Who operates DAFNI
DAFNI is operated by Esteni Van Niekerk in a personal capacity. In this notice, “we” and “us” refer to that operator. Contact [email protected] for privacy questions.
Correspondence address: 29 Margaret Maytom Avenue, Durban North, Durban, 4051, South Africa.
For account administration and enquiries addressed to us, we determine how information is used. For customer records managed by a business using DAFNI, that business generally determines the purpose of processing, and DAFNI handles the records on its instructions. Questions about an invoice or its accuracy should also be directed to the business that issued it.
Controlled access
DAFNI uses controlled pilot onboarding. Access-code registration is planned and is not yet available through this website. Participating businesses may use real customer, contact, invoice and communication information. Separate development and testing environments may use fictional data and authorised test communications.
Connections, AI processing, customer sending and automation are controlled separately. Notices below identify intended features or processes that are still being implemented or verified.
Information handled
- Account information: name, email address, company membership, role, invitations and authentication records.
- Business and invoice records: customer names and reference codes, contact details, invoice references, dates, amounts, balances, documents and payment or credit information supplied to the workspace.
- Communications: outbound email recipients including To, CC and BCC, subject and message content, attachments, sending outcomes, and WhatsApp messages, recipient numbers, provider identifiers, replies and delivery information where received.
- Workflow records: messaging permission evidence, recipient changes, follow-up notes, payment promises, instalment arrangements, exclusions, pauses and staff audit history.
- Technical information: connection settings, protected integration credentials, session information and operational or security logs. Hosting and communication providers may also process IP addresses and device or request information.
Information comes from users and business administrators, contacts who communicate with a connected business, enabled providers, and the operation of the service. Please do not send passwords, payment-card details or unrelated sensitive information in messages or support requests.
Why information is used
We use information to provide account access, organise authorised invoice follow-ups, send requested documents and communications, record arrangements and permission choices, investigate errors, protect company data and respond to support or privacy requests.
The appropriate basis depends on the activity: providing a requested service, legitimate operational and security needs, legal obligations, or consent where required. An existing business relationship or a phone number in an accounting record is not automatically treated as WhatsApp messaging permission.
We do not sell personal information or use invoice messages for advertising.
The connected accounting platform remains the authoritative source of financial records. Financial transactions, payment allocations and corrections are processed there. DAFNI reads the relevant information to support invoice follow-ups and does not create or amend accounting transactions or independently determine outstanding balances. DAFNI does not make creditworthiness decisions. Staff handle disputes and uncertain cases.
When a company enables DAFNI Assist, relevant messages, account and invoice information, and supported attachments may be processed using AI to understand customer communications and handle eligible conversations. The intended service may send automated replies and reminders within the company’s enabled settings and applicable contact permissions. Matters requiring staff judgement are referred to the team. Payment-plan approvals remain subject to staff roles, and AI does not change Sage accounting records. Turning AI off prevents new AI processing; work already submitted may finish. Saved conversation and processing records remain subject to the applicable retention arrangements.
Invoice links and communication choices
Invoice emails may contain recipient-specific links. When a link is used, DAFNI records the invoice access against the associated recipient and displays it in the business’s conversation history. A link-access record does not establish who physically used the device or whether the invoice was read in full. Opening an invoice does not grant WhatsApp permission. WhatsApp permission is recorded separately when the contact makes that choice or authorised staff record it.
Trials and subscriptions
A company receives a 30-day DAFNI Assist trial for up to five users, starting at company creation. No card is required and the trial does not trigger an automatic charge. Paid monthly or annual subscriptions require recurring card authorisation through Paystack. DAFNI records package, allowance, billing period, payment status and relevant usage to administer access. Paystack handles card entry; DAFNI uses protected payment references and displays masked card details and expiry.
The departure period starts when paid access ends, or when an unpaid trial expires. For the first 30 days, company users can view existing records but cannot edit, synchronise, send emails or WhatsApp messages, or use AI and automatic follow-ups. After 30 days the workspace closes. Administrator-assisted reactivation and restricted access to eligible exports remain separate from workspace access. Eligible company records become due for deletion 90 days after the same starting date, subject to the required warnings and retention checks. The 30 days are part of the 90 days, not an additional period.
Package upgrades take effect after any required prorated payment is confirmed. Downgrades take effect on confirmation, with the unused difference recorded as subscription credit. Package changes preserve the renewal date; a monthly/annual billing-frequency change takes effect at renewal. Cancelling future renewal preserves access through the paid period. Subscription credit applies to eligible subscription charges and is not a cash balance. Unused credit lapses at account closure, except where applicable law requires otherwise. Payments are not refunded for non-use or voluntary cancellation, except where required by law; duplicate or erroneous charges are investigated and corrected.
Subscription and account-lifecycle controls have been tested in development. Live payments are not yet available. This website does not collect payments.
Storage and protection
DAFNI’s current development database is hosted in Ireland. Other service providers may process information in additional countries, including through support services and subprocessors. Information is therefore not necessarily processed exclusively in Ireland or South Africa. Applicable provider terms and legal requirements govern these arrangements, including safeguards required for international transfers.
Controls include authenticated access, company and role restrictions, encrypted integration-secret storage and protected document access. No service can guarantee absolute security.
Retention and deletion
AI-related records can include the message and account context used for a request, transcripts, suggestions, staff edits and decisions, temporary contact protections, and processing and usage history. These records are considered alongside the related conversation and account records when handling access, correction, export, retention or deletion requests. Turning AI off does not delete them. Provider-side retention is separate from DAFNI’s records. Automated AI-record cleanup has not been verified and is not represented as operational.
The intended retention policy keeps information for the purposes and periods described below. Deletion requests are reviewed individually, including applicable retention requirements and the need to preserve limited evidence of communication preferences.
- Company workspace: necessary records remain while the business uses DAFNI, subject to the record-specific rules below. A workspace does not expire simply because it is five years old.
- Invoice conversations and follow-up history: five years after settlement or final resolution, with documented exceptions for disputes, investigations or applicable obligations. Open invoices and arrangements remain while needed. This is an operational default, not a claim that every message is a statutory financial record or that this period alone satisfies tax-record requirements.
- Customer profiles: retain necessary details while the business relationship continues. After five years without meaningful business activity, review the record for deletion or de-identification. Genuine work, invoices, payments or customer interactions count as activity; a background synchronisation does not restart the clock. Unpaid invoices, retention obligations and documented exceptions must be considered. Unanswered reviews must not allow indefinite retention without justification.
- Messaging permissions: While the company uses DAFNI, we retain relevant permission and withdrawal evidence to support its communication choices. The subscribing company is responsible for its own customers’ invoice disputes and messaging permissions. When it leaves DAFNI, its contacts, imported invoices, conversations, arrangements and permission history follow the 90-day departure rule. The company should obtain the records it needs before that deadline. An ordinary customer dispute or the possibility of a later request does not automatically extend retention.
- Temporary PDF copies: 30 days for replaceable copies that can reliably be obtained again. Proof of payment, disputed documents and other important evidence follow the relevant longer record-retention rule.
- Routine technical logs: Routine technical logs follow a rolling 90-day retention period and should exclude credentials and unnecessary message content. Business audit and subscription accounting records follow their own retention rules. Specifically justified legal preservation is handled separately. Provider-managed logs may have different retention periods.
A conversation may concern several invoices. The expiry of one invoice’s retention period does not automatically delete messages still needed for another invoice, an active arrangement or relevant permission evidence. Retain only the parts that remain necessary, with a documented purpose and review point; do not retain an entire conversation indefinitely merely because it contains a newer message.
Where deletion is appropriate, remove or irreversibly de-identify the relevant data. Retention exceptions must have a recorded purpose and review point. Deleting DAFNI records does not cancel debts or delete source accounting records or recipients’ copies.
DAFNI retains its own subscription invoices, receipts, credit adjustments and any refund evidence for seven years for accounting and reconciliation. This does not retain the subscribing company’s customer communications. Only necessary accounting information is retained.
Where an applicable legal preservation requirement prevents deletion, DAFNI restricts retention to the identified records and purpose. A restricted control records the authority or legal reference, scope, responsible reviewer and review date. Records are released for deletion when an authorised review confirms that the requirement has ended. DAFNI service and billing disputes are handled separately from disputes between a subscribing company and its customers.
Prepared exports are private temporary copies. Their download access is limited to an authorised administrator and expires after seven days or at the company retention deadline, whichever is earlier. Temporary copies are intended to be removed after expiry; access expiry and physical removal are separate controls.
Temporary export downloads expire as stated. Physical cleanup of expired exports and automatic deletion remain disabled pending final launch checks. Active-company retention defaults do not extend the departed-company 90-day period, except for specifically justified retention.
When a business leaves DAFNI
The departure period starts when paid access ends, or when an unpaid trial expires. For the first 30 days, company users can view existing records but cannot edit, synchronise, send emails or WhatsApp messages, or use AI and automatic follow-ups. After 30 days the workspace closes. Administrator-assisted reactivation and restricted access to eligible exports remain separate from workspace access. Eligible company records become due for deletion 90 days after the same starting date, subject to the required warnings and retention checks. The 30 days are part of the 90 days, not an additional period.
An authorised company administrator can prepare an export in Settings. After workspace closure, the secure export link in retention notices leads to an administrator sign-in page; it does not reopen the workspace. Exports contain the company records and available files held by DAFNI, with a manifest describing the contents. Credentials, other companies’ records and private DAFNI notes are excluded. This is not a complete accounting-system backup. Larger or exceptional requests need assistance from DAFNI support. Download access expires after seven days or at the company’s retention deadline, whichever comes first.
We intend to notify the company owner and recorded billing contact when access ends, seven days before viewing access closes, at workspace closure, 30 days before the retention deadline and seven days before that deadline. Notices explain the dates and available actions, including secure export access. Confirmed reactivation cancels pending departure warnings. Failed or uncertain delivery is reviewed rather than blindly repeated; missing required warnings may delay deletion.
Export downloads have been tested in development. Scheduled departure emails and automatic deletion remain disabled pending launch checks.
Backups and recovery
Backup coverage, retention and recovery arrangements are being finalised before launch. Database and stored-file backups require separate verification. We will publish the confirmed recovery arrangements after a restore rehearsal. Backups are restricted to recovery and do not extend customer access. If a backup is restored, completed deletions must be reapplied before the restored information is made available or automated work resumes.
Database and file backup arrangements, retention windows and a restore rehearsal remain outstanding before launch. No recovery-time or data-loss guarantee is currently offered.
Your choices and requests
You may contact us to request access to or correction of your information, deletion where applicable, withdrawal of consent, or objection to relevant processing.
Privacy requests are currently handled manually. After verifying your identity and authority, we identify and review the relevant records and arrange an appropriate export, correction or deletion, subject to applicable retention requirements. Requests involving a company’s records may require authorisation from that company.
For records held on a business’s behalf, we may refer the request to that business or coordinate with it. To stop WhatsApp invoice messages, tell the sending business or contact us, identifying the business and the number receiving messages. Opting out of WhatsApp does not itself remove an outstanding invoice or prevent other lawful communication.
Esteni Van Niekerk will monitor privacy requests. We aim to acknowledge requests within five business days and resolve straightforward requests within 30 calendar days, subject to applicable requirements. If verification, coordination or complexity affects completion, we will explain the reason and expected next steps. These targets do not replace applicable legal deadlines.
See the data-deletion instructions for the request process. You may also raise a privacy complaint with South Africa’s Information Regulator or another competent authority.
Website and notice changes
This website contains no advertising trackers, analytics scripts, external fonts or embedded social widgets. The application uses browser storage for sign-in and workspace operation. Hosting providers may process technical request information to deliver and protect this website. We will update this notice if the website’s tracking or cookie use changes.
DAFNI is intended for business use, not for services directed at children. Material privacy changes will be reflected here with an updated date and, where appropriate, brought to affected users’ attention.