Privacy Policy

1. Who we are

TrailSOS is operated by Matt Slabbert (Information Officer), trading as TrailSOS at trailsos.co.za. Questions about this policy may be directed to privacy@trailsos.co.za.

2. What personal information we collect

• Full name
• Email address and password (for account access)
• Phone number (optional)
• Date of birth
• Profile photograph
• Blood type, medical conditions, current medications, allergies
• Emergency contact details (name, relationship, phone number)
• Medical aid name and membership number
• Emergency card access logs (timestamp and device type only — no personal data)

We deliberately do NOT collect:

• South African ID number
• Home address
• Historical medical records
• Financial or payment information

3. Why we collect it

The sole purpose of collecting your personal information is to create an emergency medical profile that can be accessed by first responders when you are injured on a hiking trail. Your information is not used for marketing, profiling, or any secondary purpose.

4. Lawful basis for processing

We process your personal information on the basis of your explicit consent, as required by Section 11 of the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA). You consent to each category of data use individually at the time of account creation.

5. Who can access your information

Your emergency profile is intentionally accessible to any person who taps your TrailSOS NFC card or scans the QR code. This is the core function of the product, and you explicitly consent to this when creating your account. No authentication is required to view your emergency profile — by design, so that first responders can access it instantly.

The platform administrator (Matt Slabbert) has access to all account data for operational and subscription management purposes. This is disclosed here and consented to at account creation. No personal data is sold, shared with, or disclosed to third parties except as required by South African law.

6. Data retention

See our Data Security and Retention Policy for full retention periods.

7. Your rights under POPIA

• The right to access your personal information
• The right to correct inaccurate information
• The right to request deletion of your personal information
• The right to withdraw consent at any time

To exercise any of these rights, contact our Information Officer via the Contact page.

8. Children

TrailSOS is not intended for use by persons under 18 years of age. By creating an account you confirm that you are 18 or older.

9. Cross-border data transfers

Your data may be stored on infrastructure located outside South Africa (currently Supabase, which may operate servers in the United States or European Union). We take steps to ensure equivalent data protection standards apply. By using TrailSOS you consent to this transfer.

10. Information Officer

Matt Slabbert is the designated Information Officer for TrailSOS. Contact: privacy@trailsos.co.za. Disputes may also be referred to the Information Regulator of South Africa at inforegulator.org.za.