MowZansi Privacy Policy

Effective date: 9 October 2026 Version: 1.0

MowZansi processes personal information in line with the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 ("POPIA") and other applicable South African law. This policy explains, in plain language, what information we collect, why we collect it, who we share it with, how long we keep it, and the rights you have.

1. Who we are

MowZansi is a South African two-sided online platform that connects homeowners and other customers ("customers") with independent garden and lawn-service businesses ("providers"). Customers use MowZansi to book mowing jobs; providers accept, perform and get paid for those jobs through the platform. Providers pay a monthly subscription to use the platform.

For POPIA purposes, MowZansi is the responsible party for the personal information described in this policy, except where a provider processes a customer's information in its own right as an independent business (see section 8).

Our full details:

2. Our Information Officer

POPIA requires us to appoint an Information Officer who takes responsibility for our compliance with the Act. You may contact our Information Officer about anything to do with your personal information:

• Information Officer: Lian Kruger
• Email: grasshop100@gmail.com
• Telephone: 0696362596
• Postal address: 59 Melody Ridge, Sonstraal, Cape Town, Western Cape

We also maintain a manual in terms of the Promotion of Access to Information Act 2 of 2000 ("PAIA"), which describes the records we hold and how to request access to them. The PAIA manual is available at the URL shown on our website, or on request from the Information Officer.

3. What personal information we collect

We only collect information we need to run the platform. Depending on how you use MowZansi, we may collect the following.

3.1 If you are a customer

• Your customer identifier.
• Your first name and last name.
• Your email address.
• Your phone number.
• Your service address details: street address, city, province/state, postal code and country.
• Your precise geographic location, recorded as latitude and longitude.
• The date your account was created.

3.2 If you are a provider (business)

• Your provider identifier.
• Your business name.
• Your contact number.
• Your email address.
• Your business location as latitude and longitude.
• The service radius in which you operate.
• Your platform rating and whether your account is active.

3.3 Information created when a booking is made

• The booking identifier and the linked customer and provider identifiers.
• The job address: street address, city, postal code and country.
• The date and time slot of the job.
• The mowing size and the mowing frequency.
• A gate or premises access code you give us so the provider can access the property.
• Whether there are pets at the property.
• Any special instructions you provide.
• Whether you agreed to the terms of service.
• The payment method used.
• The job location as latitude and longitude.
• The booking status and the price.
• If a booking is cancelled or disputed: who cancelled it, and the reason given by the customer or the provider.

3.4 Provider payout (bank) details

To pay providers, we collect: an account identifier, the account holder name, the bank name, the bank account number, the account type, the branch code, and the date the details were added.

3.5 Support, promotions and notifications

• Support and enquiry information: your email address and the question you submit.
• Promotions and competitions: your email address and the promotion or competition type you entered.
• Notifications: a notification identifier, your email address and contact number, the type of notification, whether a WhatsApp message and/or an email was sent, and the related booking identifier.

3.6 Analytics

We collect limited technical information about how the platform is used, such as the type of interaction, your IP address and information about your device.

3.7 Card data

We do not collect or store your full card number. Card payments are processed by our payment provider, Yoco, which handles card data under its own security and privacy obligations. We receive only the information needed to confirm and reconcile a payment.

4. Why we collect it

We collect and use personal information for specific, limited purposes:

• Creating and managing accounts - so customers and providers can register, sign in and use the platform.
• Matching and booking jobs - so customers can find providers and book mowing jobs, and so providers can accept and schedule them.
• Giving the provider access to the job site - so the provider can reach and enter the property, including the gate or premises access code and pet information.
• Location-based features - so we can show nearby providers, calculate service areas, and record where a job occurred.
• Payment and payout processing - so providers are paid their job earnings and so subscriptions can be billed.
• Notifications and service messages - so customers and providers receive booking confirmations, status updates and reminders by email, WhatsApp or app notification.
• Customer support - so we can answer questions and resolve problems.
• Promotions and competitions - so we can run and administer competitions a user has entered.
• Safety, security and fraud prevention - so we can detect misuse, protect users and secure the platform.
• Analytics and improvement - so we can understand how the platform is used and improve it.
• Legal compliance - so we can meet our tax, accounting and other legal obligations and enforce our terms.

We do not sell personal information.

5. The lawful basis for processing

POPIA requires a lawful basis for every use of personal information. We rely on:

• Your consent - for example, marketing communications and, where you choose to provide it, optional information such as gate access codes and special instructions.
• Performance of a contract - most of what we do (accounts, bookings, subscriptions, notifications) is needed to deliver the service you asked for.
• Compliance with a legal obligation - for example, retaining records for tax and accounting law.
• Legitimate interests - for example, preventing fraud, securing the platform, and improving our service, where this does not unfairly override your rights.
• Protecting a legitimate interest of the data subject - for example, sharing access and pet information so a provider can work safely.

Where we rely on consent, you may withdraw it at any time. Withdrawing consent will not affect processing that happened before you withdrew.

6. Sensitive and high-risk information

Some of the information we handle is particularly sensitive, and we treat it with extra care:

• Gate and premises access codes. These give access to a person's property. We collect them only to allow the booked provider to access the job site for that booking. Do not use a gate code that is also a banking or alarm-disarm code.
• Bank account details. Providers' account numbers, branch codes and account holder names are used only to pay out earnings. Access is restricted to staff who need it.
• Precise geolocation. Latitude and longitude show where a person lives or works. We use location only for matching, service-area and record-keeping purposes.
• Pets and special instructions. These can reveal personal circumstances and are shared only with the provider performing the booking.

Under POPIA, "special personal information" is a defined category (for example, information about health, religion, race or trade-union membership). We do not intentionally collect special personal information. If you choose to include it in a free-text field such as special instructions, we will process it only to deliver the booking and will treat it as sensitive.

7. Who we share it with

We share personal information only as described here.

• Between customers and providers. To make a booking work, we share the information the provider needs (such as the job address, time slot, mowing size, gate access code, pet information and special instructions) and the information the customer needs about the provider (such as the business name and rating).
• Google Firebase (Hosting, Firestore database and Authentication). This is the platform's core hosting, database and login infrastructure.
• Yoco. Our payment provider. Yoco processes card payments and handles card data under its own terms and privacy policy. We do not store full card numbers.
• Google (Gmail). Transactional email is delivered through Google's mail service from a Gmail account operated by MowZansi.
• IONOS VPS. Hosts the application programming interface (API) server that supports the platform.
• GoDaddy. Our domain registrar and DNS provider.
• Professional advisers and authorities. We may share information with our accountants, auditors or attorneys, or with a regulator, court or law-enforcement body, where the law requires it or where it is necessary to protect rights and safety.

These service providers are our operators (processors) under POPIA. We require them to process personal information only on our instructions and to keep it secure.

8. Cross-border transfers

Some of our service providers store or process personal information outside South Africa. In particular, Google Firebase stores data in Google Cloud infrastructure located outside the country.

POPIA (section 72) allows personal information to be transferred outside South Africa only if at least one of the following applies:

• the recipient is subject to a law, binding corporate rules or a binding agreement that provides an adequate level of protection that is substantially similar to POPIA;
• the data subject consents to the transfer;
• the transfer is necessary for the performance of a contract between the data subject and the responsible party, or to conclude a contract in the data subject's interest;
• the transfer is necessary for a contract concluded in the interest of the data subject between the responsible party and a third party; or
• the transfer is for the benefit of the data subject, is not reasonably practicable to obtain consent, and the data subject would likely consent.

We rely on the safeguards offered by our providers (including standard data-protection terms and compliance with recognised data-protection frameworks) and, where required, on your consent. By using the platform, you acknowledge that your information may be processed outside South Africa as described here.

9. How we protect your information

POPIA (section 19) requires us to secure personal information. Our safeguards include:

• access controls, so that staff and systems can reach only the information they need;
• authentication and account security for the platform;
• encryption in transit between your browser and our services;
• hosting and database services that provide their own physical and network security;
• restricting the use of sensitive information, such as gate codes and bank details, to the purpose for which it was collected.

No system is completely secure. If a security compromise occurs and your personal information is affected, we will notify you and the Information Regulator as required by POPIA (section 22).

10. How long we keep your information

POPIA (section 14) requires that records be kept only as long as necessary for the purpose for which they were collected, or as the law requires. Our retention periods are set out in this section, which is our retention schedule, and include at least the following rules:

• Customer personal information: retained for 12 months after the business owner's subscription ends, and in any event for at least 12 months from the customer's first sign-up. Where a single retention period is needed, we keep it for the longer of (a) 12 months after the provider's subscription ends, or (b) 12 months from the customer's first sign-up.
• Account information: kept while your account is active and for the retention period described above.
• Booking records: kept for the retention period described above, including for dispute resolution and accounting.
• Bank (payout) details: kept while the provider relationship is active and for 12 months after the provider's subscription ends.
• Analytics and click data: kept for 12 months, after which it is deleted or de-identified.
• Marketing records, including consent and opt-out records: kept for as long as needed to honour your preference.

When a retention period ends, we delete or de-identify the information.

11. Your rights as a data subject

As a data subject under POPIA, you have the right to:

• Be told whether we hold personal information about you and to request access to it (POPIA section 23).
• Request correction or deletion of personal information that is inaccurate, irrelevant, excessive, out of date, incomplete, misleading or unlawfully obtained (POPIA section 24).
• Object to processing, on reasonable grounds, including processing for direct marketing (POPIA section 11(3)).
• Withdraw consent you previously gave, at any time.
• Not be subject to a decision based solely on automated processing that significantly affects you, where that decision is not authorised by law.
• Lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator (see section 15).
• Institute civil proceedings for damages where your rights have been infringed.

To exercise any of these rights, contact our Information Officer (section 2). We may ask you to verify your identity before we act, and we may charge a reasonable fee for access requests where the law allows. We will respond within the timeframes set by POPIA.

12. Children

The MowZansi service is not intended for, and is not directed at, children under 18 years of age. We do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 18. If you believe a child has provided us with personal information, please contact our Information Officer and we will delete it.

13. Cookies and analytics

The platform uses cookies and similar technologies to keep you signed in, to remember your settings, and to understand how the platform is used. Our analytics record limited technical information, including the type of interaction, an IP address and device information.

You can control cookies through your browser settings. Blocking some cookies may affect how the platform works.

14. Direct marketing

We may send marketing or outreach messages about MowZansi, for example to providers or businesses we would like to join the platform.

• We comply with POPIA (section 69). Where the law requires your consent to receive electronic direct marketing, we will obtain it before sending.
• Every marketing message we send includes an unsubscribe instruction. You can opt out at any time, and we will stop sending you marketing.
• Our outreach messages use the following opt-out line: "If you would prefer not to hear from us, simply reply with STOP or email grasshop100@gmail.com and we will remove you from our list."
• Opting out of marketing does not stop service messages that are necessary to run your account or bookings.

We include a clear opt-out in every marketing or outreach email, and you may opt out at any time by replying to any message or emailing grasshop100@gmail.com. Opting out of marketing does not affect transactional emails about your account or bookings.

15. How to lodge a complaint

If you are unhappy with how we handle your personal information, please contact our Information Officer first so we can try to resolve it.

You also have the right to complain to the Information Regulator (South Africa):

• Website: https://inforegulator.org.za

Note: the Information Regulator's current published details are: JD House, 27 Stiemens Street, Braamfontein, Johannesburg, 2001 | Toll free 0800 017 160 | Tel 010 023 5200 | enquiries@inforegulator.org.za | https://inforegulator.org.za (verified 9 October 2026).

16. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. The version and effective date at the top will change when we do. Material changes will be communicated through the platform or by email where appropriate. Continued use of MowZansi after an update means you accept the updated policy.

17. Contact us

Questions about this policy or your personal information:

• MowZansi - Information Officer
• Email: grasshop100@gmail.com
• Telephone: 0696362596
• Address: 59 Melody Ridge, Sonstraal, Cape Town, Western Cape