Privacy Policy

Race Hopper is operated by Claire Viljoen, based in South Africa. We are the “responsible party” for the personal information described in this policy. You can reach us at claire@racehopper.co.za.

We only collect the information we actually need to run Race Hopper:

When you create an account:your name, email address, and a password (stored as a one-way hash — we can't see it).

When you sign in with Google: your name, email address, and Google profile picture, shared with us by Google when you authorise the connection.

When you use the site:the events you save, “maybe” races you bookmark, races you log, profile details you choose to add (e.g. province), and Race Hopper Promote purchases you make.

When you connect Strava: activity data (distance, time, date, activity type) that we use to match races and compute your personal bests. We never see your Strava password.

When you submit an event: your name and email so we can follow up on the submission.

Automatically: standard technical information about your visit (e.g. browser, approximate location from IP, pages viewed) and errors the site encounters while you use it, so we can fix them.

We use your information to run your account, show you your saved events and race log, match Strava activities to races you've done, send you the emails described in section 4 below, process Race Hopper Promote payments, prevent abuse, and improve the site. We do not sell your data, and we do not share it with third parties for their marketing.

We send you transactional emails (account confirmation, password reset, payment receipts, event submission status, Race Hopper Promote campaign coordination). We may also send occasional product updates and round-ups about Race Hopper from the address you signed up with. You can unsubscribe from non-essential emails at any time by emailing us — transactional emails will continue because they're necessary to operate your account.

To run Race Hopper, your data is processed by a small number of trusted service providers. These are “operators” under POPIA and are contractually bound to protect your data:

Supabase — stores your account, race log, and saved events. Hosted in the US.

Resend — sends our emails. Hosted in the US.

Yoco — processes Race Hopper Promote payments. South African company; subject to South African card-payment regulations.

Strava — only if you choose to connect Strava. We never share your Race Hopper data with Strava; the connection is one-way (Strava → us). Hosted in the US.

Vercel — hosts the website and runs server code. Global edge network, primary servers in the US.

Sentry — receives anonymised error reports so we can fix bugs. These may include your user ID and the page you were on, but not your password or payment details. Hosted in the US.

Cloudflare Turnstile — protects the signup form from automated abuse. Hosted globally.

Google — only if you sign in with Google. Google receives the sign-in request and returns your name and email. Hosted in the US.

Because several of our providers are based in the United States and other jurisdictions outside South Africa, your personal information may be transferred, stored and processed abroad. We only use providers that offer protections at least equivalent to those required by POPIA. By using Race Hopper, you consent to these transfers.

Race Hopper uses essential cookies to keep you signed in and remember your preferences (for example, the last filter you applied to the calendar). We don't use third-party advertising cookies and we don't run analytics scripts that track you across other sites.

Account data is kept for as long as your account is open. If you close your account, we delete your personal information within 30 days, except for records we're required by law to retain (for example, Race Hopper Promote invoices, which we keep for the period set out in South African tax law).

You have the right to:

• Access the personal information we hold about you
• Correctany of it that's inaccurate or out of date
• Delete your account and have us erase your personal data (subject to the legal retention requirements in section 8)
• Object to processing or withdraw your consent for non-essential uses (like marketing emails)
• Complainto the Information Regulator of South Africa if you feel we've handled your data improperly

To exercise any of these, email claire@racehopper.co.za. We aim to respond within 30 days.

We protect your data with reasonable technical and organisational measures — including HTTPS everywhere, hashed passwords, row-level access controls on the database, and limited admin access. No system is perfectly secure, but we take it seriously. If we ever experience a data breach that affects you, we'll notify you and the Information Regulator as POPIA requires.

Race Hopper is not aimed at children. You must be at least 16 to create an account. If you believe a child has signed up, please email us and we'll delete the account.

We may update this policy from time to time. The “last updated” date at the top of this page will change when we do. If the changes are significant, we'll email you about them.

Claire Viljoen is Race Hopper's Information Officer. For any privacy-related request or query, email claire@racehopper.co.za.