Privacy Policy
1. Who We Are
Ridd's Aqua Centre provides pool maintenance services and products. The Ridd's Pool Care app ("the App") allows pool owners, technicians, and trade customers to manage pool care, water testing, service history, and product orders. This policy explains what data we collect, why we collect it, and how it is handled.
Contact: merv@riddsaqua.co.za
2. Data We Collect
Account data
- Your email address, full name, and phone number, provided when you create an account.
- Your account role (pool owner, technician, or trade customer).
- Authentication tokens managed by our identity provider (Supabase Auth).
Pool and equipment data
- Pool details you enter: name, volume, surface type, equipment make and model, installation dates.
- Water chemistry readings you or a technician enter: chlorine, pH, alkalinity, stabiliser, salt, calcium hardness, iron, copper.
- Service visit records including date, actions taken, technician notes, and photos of pool, pump, and filter.
Order data
- Product orders you place through the app, including items, quantities, delivery address, and payment method preference.
AI feature data
- When you use the AI water analysis feature, your water chemistry readings and pool type are sent to an AI model to generate treatment suggestions.
- When you use the AI Equipment Troubleshooter, the messages you type in that conversation are sent to an AI model to generate diagnostic responses.
- No account identifiers (name, email, or phone number) are included in what is sent to the AI. Only the technical pool or equipment data you have entered is shared.
Usage data
- Standard web server logs (IP address, browser type, pages visited), retained for up to 30 days for security and debugging. These are not linked to your account.
3. How We Use Your Data
- To authenticate you and display your pool information in the app.
- To generate water chemistry recommendations based on your test results.
- To power the AI water analysis feature, which interprets your chemistry readings and suggests treatment actions.
- To power the AI Equipment Troubleshooter, which uses your typed messages to provide diagnostic guidance on pool equipment and chemistry.
- To record and display your service history.
- To process product orders and communicate order status.
- To send OTP verification codes and order confirmation emails.
- To track equipment maintenance schedules and alert you when service is due.
- To diagnose issues and provide customer support.
4. Data Storage & Security
All data is stored in a Supabase database. Service visit photos are stored in Supabase Storage. Row-level security policies ensure that each user can only access their own data. Technicians can only see pools assigned to them, and trade customers can only see their linked clients' data with explicit consent.
We apply reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect your data. No method of electronic storage or transmission is 100% secure.
5. Data Sharing
We do not sell or share your personal data with third parties for marketing or advertising purposes. We may share data with:
- Service providers — Supabase (database, auth & storage), Resend (transactional email), and OpenAI (AI features) — under agreements that restrict them to acting on our instructions.
- Trade technicians you authorise — if you approve a trade technician's access request, they can view your pool data and log service visits.
- Legal obligations — if required by South African law or a valid court order.
6. Artificial Intelligence Features
The Ridd's Pool Care app includes two AI-powered features:
- AI Water Analysis — after you enter water chemistry readings, your results and pool type are sent to OpenAI's API to generate treatment suggestions. Your name, email, and contact details are not included in this request.
- AI Equipment Troubleshooter — when you use the troubleshooter chat, the messages you type are sent to OpenAI's API to generate diagnostic responses. Do not include sensitive personal information in your troubleshooter messages.
OpenAI processes data on servers located in the United States. By using these features, you consent to your pool data being transferred to and processed by OpenAI for the purpose of generating responses. OpenAI's use of this data is governed by their API data usage policy, under which they do not use API data to train their models.
You may use the app without engaging the AI features. The AI water analysis can be ignored, and the Equipment Troubleshooter is entirely optional.
7. Data Retention
Account and pool data is retained for as long as your account is active. If you delete your account through the app, your account credentials and profile are removed immediately. Service history and order records may be retained for business record-keeping purposes. To request full data deletion, contact us at the email below.
8. Account Deletion
You can delete your account at any time from within the app: tap your profile → Account settings → Delete my account. You will be asked to confirm with your email address. Deletion is immediate and permanent.
9. Your Rights (POPIA)
Under the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA), you have the right to:
- Request access to the personal information we hold about you.
- Request correction of inaccurate information.
- Request deletion of your account and associated data.
- Lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator of South Africa (justice.gov.za/inforeg).
To exercise any of these rights, email merv@riddsaqua.co.za.
10. Children
The Ridd's Pool Care app is not directed at children under the age of 18. We do not knowingly collect personal information from minors.
11. Changes to This Policy
We may update this policy from time to time. When we do, we will update the effective date at the top. Continued use of the app after any change constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.
12. Contact
If you have questions about this policy or how your data is handled, please contact us at merv@riddsaqua.co.za.