The short version
Location only while the app is open
We use it to show posts within 2 km and to place your posts. Never in the background, never approximate.
Nobody sees where you are
Other people see your posts, name and photo. Not your position.
Posts leave the feed after 24 hours
Expired posts are kept for 30 days for safety reviews, then deleted.
No ads, no selling, no tracking
We don't show advertising, sell your information or track you across other apps.
1
Who we are
Advoca is operated by Walktall Works (Pty) Ltd, registration number 2018/074329/07, a company registered in South Africa with its registered address at 51 Mike Mabunda Street, Thulamahashe-B, Thulamahashe, 1365, South Africa, that trades as Advoca ("Advoca", "we", "us", "our"). We are the responsible party for your personal information under the Protection of Personal Information Act, 2013 (POPIA).
Our Information Officer is Walktall Mabunda, reachable at info@advoca.social.
2
What we collect and how
We collect information you give us directly in the app, and information your phone provides with your permission. We do not buy information about you from anyone.
| Information | How we get it | Required? |
|---|---|---|
| Email address, or the account identifier and email that Google or Apple share with us (this may be an Apple private relay address) | You enter it, or you choose Google or Apple sign-in | Required to have an account |
| Display name | You enter it when you set up your profile | Required |
| Profile photo | You choose one | Optional |
| Your confirmation that you are 18 or older, and which version of the terms you accepted and when | You confirm and accept before signing in | Required |
| Precise location of your device | Your phone, with your permission, while the app is open | Required for the feed and for posting |
| Photos and short videos you post, with the time and place you posted from | You capture them in the app's camera | Only if you post |
| Reports you make: the post, the reason and any details you add | You submit a report | Details are optional |
| The accounts you block | You block someone | Only if you block |
| Basic technical records (app version, device type, errors) linked to an account number, never to your email address | Created automatically when you use the app | Needed to keep the service running |
Advoca uses your camera and microphone only while you take a photo or record a video, and does not access your contacts or the rest of your photo library. If you don't provide required information, you can't create an account or use the feed.
3
Your location
Advoca is built on a real 2 km circle around where you are standing, so it needs your precise location.
- We read it only while Advoca is open on your screen. It never runs in the background.
- We never estimate your location from your network or IP address.
- Your location decides which posts you see and who can see yours. It is never shown to other people as a position, a map pin or a distance.
- When you post, the place you posted from is stored with the post so we can show it to people within 2 km of it.
- You can turn location off at any time in your phone's settings. The app then explains how to turn it back on instead of showing an empty feed.
4
How we use it
- To provide Advoca to you: signing you in, showing the feed, publishing your posts and showing your own posts with their countdown. We rely on this being necessary to perform our agreement with you (POPIA section 11(1)(b)).
- To keep people safe: reviewing reports, removing posts that break our Terms, enforcing blocks and preventing misuse. We rely on our legitimate interest and yours in a safe service (section 11(1)(f)) and on our legal obligations (section 11(1)(c)).
- To meet legal and app store requirements: keeping records of terms acceptance and age confirmation, and handling deletion and privacy requests (section 11(1)(c)).
- To keep the app working: using technical records to find and fix errors (section 11(1)(f)).
- To contact you about your account, for example to send sign-in codes or tell you about changes to these terms. We don't send marketing messages.
We do not use your information for advertising, we do not sell it, and we do not use it to track you across other companies' apps or websites.
5
Who can see what
- People within 2 km of where you posted see your post, your display name, your profile photo and how long ago you posted, for 24 hours.
- People you've blocked, and people who have blocked you, don't see your posts, and you don't see theirs.
- Advoca's moderators see a reported post, the reason, any details the reporter added and the author's display name. They don't see who made the report.
- Nobody else sees your email address, your location or the list of people you've blocked.
Advoca has no public profiles, followers, likes, comments or private messages.
6
Who we share it with
We share information only with the service providers below, who process it on our behalf and only on our instructions. Each is bound by a data processing agreement that requires the same or equal protection of your information as this policy provides.
| Provider | What for | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Supabase (hosted on Amazon Web Services) | Database, sign-in, and storage of photos and videos | Frankfurt, Germany (EU) |
| Resend | Sending sign-in codes and moderation emails | European Union and United States |
| Google and Apple | Sign-in, only if you choose them | Under their own privacy policies |
| Vercel | Hosting this website | Global network |
We may also disclose information when the law requires it, for example under a court order, or to protect someone from serious harm. If Advoca's business is sold or restructured, your information would move to the new owner under this policy, and we would tell you first.
7
Where your data is stored
Advoca's data is stored and processed in the European Union, in Frankfurt, Germany, because our database provider does not offer a South African region. Some providers may also process it in other countries. Under POPIA section 72 we only transfer personal information outside South Africa to recipients that are bound by laws or binding agreements giving it protection substantially similar to POPIA, such as the EU's General Data Protection Regulation and our providers' data processing agreements.
8
How long we keep it
| Information | How long |
|---|---|
| Posts | Visible for exactly 24 hours. Then hidden from every feed and kept for 30 days so reports and legal requests can be handled, then permanently deleted with their photos and videos. |
| Account, display name and profile photo | Until you delete your account |
| Reports and moderation decisions | 12 months after the report is closed, then deleted. Reports you made stay without your identity if you delete your account. |
| Terms acceptance and age confirmation | For as long as your account exists |
| Technical records | 90 days |
We may keep information longer only where the law requires it, for example if we receive a lawful request to preserve it.
9
Delete your account
In the app: open Settings, then Delete account. You confirm it's you, then tap once to delete. It happens immediately and cannot be undone.
Without the app: email info@advoca.social with the subject "Delete my account", from the email address you signed up with (for Google or Apple accounts, the address they share with us). We'll send a code to that address to confirm it's you, delete the account within 7 days, and confirm by email.
What is deleted
- Your account, sign-in details, display name and profile photo
- All your posts, live and expired, with their photos and videos
- Your blocks, in both directions
What is kept
- A record that an account number was deleted, with no name or email address, so we can prove the deletion was done
- Reports you made, without your identity, for up to 12 months
Copies of photos and videos held briefly by delivery networks clear within one hour.
10
Withdrawing consent
- Location, camera, microphone and photos: turn the permission off at any time in your phone's settings. Advoca keeps working where it can and explains what needs the permission.
- Your profile photo: remove it at any time in the app.
- Everything else: delete your account (section 9). This withdraws your consent and removes your information as described above.
11
Your rights
Under POPIA you have the right to:
- know whether we hold personal information about you, and get a copy of it
- ask us to correct or delete it
- object to how we use it
- withdraw your consent and delete your account at any time
- complain to the Information Regulator of South Africa (inforegulator.org.za)
Email info@advoca.social to use any of these rights. We'll confirm your identity and respond within 30 days.
12
Security
Information travels encrypted between your phone and our servers. Access to data is restricted account by account, so the app can only read what you're allowed to see, and blocks are enforced on our servers, not just in the app. Links to photos and videos expire after one hour. No system is perfectly secure; if a breach affects your information, we will tell you and the Information Regulator as POPIA requires.
13
18 and older only
Advoca is only for adults. You must confirm you are 18 or older before you can sign in, and we do not knowingly collect information from anyone under 18. If we learn an account belongs to someone under 18, we delete it.
14
Changes to this policy
If we change this policy in a way that matters, we'll update the date at the top and show you the change in the app before you continue. Earlier versions are available on request.
15
Contact us
Questions, requests or complaints about privacy:
Walktall Works (Pty) Ltd, trading as Advoca
Reg. No. 2018/074329/07
Information Officer: Walktall Mabunda
Email: info@advoca.social
Phone: +27 72 859 4933
Address: 51 Mike Mabunda Street, Thulamahashe-B, Thulamahashe, 1365, South Africa