Every time somebody fills in your contact form you are collecting personal information, which puts you inside POPIA. For a small business the practical requirements are lighter than most people fear, but they are not nothing.

This is a plain-language summary from someone who builds websites, not legal advice. For anything complicated, talk to an attorney.

What the Act is actually asking

The Protection of Personal Information Act says you may collect personal information for a stated, legitimate purpose, that you must keep it secure, and that the person may ask what you hold and request its deletion. Names, email addresses, phone numbers and ID numbers all count.

What that means for your website

• A privacy policy page. What you collect, why, how long you keep it, who else sees it, and how someone contacts you about it. Written so a normal person can read it.
• Collect only what you need. If you do not need a physical address to quote on a job, do not ask for one.
• Secure the site. An SSL certificate is the baseline. Form submissions should not travel over plain http.
• No pre-ticked marketing boxes. If you want to email people later, they must actively opt in.
• Know where enquiries land. Your inbox, a spreadsheet, a CRM. You cannot protect information you have lost track of.

Cookies and analytics

If you run Google Analytics, advertising pixels or anything similar, say so in the policy and give visitors a way to decline non-essential tracking. If your site sets no tracking cookies at all, say that instead. It is simpler, faster and increasingly a selling point.

Information officer

Every business has one by default, and in a small business that is the owner. You are meant to be registered with the Information Regulator. It is a short online process and it costs nothing.

The five-minute version

Have a readable privacy policy, run SSL, ask only for what you need, do not add people to mailing lists without permission, and be able to delete someone's details when they ask. Do that and you are well ahead of most small business websites in the country.