Privacy Policy

Pathfinder is committed to protecting your privacy. This policy explains what information we collect, how we use it, and your rights under South Africa's Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA).

Information we collect

When you browse Pathfinder's public pages, we do not require you to create an account or provide any personal information.

We may collect the following through our server infrastructure:

Server logs: IP addresses, pages visited, browser type, and referring pages — retained briefly for security and technical troubleshooting.
Analytics: if Google Analytics 4 is active on the site, it is loaded only after you choose “Accept analytics” in the consent notice. It collects aggregated data about page visits, session duration, and general location (country/city level). Google Analytics uses cookies. You can opt out via Google's opt-out browser add-on or by clearing the Pathfinder analytics-consent cookie.

What we do not collect

We do not collect your name, email address, ID number, income details, or any personal information from visitors browsing the public site. We do not process CV or financial information.

Cookies

Pathfinder stores a first-party pathfinder_analytics_consent cookie only when you choose Accept analytics or Decline. This remembers your choice for up to one year. If you accept analytics, Google Analytics may set its own measurement cookies. We do not currently use tracking cookies for advertising.

Advertising and Google services

At present, Pathfinder does not display Google AdSense advertising. If we enable advertising, third-party vendors, including Google, may use cookies to serve ads based on a user's prior visits to Pathfinder or other websites. Google's use of advertising cookies enables Google and its partners to serve ads based on those visits.

Users may opt out of personalised advertising through Google Ads Settings. Users may also manage some third-party advertising-cookie choices through aboutads.info.

Before we enable personalised advertising for visitors in regions where consent is required, we will use an appropriate consent mechanism and update this policy if our advertising or data practices change. Pathfinder does not currently claim to have a Google-certified consent management platform configured.

Third-party links

Our pages link to official bursary sources and to affiliate partners. These third-party sites have their own privacy policies, which we do not control. Affiliate links are marked with the rel="sponsored" attribute.

Your rights under POPIA

As a South African resident, you have the right to access, correct, or request deletion of personal information we hold about you. Since we do not collect personal information directly from site visitors, the most likely scenario is a request related to contact form submissions or email correspondence.

To exercise your rights or ask any privacy question, email: lwandilephillgoniwe@gmail.com

Changes to this policy

We will update this page if our data practices change. The "last updated" date below will reflect any material changes.