Privacy policy

Last updated 31 October 2026

Kwita is run by Nowtek (Pty) Ltd (registration 2016/522945/07), referred to as Nowtek, we or us. This policy explains what personal information we collect when you use Kwita at kwita.co.za and the Kwita WhatsApp service, why we collect it, and what rights you have. It is written to meet the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 (POPIA). Our POPIA notice has the formal details.

Who is responsible

For your own account details, Nowtek is the responsible party. For the data you put into Kwita about your customers, suppliers and staff, you are the responsible party and Nowtek is your operator. We process that data only on your instructions and under these terms.

Information Officer: Dallas, dallas@nowtek.co.za.

What we collect

Account data: your name, email address, phone number, business name, VAT number and registration number.
Business data you enter or import: contacts, quotes, invoices, payments, expenses, receipts, bank statement lines, products, projects, employee records and payslips.
WhatsApp data: messages, photos, documents and voice notes sent to or from your Kwita business number, and the phone numbers involved.
Technical data: sign in times, IP address, browser type, and logs of actions in the app (the audit log).
Billing data: plan, invoices from us and payment status. Card details are never stored by us.

Why we use it

To run the service: create documents, post to your ledger, send messages, compute VAT and payroll.
To read receipts and voice notes you send on WhatsApp and turn them into expense entries.
To keep your account secure and to investigate abuse.
To bill you and to send service notices. Marketing mail is opt in and has an unsubscribe link.
To meet legal duties, including tax record keeping.

Kwita sends messages through the WhatsApp Business Platform operated by Meta. When you send a quote, invoice, statement or payslip on WhatsApp you confirm that the recipient has agreed to receive business messages from you on that number. Recipients can reply STOP at any time and we will block further sends from your account to that number. Messages are stored in your Kwita account so you have a record. Meta processes message data under its own terms.

Receipt reading and transcription

Receipt photos and documents are read by an AI vision service (Anthropic) and voice notes may be transcribed by a speech service (OpenAI). Only the file and no account details are sent. These providers do not use the content to train their models under our agreements with them. You can turn these features off in Settings and capture receipts by hand.

Where data is kept

Data is stored in Google Cloud (Firebase Authentication, Firestore and Cloud Storage) and the application runs on Vercel. Storage regions are outside South Africa. We rely on the certifications and contractual terms of these providers, which meet the POPIA section 72 requirement for transfers out of the country. Data is encrypted in transit and at rest.

Who else sees it

Google Cloud and Vercel (hosting).
Meta (WhatsApp message delivery).
Anthropic and OpenAI (receipt reading and transcription, if enabled).
Our billing engine, run by Nowtek, and the payment processor it uses.
Your accountant or other users you invite to your business in Kwita.
Authorities, when the law requires it.

We never sell personal information.

How long we keep it

Financial records (invoices, payments, expenses, journals, payslips, VAT and EMP201 data): 5 years from the end of the tax year they relate to, as the Tax Administration Act and the Companies Act require. This applies even after you close your account unless you export and ask us to delete earlier, in which case you take over the duty to keep them.
WhatsApp message content: 12 months, then deleted. Delivery metadata is kept with the document it relates to.
Account data: for the life of the account and 90 days after closure.
Logs: 12 months.

Your rights

You may ask what personal information we hold about you, ask us to correct or delete it, object to processing, and complain to the Information Regulator (inforegulator.org.za). Write to the Information Officer. We answer within 30 days. If you are a customer, supplier or employee of a business that uses Kwita, please contact that business first; we will help them respond.

Cookies

We set a session cookie so you stay signed in, a cookie that remembers your active business, and a theme preference. No advertising cookies. We use privacy respecting analytics that do not track you across sites.

Children

Kwita is for businesses. We do not knowingly collect information from anyone under 18.

Changes

We will email account owners before any material change to this policy and show the date at the top.

Contact

Nowtek (Pty) Ltd, Dallas (Information Officer), dallas@nowtek.co.za, +27 68 909 7549.