Protection of Personal Information

2. Responsible party

SafeBlock Technologies (Pty) Ltd is the responsible party in respect of personal information for which SafeBlock determines the purpose and means of processing.

Privacy and POPIA-related enquiries may be directed to: support@safeblock.co.za .

3. POPIA principles

SafeBlock applies the conditions for lawful processing required by POPIA when handling personal information.

• Accountability.
• Processing limitation.
• Purpose specification.
• Further processing limitation.
• Information quality.
• Openness.
• Security safeguards.
• Data-subject participation.

4. Personal information SafeBlock may process

Depending on the features used, SafeBlock may process information including:

• Name and surname.
• Email address.
• Telephone number.
• User account identifiers.
• Profile information.
• Community membership information.
• Trusted-contact information.
• Emergency alert information.
• Location information.
• Device and notification identifiers.
• Application activity and technical information.
• Subscription and entitlement information.
• Support and enquiry records.
• Information voluntarily provided by users.

5. Location information

SafeBlock uses location information where necessary to provide location-aware safety features, including emergency alerts, incident location display, community safety functions and navigation-related features.

Location permissions are controlled through the user's device and application settings. Some emergency and map-related features may not function correctly if location access is disabled.

6. Emergency and panic-alert information

When a user activates an emergency feature, SafeBlock may process information necessary to create, transmit, display and manage the incident. This may include the alert type, account identifier, location, time of the alert, selected recipients or community and related incident information.

Emergency information is processed for safety, communication, incident coordination and platform operation purposes.

7. Community and trusted-contact information

SafeBlock may process information relating to communities that users create or join, community membership, trusted contacts and communication associated with safety features.

Users should only provide another person's contact information where they are authorised to do so and should keep trusted-contact details accurate and current.

8. Device, notification and technical information

SafeBlock may process technical data necessary to operate and secure the platform, such as device identifiers, push-notification tokens, operating-system information, application version, authentication records, diagnostic information and security-related events.

This information assists with delivering alerts and notifications, maintaining sessions, troubleshooting technical problems, protecting accounts and improving platform reliability.

9. Subscription and payment-related information

Where SafeBlock offers paid subscriptions, SafeBlock may process subscription status, product identifiers, purchase identifiers, entitlement information and related transaction records required to provide and administer the subscription.

Payment-card information may be processed by the relevant payment or application-store provider rather than directly by SafeBlock, depending on the payment method used.

10. Support and communication information

When a person contacts SafeBlock, we may process the contact details, message content and information reasonably required to respond to the enquiry, investigate a problem, provide support or maintain a record of the interaction.

11. Why SafeBlock processes personal information

SafeBlock processes personal information for legitimate and service-related purposes, including:

• Creating and managing user accounts.
• Authenticating users.
• Providing emergency-alert features.
• Delivering notifications.
• Providing maps and location-aware functionality.
• Enabling community participation.
• Managing trusted contacts.
• Providing subscription features.
• Providing customer and technical support.
• Maintaining platform safety and security.
• Preventing misuse, fraud and abuse.
• Diagnosing and correcting technical problems.
• Complying with applicable legal obligations.

12. Lawful processing and minimality

SafeBlock processes personal information lawfully and in a reasonable manner. Information is collected for specific and legitimate purposes and is limited to information reasonably necessary for those purposes.

SafeBlock may rely on consent, contractual necessity, legal obligations, legitimate interests recognised by law, or another lawful basis permitted under POPIA depending on the processing activity.

13. When information may be shared

SafeBlock does not disclose personal information without a lawful reason.

Information may be shared where reasonably necessary with:

• Service providers acting on SafeBlock's behalf.
• Authentication and cloud infrastructure providers.
• Push-notification and communication providers.
• Payment or application-store providers.
• Authorised community recipients where required by the feature.
• Emergency or response-related recipients where appropriate.
• Authorities where disclosure is required or permitted by law.

14. Operators and service providers

SafeBlock may use third-party operators and technology providers to support functions such as hosting, authentication, notifications, mapping, payments, analytics, security and technical infrastructure.

SafeBlock takes reasonable steps to use providers that maintain appropriate security and confidentiality safeguards relevant to the services they provide.

15. Security safeguards

SafeBlock applies reasonable technical and organisational measures designed to protect personal information against loss, damage, unauthorised destruction, unlawful access, unauthorised processing, alteration and disclosure.

Measures may include access controls, authentication mechanisms, secure communications, restricted administrative access, monitoring, platform configuration controls, software security measures and appropriate safeguards applied by infrastructure providers.

No digital system can guarantee absolute security, but SafeBlock reviews and improves safeguards as the platform and associated risks evolve.

16. Retention of information

SafeBlock retains personal information only for as long as reasonably necessary for the purpose for which it was collected or processed, subject to applicable legal, security, fraud-prevention, dispute-resolution and record-keeping requirements.

Information that is no longer required may be deleted, destroyed, de-identified or anonymised where appropriate.

17. Your POPIA rights

Subject to applicable law and verification requirements, data subjects may have rights to:

• Ask whether SafeBlock holds personal information about them.
• Request access to qualifying personal information.
• Request correction of inaccurate information.
• Request deletion or destruction where legally applicable.
• Object to certain processing.
• Withdraw consent where processing relies on consent.
• Object to qualifying direct marketing.
• Lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator.

SafeBlock may request reasonable information to verify the identity or authority of the person making a request.

18. Information relating to children

SafeBlock treats personal information relating to children with particular care and applies applicable legal requirements where such information is processed.

Where consent or authorisation from a competent person is legally required, SafeBlock may take reasonable steps to obtain or verify the necessary authority.

19. Special personal information

Certain categories of information may receive additional protection under POPIA. SafeBlock processes special personal information only where permitted by law and where reasonably necessary for a lawful purpose.

20. Direct marketing

Where SafeBlock conducts direct electronic marketing, it will do so in accordance with applicable legal requirements and available consent or opt-out rules.

Users may request that qualifying direct marketing communications stop using the unsubscribe or contact mechanisms provided.

21. Automated decision-making

SafeBlock does not rely on automated decision-making in a manner that unlawfully produces significant legal or similarly significant effects for users.

If material automated processing is introduced in future, SafeBlock will apply applicable POPIA requirements and provide appropriate information regarding that processing.

22. Cross-border processing

Some technology or infrastructure providers used by SafeBlock may process or store information outside South Africa.

Where cross-border processing occurs, SafeBlock applies the requirements of POPIA relating to transfers of personal information outside the Republic and uses appropriate safeguards where required.

23. Security compromises

SafeBlock investigates suspected security compromises involving personal information and takes reasonable steps to contain and address confirmed incidents.

Where notification is required under POPIA, SafeBlock will follow the applicable notification requirements relating to affected data subjects and the Information Regulator.

24. Website and technical information

SafeBlock's website may process ordinary technical information such as browser information, device information, page requests and other information necessary to operate, secure and maintain the website.

Where cookies or similar technologies are used, users may also be able to manage certain settings through their browser.

25. Account deletion

SafeBlock users may request deletion of their account and associated personal information, subject to lawful retention requirements.

Full information about the deletion process is available on the Delete Account page.

26. Complaints and the Information Regulator

Users are encouraged to contact SafeBlock first if they have a privacy or personal-information concern so that the matter can be investigated and addressed.

A data subject may also lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator of South Africa in accordance with POPIA and the Regulator's applicable complaint procedures.