Sweep
Privacy policy
Sweep is a motorcycle safety app. To get help to you when you crash or ask for it, Sweep has to know who you are, where you are and who to tell. This policy explains what we collect, why, who sees it and what your rights are under the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA).
The short version: we only collect what Sweep needs to keep you safe, we never sell your information, and we never share it with third parties for their own use.
Who we are
Sweep is run by Isaiah Mashingaidze in Paarl, Western Cape, South Africa. He is the responsible party and the Information Officer for Sweep. You can reach us at hello@sweeprides.co.za.
What we collect
| Information | Why we need it |
|---|---|
| Your name, cell phone number and profile photo | To sign you in with a one time SMS code and to show other riders who you are. |
| Emergency contacts and WhatsApp numbers you add | So we know who to alert when you crash or send an SOS. |
| Your bike details | So the people coming to help can find you and your bike. |
| Your location | Only while a ride is running, when you share it with your crew or a group ride, or when you send an alert. |
| Motion sensor readings | Used on your phone to spot a crash and for ride and track stats. Raw sensor data is not uploaded. |
| Voice notes you choose to send | So your contacts can listen to them. They are deleted after 7 days. |
| Posts, comments, group rides and crew membership | To run the rider community features you choose to use. |
| Your signed pilot agreement | To record that you agreed to the pilot terms. |
Your medical card (blood group, allergies, emergency contact) is stored on your phone and inside the QR code you save. It is not stored on our servers.
Who sees your information
- The emergency contacts and WhatsApp numbers you add, when you send an alert or a voice note.
- Riders in your crew or group ride, who can see where you are while you ride together.
- Riders near you, when you send a help request, so they can come to you.
- The Sweep control room, which watches alerts and moderates posts.
Services we use
These companies process information for us so that Sweep can work. They may not use it for anything else.
- Google Firebase for sign in and our database, stored in Johannesburg, South Africa.
- Cloudflare to run the Sweep relay that sends WhatsApp alerts and keeps voice notes for 7 days.
- Meta (WhatsApp Business) to deliver WhatsApp alerts to the numbers you added.
- Map and route services (Google Maps, OpenFreeMap, OpenStreetMap and OSRM) which receive map positions to draw maps, plan routes and find nearby stop signs and robots.
SMS alerts are sent from your own phone and SIM, not by us.
Some of these services run servers outside South Africa. Where information leaves the country, it is protected by the service's own data protection terms, as POPIA requires.
What we will never do
- Sell your information.
- Share it with advertisers. Bike businesses can advertise in Sweep, but they never get rider data.
- Track you when a ride is not running and you have not sent an alert.
How long we keep it
Voice notes are deleted after 7 days. Live ride locations are kept only while the ride is running. The rest of your account information is kept while your account is active. If you ask us to delete your account, we delete your information within 30 days, except where the law requires us to keep it.
Your rights
Under POPIA you can ask to see the information we hold about you, ask us to correct or delete it, and object to how we use it. Email us at hello@sweeprides.co.za and we will reply within 30 days.
If you are not happy with how we handle your information, you can complain to the Information Regulator of South Africa at inforegulator.org.za.
WhatsApp alerts and STOP
When a rider adds your number, you get one WhatsApp message telling you so. If you don't want Sweep alerts, reply STOP and we will not message you again. Reply START to turn them back on.
Children
Sweep is for licensed riders. We do not knowingly collect information from anyone under 18.
Security
Information is sent over encrypted connections. Only signed in riders can send alerts, and only to the numbers saved on their own profile.
Changes
If we change this policy, we will update the date at the top and tell riders in the app.