HumanSpace ("we," "us," "our") operates the SocialSpace (SS) mobile application (the "Service"). This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, share, and protect your information when you use our Service. We are committed to protecting your privacy and being transparent about our data practices.
This Privacy Policy is designed to comply with the Protection of Personal Information Act, 2013 ("POPIA") of South Africa, the General Data Protection Regulation ("GDPR") of the European Union, and all other applicable data privacy laws. By using SS, you accept the terms of this Privacy Policy.
1. Information We Collect (Categories of Personal Information)
We collect the following categories of personal information:
Information You Provide to Us
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Registration Information: When you create an account, we collect your name, email address, phone number, date of birth, chosen username (not verified handle), avatar, voice bio, and text bio.
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User Content: Information you create on the Service, including Statuses (ephemeral posts which may include text, images, videos, or voice notes), messages you send through the messaging feature, reactions (emoji reactions), and comments. Our database schema tracks the type of media (media_type), creation timestamps (created_at), and expiration timestamps (expires_at) for Statuses.
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User Profile Information: Data that makes up your profile, such as your interests (user_interests), and community memberships (user_communities).
Information We Collect Automatically
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Precise Geolocation Information: The core feature of our Service requires the collection of your precise geolocation (user_lat, user_long). We use this to create a GEOGRAPHY(POINT, 4326) data type to power the Status Discovery Engine function. This data is collected whenever you use the app, subject to your device permissions.
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Usage Information: We collect information about your activity on our Services, such as which Statuses you view (status_views), your reactions (status_reactions), and with whom you communicate. Our database functions track reaction_count, view_count, and whether user_has_reacted.
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Device and Log Information: We collect log and device information, such as your device type, operating system, IP address, and crash reports.
2. How We Use Your Information (Purpose of Processing)
We use your information for the following purposes:
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To Provide and Operate the Services: To display nearby Statuses, facilitate messaging, manage your user profile, and enable all interactive features.
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To Personalize Your Experience: To show you content we think you will be interested in and improve the relevance of the Statuses you see.
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To Ensure Safety and Security: To enforce our Terms of Use and Community Guidelines, detect and prevent fraud, and protect our users. Our is_user_blocked function is an example of a tool used for this purpose.
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To Communicate with You: To send you updates, security alerts, and support messages.
3. How We Share Your Information
Your information may be shared as follows:
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With Other Users: Your profile information (name, avatar) and any User Content you post as a public Status (is_public = TRUE) will be visible to other users, particularly those within your geographic vicinity. Your precise location is not shared directly, but your content is displayed to others based on it.
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With Our Service Providers (Operators): We may share information with vendors and service providers (defined as "Operators" under POPIA) who need access to such information to carry out work on our behalf (e.g., cloud hosting, data analytics). These operators are contractually bound to protect your information.
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For Legal Reasons: We may share information if we believe disclosure is required to comply with any applicable law, legal process, or governmental request, or to protect the rights, property, and safety of our company, our users, or the public.
4. Consent for Location Data
Consent for the processing of your precise geolocation data is the cornerstone of our Service.
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Informed and Specific Consent: We will request your voluntary, specific, and informed consent to access your device's location services using a "just-in-time" approach. Before the operating system's permission prompt appears, we will present a clear, easy-to-understand screen explaining why we need your location (to show you nearby content), what data we are collecting, and the benefit to you.
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Withdrawal of Consent: You can withdraw your consent at any time by changing the location settings on your device. Please note that withdrawing consent will render most of our Services' features unusable.
5. Your Rights and Choices (Data Subject Rights)
In line with POPIA and other modern data protection laws, you have the following rights over your personal information. We extend these rights to all our users globally.
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Right to Access: You have the right to request a copy of the personal information we hold about you.
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Right to Rectification: You have the right to request that we correct or delete personal information that is inaccurate, irrelevant, excessive, out of date, incomplete, misleading, or obtained unlawfully.
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Right to Erasure (Deletion): You have the right to request the destruction or deletion of your personal information.
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Right to Object: You have the right to object to the processing of your personal information on reasonable grounds.
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Right to Lodge a Complaint: You have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator of South Africa if you believe we have not complied with POPIA.
You can exercise these rights by contacting us through the information provided below.
6. International Data Transfers
Your information may be transferred to, and processed in, countries other than South Africa. These countries may have data protection laws that are different. We will only transfer your data to a third party in a foreign country if they are subject to laws or binding agreements that provide an adequate level of protection, substantially similar to the conditions for lawful processing set out in POPIA.
7. Data Security and Retention
We implement reasonable technical and organizational security safeguards to protect your information from loss, damage, or unauthorized access. Statuses are ephemeral and are automatically deleted from public view after their expires_at timestamp is reached. We retain other account and usage data for as long as necessary to provide the Services and for other lawful purposes.
8. Children's Privacy
Our Services are not directed to individuals under the age of 16. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 16. If we become aware that a child under 16 has provided us with personal information, we will take steps to delete such information.
9. Contact Us
If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or wish to exercise your rights, please contact us at: