YOUR INFORMATION MATTERS
Privacy at Fika
Draft · 11 November 2026
Who we are
Fika is a ride-hailing service for towns such as Malamulele, Giyani, Bushbuckridge and Tzaneen. The registered name, registration number and address of the business that runs Fika will be shown here before launch.
We are the “responsible party” for your personal information under the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA). This policy covers the Fika app for riders, the Fika Driver app and this website.
The short version
- Riders: we need your cellphone number, and where you want to be picked up and dropped off. We do not ask for your name.
- Drivers: we need your name, cellphone number, photos of you and your car, your car’s details, photos of four documents, and your location while you are online.
- We use this to arrange rides, keep riders and drivers safe, work out fees and keep the records the law asks for.
- We do not sell your information. There is no advertising and no tracking in the apps or on this website.
What we collect from riders
- An account ID, made by our system the first time you open the app or the booking page, so your rides belong to you.
- Your cellphone number, when you add it. We send a 6-digit code by SMS to check it is yours. It signs you in and lets Fika reach you about a ride.
- Your pickup and destination for each ride: the place name and its position on the map. A ride cannot be arranged without them.
- Each ride: the time, fare, distance, how you chose to pay, how the ride ended and the 4-digit PIN for that ride.
- The stars you give your driver, if you rate the ride.
Your phone’s own location is used only if you allow it, to set your pickup point and show places near you. It is worked out on your phone; what we receive is the pickup point you confirm. You can type or pin a place instead. We do not ask riders for a name, an email address, an ID number or card details.
What we collect from drivers
- An account ID, your full name, cellphone number, town and years of driving.
- Your car’s make, model, colour and number plate, a photo of you and a photo of your car, so riders can recognise you and get into the right car.
- Photos of your ID or passport, driver’s licence, Professional Driving Permit (PrDP) and vehicle licence disc, so Fika can check that you may carry passengers.
- Your precise location while you are online. Fika Driver collects location data to send you ride requests near you and to show your rider where you are, even when the app is closed or not in use. It stops when you go offline.
- Work records: requests offered to you and what you did with them, rides, completed trips, fares, your rating, and any change to your status with the reason.
- Prepaid service fees: each top-up, each fee charged and any correction. Card and bank details are typed on the payment provider’s own page and never reach Fika.
- The prices you propose in “My prices”, if you fill them in.
- A notification address for your phone, once notifications for closed apps are switched on and you allow them, so a request can reach you when Fika Driver is closed.
Everyone
When an app or this website talks to our servers, the servers record the internet (IP) address, the time and what was asked for. We use these records to keep the service running and to stop abuse. The apps and the website also keep your sign-in, your settings, recent places and downloaded maps on your own phone or browser; that is not sent to us. There are no advertising or tracking cookies.
Who sees your information
- When a driver accepts your ride, you see the driver’s name, photo, rating, car, number plate and cellphone number, and where the driver is until the trip ends.
- The driver sees your pickup point, your destination, the fare and how you will pay. The driver is not shown your cellphone number.
- Fika’s own team can see driver profiles, documents, rides, riders’ cellphone numbers and fee records, to approve drivers and help with problems. Every change they make is recorded.
- Companies that work for us and may use your information only to provide their service: our database, sign-in and photo storage provider (Supabase), the SMS provider that sends sign-in codes, the payment provider for drivers’ top-ups, the notification services of Expo, Apple and Google, and the map, routing and hosting providers. The full list, with each company’s name, will be published here before launch.
- The authorities, when a law, a court order or a lawful request requires it, or to protect someone’s safety.
Photos of drivers and their cars are kept so that a rider’s app can load them by a web link. The links are long and random and are not listed anywhere, but anyone who has a link can open that photo. Document photos are different: they are in private storage that only the driver and Fika’s team can open.
Where it is kept
Our database and photo storage are in London, in the United Kingdom. Some of the other services are in the United States and Europe. POPIA allows this where the company receiving the information is bound by law or by contract to protect it to a similar standard.
How long we keep it
We will keep information only for as long as we need it to run the service and to meet the law, for example tax and accounting records of rides and fees. The exact periods are still being decided and will be listed here before launch.
How we protect it
Everything travels over encrypted connections. The database lets each person read only their own records. Document photos are in private storage. Each ride has a PIN that the rider gives the driver. Staff access is limited by role and every change is recorded. If your information is ever accessed by someone who should not have it, we will tell you and the Information Regulator as soon as reasonably possible.
Your choices and rights
- Ask us what we hold about you, and ask us to correct it. Drivers can change their own profile, photos and documents in Fika Driver or the driver portal.
- Ask us to delete your account and the information with it: see Delete your account.
- Object, on reasonable grounds, to how we use your information.
- Switch location, camera, photos and notifications off in your phone’s settings at any time. A driver cannot be online without location.
- We send no marketing messages unless you have agreed to them, and you can stop them at any time.
The address to write to to use any of these rights will be shown here before Fika opens to the public.
You may also complain to the Information Regulator (South Africa): Woodmead North Office Park, 54 Maxwell Drive, Woodmead, Johannesburg, 2191; 010 023 5200; POPIAComplaints@inforegulator.org.za; inforegulator.org.za.
Children
Fika accounts are for adults. We do not knowingly collect information from a child without a parent’s or guardian’s consent. If you believe a child has given us information, tell us and we will remove it.
If you do not give us information
You can look at this website and at prices without an account. Without a pickup and destination we cannot arrange a ride. A driver who does not give the profile, photos, documents or location cannot be approved or go online.
Changes
When we change this policy we will put the new version on this page with its date, and tell you in the app before a change that matters takes effect.