Protection Authority (DPA)
The Irish Data Protection Commission (lead supervisory authority for many international organizations)
European Data Protection Board

Changes to This Policy

We may update this GDPR Compliance page from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or legal requirements. The “Last Updated” date indicates when changes were made.

Last Updated: May 28, 2026

Contact Information

Cape Town Current
Email: privacy@capetowncurrent.com
For general inquiries: hello@capetowncurrent.com

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