1. Responsible party
The Service is operated under the name Missing Pets South Africa. The responsible party and Information Officer can be contacted at privacy@missingpets.co.za. The operating location for notices is Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa. The Information Officer contact is Information Officer, Missing Pets South Africa.
2. Information we collect
We collect account details, profile and communication preferences, optional veterinary or non-profit organization details, pet profiles, missing and found report details, uploaded photographs, optional colour, collar or harness, microchip, temperament and response-cue information, contact enquiries, payment and membership records, security logs, approximate or precise location when you choose to provide it, and technical information needed to operate and protect the Service.
3. Guest reports
A person may submit a report without a member account. We create a protected guest profile linked to the supplied email so the report can be managed or claimed later. Guest and member profiles are distinguished internally. Private contact details are not displayed on public pet alerts.
4. Why we use information
Information is used to create and moderate alerts, show nearby reports, contact report owners or finders, manage accounts and pets, process optional memberships and Alert Boosters, prevent fraud and abuse, provide support, improve site performance and comply with South African law, including POPIA.
5. Communication choices
You choose the WhatsApp and email topics you want. Turning off a channel’s master permission turns off every topic beneath it. You can update these choices in your dashboard. Essential transactional or security messages may still be sent where necessary to provide a service you requested or protect an account.
6. Pet-alert views and social metrics
We count a website view when an approved pet card or pet page is actually displayed on screen. We do not require a click. To reduce repeated inflation, the same connection is counted at most once per pet alert within a 30-minute period using a one-way salted hash derived from the connection IP address; the raw address is not stored in the pet-view window table. Where a report has a Facebook or Instagram post identifier and the relevant professional-account access is configured, we may retrieve aggregate post-view or reach metrics and combine them with website views. These counts are aggregate activity indicators and are not used to reveal who viewed a pet alert.
For alert distances, we reuse your consented device location or selected current area in this browser session for up to 30 minutes. Device coordinates can calculate distance without looking up your suburb; a province lookup is only needed for the provincial filter. Reporters’ private exact coordinates are not displayed.
7. Optional page heatmaps
If you enable Analytics in cookie settings, we record anonymous clicks and taps on public pages. Each link or button has a static identifying code for its public base page and desktop, tablet or mobile layout. Counts are grouped on the matching example screenshot. We store that code, the base-page path, the layout category, a random per-click identifier to prevent duplicate retries, and a server timestamp. The click identifier does not identify a person or session. We do not record mouse movement, dwell time, scroll tracking, exact screen sizes, typed text, input values, element text, user identifiers or persistent session identifiers, raw IP addresses or private account and administration pages. Only administrators can view aggregated click data. Raw events are retained for up to 90 days. Withdrawing Analytics consent stops capture and clears unsent clicks on that device.
8. Location
Device location requires your browser permission. After you allow device location, we may reuse the location saved in this browser until it expires. When device location is unavailable, displayed distances may use your saved profile suburb or approximate network location supplied by our hosting provider. These alternatives are labelled as approximate. Radius filters require device location; visitors can browse Within SA without sharing it. Reports entered manually use the reported suburb centre. If that centre is unavailable, an existing report location may be rounded to a coarse area for distance calculations. Public cards never display a reporter’s private coordinates or address. A distance is unavailable when either area cannot be determined.
Location search may use Google Maps or location data from OpenStreetMap contributors.
9. Moderation and publication
Every missing and found pet report enters Review, regardless of account type, membership or Alert Booster selection. A booster does not bypass approval. Approved reports can be shared publicly; Review, Declined and private account information are not publicly listed.
10. Service providers and transfers
We use service providers such as Supabase, Vercel, payment, anti-spam, analytics and communication providers. They process only the information needed for their role and are subject to their security and privacy obligations. Where information is processed outside South Africa, we use reasonable contractual and technical safeguards.
11. Retention and deletion
We retain records only as long as needed for alerts, account administration, fraud prevention, audit, legal obligations and dispute handling. Users can request correction or deletion through the dashboard or by contacting the Information Officer. Some transaction, moderation or security records may be retained where legally required or reasonably necessary.
12. Security
We use access controls, private media delivery, server-side validation, rate limiting, anti-bot protection, signed payment verification and database policies. No internet service can guarantee absolute security. Report suspected misuse to contact@missingpets.co.za.
13. Your rights
Subject to POPIA, you may ask to access, correct or delete personal information, object to certain processing, withdraw optional consent or complain to the Information Regulator. Contact the Information Officer first so we can investigate and respond.
14. Updates
We may update this policy when the Service, law or suppliers change. The current version published on this page applies from its displayed publication date.