Privacy policy

How we collect, use and protect your personal information, in line with POPIA.

Last updated 8 October 2026 Governed by South African law

The short version

  • We do not sell your personal information.
  • Your email, phone number and ID documents are never shown to other members.
  • ID documents are stored privately and reviewed only by authorised staff.
  • You can delete your account and data at any time in the app.

This summary is for convenience only. The full policy below applies.

This Privacy Policy explains how Swoper ("we", "us" or "our") collects, uses and protects your personal information when you use the Swoper app and the website swoper.co.za. We process personal information in line with the Protection of Personal Information Act, 2013 ("POPIA").

1Information we collect

Account details
your name, email address and password (stored securely in hashed form), and the area you choose as your location.
Optional contact details
a phone number, which is kept private and is not shown on your profile.
Profile and listings
your profile photo, listings, item photos, descriptions and the location of each listing.
Swops and messages
the offers you make and receive, your chat messages, reviews you give and receive, and items you save.
Verification
if you apply for verified membership, a photo of your identity document and a selfie, and the outcome of our review.
Purchases
whether you have an active subscription or boost and when it expires. Payments are processed by Apple or Google; we never receive your card details.
Support and safety
support requests and replies, reports you make, and people you block.
Usage and device information
listing views, push notification tokens, basic device and app information, and technical logs needed to keep Swoper secure and working.

We do not access your device's GPS location, contacts or microphone. The app uses your camera only when you choose to take a photo.

2How we use your information

We use your information to create and run your account; show your listings and profile to other members; enable offers, chats, reviews and saved items; review identity documents for verification; manage subscriptions, boosts and offer and listing limits; send notifications you have allowed; provide support; prevent fraud, abuse and unsafe behaviour and act on reports; show listing statistics to the owner of a listing; improve Swoper; and meet our legal obligations. We process your information because it is needed to provide the service you asked for, because you consented, to comply with the law, or for our legitimate interest in keeping Swoper safe and working.

3What other members can see

Other members can see your name, profile photo, area, verified badge (if active), listings, reviews and the messages you send them. Your email address, phone number, identity documents and the people you block or report are never shown to other members. Listing statistics are visible only to the person who listed the item.

4Identity documents

Identity documents and selfies are stored privately and can only be accessed by authorised Swoper staff for verification, safety and legal purposes. They are never shown to other members.

5Who we share information with

We do not sell your personal information. We share it only with service providers who help us run Swoper, under agreements that require them to protect it: Supabase (database, file storage and sign-in), RevenueCat (subscription records), Apple and Google (app distribution, payments and notifications) and Expo (push notification delivery). We may also disclose information when required by law, a court order or a lawful request from authorities, or where it is necessary to protect the safety of a person.

6Transfers outside South Africa

Some of our service providers store or process information outside South Africa. When this happens we make sure the information is protected in line with POPIA, for example by working with providers bound by adequate data protection laws or agreements.

7How long we keep information

We keep your information for as long as your account is active. When you delete your account we delete your profile, listings, photos, verification documents, offers, reviews and related conversations, except where we must keep certain records for longer to comply with the law, resolve disputes, prevent fraud or enforce our Terms. Backups are overwritten on a regular cycle.

8Security

We use reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect your information, including encryption in transit, access controls and private storage for sensitive documents. No system is completely secure, so please keep your password safe and tell us immediately if you suspect unauthorised use of your account.

9Your rights

Under POPIA you may ask to access the personal information we hold about you, ask us to correct or delete it, object to certain processing and withdraw consent where we rely on consent. You can update most details in the app and delete your account under My Profile, Account settings, Delete account. For any other request, email [email protected]. If you are not satisfied with our response, you may lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator of South Africa (inforegulator.org.za).

10Children

Swoper is only for people aged 18 and older. We do not knowingly collect information from children. If you believe a child has created an account, please contact us and we will remove it.

11Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will tell you about important changes in the app or on swoper.co.za.

12Contact

Questions about this policy? Email [email protected]. See also our Terms & conditions.