Privacy Policy

Effective date: 12 October 2026

This privacy policy explains how the Wild Trout Association (the WTA, we, us) collects, uses, shares and protects personal information, in line with the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 (POPIA). It covers this website and the personal information you give us when you contact us, buy a day permit, register a beat, apply for membership or take part in WTA activities.

1. Who we are

The Wild Trout Association is an organisation of riparian landowners and affiliate members that administers and promotes fly fishing on the rivers and streams of the Eastern Cape Highlands. For the purposes of POPIA, the WTA is the responsible party for the personal information described in this policy.

Postal address: 1 Vorster Street, Rhodes, 9787, Eastern Cape, South Africa.

2. The personal information we collect

We only collect personal information that we need for a specific purpose. Depending on how you deal with us, this may include:

  • When you contact us by email, phone or WhatsApp: your name, contact details and anything you choose to tell us in your message.
  • Day permits and beat registration: when you buy a day permit or register a beat through the Rhodes Info Centre or another permit vendor, they record details such as your name, contact number, vehicle registration number, and the beats and dates you have booked.
  • Membership: if you apply to become a riparian or affiliate member, your name, contact details and, for riparian members, details of the property and water you make available.
  • Festival and events: if you book for the Wild Trout Festival or another WTA event, your name, contact details and booking information.
  • Contributions: if you send us an article, report or photographs for publication, your name as the author and the content you provide.
  • Wall of Shame: photographs and the registration number of vehicles found on member property without a valid day permit, as explained in section 5.

This website has no contact forms, user accounts for visitors, online payments or comment sections, so it does not collect personal information through forms on the website itself.

3. Information collected automatically

  • Server logs: like all websites, our hosting provider’s servers automatically record technical information about each visit, such as your IP address, browser type, the pages requested and the date and time. These logs are used to keep the website secure and working, and are kept by the hosting provider for a limited period.
  • Redirect and error log: the website keeps a log of redirected and missing pages, recording the address requested, the referring page and the browser type. It does not record IP addresses. We use it only to find and fix broken links.
  • Cookies: this website does not use analytics, advertising or tracking cookies, and does not set cookies for ordinary visitors. Cookies are only used for website administrators who log in to manage the website.

4. Third-party services on this website

  • Google Fonts: the fonts on this website are loaded from Google. When a page loads, your browser connects to Google’s servers, which receive your IP address and browser information. See Google’s privacy policy.
  • Windy weather map: the weather map on our Contact page is provided by Windy.com. When you view that page, Windy receives your IP address and may set its own cookies. See Windy’s privacy policy.
  • Social media and external links: links to our Facebook and Instagram pages, and to other organisations’ websites, take you to services we do not control. Their own privacy policies apply once you leave this website.

5. The Wall of Shame

To protect our riparian members’ property and the integrity of the day permit system, members who find a vehicle parked on WTA water without a valid permit displayed may photograph the dashboard, the vehicle’s registration plate and where the vehicle is parked. The registration is checked against the day permit record. If no permit purchase is found, the images and registration may be published on the WTA Wall of Shame page.

We process this information on the basis of the legitimate interests of the WTA and its members in protecting private property and enforcing the permit system. An entry is removed once we receive a written apology together with payment of any outstanding permit fees. If you believe an entry is wrong, for example because you held a valid permit, contact our Information Officer and we will investigate and correct or remove it without delay.

6. Why we use personal information

We use personal information to:

  • answer your enquiries and help you plan your fishing;
  • issue day permits, keep the central beat register and prevent double bookings;
  • manage membership and communicate with members;
  • organise the Wild Trout Festival and other events;
  • publish articles and reports, credited to their authors;
  • protect members’ property and enforce the permit system;
  • keep this website secure and working; and
  • meet our legal obligations.

We process personal information with your consent, where it is needed to provide something you have asked for (such as a permit, booking or membership), where it is in our or our members’ legitimate interests, or where the law requires it. We do not sell personal information, and we do not use it for unrelated marketing.

7. Who we share it with

We only share personal information where necessary, and only with:

  • the Rhodes Info Centre and other permit vendors, to issue permits and manage beat bookings;
  • the riparian member whose water you have booked, where they need to know who will be fishing;
  • service providers who act on our behalf, such as our website hosting and email providers, who must keep the information confidential and secure; and
  • authorities, where the law requires us to.

8. Information sent outside South Africa

Some of the services described above, such as Google Fonts and the Windy weather map, are operated from servers outside South Africa. Where personal information such as your IP address is sent outside South Africa, it is to providers subject to data protection laws or terms that give protection comparable to POPIA.

9. How long we keep it

We keep personal information only for as long as we need it for the purpose it was collected, or for as long as the law requires. Permit and booking records are kept for as long as needed to manage the permit system and resolve any disputes. Membership information is kept while you are a member and for a reasonable period afterwards. When information is no longer needed, we delete or destroy it securely.

10. How we protect it

We take reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect personal information against loss, misuse and unauthorised access, including secure (HTTPS) connections to this website, restricted administrator access and keeping our software up to date. No method of sending or storing information is completely secure, but we work to protect it and will notify you and the Information Regulator if there is a breach that affects your personal information, as POPIA requires.

11. Your rights

Under POPIA you have the right to:

  • ask whether we hold personal information about you, and request a copy of it;
  • ask us to correct or update information that is inaccurate or out of date;
  • ask us to delete information we no longer have a lawful reason to keep;
  • object to us processing your personal information, including for the Wall of Shame;
  • withdraw your consent where we rely on it; and
  • lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator.

To exercise any of these rights, contact our Information Officer using the details below. We may need to confirm your identity before acting on your request.

12. Children

This website is not aimed at children, and we do not knowingly collect personal information about children without the consent of a parent or guardian.

13. Contact our Information Officer

The WTA Chairman acts as our Information Officer. For any question or request about your personal information, please contact:

Information Officer, Wild Trout Association
Email: dave@wildtrout.co.za
Phone: 045 974 9290
Address: 1 Vorster Street, Rhodes, 9787

14. The Information Regulator

If you are not satisfied with how we have handled your personal information, you may lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator of South Africa:

Email: POPIAComplaints@inforegulator.org.za
General enquiries: enquiries@inforegulator.org.za
Phone: 010 023 5200
Address: Woodmead North Office Park, 54 Maxwell Drive, Woodmead, Johannesburg, 2191
Website: inforegulator.org.za

15. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. The latest version will always be on this page, with the effective date shown at the top.

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