Privacy Policy

My Au Pairs & Nannies ("we", "us") respects your privacy. This policy explains what personal information we collect, why we collect it, who can see it, where it is stored and the rights you have under the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 ("POPIA").

1. Who we are

The responsible party is [REGISTERED COMPANY NAME] (registration number[REGISTRATION NUMBER]), trading as My Au Pairs and Nannies, of Claremont, Cape Town, South Africa.

Information Officer: Stephanie Neser, info@myaupairs.co.za. Contact the Information Officer about anything in this policy, or to exercise any of your rights.

2. What we collect

Everyone who creates an account

• Full name, email address, phone number and account type (nanny, au pair or family).
• A record of your consent to this policy and acceptance of our Terms, with the date and time.

Nannies and au pairs

• Profile details: photo, bio, province and area, years of experience, availability, live-in or live-out preference, languages, age groups you have cared for, driver's licence and own car.
• Documents you upload: your ID document and First Aid certificate (and its expiry date).
• Details of two referees: name, relationship to you, phone number and email address. Please tell your referees that you are sharing their details with us so that we can contact them.
• Verification results: whether each check is complete, the date it was completed, which of our staff completed it and any internal note.

Families

• Province and area, whether you are looking for a nanny, an au pair or both and, if you choose to share them, the number and ages of your children and any notes. We do not ask for children's names.

Everyone who uses the website

• Messages you send through the contact form. These are emailed to us and are not stored on the website.
• Essential cookies that keep you signed in. We do not use advertising or tracking cookies.
• A one-way scrambled ("hashed") version of your IP address, kept briefly to block spam. We do not store your actual IP address.

3. Criminal record information

Criminal record information is special personal information under POPIA. We only process it with your consent, and we keep it to the minimum. Background checks are carried out outside this website. We never upload or store criminal record reports or certificates. The only thing we record is that the background check iscomplete and clear, with the date and the staff member who confirmed it.

4. Why we use your information

• To run your account and provide the service you signed up for.
• To verify caregivers, by checking identity, First Aid and references, and confirming the background check, so that families can see what has been checked.
• To publish approved caregiver profiles, so families can find them.
• To let families contact caregivers, by showing a caregiver's phone number and email only to signed-in families.
• To send service emails, for example to confirm your email address, reset your password or tell you that your profile has been approved or needs changes.
• To keep the platform safe, preventing spam, fraud and misuse.

We rely on your consent, on the need to perform our agreement with you, and on our legitimate interest in running a safe and trustworthy service. We do not sell your personal information or use it for third-party marketing.

5. Who can see your information

• The public can see an approved caregiver's photo, first name and surname initial, area, experience, availability, languages, bio, badge and the dated checklist of completed checks. They cannot see contact details, documents or referee details.
• Signed-in families can also see an approved caregiver's phone number and email address.
• Our admin team can see all information, including documents, in order to verify and approve profiles.
• Family profiles are never public. Only you and our admin team can see them.
• Our service providers ("operators") process information for us under written agreements: Supabase (database, sign-in and file storage), Cloudflare (website hosting) and Resend (email delivery).
• We may disclose information where the law requires it.

6. Where your information is stored (cross-border transfer)

Our database and file storage are hosted by Supabase in [SUPABASE REGION, e.g. London, United Kingdom], which is outside South Africa. Under section 72 of POPIA, we only transfer personal information to providers who are bound by laws, binding agreements or corporate rules that give it a level of protection substantially similar to POPIA. Our providers are subject to the UK/EU General Data Protection Regulation and to data processing agreements with us. By creating an account, you consent to this transfer.

7. How long we keep it

• Account and profile information: while your account is open, and for [12 MONTHS] after you close it.
• Uploaded documents: until they are replaced or your account is closed, and then deleted within [90 DAYS].
• Verification records (which check was done, when and by whom): for [5 YEARS] after your account closes, so we can answer questions about past placements.
• Consent records: for as long as we hold information that relies on that consent.
• Spam-prevention records (hashed IP addresses): deleted after [30 DAYS].

8. How we protect it

Documents are kept in private storage that only you and our admin team can open, using links that expire after a few minutes. Access to each table in our database is restricted by role. Passwords are never stored in readable form. All traffic is encrypted (HTTPS). If we become aware of a security compromise affecting your information, we will notify you and the Information Regulator as POPIA requires.

9. Your rights

You have the right to:

• Access: ask what personal information we hold about you and receive a copy.
• Correction: ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete information. You can edit most of your profile yourself from your dashboard.
• Deletion: ask us to delete your information, subject to records we must keep by law.
• Objection and withdrawal of consent: object to processing or withdraw consent at any time. This does not affect processing that already happened, but we may then be unable to keep your profile listed.
• Complaint: lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator (South Africa) at inforegulator.org.za.

To use any of these rights, email our Information Officer at info@myaupairs.co.za. We will respond within a reasonable time and may ask you to confirm your identity.

10. Children

Accounts are only for people aged 18 or older. Families may choose to share the number and ages of their children to help with matching. We do not collect children's names or any other information about them.

11. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. If we make significant changes, we will tell you by email or with a notice on the website before they take effect.