Privacy, in plain language.

1. Who is responsible

SpottedStyle SA is a distinct app and service operated by VaKoop (Pty) Ltd in South Africa. It is not the VaKoop marketplace app. Questions or POPIA requests can be sent to cs@vakoop.co.za with “SpottedStyle” in the subject.

2. What stays on your device

In the current testing build, your selected or captured images, Spot titles, source notes, style tags, size and spend preferences, saved boards and onboarding state are stored locally on your device. SpottedStyle does not create a public profile or public style feed and does not cloud-sync those boards.

You choose when the app may access your camera or photo library. SpottedStyle keeps an app-owned, resized copy for your private board and does not intentionally keep the original photo-library address or EXIF metadata.

3. Testing-build diagnostics

The signed testing build may send limited technical information needed to deliver updates and diagnose failures, including app version, operating system, crash logs, device or installation identifiers, network metadata and update-channel information. Photos, notes, boards, size choices and spend preferences are not included in those diagnostic or update checks.

4. Optional live photo search

In version 0.3.0, invited adult testers can choose a live search. Before each upload, the app shows a processing notice and asks you to confirm you are 18 or older. Choosing a photo alone does not upload it. Please use garment-only images, without faces, children, private messages, addresses or other personal or confidential details.

The separate SpottedStyle service at vakoop.com/api/mobile/v1/spottedstyle runs on Cloudflare. It receives a resized garment photo and your chosen shopping priority and price band. It removes embedded image metadata again and sends the photo to Google Gemini for a clothing description. We do not ask for identity, body measurements or fit predictions.

Only garment shopping words go to SerpAPI for South African search results; the image is not sent to SerpAPI. We also read a limited snapshot of public VaKoop listings. Provider outages or quota limits may leave only VaKoop results. Prepared walkthrough examples remain labelled and make no matching request.

Google’s data handling depends on the API billing tier. Unpaid API input and output may be reviewed by people and used to improve Google products and models. Paid API requests have different data-use terms, including safety retention. We do not promise zero provider retention or that this testing project uses the paid tier. Read the Gemini API terms and SerpAPI privacy policy before choosing live search.

5. Optional marketplace handoff

Only after you choose to continue, SpottedStyle can open a separate marketplace search. The link is limited to an allowlisted garment category, an optional colour family, up to two confirmed style tags and a SpottedStyle attribution tag. It does not include your image, free-text title, source note, size, spend preference, board, account, location or device identifier. The destination service’s own privacy terms apply after it opens.

6. Features not enabled in 0.3.0

Google or Apple accounts, RevenueCat purchases, cloud board sync, automatic price watches, push notifications, advertising and product analytics are disabled in this internal-testing build. Live matching needs no account and is subject to a shared testing quota.

7. Deletion and retention

You can delete one Spot or use “Delete all SpottedStyle data” in the app to remove app-owned images and records from that device. Uninstalling the app also removes its local container under the operating system’s normal rules. SpottedStyle processes live uploads in memory and does not intentionally store uploaded photos, shopping text or match results on its server. It stores opaque request hashes for up to 24 hours to prevent duplicate paid work, plus a shared daily request count. These records are not a photo or search history.

Deleting local app data cannot recall a request already sent to a provider. Google, SerpAPI, Cloudflare and update or store services may retain technical or request records under their own policies, including safety and legal requirements. Contact us for help with a provider-related request.

8. Your POPIA rights

You may ask for access to, correction of, deletion of or objection to personal information we control, withdraw consent where consent is the basis, and complain to South Africa’s Information Regulator. Use our data deletion page or contact SpottedStyle support. We aim to respond within 30 days.

9. Security and international processing

Where data is transmitted, we use HTTPS. Cloudflare, Google Gemini, SerpAPI and update services may process requests and technical records outside South Africa. Your live-search choice includes this processing. The testing service has request limits and does not publish your image, but no system can promise absolute security.

10. Changes

Material changes will be dated here and, where appropriate, explained in the app before the changed processing begins.