Privacy Policy

1. Who we are

AnimalClick is operated by Animal Click (Pty) Ltd, registration number 2024/660031/07 (“AnimalClick”, “we”, “us” or “our”). For purposes of South Africa’s Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 (POPIA), AnimalClick is the responsible party for the personal information described in this policy.

• Registered address: KwaZulu-Natal, 4235
• Privacy email: AnimalClick44@gmail.com
• Telephone: 076 998 3764

2. Personal information we collect

Depending on how you use AnimalClick, we may collect the following categories of personal information:

• Account and identity information, including your name, surname, username, email address, telephone number, profile photograph and authentication details.
• Profile information, including your biography, gender, address, subscription status, user type, verification status, role and preferences.
• Location information, including an address, approximate or precise location, latitude and longitude, when needed for nearby places, services, events, maps or similar location-based features.
• Device and technical information, including IP address, device or session identifiers, authentication metadata, sign-in timestamps and information generated when your device communicates with our Services.
• Activity information, including searches, filters, listing views, likes, reactions, reviews, ratings and activity timestamps.
• Content you provide, including profile images, photographs, community posts, comments, messages, reviews, ratings, enquiries, support tickets and information submitted about events, places or service providers.
• Pet-related and listing information, including pet-friendly policies, places, breeders, veterinary practices, rescue centres and pet-service provider details.
• Communication and marketing preferences, including email and push-notification choices.
• Payment-related information if paid features are introduced. AnimalClick does not currently process card payments through the audited version of the app. Where a third-party payment provider is introduced, its own privacy terms may also apply.

Please do not provide personal information that is unnecessary for your use of the Services, or information about another person unless you are authorised to do so.

3. How we collect information

We collect personal information:

• Directly from you when you register, create or update a profile, search for services or places, upload content, submit a listing, review or comment, change preferences, contact us or request support.
• Automatically when you use the Services, including through authentication, session, device, server-log, local-storage and similar technologies.
• From service providers and integrations used to operate features such as authentication, storage, maps, address autocomplete, hosting and communications.

4. How and why we use your information

We use personal information only where we have a lawful basis to do so. Depending on the circumstances, this may include your consent, performing or preparing to perform an agreement with you, complying with a legal obligation, or pursuing a legitimate interest that does not unjustifiably infringe your privacy.

• Create, authenticate, secure and administer your account and profile.
• Provide search, map, nearby-location, community and other app functionality.
• Display content you choose to publish, including posts, comments, reviews, ratings and profile information.
• Respond to enquiries, support requests and reports.
• Send account verification, password-reset, service, reminder and other operational communications.
• Send marketing or promotional communications where permitted and manage your communication preferences.
• Understand use of the Services, improve functionality and identify popular content or features.
• Protect users and the Services, prevent misuse, investigate suspicious activity and maintain secure sessions.
• Comply with legal and regulatory duties, enforce our terms and protect rights, property and safety.
• Manage subscriptions or paid features if and when these are introduced.

5. Public content and other users

Some AnimalClick features are social or community-based. Information you publish in a profile, post, comment, review, rating, event, place or provider listing may be visible to other users or the public, depending on the feature and your settings. Please consider carefully what you choose to share. We are not responsible for another person’s independent use of information that you intentionally make public, although applicable law may still restrict how that person may use it.

6. Service providers and sharing

We may share personal information with trusted operators and service providers only to the extent reasonably necessary to operate, secure and improve the Services. Current or relevant providers may include:

• Supabase, for authentication, database services, backend functions and storage.
• Google Places and Google Maps, for address autocomplete, location searches and map functionality.
• Apple Maps, as a mapping fallback on compatible Apple devices.
• Hosting and infrastructure providers selected for the website, backend or administrative panel.
• Email, notification, support or payment providers used for the applicable feature once implemented.

These providers process information under their own security and privacy arrangements and, where they act on our behalf, are expected to process it only for authorised purposes. We may also disclose information where required by law, court order or a competent authority; to investigate unlawful activity; to protect users, AnimalClick, property or public safety; or as part of a lawful business restructuring, subject to appropriate safeguards.

We do not sell your personal information. The audited version of AnimalClick did not identify an advertising SDK, data-broker integration, cross-app tracking library or social-login integration.

7. International processing

Some service providers, including cloud, storage and mapping providers, may process or store personal information outside South Africa. Where information is transferred across borders, we take reasonable steps to ensure that the transfer complies with POPIA and that appropriate protection is provided through applicable law, contractual safeguards, consent or another lawful transfer mechanism.

8. Data security

We use reasonable technical and organisational safeguards designed to protect personal information against loss, misuse, unauthorised access, interference, alteration or disclosure. Measures used in the Services include encrypted HTTPS/TLS communications, authenticated sessions, bearer-token authentication, automatic token refresh, password management through Supabase, access controls and role-based permissions. Password authentication is managed by Supabase, and AnimalClick does not store raw passwords.

No security measure can guarantee absolute security. If we become aware of a security compromise involving personal information, we will investigate, take reasonable remedial steps, and notify the Information Regulator and affected users as soon as reasonably possible, where required by law.

9. Retention, logging out and account deletion

Logging out is not the same as deleting your account. If you log out, none of your information is deleted; your account and associated information remain stored so that you can sign in again.

You may delete your account through the app. Once you confirm deletion, the account and its associated information are permanently deleted from the active backend, normally within a few minutes. We will also provide a publicly accessible web page through which you can request account deletion without using the app. The web link will be made available on the Animal Click website and app-store listing once live.

We otherwise retain personal information only for as long as reasonably necessary for the purposes described in this policy or as required or permitted by law. Information that has been irreversibly anonymised and can no longer identify you may be retained for statistical or service-improvement purposes.

10. Your choices and rights

Subject to applicable law and reasonable identity verification, you may:

• Access or request a copy of personal information we hold about you.
• Correct or update inaccurate or incomplete information.
• Object to certain processing or request that processing be restricted.
• Withdraw consent where processing is based on consent, without affecting earlier lawful processing.
• Opt out of marketing and manage email or push-notification preferences.
• Request deletion of your account and associated personal information.
• Submit a complaint to AnimalClick or the South African Information Regulator.

You can update certain information and preferences inside the app. For other requests, email AnimalClick44@gmail.com or use the in-app support function. We may ask for sufficient information to confirm your identity and locate the relevant records.

11. Marketing communications

We will only send you direct marketing communications electronically if you have expressly opted in to receive them, or as otherwise strictly permitted by POPIA and other applicable laws. If you have opted in, you may change your mind and opt out at any time using the unsubscribe method provided in the communication, changing your preferences within the app, or contacting us directly.

12. Children and younger users

AnimalClick is not directed at children under 12, and users must be at least 12 years old to create an account. Under POPIA, a person under 18 may be treated as a child whose personal information requires additional protection. If you are under 18, you may use AnimalClick only with the knowledge and prior consent of a parent, legal guardian or other person legally competent to consent on your behalf.

A parent or guardian who believes that a child has provided personal information without the required consent should contact us at AnimalClick44@gmail.com. Subject to reasonable verification, the parent or guardian may request access, correction, restriction or deletion. We reserve the right to verify age and parental consent at any time, and we may suspend or terminate accounts where valid consent cannot be confirmed.

13. Website technologies and external links

The AnimalClick website and web-based features may use essential cookies, browser local storage, or similar technologies to maintain sessions, remember settings, protect security, and provide requested functionality. You can usually choose to set your browser to remove or reject browser cookies, though this may affect the availability and functionality of our Services. If optional analytics, advertising pixels, or other tracking technologies are introduced in the future, this policy and any applicable consent notices will be updated where required.

The Services may contain links to third-party websites, maps, services, or content. We do not control and are not responsible for the privacy practices, content, or security of these external sites. Their privacy practices are governed by their own policies, and we strongly encourage you to review them before providing any personal information to them.

14. Changes to this Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy when our Services, service providers, legal requirements or information-handling practices change. The revised version will be posted on the AnimalClick website with an updated effective or revision date. Where a change is material, we may also provide notice through the app, email or another appropriate channel.

15. Contact us

For privacy questions, requests or complaints, please contact:

You may also lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator (South Africa). Current contact information and complaint procedures are available at inforegulator.org.za.