Privacy Policy

Who we are

The Route (theroute.co.za) is a community marketplace and directory for South Africa's Garden Route region. We process personal information as a responsible party under the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 (POPIA).

What we collect

• Account info: name, email, phone, town, profile photo — only what you give us at sign-up or in your profile.
• Listing content: anything you upload (item titles, descriptions, photos, prices, contact details).
• Messaging: messages you send and receive through the app.
• Reviews and ratings: ratings you leave for other users and that they leave for you.
• Technical data: standard server logs (IP, user agent, request time) for security and uptime.

We use Clerk for sign-in, Airtable as our database, Cloudflare R2 for image storage, and (when enabled) PayFast for payments. These providers process your data on our behalf under their own privacy policies.

Why we use it

• To create and manage your account.
• To show your listings to other users.
• To let buyers and sellers contact each other.
• To send transactional emails about messages, listings, and account changes.
• To send marketing emails — only if you opt in (off by default).
• To detect fraud and abuse.
• To comply with legal obligations.

Your rights under POPIA

You can, at any time:

• Access the data we hold about you (via your dashboard).
• Correct inaccuracies (edit your profile and listings directly).
• Delete your account and have your content hidden from the site (dashboard → Settings → Delete my account).
• Opt out of marketing emails (Settings tab).
• Lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator (inforegulator.org.za).

How long we keep it

Active accounts: as long as you keep the account open. Deleted accounts: profile rows and verification records are removed immediately; listings and messages are hidden from view and purged from backups within 30 days. Financial records (when PayFast is active) are retained for 5 years to comply with the Tax Administration Act.

Security

We store credentials with Clerk (SOC 2 Type II), data with Airtable (SOC 2 Type II), and images with Cloudflare R2. All traffic uses HTTPS. We do not store passwords or payment card details directly — Clerk and PayFast handle those on our behalf.

Cookies

We use strictly-necessary cookies for sign-in (Clerk session cookie) and minimal first-party cookies for app preferences. We do not use third-party advertising cookies. If we ever add analytics, you will see a consent banner first.

Contact

For privacy questions, data access requests, or to lodge a concern, email info@freedomhub.io.

Children

The Route is intended for users aged 18 and over. We do not knowingly collect data from children. If a parent or guardian believes their child has registered, please contact us and we will delete the account.

Changes

If we materially change this policy we will notify signed-in users by email and update the "Last updated" date above.