Privacy Policy

Last updated: 8 June 2026 — POPIA compliant

1. Who We Are

BGSA Golf (Pty) Ltd operates the BGSA Caddy mobile application, the bgsa-golf.co.za website, and the BGSA Golf online equipment shop (together, the "Service"). We are the Responsible Party for your personal information under the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 ("POPIA"). Contact us at: info@bgsa-golf.co.za

2. What Data We Collect

  • Account data — email address, display name, and password hash when you register.
  • Profile data — name, handicap index, club set details you voluntarily enter.
  • Round and scoring data — scores, hole-by-hole statistics, and timestamps for rounds you record.
  • GPS and location data — real-time device location during an active round to calculate distances to the pin, hazards, and course features. Location is accessed only while the app is open and a round is in progress.
  • Payment data — name, email, and billing address for shop orders. Card details are processed directly by Paystack or YOCO; we never receive or store raw card numbers.
  • Device and usage data — device type, OS version, app version, and crash/error logs for diagnostic purposes.
  • Support communications — emails or messages you send to support@bgsa-golf.co.za.

3. How We Use Your Data

  • To provide and improve the Service — GPS caddy, AI club recommendations, scoring, leaderboards, and tournament management.
  • To process shop orders — packing and delivering your purchases, generating invoices, and handling returns.
  • To send transactional emails — order confirmations, shipping notifications, subscription receipts, and payment alerts.
  • To calculate your handicap index using your recorded rounds.
  • To diagnose bugs and improve performance using anonymised usage data.
  • We do not sell your personal information or use it for advertising profiling.

4. AI Caddy & Data Processing

When you use the AI Caddy feature, contextual data (distance to pin, lie, wind, your club history) is sent to Anthropic's Claude API to generate recommendations. This data does not include your name or email. Anthropic processes this data under their own privacy policy. No conversational data is retained by us beyond the active session. Voice input via ElevenLabs is processed in real time and not stored by us.

5. Third-Party Services

  • Supabase — database and authentication (EU region).
  • Anthropic (Claude) — AI caddy recommendations (US).
  • ElevenLabs — voice synthesis for caddy responses (US).
  • Paystack — card payment processing for SA transactions.
  • YOCO — card payment processing for SA in-person transactions.
  • Resend — transactional email delivery.
  • Expo / EAS — mobile app delivery and over-the-air updates.
  • Vercel — website hosting.

6. Data Retention

  • Account and round data is retained for as long as your account is active.
  • Order records are retained for 5 years in compliance with South African financial record-keeping requirements.
  • Payment records are retained as required by SARS and the Companies Act.
  • GPS location data is not stored beyond the active round session.
  • If you delete your account, we will delete your personal data within 30 days, except where retention is required by law.

7. Your Rights Under POPIA

  • Access — you may request a copy of the personal information we hold about you.
  • Correction — you may request that inaccurate data be corrected.
  • Deletion — you may request deletion of your account and personal data.
  • Objection — you may object to processing of your personal information.
  • Complaints — you may lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator of South Africa (inforeg.org.za).

To exercise any of these rights, email: info@bgsa-golf.co.za

8. Cookies & Local Storage

The website uses browser local storage (not cookies) to maintain your shopping cart between visits. No tracking or advertising cookies are set. We use Vercel's built-in analytics which collect anonymised page-view data only.

9. Security

We implement industry-standard security measures including TLS encryption in transit, row-level security on all database tables, and hashed password storage. In the event of a data breach that affects your rights, we will notify you and the Information Regulator within the timeframes required by POPIA.

10. Children

The Service is not directed at children under 18. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe a child has provided us with personal information, contact us at info@bgsa-golf.co.za.

11. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Material changes will be notified by email to registered users. The "Last updated" date at the top of this page indicates the most recent revision.

12. Contact Us

Responsible Party: BGSA Golf (Pty) Ltd Email: info@bgsa-golf.co.za Support: support@bgsa-golf.co.za Website: bgsa-golf.co.za