Privacy Policy

This page explains what information we collect, why, and how it's used. We process personal information in line with South Africa's Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA).

1. What we collect

• Account info: name, email, WhatsApp number, residence, university and campus
• Listings you create: title, description, price, photos, category
• Orders: buyer/seller contact details exchanged to arrange a sale
• Reviews and ratings you leave or receive
• Favorites/saved listings and recently viewed items (stored in your browser)
• Push notification subscriptions, if you enable them, and saved search alerts
• If you were invited by a friend, which account referred you (used only to credit their invite reward)

We do not collect or use your device's location. Pargo pickup points are chosen from a fixed list, not based on where you are.

1a. Your rights under POPIA

As a data subject under POPIA, you have the right to: access the personal information we hold about you; ask us to correct or update it; object to certain processing; and request deletion, subject to information we're legally required to keep (e.g. transaction records for dispute resolution). To exercise any of these rights, contact us using the details in section 9 — we aim to respond within a reasonable time and in line with POPIA's requirements.

The information officer responsible for POPIA compliance on this platform can be reached at the email address in section 9.

2. Why we collect it

We use this information to run the marketplace: showing your listings to buyers, letting buyers and sellers contact each other, tracking orders, computing seller ratings, and enforcing our Terms of Service.

3. Who can see your information

• Your name, residence, university/campus, and listings are visible to anyone browsing the site.
• Your WhatsApp number is shared with a buyer once they place an order with you, and with a seller once you place an order with them.
• Admins can see all account and listing data to moderate the platform and manage seller subscriptions.

4. Photos and uploads

Listing photos and store logos are stored via our hosting provider (Supabase) and are publicly accessible via their URL, since they're needed to display your listings.

5. Data storage

Your data is stored using Supabase (a third-party database and authentication provider). Payments are processed by TradeSafe, our escrow partner, who receive the information needed to process your payment or payout. If you sign in with Google, Google shares your name and email with us to create your account. We don't sell your data to advertisers or third parties.

5a. Analytics and advertising

We don't use any third-party analytics, advertising, or tracking SDKs (no Google Analytics, Meta Pixel, or similar). We don't run ads and don't share your data with advertisers.

5b. Data retention

We keep your account information for as long as your account is active. If you delete your account, your personal information is removed as described in section 6 below. Order and transaction records are kept for longer, as required by South African tax and consumer-protection law (typically several years), even after an account is deleted — these records are anonymized so they no longer identify you personally, but the record of the transaction itself is retained.

5c. ID verification (optional)

Verifying your identity is voluntary, but it is required for in-person handovers so that buyers and sellers know who they are meeting. You can use Pargo without verifying.

• What we collect: a photo or scan of your ID and a selfie of you holding that ID. We do not record or store your ID number. These images show your face and may be treated as sensitive personal information, so we only process them with your explicit consent.
• Why: only to check that you are a real person and that the ID is yours, to make in-person meet-ups safer. We do not use these files for anything else, and we do not use automated face-matching: an admin compares them by eye.
• Age: you confirm you are over 18 when you create your account, and verification is not offered to anyone under 18. We do not knowingly process children's information.
• Consent: we ask for your consent before you upload anything, and we record when you gave it and which version of this notice you saw. You can withdraw it at any time from the Verify identity page ("Remove my verified status & verification data"). Withdrawing does not affect anything done before, but it does end your ability to do in-person handovers.
• Who can see it: only StudentMarketplace administrators. Files are kept in a private, access-controlled store (not publicly accessible), opened only through short-lived links, and every time an admin opens a file it is recorded in an audit log. Our hosting provider, Supabase, stores the files on our behalf as our operator and may store data on servers outside South Africa; we only use providers bound to protect personal information to a comparable standard.
• How long: both files are deleted as soon as an admin has decided your request (approved or rejected), immediately if you withdraw, and automatically within 30 days if nobody has reviewed them. After that we keep only: that you are verified, when, and (if rejected) the reason we gave you.
• Sharing: other users only see an "ID verified" badge. We never show them your documents, and we do not sell or share them with anyone else, unless the law requires us to.
• Your rights: you may ask to see, correct or delete the information we hold about you, object to its processing, or withdraw your consent, using the contact details in section 9. If you are unhappy with how we handle your information you may complain to the Information Regulator (inforegulator.org.za).

6. Your choices

• You can edit your profile information at any time.
• You can clear your saved name, WhatsApp number, and residence from your Edit Profile page.
• You can turn push notifications on or off at any time from your Security settings, and remove saved search alerts whenever you like.
• You can permanently delete your account from Profile → Account, or from mystudentmarketplace.com/delete-account without needing the app. This wipes your personal information and closes your account immediately; past orders and reviews are kept on record (shown as involving a "Deleted user") since we're legally required to retain transaction records — see that page for full details.

7. Cookies and local storage

We use your browser's local storage to remember things like your selected university/campus, recently viewed listings, and shopping cart — this stays on your device and isn't shared with third parties or used for advertising.

8. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy occasionally. Continued use of the platform after changes means you accept the updated policy.

9. Contact

Questions about your data? Reach out via the "Report an issue" link or WhatsApp support below.