Privacy Policy

1. Who we are

Bark Parks is operated by Andrew Dare, Cape Town, South Africa ("we", "us", "our").

Information Officer: Andrew Dare
Email: privacy@barkparks.co.za

2. What personal information we collect

We collect the following categories of personal information:

• Account information: Your name, email address, and phone number when you register.
• Identity verification: Government-issued ID or passport number and a selfie photograph, collected to verify your identity.
• Profile information: Profile photo, biography, and dog profiles (name, breed, age, photo) that you voluntarily add.
• Booking information: Dates, times, spaces booked, number of dogs, payment amounts, and booking history.
• Payment information: Bank account details provided by Hosts for payouts. Card details are processed directly by Paystack and are not stored by Bark Parks.
• Location data: General location (city/province) used to surface relevant listings. We do not track your real-time GPS location.
• Communications: Messages sent through our in-app messaging system.
• Device and usage data: IP address, browser type, and pages visited, collected automatically for security and analytics.

3. Why we collect your information

We process your personal information only for the following lawful purposes:

• To create and manage your account.
• To verify your identity and maintain the safety of the platform.
• To facilitate bookings between Guests and Hosts.
• To process payments and payouts.
• To send booking confirmations, reminders, and platform notifications.
• To investigate reports of misconduct or safety incidents.
• To comply with legal obligations.
• To improve the platform and user experience (using anonymised, aggregated data only).

We will not use your personal information for purposes beyond those listed above without your explicit consent.

4. Who we share your information with

We share personal information only in the following limited circumstances:

• Between users: When a booking is confirmed, the Guest receives the Host's full address. The Host receives the Guest's name and profile. No other personal details are shared without consent.
• Paystack: Payment processing. Paystack is subject to its own privacy policy and PCI DSS compliance.
• Supabase: Our database and authentication provider, hosted on secure cloud infrastructure.
• Legal obligations: We may disclose information to law enforcement or regulators if required to do so by South African law.

We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal information to third parties for marketing purposes.

5. How we protect your information

We implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal information against unauthorised access, loss, or misuse. These measures include:

• Encrypted data storage and transmission (HTTPS/TLS).
• Row-level security policies on our database.
• Private storage buckets for sensitive files such as identity documents and dog photos.
• Access controls limiting internal access to personal data on a need-to-know basis.

No system is completely secure. If you suspect your account has been compromised, contact us immediately at privacy@barkparks.co.za.

6. How long we keep your information

• Account data: Retained for as long as your account is active, plus 12 months after closure to allow for dispute resolution.
• Booking records: Retained for 5 years for financial and legal compliance.
• Identity documents: Retained for 12 months after your last booking, then securely deleted.
• Messages: Retained for 12 months after the related booking, then deleted.

7. Your rights under POPIA

As a data subject under POPIA, you have the following rights:

• Right of access: You may request a copy of all personal information we hold about you.
• Right to correction: You may request that we correct any inaccurate or incomplete personal information.
• Right to deletion: You may request that we delete your personal information, subject to our legal retention obligations.
• Right to object: You may object to the processing of your personal information for direct marketing purposes.
• Right to complain: You have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator of South Africa at inforegulator.org.za.

To exercise any of these rights, email us at privacy@barkparks.co.za. We will respond within 30 days.

8. Cookies

We use session cookies to keep you logged in. We do not use third-party advertising cookies. Analytics data is collected in aggregate and anonymised form only.

9. Children's privacy

Bark Parks is not intended for use by persons under 18. We do not knowingly collect personal information from minors. If you believe a minor has registered, please contact us immediately.

10. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. Material changes will be communicated by email. Continued use of the platform after a change constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

11. Contact us

For any privacy-related queries or to exercise your rights:
privacy@barkparks.co.za