Privacy notice

Who is responsible

Eerste River Connect is run for the Eerste River community. The person in charge of your information (the information officer) is Cyril VonWillingh. The ERC team handles privacy requests on this site.

What we collect, and why

• Businesses: name, category, area, description, address, opening hours, and a phone number used for call and WhatsApp buttons.
• Buy & sell: title, description, price, category, area, photos, your name, and a phone number. The phone number is not shown on the public page. It is only shown after someone taps Contact seller.
• Lost and found, and safety notes: title, description, area, photos, your name, and a phone number. The phone is hidden until someone taps Contact. Lost posts drop off the public board after 30 days.
• Your account, if you sign in: your email, your name and area, and the areas and topics you pick. We email you a link to sign in. We don't send mass messages, and we never post on Facebook for you.
• Strikes and appeals: if the ERC team takes down a post you made while signed in, your account gets a strike. If you appeal, we keep the message you write.
• Reports and privacy requests: the reason, and the name and contact you type into the form.
• Cookies (small files on your phone) that keep you signed in. Both the ERC team's and residents' cookies stay on this site only.

We don't ask for proof of address, and we don't use advertising cookies.

Example data

Anything marked Example is made up, only to show how the site works. The phone numbers are not real, and the contact buttons don't call or open WhatsApp.

Where the data sits

The site runs on computer services called Vercel and Convex. They may store information outside South Africa. The law (POPIA section 72) allows this only when those companies protect your information properly, and we use providers that do. Please don't post very private things, like health, religion or criminal records. Don't name someone you think did a crime.

How long we keep it

An advert, business, lost-and-found post or safety note stays until the ERC team takes it down, or until you ask us to delete it. Lost-and-found posts leave the site after 30 days. Posts we said no to may stay on the team's side so we can see what was decided. Reports and appeals stay until the ERC team has dealt with them. A sign-in link stops working after 20 minutes. You stay signed in for 14 days.

Your rights

You can ask for a copy of your information, ask us to fix it, or ask us to delete it. Use the form below. Only the ERC team sees it. If you are unhappy, you can also complain to the Information Regulator.

Children and emergencies

This site is not meant for children. Do not post a child's name, school and photo together. ERC is not an emergency service. For danger, call SAPS on 10111, 112 from a cellphone, or the City of Cape Town on 021 480 7700 (107 from a landline).