Skip to main content
    Abled

    Privacy Policy

    Last updated: September 2026

    1. Introduction

    Abled ("we", "us", "our") is committed to protecting your personal information in compliance with the Protection of Personal Information Act, 2013 (POPIA). This policy explains how we collect, use, store, and protect your data.

    2. Information We Collect

    Account Information

    • Full name, email address, and password
    • Age, pronouns, and location (city/province)
    • Profile photos and bio

    Special Personal Information (Voluntary)

    • Disability-related information
    • Accessibility needs and preferences
    • Health-related details you choose to share

    Under POPIA, this is classified as special personal information and is processed with your explicit consent only.

    Usage Data

    • Matches, messages, and interactions
    • App preferences and settings
    • Analytics data (profile views, response rates)

    3. How We Use Your Information

    • To provide and improve the dating and community platform
    • To match you with compatible users based on your preferences
    • To ensure platform safety through content moderation
    • To process payments for premium subscriptions
    • To communicate service updates and notifications

    4. Data Storage & Security

    Your data is stored securely with encryption at rest and in transit. We implement row-level security to ensure users can only access their own data. Photos and files are stored in secure cloud storage with access controls.

    5. Data Sharing

    We do not sell your personal information. We share data only with:

    • Payment processors (PayFast) for subscription handling
    • AI services for the AI companion, photo descriptions and voice-note transcripts (see below). Icebreakers and profile suggestions are generated on our own systems.
    • Law enforcement when legally required

    AI companion

    Using the AI companion is optional, and you can hide it in Settings → Accessibility. When you chat with it, your messages and a few profile details (your first name or nickname, pronouns, nationality, location, star sign, pets and what you are looking for) are sent to an AI service provider that may process them outside South Africa. If you choose to tell the companion about your disability or health, that information is sent too. We only send it because you typed it, and we rely on your consent (POPIA sections 26–27 and 72). We do not send the disability or access details on your profile.

    The name you give your companion is private and is never shown to other members. Crisis checks run on our own systems and are never sent to the AI service. If you tap "Listen", the reply text is sent to a voice provider to create audio. Your companion chat is visible only to you, can be cleared at any time, and is erased when you delete your account.

    6. Your Rights Under POPIA

    You have the right to:

    • Access your personal information
    • Correct inaccurate information
    • Request deletion of your data
    • Object to processing of your information
    • Withdraw consent at any time
    • Lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator

    7. Cookies & Analytics

    We use essential cookies for authentication and session management. We collect anonymised analytics to improve the platform experience.

    8. Data Retention

    We keep your personal information for as long as your account is active.

    When you delete your account, your profile, photos, matches and messages disappear for everyone immediately, you are signed out everywhere, and your personal data is permanently erased within 7 days. We keep only block and report records and a scrambled identifier of banned accounts. These contain no personal details. They exist so that blocks keep working and a banned person cannot simply come back.

    In more detail, when you delete your account from Settings (or by following the steps on our account deletion page):

    • Immediately: your profile, photos, matches, messages, posts and online status are hidden from every other user the moment you confirm, and you are signed out of every device. You cannot sign back in.
    • Within 7 days: an automated job permanently erases your personal information, including your login and email address, your profile and anything you wrote about your disability or access needs, your photos, voice notes, chat images and messages, and your settings.
    • Kept permanently, without personal details: the blocks and reports linked to your account (the type of report and when it was made, never the text of it), and, only if your account was banned, a scrambled (hashed) version of your account identifier and email address that cannot be turned back into either. These records identify nobody. We keep them under section 11(1)(f) of POPIA, because it is in the legitimate interest of the other people who use Abled that a block keeps working after one side deletes their account, and that a person we removed for abuse cannot simply come back with the same details.
    • Backups: our hosting provider keeps routine backups of the database. A copy of your information may remain in those backups for a limited period after the erasure job runs, until they are replaced in the normal backup cycle. Backups are used only to recover the whole service after a failure, never to restore an individual account.
    • Legal hold: if the law requires us to keep specific information, for example under a court order or a request from the Information Regulator or the police, we keep only that information, only for as long as the obligation lasts.

    Payment records held by PayFast are kept by PayFast under their own retention rules. If you cannot sign in to delete your account yourself, email support@abled.social from the address on your account and we will process the request within 30 days.

    9. Children's Privacy

    Abled is strictly for users aged 18 and older. We do not knowingly collect information from minors.

    10. Changes to This Policy

    We will notify you of significant changes to this policy via email or in-app notification.

    11. Contact Our Information Officer

    For privacy-related queries or to exercise your POPIA rights: