Privacy Policy

1. Information we collect

• Account information: your email address and password, managed securely by our authentication provider.
• Profile information: full name, username, bio, general location, home coordinates (used to show nearby riders and calculate distances), avatar image, and riding interests.
• Bike information: make, model, year, engine size, and modifications for bikes you add to your profile.
• Routes and ride data: routes you create, including GPS waypoints, and ride events you host or join. While you are actively participating in a ride, we collect your live location, speed, heading, and GPS accuracy, and share it with other participants in that ride.
• Social and messaging data: friend connections, direct messages, group memberships, group posts, and blog content you create.
• Technical information: cookies used to keep you signed in, and standard server logs (such as IP address) collected by our hosting provider.

2. How we use your information

• to create and operate your account and profile;
• to help you find nearby riders and plan routes;
• to enable messaging, friend requests, groups, and ride coordination;
• to show your live location to other participants in a ride you’ve joined, only while that ride is active and only to fellow participants;
• to maintain, secure, and improve the Site; and
• to send you essential service communications.

We process this information because it is necessary to provide the service you sign up for, and, for live location sharing specifically, based on the consent you give when you join or host a ride. You can stop sharing your live location at any time by leaving the ride.

3. Who we share it with

Your public profile, username, bikes, public routes, and group posts are visible to other users of the Site as part of how it works. During an active ride, your live location is visible only to other participants in that ride.

We also share information with service providers who run the platform on our behalf:

• our database, authentication, and file storage provider;
• our application hosting provider; and
• Google Maps Platform, for maps, geocoding, and route rendering.

These providers may process data outside South Africa. We only use providers with appropriate security and data protection commitments in place, as required under POPIA’s rules on cross-border transfers. We do not sell your personal information.

4. Data retention

We retain your information while your account is active. If you delete your account, we delete or anonymise your personal information within a reasonable period, except where we’re required to retain it for legal or fraud-prevention reasons.

5. Security

We use reasonable technical and organisational measures, including encryption in transit and access controls, to protect your information. No method of transmission or storage is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

6. Your rights

Under POPIA, you may request access to, correction of, or deletion of your personal information, and object to certain processing. Contact us using the details below to exercise these rights.

If you believe we haven’t handled your personal information properly, you may lodge a complaint with South Africa’s Information Regulator at inforegulator.org.za.

7. Cookies

We use only essential cookies required to keep you signed in. We do not use third-party advertising or tracking cookies.

8. Children

The Site is intended for users aged 18 and older, given the physical riding activities it helps coordinate. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children.

9. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. Material changes will be reflected by updating the date at the top of this page.

10. Contact

For privacy questions, access or deletion requests, or complaints, email admin@throttletherapy.co.za.