Terms of Service

1. Who we are

DataAcuity is operated by The Other Bhengu (Pty) Ltd trading as The Geek ("The Geek", "we", "us", "our"), a private company registered in the Republic of South Africa. Contact: hello@dataacuity.co.za.

2. What you're agreeing to

Short version: By signing up for a DataAcuity API key (free or paid), you accept these Terms and our Privacy Policy. If you don't accept them, don't use the Service.

These Terms form a binding agreement between you (or the entity you represent) and The Geek. By creating an account, claiming a free API key, or subscribing to a paid tier, you confirm that (a) you are at least 18 years old, (b) you have authority to bind the organisation you represent (if applicable), and (c) you accept these Terms.

3. The Service

Short version: DataAcuity gives you HTTP and MCP access to our geospatial, markets, and BI data. The features described on the marketing site are what you get.

The "Service" means the DataAcuity products listed on dataacuity.co.za, including DataAcuity Maps, GeoGlobal MCP, Markets, and the BI Pipeline, together with any documentation, SDKs, and supporting infrastructure.

We may add features, fix bugs, and modify endpoints. We will give at least 30 days' notice by email for breaking changes that affect paid customers, with a deprecation period whenever practical.

4. Your account & API keys

Short version: Your API key is like a password. Keep it private. You're responsible for what happens with it.

You must keep your API key confidential. You are responsible for all activity authenticated with your key, including requests made by your end users, your agents, your AI models, and any third-party service you authorise to use it. If you suspect a key has been compromised, email security@dataacuity.co.za and we will rotate it without charge.

5. Fees & billing

Short version: Paid tiers are billed monthly in ZAR by PayFast. Cancel anytime; we won't bill you again. See the Refund Policy.

Paid subscriptions are billed monthly in advance in South African Rand by PayFast (Pty) Ltd, who acts as our merchant of record for card and EFT payments. The current published prices are at dataacuity.co.za/pricing; we will give 30 days' notice by email before any price increase, and you can cancel before the new price takes effect.

You authorise PayFast to debit the payment method you provided until you cancel. Cancellation is effective at the end of your current billing cycle. Refunds are governed by our Refund Policy.

6. Free tier

Short version: Free tier is genuinely free. No card. Same product. Smaller quota.

The free tier is offered at our discretion and is subject to the published monthly quota. We may suspend or revoke a free key that is being used to test load limits, train competing products, or otherwise abuse the offer. We will email you first in every case we reasonably can.

7. Acceptable use

You agree NOT to:

• break any law applicable to you, us, or your end users;
• build a substantially similar competing data product using our Service as the data source;
• re-sell our endpoints as a standalone proxy service;
• attempt to reverse-engineer our security or rate-limiting measures;
• send personal information of third parties to us through the API without a lawful basis under POPIA, GDPR, or other applicable privacy law;
• use the Service to send unsolicited commercial messages.

We may suspend keys we reasonably believe are being used in violation of this section, with notice when practical.

8. Intellectual property

The Service, including the data we curate and the software we run, is and remains our property (or our licensors'). You retain ownership of any content or queries you send to the Service. We grant you a limited, revocable, non-exclusive, non-transferable licence to use the Service for your business while your subscription is active.

Some upstream data (e.g. OpenStreetMap, Wikipedia, CoinGecko) is provided under open licences with attribution requirements. You agree to honour those attribution requirements in any user-facing surface where the data appears.

9. Confidentiality

If we exchange confidential information (for example during an enterprise compliance review), each party will protect the other's confidential information with the same care it uses for its own (at least reasonable care), and use it only for the purposes of this agreement.

10. Warranties & disclaimers

Short version: We try hard. We don't promise perfection. Where the law allows, we disclaim implied warranties.

The Service is provided "as is" and "as available". To the maximum extent permitted by law, we disclaim all implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, accuracy, and non-infringement. Geospatial and markets data is derived from upstream sources; we do not warrant it for safety-critical use (e.g. autonomous navigation, life-safety) and you agree not to deploy it in those contexts without your own validation.

11. Limitation of liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law, our total cumulative liability arising out of or relating to this agreement, the Service, or your use of it, in any 12-month period, is limited to the greater of (a) the fees actually paid by you to us in that 12-month period, or (b) R5,000. We are not liable for indirect, consequential, incidental, special, or punitive damages, lost profits, or lost data, even if advised of their possibility.

Nothing in this section excludes liability that cannot lawfully be excluded under South African law, including liability for gross negligence or wilful misconduct.

12. Indemnity

You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold us harmless from any third-party claim arising out of (a) your breach of these Terms, (b) your end users' use of the Service through your key, or (c) your violation of any applicable law in connection with the Service.

13. Term & termination

These Terms apply for as long as you have an active key. You may cancel at any time by clicking Cancel inside your account area, or by emailing hello@dataacuity.co.za. We may terminate your account, with reasonable notice and a prorated refund where applicable, for material breach of these Terms or for non-payment. Sections 8, 10, 11, 12, and 16 survive termination.

14. Changes to these Terms

We may update these Terms. If we change them in a way that materially reduces your rights or increases your obligations, we will notify you by email at least 30 days before the change takes effect. Continued use after that date constitutes acceptance. The "Last updated" date at the top reflects the current version.

15. Governing law & disputes

These Terms are governed by the laws of the Republic of South Africa, without regard to its conflict-of-laws rules. Any dispute will be resolved exclusively in the courts of Cape Town, South Africa, except that either party may seek injunctive relief in any court of competent jurisdiction to protect intellectual property or confidential information.

16. Miscellaneous

These Terms, together with the Privacy Policy and Refund Policy, are the entire agreement between us. If any clause is found unenforceable, the rest stays in effect. Our failure to enforce a right is not a waiver of that right. You may not assign these Terms without our written consent; we may assign to an affiliate or in connection with a corporate transaction.

17. Contact

Questions about these Terms: compliance@dataacuity.co.za
Postal address available on request.

© 2026 The Other Bhengu (Pty) Ltd t/a The Geek. All rights reserved.