Privacy Notice (POPIA) and Cookie Notice
Applies to: customers, people who ask for a price or quotes, service providers and their team members, applicants, people present at a job, website visitors and anyone who contacts us.
Status: In force from 15 October 2026 (soft launch). Document 3 of 11 in the Like Magic legal set.
In short
- We collect only what we need to take bookings, send them to providers, collect payment, keep people safe and meet the law.
- Your information is stored on servers in South Africa (Johannesburg). Card payments are handled by our payment provider. Address and map look-ups run on our own servers.
- A provider's live location is shared only while they are on the way to a job. Customers' addresses are shared only with the provider doing the job.
- Criminal record checks and ID selfies of providers are special personal information. We process them only with the provider's explicit consent and keep only the result.
- We never sell personal information. We send marketing only if you agreed or you are a customer, and every message lets you opt out.
- Our website uses no cookies (except a preview cookie for pre-launch links). The app uses only the cookies it needs to keep you signed in and secure. Where we use WhatsApp, we send sign-in codes and job messages to the WhatsApp number you gave us.
- You can ask to see, correct or delete your information, object, and complain to the Information Regulator.
This summary helps you find your way. The numbered sections below are the full notice.
Contents
1. Who we are and how to contact us
1.1 The responsible party for your personal information is Pro Media Mogul (Pty) Ltd, registration number 2014/188632/07, of 108 Workington Road, Greenwood Park, Durban, 4051, which runs the Like Magic Home Services platform ("Like Magic", "we", "us").
1.2 Our Information Officer is the head of Pro Media Mogul (Pty) Ltd, who holds that role by default under POPIA. You can reach the Information Officer at privacy@likemagic.co.za or at 108 Workington Road, Greenwood Park, Durban, 4051. Our registration reference with the Information Regulator will be shown here once it is issued. We have no Deputy Information Officer.
1.3 For any privacy question or request, email privacy@likemagic.co.za or write to us at 108 Workington Road, Greenwood Park, Durban, 4051.
1.4 This notice is given under section 18 of the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 (POPIA). Our PAIA manual explains how to request records we hold.
2. Whose information this notice covers
2.1 This notice covers:
- customers, and people who ask for a price or quotes without booking;
- service providers, their team members and people who apply to become providers;
- adults present at a job, for example someone who signs the job report for a customer;
- visitors to our website and app;
- anyone who contacts us, including people who complain or ask for information; and
- people who register their interest before we launch in their area, as customers or as providers.
3. What we collect and where it comes from
3.1 We collect the following information:
| Information | Examples | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Identity and contact | Name, phone number, email address, the address where the work is done | You |
| Booking and job details | The service, your description, photos you add, date and time, prices, quotes, extra-work approvals, cancellations | You and the provider |
| Location | The job address and map pin (customers). Live location only while travelling to a job (providers) | You, the provider's device |
| Job evidence | Photos of the work area, the PDF job report, the signature given on the provider's phone | The provider, you |
| Messages | In-app chats and voice notes with providers and our office | You, the provider, our staff |
| Payments | Amount, date, payment reference, card type and last four digits, refunds, chargebacks, payouts | You, our payment provider |
| Release records | For each payment you release: your typed name, your signature, the date and time, your IP address and device, how you were signed in and the version of the wording you accepted | You, your device |
| Ratings and reviews | Star ratings, reviews, replies | Customers and providers |
| Account and device | Login details, IP address, device and browser type, app version, security logs, essential cookies (section 17) | Your device |
| Support and complaints | What you tell us, our notes, outcomes | You, the provider, our staff |
| Marketing choices | Your opt-ins and opt-outs | You |
| Interest registration | Your name, cellphone number, e-mail address if you give it, your suburb or area; what you need, how soon and the page you came from (customers); the trades you offer, whether you work as yourself or as a company and its name, your years of experience and which of the ID, proof-of-address, trade-certificate and insurance documents you already hold (providers); your message; whether you also want marketing messages; and the time, IP address and browser of your consent | You, your browser |
| Provider identity and vetting | ID or passport, work permit, selfie and liveness check, proof of address, bank letter, CIPC details, tax and VAT numbers, trade registrations, insurance, COIDA letter, criminal record check result, references | The provider; the Department of Home Affairs through an accredited identity-verification service; the South African Police Service through an accredited vetting service; registration bodies; referees |
| Provider work records | Availability, service area, jobs, ratings, on-time record, cancellations, earnings, payouts, statements | The platform |
4. Why we use it and our lawful basis
4.1 We use personal information only for the purposes below, each with a lawful basis under section 11 of POPIA:
| Purpose | Main information used | Lawful basis |
|---|---|---|
| Open and run your account | Identity, contact, account | Needed for our contract with you |
| Show prices, take bookings, send requests to suitable providers | Booking details, job address | Needed for the contract |
| Give the provider what they need to do the job | Name, address, job details, photos | Needed for the contract |
| Show the provider's live location while they are on the way | Provider's location | Needed for the contract; our legitimate interest in customer safety |
| Collect payments, make refunds and pay providers | Payment details | Needed for the contract; legal obligations (tax) |
| Produce job reports, invoices and records | Job evidence, payments | Needed for the contract; legal obligations (CPA section 26, tax law) |
| Record your release of a payment, your acceptance of terms and your approvals | Release records, account | Needed for the contract; legal obligations (ECT Act, tax); our legitimate interest in a reliable record |
| Support, complaints, disputes, guarantee claims and help with damage claims | Messages, photos, job reports | Needed for the contract; our legitimate interest in resolving disputes fairly |
| Check providers before and while they work with us | Provider identity and vetting information | Explicit consent for special personal information; legal obligations (for example PSIRA registration, electrical and gas regulations); our legitimate interest in safety |
| Ratings, provider standards and which providers you see | Ratings, work records | Needed for the contract; our legitimate interest in quality |
| Prevent fraud, keep the platform secure, protect people | Device and security data, messages, payments | Our legitimate interest; legal obligations |
| Service messages about your bookings | Contact details | Needed for the contract |
| One reminder about a price you got but did not book (section 12.2) | Contact details, the price | Our legitimate interest: it is one message about your own request, with an opt-out |
| Contact you about your request or about becoming a provider, and tell you when we launch in your area or open your trade | Interest registration | Your consent (the box you tick), which you can withdraw at any time |
| Send you launch offers, tips and news | Interest registration | Your separate consent (the optional second box), which you can withdraw at any time |
| Marketing | Contact details | Your consent, or you are our customer (section 12) |
| Meet legal duties and handle legal claims | Any relevant information | Legal obligations; our legitimate interest |
| Improve the platform using statistics that do not identify you | De-identified information | Our legitimate interest |
4.2 Where we rely on our legitimate interest, you may object (section 15). Where we rely on consent, you may withdraw it at any time. This does not affect what we did before.
5. What you must give us and why
5.1 The app marks the information we need. Without it we cannot open an account, take a booking, send the job to a provider, collect payment or approve a provider. Photos you add, a profile photo for customers and marketing choices are voluntary.
5.2 Some collection is required by law, including: the Tax Administration Act and the VAT Act (invoices and records); the Consumer Protection Act (sales records); and, for providers, the Private Security Industry Regulation Act (PSIRA registration), the Occupational Health and Safety Act regulations for electrical and gas work, and the Fertilizers, Farm Feeds, Agricultural Remedies and Stock Remedies Act 36 of 1947 for pest control.
6. Special personal information
6.1 A provider's criminal record and biometric information (fingerprints for the criminal record check, and the face image in the selfie check) are special personal information. We process them only with the provider's explicit consent, given separately in the application, and in line with the law.
6.2 Criminal record checks are done through the South African Police Service systems by an accredited vetting service, with the provider's consent. We keep only the result (clear or not clear), the date and the vendor's reference, never the full report.
6.3 Fingerprints and face images are used only for the check and are not kept by us after the check. How long the vetting service keeps them is set out in its own privacy notice, which we show providers before the check.
6.4 We use check results only for our own decisions about providers on this platform. Customers see only a badge, such as "Background checked" with a date. We do not check people for, or share results with, any other business.
6.5 We do not ask customers for special personal information. If you choose to tell us something like a health condition (for example, so a provider knows about access needs), we use it only for that job and only with your consent.
7. Location information
7.1 Customers: we use the address you give us to price and send your job. Address search and map look-ups run on our own servers, so what you type is not sent to an outside map service. The app uses your phone's location only if you tap "Use my location"; the look-up then runs on our own server.
7.2 Providers: the app shares a provider's live location with the customer only from when the provider taps "On my way" until they arrive. We do not track providers at any other time. We record a provider's position only while a trip runs. We keep those records for the job record and delete them on request, or when we close the job file.
8. Photos, signatures, chats and voice notes
8.1 Providers photograph the work area before, during and after a job to show what was done. They must photograph only what is needed to show the work and avoid people, documents and personal items. Photos become part of the job report.
8.2 The customer, or an adult present for them, signs the job report on the provider's phone. The signature confirms attendance and the work recorded in the report.
8.3 Chats and voice notes are stored so that customers, providers and our office can refer back to them. Our support staff can read chats and listen to voice notes only for support, safety, fraud prevention and to resolve disputes. By using chat you agree to this.
8.4 When you release a payment we record your typed name, your signature, the date and time, your IP address and device, how you were signed in and the version of the wording you accepted, and we give you a receipt that cannot be changed. The provider sees that the payment was released and when, not your signature image or IP address.
9. Automated decisions, matching and ranking
9.1 Our systems automatically: suggest providers for a job (by service, distance, availability, registrations, ratings and reliability); order the providers or quotes you see; calculate ratings and flag providers who may be below our standards; and screen payments for fraud (our payment provider also does this).
9.2 No decision that has legal effects for you, or affects you to a similar degree, such as deactivating a provider or closing an account, is made by a computer alone. A person reviews it, tells you the reasons and gives you a chance to respond. You may ask us to explain the logic behind these automated steps.
10. Who we share information with
10.1 We share personal information only as needed:
- with the providers we invite to quote for your request (up to 5): the suburb, your description and your photos, but not your name, your phone number or your street address until you accept a quote;
- with the provider doing your job: your name, address, job details, photos and chat, and the details of any claim you make, which the provider may pass to their insurer;
- with customers: the provider's name, photo, vehicle, badges, ratings and, while on the way, live location, and, if the customer makes a claim, the provider's business details and the name of their insurer;
- with our payment provider, to process payments, refunds and payouts;
- with an accredited identity-verification service and an accredited vetting service, to check providers;
- with our hosting provider, whose servers are in South Africa, and with the e-mail, push-notification and WhatsApp message services that deliver our messages;
- with our professional advisers and auditors;
- with the police, SARS, regulators or courts when the law requires it, or to protect someone's safety;
- with the CGSO, the National Consumer Commission or the Information Regulator when you complain to them;
- with a buyer of our business, who must use it under this notice;
- with the WhatsApp message service, to deliver sign-in codes and job messages to the number you gave us, where we use WhatsApp; and
- with our own address look-up server, only when you tap "Use my location" in the app, and only your phone's position.
10.2 Service providers who process information for us (our operators) must keep it confidential and secure under a written agreement.
10.3 We never sell personal information.
11. Information sent outside South Africa
11.1 We store the platform's data on cloud servers in South Africa (Johannesburg). Address and map look-ups run on our own servers.
11.2 Our payment provider, and the WhatsApp message service where we use it, may process some information outside South Africa. Our e-mail is sent from our own servers in South Africa. Push notifications reach your phone through its own push service, run by the maker of your phone's operating system or browser, which may process the delivery outside South Africa; the content is encrypted on our server before it is sent. When you tap "Use my location", your position is sent to our own address look-up server to find the suburb and street; it does not leave our systems.
11.3 We send personal information outside South Africa only if the recipient is bound by law, binding corporate rules or an agreement that gives protection substantially similar to POPIA, or if you consent, or if it is needed for our contract with you.
12. Service messages and marketing
12.1 We send service messages about your account and bookings (confirmations, reminders, tracking, job reports, receipts). You cannot opt out of these while you have an active booking.
12.2 If you get a price but do not book, we may send you one reminder ("Still need a pro?" or similar). We send only one, and it lets you opt out of further messages.
12.3 We send marketing by email, SMS or other electronic messages only if you opt in (the box is never pre-ticked), or if you are our customer and the message is about similar services, and you did not opt out when we collected your details. Every marketing message says who it is from and has a free, easy way to opt out.
12.4 If you are not our customer, we ask for your consent to marketing only once, in a form substantially similar to Form 4 of the POPIA Regulations.
12.5 WhatsApp. Where we send you sign-in codes and messages about your job on WhatsApp, your cellphone number and the content of those messages pass through the WhatsApp Business Platform so that they can be delivered. Reply STOP to stop marketing messages on WhatsApp. To stop job updates, turn them off in the app or e-mail us; we still send a sign-in code when you ask for one.
13. How we protect information and what we do if something goes wrong
13.1 We use reasonable technical and organisational measures, including encryption in transit, access limited to staff who need it, strong passwords, audit logs, backups stored in South Africa, confidentiality agreements with staff and written agreements with operators.
13.2 If we believe someone has accessed personal information without authority, we notify the Information Regulator through its eServices portal and tell the people affected as soon as reasonably possible, with steps they can take to protect themselves.
14. How long we keep information
14.1 We keep information only as long as we need it for the purpose, or as the law requires, and then delete it or make it anonymous:
| Record | How long we keep it | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Customer account details | Until you close your account; deleted up to 90 days after that, except the records below | Running your account |
| Bookings, invoices, payment records and job reports (including photos and signatures) | 5 years after the job | Tax law, CPA sales records, guarantee and legal claims |
| Release records and receipts | 5 years after the job | ECT Act records, tax law, disputes |
| Complaint records | 3 years after the complaint is closed | CGSO Code |
| Chats and voice notes | 12 months after the job, longer if there is a dispute | Support and disputes |
| Provider live location | Until we close the job file, or sooner if you ask | Safety and disputes |
| Provider documents and registrations | While the provider is active and 3 years after they leave | Legal compliance and claims |
| Criminal record check result (clear or not clear, date, reference) | While the provider is active and 1 year after they leave | Safety and disputes |
| Fingerprints and face images | Not kept after the check | Only needed for the check |
| Applications we reject or that are withdrawn | 90 days after the decision | Questions about the decision |
| Prices and quote requests that were not booked | 12 months | Service and reminders |
| Marketing opt-outs | As long as needed to respect them | To make sure we do not contact you |
| Interest registrations | 6 months (180 days) after you register, or 30 days after you become a customer or provider, or sooner if you ask us to delete it | So that we can contact you when we launch in your area or open your trade |
| Website and app security logs | Up to 90 days | Security |
15. Your rights
15.1 You have the right to:
- ask whether we hold information about you and ask for a copy (our PAIA manual explains any fees);
- ask us to correct or delete information that is wrong, out of date, excessive or unlawfully obtained;
- object to processing based on our legitimate interest, and to direct marketing at any time, free of charge;
- withdraw your consent;
- not be subject to a decision based only on automated processing (section 9); and
- complain to the Information Regulator.
15.2 Send requests to privacy@likemagic.co.za. We may ask you to prove your identity. We reply within a reasonable time and in any case within 30 days.
15.3 The Information Regulator: www.inforegulator.org.za; complaints: POPIAComplaints@inforegulator.org.za; JD House, 27 Stiemens Street, Braamfontein, Johannesburg, 2001.
16. Children
16.1 You must be 18 or older to use the platform. We do not knowingly collect children's personal information. Providers must not photograph children. If we ever need a child's information, we will process it only with the consent of a parent or guardian, as POPIA requires.
17. Cookies and similar technologies
17.1 Website: our website (www.likemagic.co.za) uses no cookies, no analytics, no advertising trackers and no third-party fonts or scripts. The only exception is a preview cookie that is set for people who open a pre-launch preview link we gave them; it lasts 30 days. Our web server keeps standard security logs (such as IP addresses) for up to 90 days.
17.2 App: the app (app.likemagic.co.za and the Android app) uses only essential cookies:
| Cookie | What it does | How long it lasts |
|---|---|---|
| sp_session | Keeps you signed in as you move between pages | 8 hours, or until you sign out |
| csrf_cookie_name | Protects forms against cross-site request forgery | About 1 hour, renewed while you use the app |
| autologin | Keeps you signed in on this phone after you signed in with a WhatsApp code or password | 60 days after your last visit, or until you sign out |
| lm_preview | Lets a person with a pre-launch preview link see pages before launch | 30 days |
17.3 These cookies are needed for the app to work securely (and the preview cookie only for people who use a pre-launch preview link), so we do not ask for consent to them. We do not use analytics or advertising cookies. If we ever want to use a cookie that is not essential, we will ask for your consent first.
18. Changes to this notice
18.1 We may update this notice. We will tell you in the app or by email before a material change takes effect. The date at the top shows when it last changed.