Last updated: 24 October 2026
Cape Vine Master is a free guide to South African wine farms, with short courses and a Wine Passport. This policy explains what personal information we collect, why we collect it, who we share it with, and the choices and rights you have. We follow South Africa’s Protection of Personal Information Act, 2013 (POPIA).
1. Who we are
Cape Vine Master (capevinemaster.com) is run by Marthunis J Barnard. For POPIA purposes, Cape Vine Master is the “responsible party” for the personal information described here.
You can reach us, and our Information Officer, at info@capevinemaster.com.
2. What we collect
When you create an account
- Your first name, last name, username and email address.
- Your password. We never see it in plain text; it is stored in scrambled (hashed) form.
- If you sign up with Google or Facebook, the name and email address (and profile picture, if shared) that the provider sends us. We do not receive your Google or Facebook password.
When you use the site as a member
- Courses: the courses you enrol in, your progress, quiz answers and results, and the certificates you earn.
- Vine Points and stages: the points, stages and badges you earn.
- Wine Passport: the farms you mark as visited and when, and the farms you save to your wishlist.
- Location (only if you allow it): if you tap “Verify with GPS” on a farm page, your browser asks for permission to share your location. We use it once to check how far you are from the farm. We keep only whether the visit was verified and the distance, not your coordinates.
When you contact us
- If you use our contact or enquiry form (for example as a wine farm or partner), we collect the name, email address, farm or company name and message you send.
- If you are a farm owner and submit or claim a listing, we keep the business details you provide and publish them on the farm’s page.
When you simply visit
- Technical information such as your IP address, browser type, device and the pages you open. Our hosting and security tools record this in server logs.
- If you use “Near me”, your browser may share your approximate location so we can show nearby farms. We do not link this to your account.
- Basic, aggregated visit statistics through Jetpack (WordPress.com Stats).
- If you accept analytics cookies, how you use the site (pages viewed, approximate location, device and browser) through Google Analytics.
- A cookie that remembers you confirmed you are 18 or older. We do not collect your date of birth.
We do not knowingly collect any special personal information (such as health or religious information), and we do not use advertising trackers unless you accept marketing cookies.
3. Why we use your information
| What we do | Why we are allowed to (under POPIA) |
|---|---|
| Create and run your account, courses, certificates, Vine Points and Wine Passport | It is needed to provide the service you asked for, and you give your consent when you sign up |
| Reply to your messages and enquiries | You contacted us, and replying is in both our interests |
| Send service emails (welcome, password reset, certificate and enquiry notices) | They are part of providing the service |
| Check a GPS-verified visit | Only if you choose to share your location |
| Keep the site secure, prevent abuse and fix problems | Our legitimate interest in protecting the site and its members |
| Understand how the site is used so we can improve it | Our legitimate interest, using aggregated statistics |
| Meet legal obligations | Where the law requires it |
We will only send you marketing or newsletters if you opt in, and every such email will have an unsubscribe link.
4. Who we share your information with
We do not sell your personal information. We share it only with the service providers who help us run the site, and only as needed for that purpose:
- Our hosting provider, which stores the site and its database and keeps server logs.
- Our email service, which delivers the emails we send you.
- Automattic (Jetpack), for site statistics and security.
- Google, for the maps shown on farm pages, fonts, Google sign-in if you choose it, and Google Analytics and Google Ads if you accept analytics or marketing cookies.
- Facebook (Meta), only if you choose Facebook sign-in.
Your username, and the courses or badges you earn, are not shown publicly. Farm listing details that owners submit are published on the farm’s page. We may also disclose information if the law requires us to, or to protect our rights and members.
5. Sending information outside South Africa
Some of the providers above (such as Google and Automattic) process information on servers outside South Africa. Where that happens, we rely on providers that are bound by data protection obligations comparable to POPIA.
6. Cookies
Cookies are small files saved by your browser. The first group is needed for the site to work. The second and third groups are used only if you say yes in the cookie banner. You can change your choice at any time with “Cookie settings” at the bottom of every page.
| Cookie | What it does | How long it lasts |
|---|---|---|
| cvs_age_ok | Remembers that you confirmed you are 18 or older | 1 year |
| WordPress login cookies | Keep you signed in while you are logged in | 2 days, or 14 days if you choose “Remember me” |
| lp_session_guest | Lets our course system recognise your visit before you sign in | 24 hours |
| cvs_consent | Remembers your cookie choices | 180 days |
| Google Maps cookies | Set by Google when you view an interactive map | As set by Google |
Analytics cookies (only with your permission)
We use Google Analytics to count visits and see which pages are useful. It sets cookies such as _ga and _ga_* that last up to 2 years. The information is processed by Google, including on servers outside South Africa.
Marketing cookies (only with your permission)
If we run Google Ads, Google may set cookies such as _gcl_* to measure how our adverts perform. We do not use them unless you accept marketing cookies.
You can also block or delete cookies in your browser settings, but the age check and sign-in will not work without the essential ones.
7. How long we keep your information
- Account, courses, certificates and Wine Passport: for as long as your account exists. If you ask us to delete your account, we remove this information within 30 days, apart from anything we must keep by law.
- Enquiries and emails: up to 24 months after our last reply.
- Server logs and security records: a few months, then deleted.
8. How we protect your information
We use reasonable technical and organisational measures: the site runs over HTTPS, passwords are stored hashed, access to the admin area is limited, security software monitors the site, and our providers are chosen for their security practices. No online service is completely risk free. If a security breach affects your personal information, we will tell you and the Information Regulator as POPIA requires.
9. Your rights
Under POPIA you may:
- ask what personal information we hold about you and get a copy;
- ask us to correct or update it;
- ask us to delete it, or to stop using it;
- object to us using it, or withdraw a consent you gave earlier;
- lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator.
To use any of these rights, email info@capevinemaster.com from the address on your account. We may need to confirm it is really you, and we will respond within a reasonable time.
If you are not happy with how we handled your request, you can complain to the Information Regulator (South Africa): inforegulator.org.za, complaints.IR@justice.gov.za.
10. Children
Cape Vine Master is about wine, and is for adults of legal drinking age (18 and older in South Africa). We do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 18. If you believe a child has given us their details, email us and we will delete them.
11. Links to other sites
Farm pages link to farm websites and social media pages. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of those sites, so please read their policies.
12. Changes to this policy
We may update this policy from time to time. The “Last updated” date at the top shows when it last changed. If we make a significant change, we will tell members by email or with a notice on the site.
13. Contact us
Questions about this policy or your information: info@capevinemaster.com.