Terms of Service

2. Definitions

• "Platform" means the Talynth web application and all associated services
• "Customer" or "you" means the individual or organisation using the Platform
• "We", "us", or "Talynth" means Stratum Labs (Pty) Ltd, trading as Talynth
• "Content" means any data, documents, or information you upload or generate through the Platform
• "Subscription" means your paid or free plan on the Platform

3. Account Registration

To use Talynth, you must create an account and provide accurate, complete information. You are responsible for:

• Maintaining the confidentiality of your account credentials
• All activities that occur under your account
• Notifying us immediately of any unauthorised access
• Ensuring you have authority to bind your organisation to these terms

4. Service Description

Talynth is a POPIA compliance management platform that provides:

• Guided compliance assessments mapped to POPIA's 8 conditions
• Automated generation of compliance documents
• Data Subject Access Request (DSAR) tracking and management
• Breach response workflow management
• Ongoing compliance monitoring with quarterly review cycles
• Evidence management and audit trails

5. Free and Paid Plans

Talynth offers the following subscription tiers:

• Free: 1 user, limited feature set including compliance assessment and PDF privacy policy generation.
• Starter (R499/month): 2 licensed users. Full compliance suite including document generation, DSAR management, breach response, training, operator register, and quarterly review reminders.
• Professional (R1,499/month): 3 licensed users. Adds evidence management, full audit trail, regulatory alerts, consent widget, risk heatmap, and AI assistance. Adding a 4th user requires Enterprise.
• Enterprise: R4,999/month flat, unlimited users, metered by entities (4 included, then per additional entity). Annual billing available (1 month free).

User Seat Billing

• Each paid plan includes a fixed number of licensed users (Starter 2, Professional 3). There are no purchasable extra seats — organisations needing more licensed users move to Enterprise, which includes unlimited users.
• Reducing the number of users on your account takes effect at the start of your next billing cycle.
• The free roles (Auditor and Viewer, view-only; Trainee, self-training) do not consume a licensed seat and are available on all plans at no additional cost.

Feature availability for each plan is described on our pricing page and may change with 30 days' notice.

6. Payment

Paid subscriptions are billed in advance — you pay for each billing period (monthly or annual) at the start of that period, in South African Rand (ZAR) via PayStack. Usage-based charges (for example additional Enterprise entities) are likewise billed in advance for the coming period. By subscribing to a paid plan, you authorise us to charge your selected payment method on a recurring basis until you cancel. All prices are inclusive of VAT where applicable.

7. Cancellation and Plan Changes

You may cancel your subscription at any time:

• You retain access to paid features until the end of your current billing period
• No refunds are provided for partial billing periods
• After cancellation, your account reverts to the free plan
• You have 90 days after cancellation to export your data before it is permanently deleted

7.1 Free Trial

All paid plans include a 14-day free trial. The following terms apply:

• No credit card or payment method is required to commence the trial
• You receive full access to all features of the selected plan for the duration of the trial period
• If no payment method is added before the trial expires, your account will automatically revert to the Free plan at no charge
• No fees are incurred if the trial period lapses without a payment method on file
• All data created during the trial is retained upon reversion to the Free plan, subject to the feature limitations of that plan
• The free trial is limited to one per organisation and per email domain; repeat or abusive trial sign-ups may be declined

7.2 Plan Upgrades

When you upgrade to a higher-tier plan:

• Access to the new plan's features is granted immediately upon confirmation of the upgrade
• A pro-rated charge is applied for the remaining days in your current billing cycle, calculated at the new plan rate
• The full new plan rate applies from the start of your next billing cycle

7.3 Plan Downgrades

When you downgrade to a lower-tier plan:

• Your current plan's features remain active until the end of your current billing cycle
• The downgrade takes effect at the start of your next billing cycle
• No refund is provided for the remainder of the current billing cycle
• Features not included in the new plan become inaccessible once the downgrade takes effect
• Documents generated under the higher-tier plan become read-only — you may view and download them, but editing is no longer available
• If the number of active users on your account exceeds the new plan's user limit, you must deactivate the excess users before the downgrade can be processed
• Explicit confirmation is required before any downgrade is processed

7.4 User Seat Changes

The following terms govern changes to the number of users on your account:

• Adding users: A pro-rated charge is applied from the date the user is added and will appear on your next invoice
• Removing users: The removed user's access is revoked immediately. The reduced charge takes effect from the start of your next billing cycle
• No refund is provided for the current billing cycle when users are removed

8. Intellectual Property

• Your content: All documents generated through the Platform based on your data belong to you. You retain full ownership of your compliance documents, policies, and records.
• Our platform: The Talynth platform, including its code, design, templates, question frameworks, and scoring algorithms, remains the intellectual property of Stratum Labs (Pty) Ltd.
• Templates: While generated documents are yours, the underlying templates and logic used to create them remain our property.

9. Limitation of Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by South African law:

• Talynth provides tools and guidance — not legal advice
• We do not guarantee that use of the Platform will result in full regulatory compliance
• We are not liable for any fines, penalties, or regulatory action taken against you
• Our total liability is limited to the fees paid by you in the 12 months preceding the claim
• We are not liable for indirect, incidental, or consequential damages

10. Disclaimer

11. Data Ownership

You own all data you input into or generate through the Platform. This includes:

• Assessment answers and compliance scores
• Generated documents (privacy policies, PAIA manuals, registers)
• DSAR records and breach incident logs
• Evidence files and audit trail data

You may export all your data at any time in standard formats. Upon account deletion, we permanently destroy your data within 90 days (except where retention is legally required).

12. Acceptable Use

You agree not to:

• Use the Platform for any unlawful purpose
• Attempt to reverse engineer, decompile, or disassemble the Platform
• Share your account credentials with third parties
• Interfere with or disrupt the Platform's infrastructure
• Use automated tools to scrape or extract data from the Platform
• Resell or redistribute Platform access without authorisation

13. Termination

We may suspend or terminate your access to the Platform if you breach these terms. In such cases:

• We will provide 30 days' written notice where reasonably practicable
• You will have the opportunity to export your data during the notice period
• Immediate termination may occur for serious breaches (illegal activity, security threats)

14. Governing Law

These terms are governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the Republic of South Africa, including but not limited to the Consumer Protection Act 68 of 2008, the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act 25 of 2002, and the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013.

15. Dispute Resolution

In the event of a dispute arising from these terms:

1. Informal resolution: The parties will first attempt to resolve the dispute through good-faith negotiation within 14 days of written notice.
2. Mediation: If negotiation fails, the dispute will be referred to mediation in Cape Town under the rules of the Arbitration Foundation of Southern Africa (AFSA).
3. Litigation: If mediation fails, either party may institute proceedings in the Magistrate's Court, Cape Town, which shall have exclusive jurisdiction.

16. Changes to These Terms

We may modify these terms from time to time. We will provide at least 30 days' notice of material changes via email. Your continued use of the Platform after the effective date of changes constitutes acceptance of the revised terms. If you do not agree to the changes, you must discontinue use of the Platform before the effective date.

17. Regulator Access

POPIA empowers the Information Regulator of South Africa to request access to information relevant to an organisation's compliance. Where Talynth has an agreement with the Information Regulator, the Platform may facilitate this statutory access as follows:

• Regulator-initiated, verified: Only a regulator account that Talynth has independently verified may request access to your organisation. Customers cannot create regulator accounts.
• You approve access: A regulator request does not grant access on its own. Talynth never force-grants access. Your organisation's Owner or Admin must explicitly approve the request within the response window shown in the Platform.
• Exception workflow: Instead of approving immediately, you may submit a single exception request with a detailed justification (for example, to seek more time). The regulator may grant the exception (optionally time-limited) or decline it. If declined, your organisation must then grant access; a second exception is not available.
• Permanent & inviolable once granted: Access granted to a statutory regulator is read-only and, once approved, is permanent for the duration of the regulatory engagement. You cannot edit, deactivate, revoke, or otherwise interfere with a system-managed regulator account through the Platform. This protects the integrity of the regulatory process.
• Read-only: A statutory regulator can review your compliance documents, evidence, assessments, and audit records, and record audit sign-offs. They cannot modify your data.

This mechanism is disabled by default and is only active where Talynth has a formal agreement with the Information Regulator. Where it is not active, you remain responsible for responding to regulator requests directly, and the Platform can assist by generating and exporting the relevant compliance records for you to submit.