Privacy Policy

The short version

• We don’t require an account, and you can browse without giving us anything.
• Your favourites, trip plans and badges are stored only on your own device.
• We collect contact details only when you choose to list a business with us.
• We use privacy-friendly, aggregate analytics — no advertising trackers.

Information we collect

Stored on your device only. Your saved favourites, trip itinerary and explorer badges live in your browser’s local storage. They never leave your device and we cannot see them.

Business listing submissions. If you submit a business through our List your business form, we collect the details you provide — typically the business name, your contact name, email address, phone/WhatsApp number, location, description and opening hours. We use these to review and publish your listing, to contact you about it, and to send you a link to your performance dashboard.

Anonymous usage events. When someone interacts with a listing (for example taps “Directions”, “WhatsApp”, “Call”, “Website” or “Book”), we record that an interaction of that type happened, so listing owners can see how their listing performs. These events are not linked to your identity.

Aggregate analytics. We use Vercel Analytics to understand overall traffic (e.g. which pages are popular). It is privacy-friendly and does not use cookies to track you across sites.

Location (only if you ask). If you tap “Near me”, your browser asks your permission to share your location so we can find places near you. This happens in your browser — we don’t store your location.

Email digest (opt-in). If you sign up for weather alerts we store your email address to send you the weekly digest. It’s double opt-in (you confirm by email first), we never share it, and every email has a one-click unsubscribe.

Cookies

We do not use advertising or cross-site tracking cookies. The only cookie we set is a secure session cookie for the site administrator to sign in to the private admin area — it is not used for visitors.

Who we share information with

We don’t sell your personal information. We use a small number of trusted service providers (“operators” under POPIA) to run the service:

• Supabase — secure database that stores listing and submission data.
• Vercel — hosting and aggregate analytics.
• Zoho Mail — sending and receiving our email.
• Open-Meteo — weather data. OpenStreetMap — maps.

Some pages include outbound links to booking partners (such as Booking.com, Lekkeslaap, Airbnb and tour-booking sites). When you follow one of those links you leave our site and their own privacy policies apply.

How long we keep it

We keep business listing and submission information for as long as the listing is active or while we may need it to operate the service or meet legal obligations. You can ask us to remove your listing and associated details at any time.

Your rights

Under POPIA you may ask us to access, correct, or delete the personal information we hold about you, and you may object to certain uses. To exercise any of these rights, email us at info@gardenroutecompass.com. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator of South Africa.

Children

This service is intended for general audiences and is not directed at children. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. The “last updated” date above will always reflect the current version.

Contact us

Questions about your privacy or this policy? Email info@gardenroutecompass.com.