iGroZa Privacy Policy
Effective date: [[DD Month 2026]]
Last updated: [[DD Month 2026]]
1. Who we are
iGroZa ("iGroZa", "we", "us") is a grocery price-comparison and shopping-planning app for South Africa. It's made available through the iGroZa Android app and the websites igroza.com, api.igroza.com and admin.igroza.com.
The responsible party for your personal information is:
- Legal name: [[Full legal name of the business or person, e.g. "iGroZa (Pty) Ltd"]]
- Registration number: [[CIPC number, if a company]]
- Physical address: [[Street address, city, postal code, South Africa]]
- Information Officer: [[Name]], support@igroza.com
- Information Regulator registration number: [[number, once registered]]
2. The short version
- We collect what we need to run your account and keep your basket, lists and watched items in sync across your phones.
- We don't sell your personal information, and we don't show third-party ads.
- Your location stays on your phone. If you tap "Use my location", the app works out your approximate area on the device to show nearby stores. We don't send your coordinates to our servers.
- Prices in the app come from retailers' public websites and are shown with the date they were checked. They're not personal information.
- You can ask us to access, correct or delete your information at any time: support@igroza.com.
3. What we collect, and why
| What | Examples | Why we need it | Legal basis (POPIA s11) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Account details | Name, email address, password (stored only as a secure hash), email-verification status | To create and secure your account, sign you in, and send account emails (verification, password reset) | Contract: providing the service you asked for |
| Shopping preferences | Preferred retailers, the categories you choose, and an optional suburb you type in | To tailor what you see first | Consent (optional; you can skip or change it) |
| Your shopping data | Basket (Ghost Cart) items and quantities, shopping lists, watched products and any target price you set | To save your plans and sync them between your phones | Contract |
| Your own items and shelf prices | Products you add yourself (barcode, name, brand, size, notes) and shelf prices you record (store, branch, price, date) | To keep your personal price book and show it only to you | Contract |
| Missed scans | A product barcode you scanned that we didn't recognise, when you scanned it, and its name if Open Food Facts knew it | To find and add missing products, and to tell you when one becomes available | Legitimate interest: improving the catalogue |
| Device and sign-in records | A random installation ID, a device label, sign-in tokens, and when a device was last seen | To keep you signed in, let you sign out other devices, and keep the service secure | Contract; legitimate interest (security) |
| Technical and security logs | IP address, browser or app information, timestamps and error reports in server logs | To run, secure and fix the service, and to prevent abuse | Legitimate interest; legal obligation |
| Support messages | What you send to support@igroza.com | To help you | Contract; legitimate interest |
| Push notification token (when enabled) | A Firebase Cloud Messaging token for your phone | To send alerts you turn on, such as price drops or "item now available" | Consent (you can turn alerts off) |
What stays on your phone and is not sent to us:
- Your approximate location, if you tap "Use my location". The app only asks for Android's approximate location permission, and only when you tap that button.
- Your budget.
- Taste check answers, the weekly "Do you buy this?" game.
- Camera images. The camera is used only to read barcodes on your phone. We don't store or upload photos.
- Loyalty card numbers (when the feature launches): stored encrypted on your phone only.
We don't knowingly collect special personal information (such as health or religious information) or information about children.
4. Where product and price data comes from
- Product names, photos and prices come from retailers' public websites and from Open Food Facts. They're shown with their source and the date they were checked. Prices can change and may be different in a particular store; see the Terms of Use.
- Store locations come from OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, Open Database Licence).
This data is about products and shops, not about you.
5. Who we share information with
We share personal information only with service providers who help us run iGroZa. They process it on our instructions under POPIA s20–21:
| Provider | What they do | What they receive |
|---|---|---|
| Hostinger [[confirm the hosting region]] | Hosting our servers, database and email | All the server-side data above |
| Google Firebase (when enabled) | Delivering push notifications | Your push token and the notification text |
Services your phone talks to directly when you use certain features:
- Open Food Facts: when you scan an unknown barcode, the app looks it up there. They receive the barcode and your IP address.
- Google Maps or Waze: only if you tap "Go to store". That opens their app with the store's location.
- Your phone's share sheet: only if you tap Share.
Each of these services has its own privacy policy.
We may also disclose information:
- if the law requires it, or to protect the rights and safety of our users or the public;
- to a buyer or successor if the business is sold. We'd tell you first.
We never sell or rent personal information, and we don't use advertising trackers.
6. Cross-border transfers
Our hosting provider may store data on servers outside South Africa: [[confirm the Hostinger data-centre region]]. If information leaves South Africa, we transfer it only where POPIA s72 allows. That means the recipient is bound by laws, binding rules or an agreement giving protection substantially similar to POPIA, or you have consented.
7. How long we keep it
| Information | How long |
|---|---|
| Account, preferences and shopping data | While your account is open. Deleted within 30 days of an account deletion request, except where the law requires us to keep something. |
| Missed scans | Linked to your account until the product is found or dismissed. The link to you is removed [[90]] days after that. |
| Device and sign-in records | Until you sign out, or a device is revoked, plus [[90]] days |
| Server and security logs | Up to [[90]] days |
| Database backups | Up to [[14]] days, then overwritten |
| Support emails | Up to [[2]] years |
8. How we protect it
- Passwords are stored as one-way hashes, never in readable form.
- All traffic to our servers is encrypted (HTTPS).
- Sign-in tokens are kept in your phone's secure storage.
- Staff access to the admin area is limited by role and recorded in an audit log.
- Support staff can't browse your private shopping details by default.
No system is perfectly secure. If a security compromise affects your personal information, we'll notify you and the Information Regulator as POPIA s22 requires.
9. Your rights
Under POPIA you can:
- ask what personal information we hold about you, and get a copy;
- ask us to correct or delete it;
- object to processing based on legitimate interest;
- withdraw consent (for example, turn off alerts or clear your preferences) at any time;
- complain to the Information Regulator.
How to do it:
- In the app:
- Account → edit your preferences;
- Settings → turn alerts off;
- Account → Delete account [[the in-app deletion screen ships before launch]].
- By email: support@igroza.com. We'll reply within [[30]] days and may need to confirm it's really you.
Information Regulator (South Africa): https://inforegulator.org.za, [[confirm the current complaints email and address on their website]]
10. Children
iGroZa is meant for people aged 18 and older. We don't knowingly collect children's information. If you believe a child has given us personal information, contact us and we'll delete it.
11. Direct marketing
We only send service emails: verification, password reset and important changes. We won't send marketing emails or messages unless you opt in, and every marketing message will include a way to opt out (POPIA s69).
12. Changes to this policy
If we make important changes, we'll tell you in the app or by email before they take effect. The date at the top shows the latest version.
13. Contact
support@igroza.com · [[physical address]] · Information Officer: [[name]]