BushCamp
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Privacy Policy

Last updated: 24 May 2026

BushCamp ("we", "us", "our") is committed to protecting your personal information in accordance with the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 (POPIA). This policy explains what information we collect, why we collect it, how we use it, and your rights.

1. Responsible Party

BushCamp
Website: bushcamp.co.za

2. Information We Collect

2.1 Information you provide

  • Account registration: email address, username, password (hashed — never stored in plain text).
  • Profile: display name, avatar image, bio, location (all optional).
  • Content: forum posts, replies, images, and reactions you submit.

2.2 Information collected automatically

  • Session data: authentication tokens stored in secure HTTP-only cookies.
  • Usage data: pages visited, thread view counts (de-duplicated via a short-lived browser cookie — no personal identifier stored).
  • Technical data: IP address, browser type, and device type collected by our hosting provider (Vercel) for security and abuse prevention.

3. Cookies

We use the following cookies:

  • bc-session: Essential. Stores your login session. Required for authenticated features.
  • bc-theme: Functional. Remembers your light/dark mode preference.
  • bc-session-view: Functional. Prevents duplicate view counts on threads (expires after 1 hour).
  • bc-cookie-consent: Functional. Stores your cookie consent preference.

We do not use advertising cookies or third-party tracking cookies. You can manage your preferences at any time via the Cookie Settings link in the footer.

4. Why We Process Your Information (Lawful Basis)

  • Contract performance: to provide you with an account and forum services.
  • Legitimate interest: security, fraud prevention, spam control, and abuse prevention.
  • Consent: optional profile information and cookies beyond the essential session cookie.
  • Legal obligation: retaining records where required by South African law.

5. How We Use Your Information

  • To create and manage your account.
  • To display your public profile and forum contributions.
  • To send transactional emails (account confirmation, password reset). We do not send marketing emails without your explicit consent.
  • To moderate content and enforce our Terms of Service.
  • To improve the platform.

6. Sharing of Information

We do not sell your personal information. We share it only with the service providers necessary to operate BushCamp:

  • Supabase (database & authentication) — data hosted in AWS regions.
  • Cloudinary — image storage and delivery for uploaded photos.
  • Vercel — website hosting and edge network.

Each provider processes data only as instructed by us and is bound by appropriate data processing agreements.

7. Retention

  • Account data: retained while your account is active. Deleted within 30 days of an account deletion request.
  • Public forum posts: may be retained in anonymised form after account deletion to preserve thread continuity, unless you request full removal.
  • Server logs: retained for up to 90 days for security purposes.

8. Your Rights Under POPIA

You have the right to:

  • Access the personal information we hold about you.
  • Correct inaccurate or incomplete information.
  • Delete your account and associated personal information.
  • Object to the processing of your information.
  • Withdraw consent at any time (where processing is based on consent).
  • Complain to the Information Regulator of South Africa at www.justice.gov.za/inforeg/.

To exercise any right, contact us via the forum. We will respond within 30 days.

9. Security

We implement industry-standard security measures: HTTPS everywhere, bcrypt password hashing, row-level security in our database, and regular security reviews. No system is impenetrable — if you discover a vulnerability, please report it responsibly to security@bushcamp.co.za.

10. Children

BushCamp is not intended for anyone under 18 years of age. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children.

11. Changes to This Policy

We may update this policy from time to time. Material changes will be announced via a notice on the forum. The "last updated" date at the top of this page always reflects the current version.

12. Contact

Questions about this policy? Contact us via the forum.