Privacy Policy

1. Information We Collect

We collect information you provide when creating an account (name, email, phone), placing orders on the marketplace (billing and shipping details), and registering as a seller or logistics partner (business information, identification documents).

If you use the HerdFlow mobile app to manage your farm, we additionally collect: farm and livestock records you enter (animal details, health and treatment history, vaccination and breeding records, camp/paddock information, feed and nutrition inventory, financial transactions you log); GPS coordinates for camps/paddocks you choose to tag, and your device's approximate location when displaying a weather forecast (only while the app is open — the app never tracks your location in the background); and camera access for scanning ear-tag barcodes, receipts, and photos of animals for the features described in Section 5. Farm-team members you invite (managers/workers) can see the farm data you grant them access to, by design.

2. How We Use Your Information

Your information is used to operate the HerdFlow marketplace and mobile app, process orders and payments, verify seller and logistics identities, send transactional emails and push notifications (e.g. health reminders, camp rest reminders, weather alerts), and improve our services. We do not sell your personal data to third parties.

3. Data Storage and Security

Your data is stored securely in encrypted databases, isolated per farm account so other farmers cannot see your data. We implement industry-standard security measures including HTTPS encryption, secure cookie/token-based sessions, database-level access controls, and hashed passwords. Payment information is handled exclusively by PayFast and is not stored on HerdFlow servers. The mobile app stores a working copy of your farm data on your device (for offline use) and your login credentials in your device's secure hardware-backed storage (Keychain on iOS, Keystore on Android), not in plain, unencrypted app storage.

4. Cookies

We use cookies to maintain your login session and remember your cart on the website. These are essential cookies necessary for the platform to function. You may disable cookies in your browser settings, but this may affect functionality. The mobile app does not use cookies; it uses a secure device-stored session token instead.

5. Third-Party Services

HerdFlow uses PayFast for payment processing — their privacy policy governs how they handle your payment data. We use OpenWeatherMap to provide weather forecasts, and the Copernicus Data Space Ecosystem (an EU public satellite-data service) to provide vegetation-health readings for camps with a location set — both sent only the GPS coordinates needed for that lookup (a camp's tagged location, or your device's current location), never your name or account details. Where you choose to use the app's AI-assisted features (receipt scanning, sick-animal photo triage, pasture grazing advice), the photo or farm data you submit for that one request is sent to Anthropic (our AI provider) for analysis and is not retained by HerdFlow afterwards — only the information you review and choose to save (e.g. the transaction or treatment record) is stored. Livestock market price indicators shown in the app are sourced from published third-party industry data (RPO/ABSA, Digikraal) — this is public market data displayed to you, not your personal data being shared with them. We may also use analytics tools to understand platform usage.

6. Your Rights (POPIA)

Under the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA), you have the right to access, correct, or delete your personal information. To exercise these rights, contact us at privacy@herdflow.co.za.

7. Changes to This Policy

We may update this policy periodically. We will notify registered users of significant changes via email. Continued use of the platform after changes constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

8. Contact

For privacy-related enquiries, contact privacy@herdflow.co.za.