Privacy Policy
Draft for attorney review. Have a South African attorney who knows POPIA check and complete this before launch, and fill in the parts in [brackets].
Last updated: [date]
Who we are
nearbynow is operated by [company name, registration number, address], South Africa. Our Information Officer is [name], reachable at kolishare@gmail.com. We are registered with the Information Regulator under number [number].
What we collect
- Account details: email address, password (stored only as a secure hash) and date of birth, to confirm you’re 18 or older.
- Profile: display name, photo, what you are, who you want to see, bio, tags and, if you choose to add it, your ethnicity.
- Special personal information: your sexual preferences and interests, your ethnicity if you add it (it’s optional and other members see it on your profile), and who you’re open to meeting. Your “Open to meet” choice is never shown to other members; it only decides who you see and who sees you. Under POPIA this is special personal information. We only process it with the explicit consent you give when you sign up.
- Location while you’re live: when you switch on “available now”, your phone shares its location once. We immediately blur it to an area of roughly 450 metres and store only that blurred point. Your exact location is never stored or shown. The blurred point is deleted when you go offline or your time runs out.
- Activity: knocks, matches, messages, blocks and reports.
- Technical data: IP address, for security such as limiting login attempts.
Why we use it
To show you to people you’ve both said you’re interested in, let you knock and chat, keep the service safe, investigate reports and meet our legal duties. We don’t sell your information, and we don’t use it for third-party advertising.
Who can see what
Other members only see your public profile, a rounded distance and a rough map position while you’re live. People you block can’t see you. Our moderation team can see reports and the profiles involved.
Where it’s stored
Our website is hosted by Hostinger in [country of the data centre], so your information is transferred outside South Africa. We only use providers bound by data-protection laws that give protection similar to POPIA.
How long we keep it
Live locations are removed when you go offline. Your account information stays until you delete your account. Reports may be kept for up to [period] where needed for safety or legal reasons.
Your rights
You can see and edit your profile in the app, and delete your account and everything linked to it at any time under Me → Delete account. You can also ask us for a copy of your information, ask us to correct it, or object to processing by emailing kolishare@gmail.com. If you’re unhappy with how we handle it, you can complain to the Information Regulator (inforegulator.org.za).
Security
We use encrypted connections (HTTPS), hashed passwords and access controls. If a breach puts your information at risk, we will tell you and the Information Regulator as POPIA requires.