Privacy Policy

This policy explains what personal information Shoku ("Shoku", "we", "us") collects when you use the Shoku and Shoku Contractor apps or this website, why we collect it, and how you can exercise your rights under South Africa's Protection of Personal Information Act, 2013 (POPIA). It applies to homeowners and contractors alike, unless a section says otherwise.

1. Information we collect

Account information. Your name, email address, phone number and password, plus whether you're using Shoku as a homeowner or a contractor.

Job and quote information. Job descriptions, the address for the work, any photos you attach, quotes submitted by contractors, and schedules proposed for a job.

Messages. The content of in-app chat messages between a homeowner and a contractor for a given job.

Contractor payout details. If you register as a contractor, we collect your bank account details so we can pay out funds you've earned once a job is signed off.

Payment information. When a homeowner pays for a job, card details are captured and processed directly by Paystack, our licensed third-party payment processor. Your full card number never touches Shoku's own servers.

Location information. The address you provide when posting a job, and — for contractors — the approximate distance used to show you nearby jobs.

Device and usage information. Basic technical information, such as device type and app version, needed to run, secure and support the apps.

Website analytics. On this marketing website we may use privacy-respecting analytics to understand traffic. We honour your browser's Do-Not-Track signal: if it's enabled, no analytics script is loaded and no analytics data is collected for your visit.

2. How we use your information

• To match homeowners with contractors and let you browse, quote on and manage jobs.
• To enable in-app chat, schedule proposals and job sign-off between homeowners and contractors.
• To process payments via Paystack and pay contractor payouts to their bank account.
• To maintain trust and safety on the platform, including vetting contractors and investigating disputes.
• To operate, secure and improve the Shoku apps and this website.
• To meet our legal, tax and regulatory obligations.

3. Who we share it with

We share information only where it's needed to provide the service:

• The other party to a job. A contractor sees the job details, address and photos a homeowner posts, and both sides see each other's chat messages. A homeowner sees a contractor's public profile.
• Paystack, to process card payments and contractor payouts.
• Google Cloud Platform / Firebase, our infrastructure and hosting providers, who process data on our behalf under their own security commitments.
• Regulators or law enforcement, where we're legally required to disclose information.

We do not sell your personal information.

4. Where your information is processed

Shoku's apps and this website run on Google Cloud Platform and Firebase infrastructure. Where information is processed outside South Africa, we rely on the safeguards those providers make available to protect your information to a standard consistent with POPIA.

5. How long we keep it

We retain personal information for as long as necessary to provide the service described above, and for as long as required by law afterwards — for example, financial records relating to payments and payouts.

6. Your rights under POPIA

Subject to POPIA, you have the right to:

• Access the personal information we hold about you.
• Ask us to correct information that is inaccurate or out of date.
• Ask us to delete personal information we no longer have a lawful basis to keep.
• Object to certain processing of your personal information.
• Lodge a complaint with South Africa's Information Regulator if you believe we've handled your information improperly.

You can exercise any of these rights, or ask us anything about this policy, through the support channels available in the Shoku app.

7. Security

We use reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect your personal information against loss, unauthorised access, and misuse. No system is completely secure, but we work to keep yours as safe as practically possible.

8. Children

Shoku is intended for people aged 18 and over. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children.

9. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time as the product changes. We'll update the "Last updated" date above when we do.

10. Contact us

For any question about this policy or your personal information, please reach out through the support channels available in the Shoku app.