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Privacy Policy for Swavoti Social

Effective Date: June 24, 2025

1. Introduction

Welcome to Swavoti Social ("we," "our," "us"). We are committed to protecting your privacy. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard your information when you use our mobile application and related services (collectively, the "Service").

Please read this Privacy Policy carefully. By using the Service, you agree to the collection and use of information in accordance with this policy. If you do not agree with the terms of this privacy policy, please do not access the application.

This policy is designed to comply with major privacy regulations, including the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and South Africa's Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA).

2. Information We Collect

We may collect information about you in a variety of ways. The information we may collect via the Service includes:

2.1 Information You Provide to Us

  • Account Registration Data: When you register for an account, we collect your email address and password to create and secure your account.
  • Profile Information: You may choose to provide us with additional information for your user profile, such as your name, profile picture, biography, contact details (email, phone, website), and personal interests or hobbies. This information is used to personalize your experience and allow others to find and connect with you.
  • User-Generated Content: We collect the content you create and share on the Service. This includes photos, videos (including "Reels"), text, posts, comments, poll questions and answers, story content, and any other information you voluntarily share.

2.2 Information We Collect Automatically

  • Usage Data: We may automatically collect information when you access and use the Service. This may include your IP address, device type, operating system, browser type, access times, pages viewed, and the page you visited before navigating to our Service. This also includes information about your interactions within the app.
  • Device Information: We may collect information about your mobile device, including the hardware model, operating system and version, and unique device identifiers.
  • Data from Third-Party Services: We use third-party services like Firebase for core functionalities. We may collect data provided by these services, such as analytics and crash reporting information.

3. How We Use Your Information

Having accurate information about you permits us to provide you with a smooth, efficient, and customized experience. Specifically, we may use information collected about you via the Service to:

  • Create and manage your account.
  • Operate and maintain the Service.
  • Improve, personalize, and expand our Service, including showing you content you may find relevant (e.g., suggested users, stories, and posts).
  • Enable user-to-user communications and interactions.
  • Monitor and analyze usage and trends to improve your experience.
  • Notify you about updates to our Service.
  • Respond to your comments, questions, and provide customer support.
  • For security purposes, to prevent fraud and protect the integrity of our platform.
  • Comply with legal obligations and resolve any disputes.

4. How We Share Your Information

We may share information we have collected about you in certain situations. Your information may be disclosed as follows:

  • By Law or to Protect Rights: If we believe the release of information about you is necessary to respond to legal process, to investigate or remedy potential violations of our policies, or to protect the rights, property, and safety of others, we may share your information as permitted or required by any applicable law, rule, or regulation.
  • Third-Party Service Providers: We share your information with third-party vendors, consultants, and other service providers who perform services for us or on our behalf. These services may include data hosting (VPS providers), analytics, customer service, and marketing. For example:
    • We use OneSignal to deliver push notifications and in-app messages. OneSignal may collect data about your device and interactions with notifications.
    • Our infrastructure providers (including various VPS providers) may process usage and device data, such as your device type, to help us operate and maintain the service.
  • Other Users and the Public: Your public profile information (name, profile picture, bio) and any content you post to a public account will be visible to all users of the Service. If your account is private, your content will only be visible to your approved followers.
  • With Your Consent: We may share your information with other third parties with your explicit consent.

5. Data Storage and Security

Your information is stored on secure servers provided by our third-party service provider, Firebase (Google), which may be located outside of your country of residence.

We use administrative, technical, and physical security measures to help protect your personal information. While we have taken reasonable steps to secure the personal information you provide to us, please be aware that despite our efforts, no security measures are perfect or impenetrable, and no method of data transmission can be guaranteed against any interception or other type of misuse.

6. Your Data Rights and Choices

We provide you with tools to manage your information and make choices about your privacy.

  • Access and Update Your Information: You can review and change your account and profile information at any time by logging into your account and visiting the "Edit Profile" section.
  • Content Deletion: You can delete content you have posted, such as posts and comments, directly within the application.
  • Privacy Settings: You can control the visibility of your content by switching your account between "Public" and "Private" in your settings.
  • Communications: You can opt-out of receiving promotional email communications from us by following the unsubscribe instructions provided in those emails. You can also manage push notifications from your device settings.
  • Account and Data Deletion: You have the right to delete your account and associated personal data. To request account and data deletion, please email us at privacy@swavoti.co.za with the subject line "Account Deletion Request" from the email address associated with your account. We will process your request in accordance with applicable law. Please note that some information may be retained in our backup archives for a limited period for legal, tax, or regulatory reasons.
  • Your Rights under GDPR and POPIA: If you are a resident of the European Economic Area (EEA) or South Africa, you have certain data protection rights, including the right to access, rectify, erase, restrict processing of, or request portability of your personal data.

7. Children's Privacy

Our Service is not intended for use by children under the age of 13 (or a higher age as required by local law). We do not knowingly collect personally identifiable information from children under 13. If we become aware that we have collected personal data from a child under this age, we will take steps to delete that information.

8. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of any changes by posting the new Privacy Policy within the application and updating the "Effective Date" at the top of this page. You are advised to review this Privacy Policy periodically for any changes.

9. Contact Us

If you have any questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy or our data practices, please contact us at:

Email: support@swavoti.co.za

Subject: Privacy Policy Inquiry