Privacy Policy

1. Who is responsible

Ambedo Services (Pty) Ltd (registration number 2026/842701/07), trading as Ambedo (ambedo.co.za), is the responsible party for the personal information described below. Our Information Officer can be reached at support@ambedo.co.za.

2. What we collect

• Account details: full name, email address, phone number, suburb/area, password (stored securely by our login provider, never visible to us), and an optional profile picture. If you use "Continue with Google", we receive your name, email and Google account identifier from Google.
• Job details: the job requests you send or receive, descriptions, photos, quotes, prices, messages and files or photos shared in a job's chat between a customer and provider, payment status for the job (for example whether a payment has been received), confirmation / cancellation / dispute records and their dates, and reviews you write.
• Provider details: trades, description, pricing, portfolio photos, and, if you choose to provide them, ID documents and trade certificates for verification.
• Banking details (providers): account holder, bank, account number, branch code and account type, so we can pay you.
• Technical information: basic data our hosting and security services process when you use the site (such as IP address and browser type), and your language preference, which is stored in your browser.
• Anonymous site activity: which categories are clicked or searched for, which listings are opened, and when a job request is sent, together with a random code that exists only for that visit. This does not include your name, email, phone number or IP address, and we do not use it to identify you. It is not collected if your browser sends a "Do Not Track" signal.

3. Why we use it

• To create your account and run the marketplace: showing listings, passing job requests, messaging, quotes, confirmations and reviews.
• To pay providers and to review refunds, cancellations and disputes.
• To verify providers' identity and trade documents, if they ask to be verified.
• To understand which categories are popular, so we know where to find more providers and how to improve the site.
• To keep the platform safe, prevent fraud and enforce our Terms of Service.
• To contact you about your account, jobs and support requests.
• To meet legal obligations (for example, tax and accounting records).

We do not sell your personal information. We do not use it for advertising by third parties.

4. Who sees it

• The other person on a job. A provider sees the customer's name, phone number and job details for requests sent to them. A customer sees the provider's phone number and email only after the provider accepts their request.
• The public sees a provider's listing: name, trade(s), area, pricing, portfolio photos, rating, reviews (with the reviewer's name) and verification status. Customer accounts are not public.
• Ambedo staff with administrator access, who review verification documents, resolve disputes and make payouts. Only Ambedo administrators can see a provider's banking details; no customer or other provider can.
• Service providers (operators) that help us run Ambedo: our database, authentication and file-storage provider (Supabase), our web host (Afrihost), our email provider (Resend, which sends account emails such as your welcome message, notifications that you have a new job request or chat message — these never include the message itself — and, for providers, a reminder on the day of a booked job that includes what the customer asked for but never phone numbers or chat messages), and, if you choose Google sign-in, Google. They process information only on our instructions and under their own security commitments.
• Authorities where the law requires it, or to protect rights and safety.

Cross-border transfers. Some of our service providers store or process data on servers outside South Africa. Where that happens we rely on providers who are bound to protect personal information to a level comparable to POPIA.

5. How we protect it

• Data is sent over encrypted connections (HTTPS).
• Access to data is limited by account-level rules in our database: you can only read and change what belongs to you.
• Providers' bank account numbers are encrypted at rest and can only be read by an Ambedo administrator through a restricted function.
• Uploaded documents are kept in access-controlled storage, viewable only by the provider and Ambedo administrators.

No system is perfectly secure. If we become aware of a breach that puts your information at risk, we will notify you and the Information Regulator as POPIA requires.

6. How long we keep it

• Account and listing information: while your account is active.
• Job, payment and dispute records: kept for as long as needed to handle disputes and to meet tax and accounting rules (generally up to 5 years after the job).
• Anonymous site activity: deleted automatically after 180 days.
• Verification documents and banking details: kept while you are an active provider and deleted or de-identified within a reasonable time after you ask us to close your account, unless we must keep them by law.

7. Your rights

Under POPIA you may ask us to:

• tell you what personal information we hold about you and give you a copy;
• correct or update information that is inaccurate or out of date (providers and customers can edit most details themselves in My Account);
• delete your information or close your account, subject to the retention reasons above;
• stop using your information for a particular purpose, where you object.

Email support@ambedo.co.za and we will respond within a reasonable time. You may withdraw consent at any time, but this does not affect processing already done, and we may be unable to provide the service without some information.

If you believe we have not handled your information properly you can complain to the Information Regulator (South Africa) at inforegulator.org.za.

8. Browser storage

We store your language choice, and the login session our authentication provider creates, in your browser so the site works as expected. We do not use advertising or tracking cookies. A random visit code used for the anonymous site activity in section 2 is kept in your browser only for the length of your visit.

9. Children

Ambedo is for people aged 18 and over. We do not knowingly collect information from children. If you think a child has given us information, email us and we will delete it.

10. Changes

If we change this policy we will update the date above and, for significant changes, take reasonable steps to tell you.