Privacy notice

Version 2026-10-27

Stoep is a buy-and-sell noticeboard for residents of the estate. It is run by Inference Works (Pty) Ltd (registration number 2026/860827/07), who is responsible for your information under the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA). Stoep is independent and not affiliated with any estate, body corporate or property developer. Questions or requests, including for our information officer: privacy@inferenceworks.co.za.

What we collect

• Your username and mobile number, so neighbours can contact you about your listings and so we can check you live here.
• A password you choose. It's stored securely, and nobody can see it, including us.
• Your listings: titles, descriptions, prices and photos.
• Reports you make, and reports other residents make about listings or members.
• Basic technical logs (IP address, browser) kept for a short time by our hosting providers for security.

We don't collect your unit number, ID number or address, and we don't use analytics or advertising trackers. We don't ask for an email address either. We only use the cookies needed to keep you signed in and to recognise a phone you've signed in on before.

You need to give a username and mobile number to use Stoep. Without them we can't check you live here or let buyers reach you, so we can't open an account for you.

How we use it

• To check you're a resident, and to send you a one-time code on WhatsApp from Stoep's own number.
• To show your listings to other approved residents of your estate. When someone taps “Message on WhatsApp” on your listing, they see your username and number.
• To keep Stoep safe: handling reports, removing listings that break the house rules, and removing people who no longer live here. A listing that several residents report is hidden automatically until an admin looks at it. A person, not a computer, decides whether to remove a listing or a member.

We do this with your consent, to provide the service you signed up for, and in our legitimate interest of keeping Stoep safe and residents-only. We never sell your information or send you marketing.

Who can see what

• Approved residents of your estate: your listings, and your username and number on listings you post. Apart from share previews (below), nothing is visible to people who aren't approved.
• Anyone with a listing's link, if you leave “Show a preview” on for that listing: its title, price and first photo, so the link shows a preview when you share it. Never your name or number. You can turn previews off per listing. Apps you share the link in, like WhatsApp, may keep their own copy of a preview already posted.
• Stoep admins, who are residents helping to run Stoep: your username, number and membership status, to approve and manage members, and reports about your listings.

WhatsApp is a separate service with its own terms and privacy policy. Chats you have with buyers, sellers or the admin happen on WhatsApp, not on Stoep, and we can't see them.

Where it's stored

Stoep uses these service providers, which process data only on our instructions under data processing agreements:

• Hosting and storage providers, which run the site and store your account, listings and photos, in Europe, with some technical logs in the US.
• A text-processing service, which reads a post you paste into “Paste from WhatsApp” to fill in the form, in the US. It uses the text for nothing else and deletes it within 30 days, unless it’s flagged for misuse.

None of them stores data in South Africa, so your information is transferred abroad. You agree to this when you sign up. To find out exactly who they are, email us.

How long we keep it

• Listings and their photos are deleted 60 days after they're marked sold or expire, unless you renew them. Unpublished drafts are deleted after 14 days.
• Codes from the admin expire after 24 hours and are deleted within a week.
• Accounts that are never approved are deleted after 60 days. If you're removed from Stoep, your account is deleted after 30 days.
• Reports are deleted 12 months after they're resolved. If an admin removes one of your listings, a short record of it (the title and the reason) is kept for 12 months to deal with repeated rule-breaking, even if you delete your account.
• A record of when you joined, were approved and signed in on a new phone is kept while your account exists, for security. Records used to stop abuse, like counts of sign-in attempts, are deleted within a day, and counts of how often you used “Paste from WhatsApp” within 90 days.

Your rights

You can see, correct or get a copy of your information, or object to how we use it. You can delete your account at any time: this removes your details, listings and photos straight away. Messages you've already exchanged on WhatsApp are on other people's phones and outside our control.

If you forget your password, ask the admin for a code on WhatsApp. It goes to the number on your account, and lets you choose a new password. Your account and listings stay as they were.

To make a request, email privacy@inferenceworks.co.za. Before we act on it, we'll check it's really you through the number on your account. We'll reply within 30 days. If you're unhappy with how we handle your information, you can complain to the Information Regulator, and you can also go to court over a breach of your rights.

• Website: inforegulator.org.za
• Complaints: POPIAComplaints@inforegulator.org.za
• Enquiries: enquiries@inforegulator.org.za
• Phone: 010 023 5200, or toll-free 0800 017 160
• Address: Woodmead North Office Park, 54 Maxwell Drive, Woodmead, Johannesburg, 2191

Security

We protect your information with reasonable technical and organisational measures, and only a few people can reach it. If it's ever accessed by someone who shouldn't have it, we'll tell the Information Regulator and, on WhatsApp or on Stoep, the residents affected, as soon as we reasonably can.

Changes

If we change this notice in a way that affects you, we'll ask you to accept it again the next time you open Stoep.