DefinedSelf

Legal

What we collect, and what we don’t.

Last updated: 16 July 2026

DefinedSelf is a free chart tool operated by Auto Alpha Advisory. This policy explains what personal information we handle under the Protection of Personal Information Act, 2013 (“POPIA”) — and, more to the point, how little of it we keep. There is no account, no login, and no database of your birth details.

1. Who is responsible

The responsible party (in POPIA terms) is Auto Alpha Advisory, which operates DefinedSelf. The head of Auto Alpha Advisory acts as its Information Officer for the purposes of POPIA ss55–56. For any privacy question or request, email privacy@autoalphaadvisory.co.za.

2. Your birth details

The date, time and place of birth (and the optional name) you enter are used to draw your chart. They are encoded into your chart’s shareable link — the long code in the /chart address — so that anyone you send the link to sees the same chart.

When a chart page is opened, that link is sent to our host to render the page, and may appear briefly in ordinary server request logs. But we do not save your birth details to any database, account or profile, and we do not use them for anything other than drawing the chart you asked for. The only lasting copy of your details is the one inside the link you hold — so treat that link as you would any personal note, and only share it with people you’re happy to show your chart.

3. Searching for your place of birth

As you type a town or city, that text is sent to Open-Meteo’s public geocoding service to suggest matching places and to find the correct timezone and coordinates. Open-Meteo is an independent service based in the European Union; only the place text you type is sent, never your name, date or time of birth.

4. Analytics

We use Vercel Web Analytics, which is privacy-friendly and cookie-free. It records aggregate visit counts — which page was viewed, a rough country, device type, and the referring site — with no cookies, no cross-site tracking, and nothing that identifies you personally. We rely on it under our legitimate interest (POPIA §11(1)(f)) in keeping the tool working and understanding, in aggregate, how it’s used.

5. Cookies

DefinedSelf sets no cookies of its own, and uses no advertising or tracking cookies. There is no cookie banner because there are no cookies to consent to.

6. Your email and your blueprint

You do not need to give us your email to draw your chart. If you ask for your written blueprint, you provide an email address — entirely optional and opt-in — and we use it to send you one email containing your blueprint link. That address is stored as a contact with our email provider, Resend (§7), as the record that a blueprint was requested. It is never sold, and never used for unrelated marketing without your separate consent (POPIA §69). To have it deleted, email privacy@autoalphaadvisory.co.za.

So that your blueprint opens instantly when you revisit your link, the written text is kept in a short-lived cache for up to 90 days, keyed by an anonymous fingerprint of your chart — not by your email or any account. It expires on its own. The link itself is your copy: it contains your birth details in the same encoded form as your chart link, so treat it with the same care.

7. Who processes data for us

We rely on three service providers, each receiving only the minimum needed:

  • Vercel Inc. — hosts the site and provides the cookie-free analytics above, with infrastructure in the EU and the USA.
  • Open-Meteo — provides place search, timezone and coordinate lookups (EU-based). Receives only the place text you type.
  • Resend Inc. — delivers the blueprint email and stores the contact address you gave for it (USA-based). Receives only that address and the email’s contents.

We do not sell your personal information, and we do not share it with advertisers or data brokers.

8. Cross-border transfers (POPIA §72)

Because the providers above operate outside South Africa (in the EU and the USA), the limited data described here may be processed abroad. This is permitted under POPIA §72: each provider is bound by its own published terms affording comparable protection, and the data involved is minimal — a place name, a chart URL, and (if you request a blueprint) your email address — with no stored personal profile.

9. How long we keep it

Because we keep no account and no database of your birth details, there is very little about you for us to retain. An email address given for a blueprint is kept as a contact with Resend until you ask for it to be deleted (§6). Cached blueprint text expires by itself within 90 days. Aggregate analytics are held by Vercel in de-identified form under their retention policy. Ordinary host request logs (which may contain a chart URL) are short-lived and managed by our host.

10. Security

All traffic is served over HTTPS/TLS. We hold no database of birth details; the personal information that exists at all — a blueprint contact address at Resend, and the self-expiring cached blueprint text — is the minimum the feature needs. If a reportable breach ever occurs, we will notify the Information Regulator and any affected people as POPIA §22 requires.

11. Your rights under POPIA

You have the right to:

  • Access (§23) — ask what personal information we hold about you. In practice we hold none tied to your identity; your birth details live in your own chart link.
  • Correction (§24) — request that inaccurate information be corrected.
  • Deletion (§24) — for your birth details, deleting the chart link you hold is the deletion: simply discard it and don’t reshare it. If you gave an email for a blueprint, ask and we’ll remove the contact (§6).
  • Objection (§11(3)) — object to processing based on legitimate interest.
  • Complaint — complain to the Information Regulator at inforegulator.org.za.

To exercise any of these, email privacy@autoalphaadvisory.co.za with the subject “POPIA Request”.

12. Children

DefinedSelf is not directed at children under 18.

13. Changes

We may update this policy if the tool changes. The “Last updated” date above always reflects the current version; material changes to how data is handled will be reflected here before they take effect.

14. Contact

Auto Alpha Advisory
Privacy & POPIA requests: privacy@autoalphaadvisory.co.za
General: hello@autoalphaadvisory.co.za

DefinedSelf is a self-reflection guide, not a diagnosis or a prediction. See our Terms of Use.