Privacy Policy

Chairside (Pty) Ltd ("Chairside", "we") operates getchairside.co.za and the Chairside platform. This policy explains what personal information we collect, why, and how we protect it. We process personal information in line with the Protection of Personal Information Act, 2013 (POPIA) — see our POPIA notice.

What we collect

If you register interest: your name, how you work (salon owner, independent, or working at a salon), WhatsApp number, area, services offered, and City registration status. We use this only to contact you about joining Chairside.

If you use the platform: account details (name, verified phone, email), business/profile information you publish, booking and transaction records, reviews, and messages sent through the platform. Service providers who take payments additionally provide identity-verification information (SA ID, an ID-verification photo, and bank details) — handled as sensitive information: collected with explicit consent, encrypted, access-restricted, and used only for verification and payments.

Location

Every use of your location is opt-in, asked for only while you are using the app, and records a single position at the moment you ask for it — never continuous or background tracking. Consent can be withdrawn at any time in your device settings. We use it in four places, and nowhere else:

• to place your business or service pin on the map when you sign up or edit your profile, so clients can find you;
• to show you providers near you when you choose “Near me”;
• to fill in your address for a house-call booking, so the provider knows where to travel;
• for the optional punctuality check at an appointment time, which records one position at that time only.

Notifications

If you allow notifications, we store a device notification token so we can send you booking updates — confirmations, reminders, and changes made by you or your provider. The token identifies the app installation on your device, not you personally, and we do not use it for advertising. You can withdraw permission at any time in your device settings, and we delete the token when you sign out or delete your account.

Diagnostics

We collect crash reports and basic error diagnostics so we can find and fix faults in the app. These are processed on our behalf by an error-monitoring provider, are used only to keep the service working, and are never used for advertising or sold.

Health check

Before some spa and aesthetic treatments we ask a few yes/no health questions (pregnancy, heart or blood pressure, allergies, a recent injury or skin condition, and medication), and you may add a note. This is special personal information under POPIA: we ask for your consent first, only you and the professional treating you can see your answers, and we delete them 12 months after you gave them.

Messages, posts and comments

When you chat with a business, post photos, videos or statuses, comment, or leave a review, we store that content to provide the service. Posts, comments and reviews are visible to other users as you choose; messages are visible only to you and the business you are chatting with.

Blocking and reporting

You can block another user. They will no longer appear in your feed, you will no longer see their comments, and neither of you can comment on the other's posts or message each other. You can unblock them at any time. Reports go to Chairside staff, who review them within 24 hours.

How we use it

To operate bookings and payments, verify providers, prevent fraud, resolve disputes, meet legal obligations, and tell you about Chairside. We do not sell personal information.

Who we share it with

Payment processing uses your connected banking details for PayShap and scan-to-pay deposits, paid directly to the business. We also use trusted providers who process data only on our behalf: Supabase (hosting and database), Mux (video), Google Maps (maps and address search), Sentry (crash reports), and Expo, Google Firebase and Apple (push notifications). They may not use your data for their own purposes. We share information with them only as needed to provide the service, and with authorities where the law requires it.

Retention & your rights

We keep information only as long as needed for the purposes above or as the law requires. You may request access, correction, or deletion of your personal information at any time by emailing hello@getchairside.co.za.