Privacy, POPIA, Terms & AI Data Use
1 · Privacy & POPIA Notice
Who we are
Gender Rights in Tech (GRIT) is a South African feminist non-profit company (NPC 2021/709928/08 · NPO 286-451), based in Cape Town, South Africa. We build free, survivor-centred technology: the GRIT App (previously named Kwanele), Zuzi, our AI chat companion, and inFORMed, a protection-order assistant currently in development.
GRIT is the "responsible party" for personal information processed through our tools, as defined in the Protection of Personal Information Act, 2013 (POPIA). Questions about this notice: info@grit-gbv.org.
What we collect
- Account information — name, phone number, date of birth and a password, used to secure your account and reach you in an emergency. Additional profile details are optional.
- Location — with your permission, the GRIT App uses your device location so that help can find you in an emergency. You can turn location access off in your device settings. We do not share your location with anyone unless you signal that you are in danger — then it is shared with responders who can help.
- Evidence you choose to save — photos, videos, audio and written accounts you store in the app's evidence vault.
- Chat content — conversations with Zuzi (see the AI & Data Use Notice).
- Usage data — device and diagnostic information (IP address, device identifiers, pages visited, time spent) used to keep the service working and secure.
How we use personal information
- To provide and maintain the GRIT App, Zuzi and related services, and to manage your account.
- To respond in an emergency, including connecting you with responders, counsellors or legal support.
- To improve our tools, and — in de-identified form only — for research into GBV response (see below).
- To contact you with service updates, and, where you opt in, news about GRIT's work.
- To meet legal obligations and protect the safety of users and others.
Sharing
- Emergency and support partners — armed response, police, lawyers and counsellors, when you ask for help or trigger an emergency. We cannot control their response times.
- Service providers who process data on our behalf under contract (hosting, communications and analytics providers). ◆ pending confirmation — the current provider list is being finalised for publication.
- Legal requirements — if a court or a lawful request from a public authority requires disclosure, we comply; where the law allows, we tell you first. If you ask us to support your case, we share the information you direct us to share.
- Organisational changes — if GRIT's operations are ever transferred, your data may transfer with them; we would notify you before that happens.
Retention
- Evidence you store is retained for up to 10 years, so it remains available if you decide to open a case. ◆ pending confirmation
- Emergency-response partner records are retained by that partner for up to 6 years. ◆ pending confirmation
- Other personal information is kept only as long as needed for the purposes above, then deleted or de-identified. Usage data is kept for shorter periods.
Cross-border processing
Some service providers may store or process information outside South Africa, in countries whose data-protection laws differ from POPIA. Where that happens, we require protections consistent with POPIA's conditions for trans-border information flows. ◆ pending confirmation — the list of processing locations is being confirmed.
Children and young people
Our public website does not knowingly collect personal information from children. Where young people take part in GRIT programmes or use our tools, we apply POPIA's rules on processing children's information, including obtaining competent-person consent where required. ◆ pending confirmation — the app's minimum-age policy (previously stated as 13) is under review.
Your rights under POPIA
- Ask what personal information we hold about you, and request access to it.
- Ask us to correct or delete personal information that is inaccurate, out of date, excessive or unlawfully obtained.
- Object to processing, including for direct marketing, and withdraw consent where processing is based on it.
- Complain to the Information Regulator (South Africa): inforegulator.org.za.
To exercise any of these rights, email info@grit-gbv.org with the subject "POPIA request". We aim to respond within a reasonable time and will verify your identity before acting on a request.
Security
We use appropriate, generally accepted security measures to protect personal information. No method of transmission or storage is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security — but safeguarding the people who trust us is the reason GRIT exists, and we treat it accordingly.
2 · Terms of Use
- Our tools are provided free of charge, for use in South Africa, to help people affected by gender-based violence access information, safety features and support.
- You may not use GRIT's tools for anything unlawful. We may suspend or block accounts that abuse the service or put others at risk.
- The GRIT App depends on third parties — armed response, police, lawyers, counsellors. We cannot control or guarantee their response times. If a response is taking too long, contact us through the in-app chat or on WhatsApp: 072 737 8819.
- Information provided by our tools — including Zuzi and inFORMed — is general guidance, not legal advice. inFORMed is in development: it is being built to help people understand and complete protection-order documentation, with legal review and referral pathways where applicable. It does not guarantee legal validity or acceptance of any document by a court.
- Something not working, or content that feels wrong or harmful? Tell us — WhatsApp 072 399 6992 or info@grit-gbv.org — so we can fix it.
- We may update these terms and this notice from time to time; the "effective" date above always reflects the current version. Continued use of the service after an update means the updated terms apply.
3 · AI & Data Use Notice (Zuzi)
Zuzi is GRIT's AI chat companion, available on the GRIT App, on the web and on WhatsApp. It exists to help you find information and explore your options — anytime, in your own language.
- Consent — we ask before you use Zuzi, and you can stop at any time or ask for human support instead.
- Privacy — your chats are private. De-identified chat data may be used to improve Zuzi and for research into GBV response; published research never identifies you.
- Human-support escalation — Zuzi is designed to hand over to human support when you ask, or when a conversation indicates you need more than information.
- Safeguarding escalation — if a conversation indicates a serious safeguarding risk (for example, immediate danger or harm to a child), trained humans may be brought in line with our safeguarding procedures.
- Legally required disclosure — we disclose information where the law requires it, as described in the Privacy Notice above.
- Fairness and inclusive design — Zuzi is co-created with communities across South Africa and is built to give everyone equal help.
- Research — aggregated, de-identified data from our tools (for example alert volumes, locations at area level, and types of GBV reported) may be used for research that improves GBV response.
Questions about anything on this page: info@grit-gbv.org · Press and media: shamryn@grit-gbv.org