Privacy policy

Last updated: October 4, 2026

ProFind is a trading name of Milan Technologies (Pty) Ltd ("ProFind", "Milan Technologies", "we", "us", "our"), based in Cape Town, South Africa. This policy explains what personal information we collect through profind.co.za (the "Platform"), why we collect it, how we use and protect it, and the rights you have over it under the Protection of Personal Information Act, 2013 ("POPIA").

This policy applies to everyone who uses the Platform: consumers searching for, contacting, booking or requesting urgent help from local businesses, and businesses that create and manage a listing.

1. Who we are

ProFind is a trading name of Milan Technologies (Pty) Ltd, based in Cape Town, South Africa. You can reach us at support@profind.co.za.

Milan Technologies (Pty) Ltd is the responsible party for personal information processed through the Platform, as defined under POPIA.

2. What information we collect

We only collect what we need to run the Platform. Depending on how you use ProFind, this can include:

Account registration information. If you create a ProFind account (as a consumer or a business), we collect a contact method (email address and/or phone number), and for businesses, the name of the person registering the listing. We do not require or store a password for consumer accounts — access is verified by a one-time code sent to your contact method.

Consumer enquiry information. When you contact a business through ProFind (a "Send Enquiry" or similar request), we collect your name, contact method, general area, a description of what you need, timing, and any photos you choose to attach. Your exact address is never shared with a business until they respond to your enquiry — before that, a business only sees your general area, enough to judge whether the job is within reach.

Location information. With your permission (through your browser or device location prompt), ProFind collects your precise device location (GPS coordinates) to find businesses near you, to calculate distance and service radius, to dispatch an Emergency request to nearby responders, to show route and arrival progress between a customer and a responder during an active Emergency request, and, where relevant, to support Reserve bookings for mobile or on-site services. You can instead type a town or suburb, and you can withdraw location permission at any time in your browser or device settings. When you do not share precise location, we may use the town or suburb you enter. A business only receives your precise location where it is needed to perform a service you requested (for example, an accepted Emergency request or a confirmed on-site booking). A responder's live location is shared with the customer only during an active Emergency job.

Emergency request information. When you request urgent help, we collect the service needed, your location, a description, and any voice note or photos you choose to attach, together with request status, response times, the responder who accepted, and related payment status where a protected fee applies.

Reserve booking information. When you make a booking through ProFind Reserve, we collect the business, service, date and time, party size or resources where relevant, notes you add for the business, booking and arrival codes, attendance, cancellation and no-show status, and related payment, deposit or protected-fee status.

Business profile information. If you list a business, we collect and publish the information you choose to add to your profile — business name, category, services offered, service areas, description, contact details, hours, photos, and any credentials, certifications or insurance details you choose to submit. You control what appears on your public profile.

Contact details. Phone numbers, email addresses and, where provided, WhatsApp numbers used to enable a consumer to reach a business, to send operational notifications (including Emergency and booking alerts), or to enable us to reach you about your account.

Website usage information. Standard technical information generated by visiting the Platform — pages viewed, search terms used (service and location), device and browser type, and general location information derived from your IP address or the area you search for.

Cookies. We use cookies and similar technologies necessary for the Platform to function (keeping you logged in, remembering search preferences) and, where enabled, cookies that help us understand how the Platform is used. See Section 8.

Subscription and payment information. If a business subscribes to a paid Standard or Pro plan, or a customer pays a deposit, protected call-out fee or protected booking fee, our payment processor (see Section 10) collects the information needed to process that payment. We do not store full card or bank account numbers ourselves — that is handled directly by our payment processor.

Communications. Messages sent through ProFind's own private messaging between a consumer and a business, conversations with ProFind's support assistant (ARIA), and any correspondence you have with our support team.

Uploaded documents. Where a business or responder submits documents or identity checks to support a verification claim (for example, proof of registration, ID, or proof of address), we store these as private, access-controlled files. We do not display the contents of these documents publicly — only whether a verification check was passed.

Reviews and ratings. Star ratings and written reviews submitted by consumers about a business, any reply a business posts to a review, and, where Reserve supports it, ratings exchanged between a business and a customer after a completed booking.

We do not collect special categories of personal information (such as health, religious or political information) unless you choose to include it in free-text fields (for example, a job description or booking note), and we do not use special categories of information for any purpose beyond what you provided it for.

3. How we use your information

We use the information above to: operate the search, compare and contact experience the Platform is built around, including NOW AI matching; use your location to show nearby businesses, apply service radius and distance, and route Emergency requests; dispatch Emergency requests to suitable nearby responders, show route and arrival progress, and manage acceptance, timeouts and rerouting; create and manage Reserve bookings, reminders, waitlists, loyalty, arrival codes, cancellations and no-shows; process subscriptions, deposits and FeeShield protected fees, including authorising, capturing, releasing or refunding them in line with the applicable policy; connect consumer enquiries to the relevant business, and enable messaging between the two; create, display and let you manage a business listing; verify business and responder information where verification is applied for; display reviews and ratings, and detect and prevent review fraud or abuse; detect and prevent fraud, spam and abuse more broadly; send you operational communications by email, browser notification or WhatsApp about your account, enquiries, quotes, bookings, Emergency requests or subscription (these are not optional, since they relate to something you're actively doing on the Platform); send you marketing communications, but only if you have explicitly opted in, and you can withdraw that consent at any time (see Section 9); understand how the Platform is used so we can improve it; and meet our own legal and regulatory obligations.

We process personal information on the following lawful bases under POPIA: your consent (for example, precise location, marketing communications, non-essential cookies), performance of a contract with you (creating and running your account, listing, booking or Emergency request), and our legitimate interests in operating a secure, functioning platform (for example, fraud prevention), balanced against your rights.

4. Communications between consumers and businesses

If a business responds to your enquiry, further conversation happens in ProFind's own private messaging rather than over SMS or email, so a record exists if a dispute or safety concern needs to be reviewed. A message thread only ever has two participants — you and the business tied to that specific enquiry. Neither ProFind staff generally, nor any other user, can read it; access is restricted to what a genuine safety or dispute review requires. Either party can block or report a thread at any time. Messages are retained for a limited period (currently up to 365 days) after which they are no longer part of active data, subject to Section 11.

If you contact a business directly by phone or WhatsApp using the details on their profile, that conversation happens entirely outside the Platform and this policy does not apply to its content — we only record that the click happened, not what was said.

5. Reviews, ratings and business replies

Reviews are tied to a real, completed enquiry or booking, not left anonymously. A business cannot pay ProFind, at any plan level, to have a genuine negative review removed. We may remove a review that breaches our platform policies (for example, fraudulent, abusive or off-topic content) — see the Terms of Service for how that process works. A business can publicly reply to a review; that reply is also subject to the same content standards.

6. Verification information

Where a business submits documents to support a verification claim, those documents are stored privately and are not displayed publicly — only the resulting verified/not-verified status is shown. Verification checks are the same regardless of a business's plan tier; no plan can buy a verification badge without meeting the underlying checks. A verification badge can expire or be revoked, in which case it stops appearing everywhere immediately.

7. Fraud and security signals

We use automated checks (for example, unusual enquiry volume, patterns suggesting duplicate accounts, or a spike in reviews for one business) purely to flag cases for a human moderator to review — these checks never automatically suspend, ban or otherwise penalise an account on their own.

8. Cookies

We use cookies that are strictly necessary for the Platform to function (for example, keeping you signed in, remembering your last search). Where we use additional cookies for analytics or to improve the Platform, we will ask for your consent before doing so, and you can manage your preferences through your browser or any cookie settings we provide on the Platform. Disabling non-essential cookies will not prevent you from searching for or contacting a business.

9. Analytics and marketing communications

We may use aggregated, non-identifying analytics to understand how the Platform is used (for example, which searches are common) so we can improve it. Operational messages about your own enquiries, quotes, bookings, Emergency requests or subscription are never optional, since they relate to something you're actively doing — you cannot miss these by opting out of marketing. Marketing communications (for example, a nudge that you haven't booked in a while) require your explicit opt-in, are off by default, and you can withdraw consent at any time through your account settings or by contacting us.

10. Payment processors and third-party service providers

We work with a small number of service providers to run the Platform, each of whom only receives the information they need to perform their function:

Payment processing: subscription billing for paid business plans, and customer deposits and FeeShield protected fees, are processed by Paystack. Paystack (not ProFind) receives and processes your payment details directly; ProFind receives the payment, authorisation, refund and subscription status information needed to manage the service, not your full payment details.

Hosting, database and application services: the Platform's storefront runs on Shopify, and ProFind's application data, authentication, file storage and back-end logic run on Supabase.

Email delivery: transactional and, where consented, marketing email is sent through Resend.

Other operational providers: identity verification for businesses and responders (Didit), map routing for Emergency navigation (Geoapify), and delivery of WhatsApp and browser notifications. Each receives only the information needed for that function.

We require our service providers to protect your information and to use it only for the purpose we've engaged them for. Where a service provider is located outside South Africa, we take reasonable steps to ensure your information continues to receive an adequate level of protection, consistent with POPIA's requirements for cross-border transfers.

We do not sell your personal information to third parties, and we do not share business or consumer data with other businesses on the Platform beyond what's needed to connect a consumer's enquiry, booking or Emergency request to the business they contacted or selected.

11. Data retention

We keep personal information only for as long as it's needed for the purpose it was collected, or as required by law:

Enquiry and messaging data is retained for a limited period (currently up to 365 days) after which it is no longer part of active data, unless it's relevant to an open dispute, payment issue report, or safety case, in which case we retain it until that matter is resolved. Live location shared during an Emergency request is used for that request and is not kept as an ongoing location history beyond what is needed for the record of that request, safety review or dispute. Booking and payment records are retained as required for accounting, tax and dispute purposes. Verification documents are retained for as long as the verification is active, plus a reasonable period afterward for audit purposes. Account information is retained for as long as your account is active, and for a limited period afterward in case you wish to reactivate it or as required for legal, accounting or dispute-resolution purposes. Reviews remain part of the public record of a business's reputation and are not deleted simply because an account is closed, unless removed under our content policies.

12. Your rights under POPIA

You have the right to: know what we hold about you, and request a copy of it; correct information that is inaccurate or incomplete (for example, disputing a rating you believe is wrong); request deletion of your personal information, subject to what we are legally required or entitled to retain (for example, records relevant to an active dispute); object to processing carried out on the basis of our legitimate interests; withdraw consent at any time for anything we process on the basis of your consent (for example, precise location, marketing communications, non-essential cookies), without affecting the lawfulness of processing before you withdrew it; and lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator (South Africa) if you believe we have not handled your information in line with POPIA.

To exercise any of these rights, contact us at support@profind.co.za. We will respond within a reasonable time and in line with POPIA's requirements.

13. Information security

We take reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect the personal information we hold against loss, unauthorised access, and misuse, appropriate to the nature of the information involved (for example, restricting access to verification documents, location and payment-related data to only what a given function needs). No system can be guaranteed 100% secure, and we do not claim a specific security certification unless and until we have actually obtained one.

14. Children

The Platform is not directed at children, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe a child has provided us with personal information, please contact us at support@profind.co.za so we can address it.

15. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy as the Platform evolves. Where a change is material, we will take reasonable steps to let registered users know. The date at the top of this policy shows when it was last updated.

16. Contact us

For any question about this policy or how your information is handled, contact us at:

ProFind
A trading name of Milan Technologies (Pty) Ltd
Cape Town, South Africa
support@profind.co.za