How Pakstoor handles your information.

Pakstoor is South Africa’s protected marketplace, operated by Pakstoor (Pty) Ltd. Google sign-in is an optional way to create or access your Pakstoor account. This section explains the Google information we receive and what happens to it; the rest of this policy also applies.

What we access

When you choose Sign in with Google, Google provides an account identifier, your email address and whether it is verified, and your basic profile name and profile-picture URL where available. We request only openid, email and profile. We do not request your Google password, Gmail messages, contacts, Drive files, calendars or birthday. You supply your date of birth separately on Pakstoor’s registration form for the 18-or-older check.

How we use it

We use the identifier and verified email to recognise your account, sign you in and prevent account mix-ups or unauthorised linking. We use your name and picture to initialise your Pakstoor profile; a Google picture can fill an empty avatar but does not overwrite a picture you already set. Your profile name and avatar may appear on your listings, profile and conversations. Your account contact details are also used for the marketplace, security, support and transaction functions explained below. Google sign-in does not subscribe you to marketing; marketing requires a separate choice.

If you choose Confirm with Google for a protected action such as changing payout details, we request openid and email to confirm a fresh sign-in matches the Google account already linked to your current Pakstoor session. This does not authorise access to other Google products.

Storage, security and retention

Pakstoor stores the Google account identifier with your user account, and the email, verification status, name and accepted picture URL in its account/profile records. Temporary sign-in state expires after 10 minutes; the temporary basic-profile record used to finish a new registration expires after 30 minutes or is removed when registration completes. The application uses Google tokens to verify the sign-in during the callback; it does not save Google access or refresh tokens for ongoing access to your Google account.

Google-derived account data is protected by the access controls, secure session handling and encrypted connections described in the Security section. Security records can include sign-in or account-link events, IP address, browser information and the account email. Account/profile data is retained while needed to run the account; transaction, security and legal records have the retention limits and manual-review qualifications stated in Data retention below. We do not promise immediate erasure of every record or backup.

Sharing Google-derived information

We do not sell Google user data or use it for third-party advertising. Account names and contact details obtained through Google are handled like the account information you provide directly: our hosting/security operators store and protect them, our email provider delivers necessary account messages, and payment, courier or accounting partners receive only the details needed for the transaction or service you use. Relevant support, security, dispute and legally required disclosures are described in Sharing with third parties below. A Google-hosted avatar may load from Google when displayed, which sends ordinary image-request information such as the viewer’s IP address and browser details to Google.

Pakstoor’s use and transfer of Google-derived information follows the Google API Services User Data Policy, including applicable Limited Use requirements. Google sign-in is used for the account and marketplace purposes described here. It does not grant Pakstoor unrelated access to your Google account.

Stop Google sign-in or request deletion

You can review or remove Pakstoor under your Google Account connections. Removing the Google connection does not delete your Pakstoor account, information already held by Pakstoor or an existing Pakstoor session. Sign out of Pakstoor as well if you want to end that session. Arrange another working sign-in method before removing Google if it is your only way into the account.

To request access, correction or deletion of Google-derived data held by Pakstoor, email privacy@pakstoor.co.za. This is also the existing deletion route for a Google-only account without a Pakstoor password. Accounts with a Pakstoor password can use Settings → Privacy → Delete account where eligible. We verify the request and explain any restriction: open orders, disputes, wallet funds or outstanding obligations must be resolved first. Account deletion clears the Google link and profile name/photo and revokes sessions, but limited transaction, audit and legal records, including a previous contact email where required for the audit trail, may remain for the purposes described below. Deletion requests are reviewed; there is no guaranteed instant or automatic full-erasure process.

This notice explains the existing Google sign-in flow; it does not add new Google permissions. If we introduce a new use of Google data or request additional access, we will update the notice and obtain the required authorisation before that new use or access.

• operate your account and the marketplace;
• facilitate protected payment through our escrow partner;
• book and track courier delivery, and surface delivery and inspection state;
• verify identity and ownership where required for payouts, fraud prevention, or high-risk activity, and to support verification required of us or of our escrow partner by law;
• prevent fraud, abuse, off-platform deal-routing, prohibited-goods activity, and money-laundering or sanctions-related conduct;
• handle Formal Protected Review cases, Courier & Insurance Review, Direct Party Resolution, and Fraud Escalation, and preserve the evidence record;
• provide support, respond to queries, and answer POPIA requests;
• comply with legal, regulatory, tax, accounting, and audit obligations;
• secure the platform, investigate incidents, and maintain audit logs;
• improve the service, including AI-assisted listing autofill and image-moderation checks.

We do not sell your personal information. We do not use it for third-party advertising.

Current operators and processors include:

• TradeSafe: independent escrow partner; receives buyer and seller details needed to create and run the escrow transaction, holds buyer funds under its own escrow arrangements, may apply its own identity and bank-account verification before payout, and pays out sellers. Pakstoor does not itself hold customer funds.
• SnapScan and Ozow: payment providers for listing boosts and other Pakstoor service payments, where enabled; they receive the payment details needed to process that payment. Marketplace purchases are paid through TradeSafe only.
• The Courier Guy (Shiplogic): courier partner; receives names, contact details, collection and delivery addresses, parcel descriptions, parcel sizes, and tracking events necessary to fulfil shipments.
• Cloud hosting and edge security providers: including Amazon Web Services (Africa (Cape Town) region, af-south-1) for compute and storage and Cloudflare for CDN, WAF, DDoS protection, and bot defence (Turnstile). Cloudflare operates a global network, so some request data may be processed outside South Africa.
• OpenAI: image-vision API (gpt-4o-mini) used only on the first photo a seller uploads, to pre-fill category, title, brand, model, and condition where empty; AND AI-assisted case advice generation during Protected Review investigations, where Pakstoor limits and privacy-scrubs the information sent for AI-assisted review support. AI output does not make the final decision; Pakstoor admin review remains responsible for the outcome. OpenAI processes the request as an API processor under its no-training-by-default API terms; Pakstoor does not opt in to model training on customer data. Image OCR (which scans listing and avatar images for off-platform contact details) runs on Pakstoor's own servers and is not an external sub-processor.
• Resend: transactional email delivery.
• BulkSMS: transactional SMS delivery (WASPA-aligned operator).
• Google: address suggestions (Google Places) while you type an address in the app, which sends the text you type to Google; and Sign in with Google, if you choose it. See the full Google data notice.
• Zoho Books: accounting partner; receives commission, Pakstoor Buyer Protection Fee and settlement records (including the business billing details you choose for an invoice) under a signed Data Processing Addendum.
• Police, courts and regulators: we share personal information when the law requires it, for example a subpoena under section 205 of the Criminal Procedure Act, a search warrant or a court order. If you are reported for a crime on Pakstoor, we may also give the South African Police Service (SAPS) investigating officer your name, contact details, addresses, deal history and payment references on a verified written request that quotes a registered case number, because POPIA allows this to help investigate an offence. We give identity numbers and bank details only when a subpoena, warrant or court order requires them. We check every request with the police station, share only what is needed and record every disclosure. We will usually tell you afterwards, unless the police tell us in writing that this would harm their investigation or the law prevents it. If someone’s life or safety is at serious and immediate risk, we may share what is needed straight away. We may also report information to the Financial Intelligence Centre or other authorities where the law requires, and the law may prohibit us from telling you.
• Other users: your profile name and avatar may appear on your Pakstoor profile, listings and conversations. We do not give your private contact details to another user unless you agree, a court orders it, or we must under the Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA). If we receive a PAIA request for your details, we will tell you and give you 21 days to object or agree before we decide. If we release anything, it will only be your name and an address where legal papers can be delivered.

Automated processing (section 71 of POPIA). Some steps are automated: scanning listing and profile images and messages for off-platform contact details and prohibited content, fraud-risk checks, calculating your seller trust level from your activity (see Trust), and AI pre-fill of listing details from your first photo. Review outcomes on disputes, refunds and payouts are decided by a Pakstoor admin, not by an automated tool. If an automated check blocks or flags something you think is wrong, email privacy@pakstoor.co.za and a person will review it.

We send transactional notifications (security codes, offer alerts, courier-collection windows, delivery confirmations, dispute notices, and payout events) by email and, where you provided a mobile number, by SMS. Sending these messages is necessary for the performance of your contract with Pakstoor. Without them you may miss security alerts, courier deadlines, and payout events.

Marketing messages, where offered, are sent only with separate opt-in consent (section 69 of POPIA), which you can withdraw at any time in your notification settings or through the unsubscribe link in the message. Withdrawing marketing consent does not stop transactional messages.

Billing details (optional): if you choose to have a purchase invoiced to a business, we keep the company name, registration number, VAT number (if any), billing address and billing email you give us. We use them only on your own Pakstoor receipts and invoices and on the invoice we keep in our accounting system (Zoho Books). Sellers never see them. You can change or remove them in Settings at any time.

The billing details saved against a completed purchase are part of that transaction's financial record. We keep them for at least 5 years, as the Tax Administration Act requires, even if you remove them from Settings or delete your account. Deleting your account removes the copy saved in your profile.

We retain personal information for as long as it is needed for the purpose collected, and as long as required by law. The short-lived operational data listed last is removed automatically by scheduled jobs. For the other categories the periods below are targets that we apply through manual review and on request, because automatic deletion is not yet in place:

• Account data: retained while the account is active, plus up to 5 years where statutory record-keeping applies (for example tax, accounting, and anti-money-laundering obligations that apply to us or to our payments partner).
• Transaction records: up to 7 years (tax and accounting law).
• Chat and listing Q&A: up to 2 years after the related listing or deal closes.
• Formal Protected Review evidence: retained for the longer of the dispute lifecycle and any applicable legal, regulatory, or audit period.
• Security and audit logs: retained as needed for fraud prevention and incident review.
• Short-lived operational data: sign-in session records are removed when they expire and 7 days after a sign-out or revocation, one-time verification and password-reset tokens are pruned on a rolling basis, notification message bodies are cleared after 180 days, AI usage logs are kept for 365 days, and cached address-lookup results for 12 months. Listings with no activity are warned, archived and then deleted (by default after 45 days untouched, a 7-day grace period, and 30 days in the archive).

You may request earlier deletion where legally permitted. Where deletion is not permitted (for example, statutory retention), we restrict further processing to the original purpose.

You may: access a copy of the personal information we hold about you (s. 23); correct information that is inaccurate or out of date, or request its deletion where the responsible party is no longer authorised to retain it (s. 24), subject to statutory record-keeping (for example tax and anti-money-laundering), dispute, and fraud-prevention retention; and object to specific processing on reasonable grounds relating to your situation (s. 11(3)). Email privacy@pakstoor.co.za to make a request; you may use the Information Regulator's prescribed forms (Form 1 to object, Form 2 for correction or deletion) but a clear written request is enough. You may also lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator under POPIA s. 74. See our POPIA page for how to exercise these rights, the eight conditions for lawful processing, and the relationship between POPIA and PAIA.

Passwords are hashed with Argon2id. Session cookies are httpOnly, Secure, and SameSite=Lax. We limit access to sensitive records on least-privilege principles, keep immutable audit logs of administrative actions, encrypt data in transit (TLS 1.2+, with HSTS), encrypt storage volumes and object storage in our cloud environment at rest, enforce TOTP-based two-factor authentication on admin accounts, offer passkeys and authenticator-app two-factor to all users, and review security controls on an ongoing basis. Data Processing Addendums (DPAs) are maintained or being put in place with selected operators who process data on Pakstoor's behalf, including Zoho.

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