Privacy Policy

1. Overview

This policy explains what information Madly ("we", "us") collects, why we hold it, and what you can do about it. It covers the Madly website and the planning tools and directory it provides.

We process personal information in line with the Protection of Personal Information Act, 2013 (POPIA).

2. Information We Collect

2.1 Account Information

• Email address and password. Passwords are stored as a cryptographic hash, not as text we can read.
• First and last name, where you provide them.
• Which parts of the Service you have told us you use, and which in-app tips you have seen or dismissed.
• Account dates, such as when you signed up and when you last signed in.

2.2 Event Planning Information

If you plan an event with us, we store what you enter into the planning tools:

• The event itself — its name, description, wedding date, and the date planning started.
• Tasks and timeline — your checklist categories and tasks, their descriptions, your notes against them, whether they are complete, and the planning milestones they are due by.
• Guest list — each guest's name, email address if you add one, RSVP status, any grouping tags, and your notes about them.
• Budget — the figures and categories you enter into the budget calculator.
• Schedule — your day-of running order, including the times, entries, notes and contact details you add to it.
• Event website — the content, settings and images you put on your shareable event page.
• Shortlists — which venues and vendors you have added to your event, and which you have marked as selected.

2.3 Venue and Vendor Listing Information

If you own or claim a listing, we store the information attached to it:

• Business name, description, website, and email address.
• Address details, including street address, city, postal code, country, and coordinates.
• Pricing information, and for venues, maximum capacity.
• Selling points, categories, vendor types, and tags.
• Links to social media profiles, such as Facebook, Instagram, X, TikTok, YouTube and Vimeo.
• Packages, including their names, prices, included items, and their own terms and conditions.
• Images you upload, including the main listing image and gallery images with their captions.
• The listing's review status and any message we have attached to it, plus a record of whether it has been claimed and whether its email address has been confirmed.

2.4 Support and Feedback

• Messages you send us through the contact form, including the name, email address, subject, message and any rating you provide.
• Correspondence you send us by email.

2.5 Email Preferences

• A record of which categories of email an address has unsubscribed from, so we can honour it.
• Where we have emailed an invitation to join Madly — to a business about its listing, or to a couple — a record of that address and whether the message was sent, so that we do not send it twice.

2.6 Technical Information

• Our servers and hosting providers keep logs of requests, which include IP addresses, browser and device information, and the pages or endpoints requested. These are used to operate the Service, diagnose faults, and limit abuse.

We do not currently use third-party analytics or advertising trackers, and we do not build advertising profiles.

3. Information About Other People

The planning tools let you record details about other people — most obviously your guests. Where you enter someone else's information, you are responsible for having a basis to share it with us, and we process it on your behalf so that we can show it back to you.

We do not email your guests. Guest email addresses are stored so that you have them, and are included when you export or print your own guest list.

4. Listings Compiled From Public Sources

Some venue and vendor listings are created from publicly available business information — for example a business's own website, public social media profile, or public directory entry — before that business has an account with us. This is business contact information rather than private personal information, and we hold it so the directory is useful to couples searching it.

If a listing relates to your business, you can claim it to take control of its content, or contact us to have it corrected or removed.

5. How We Use Information

We use what we collect to:

• Provide your account, and keep you signed in.
• Store and show your planning information back to you, and generate the exports, printouts and event website you ask for.
• Publish and maintain venue and vendor listings, and run the directory search.
• Review listings, and handle claims and verification.
• Reply to your support messages and act on your requests.
• Send service email you have asked for or that is necessary — password resets, claim and verification messages, and replies to what you send us.
• Send invitations to join Madly, which you can unsubscribe from.
• Keep the Service working: diagnose faults, prevent abuse, and enforce our terms.

We do not sell your personal information.

6. What Is Publicly Visible

Most of what you enter is private to your account. The exceptions are worth being clear about:

• Approved venue and vendor listings are public, including the business email address, address and images on them. Anyone using the Service can see them.
• Your event website is reachable by anyone with its link, as is the guest list attached to it, which shows guest names and RSVP status. Guest email addresses and your private notes are not shown there. We do not publish the link or list it in search engines, but we cannot control where it is shared once you share it.

7. Cookies and Browser Storage

We do not use advertising or analytics cookies.

The website stores a small amount of information in your browser's local storage, which stays on your device:

• Your sign-in token, so you are not signed out on every page.
• Recent venue and vendor search filters, so a search you were part-way through is still there when you come back.

You can clear this at any time through your browser settings. Clearing it will sign you out and discard saved search filters.

8. Email and Unsubscribing

We send two kinds of email:

• Service email — password resets, listing claim and verification messages, and replies to what you send us. These are responses to something you did, and are not marketing.
• Invitation email — an invitation to a business to claim its listing, or to a couple to sign up. Every one of these carries an unsubscribe link.

Unsubscribing stops invitation email to that address. It does not stop service email, and it does not close your account. You can also ask us to unsubscribe an address by contacting us.

9. Service Providers

We use third-party providers to run the Service, and they process information only to provide their service to us. They fall into these categories:

• Cloud hosting and database providers, which host the Service and its data.
• File and image storage providers, which store uploaded images and documents.
• An email delivery provider, which sends the email we send you.

Some of these providers operate outside South Africa, which means your information may be stored or processed in another country.

10. Data Storage and Security

We take reasonable measures to protect the information we hold:

• Traffic between your browser and the Service is protected with HTTPS.
• Passwords are stored as cryptographic hashes rather than as readable text.
• Access to personal information is limited to those who need it to operate the Service.

No online service can be completely secure, and we cannot guarantee that unauthorised access will never occur.

11. How Long We Keep It

We keep your account and planning information for as long as your account exists, so that it is there when you come back to it. Listing information stays for as long as the listing is on the directory.

We keep a record of an unsubscribe request for as long as needed to keep honouring it. We may also retain information where the law requires it.

You can ask us to delete your data at any time — see below.

12. Your Rights

Under POPIA you have the right to:

• Ask what personal information we hold about you, and ask for a copy of it.
• Ask us to correct information that is wrong or incomplete.
• Ask us to delete your information, subject to anything we are required to keep.
• Object to our processing of your information.
• Unsubscribe from our marketing email.
• Complain to the Information Regulator of South Africa.

To exercise any of these, email us at support@madly.co.za. Deletion requests are described in more detail on our data deletion page.

13. Changes to This Policy

We may update this policy from time to time. When we do, we will change the "last updated" date at the top of this page.

14. Contact Us

For privacy queries or to exercise your rights, contact us at support@madly.co.za.