Who we are
GNOW (Pty) Ltd, trading as GONOW, runs shared electric scooters and bikes in South Africa through the Gonow On-demand app. This policy explains what personal information we collect through the app and gonowondemand.com, why we collect it, and your rights under the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA).
Information we collect
- Account details: your name, email address and phone number. If you sign up through a campus programme, we may also collect your student or staff number.
- Identity verification: photos of your ID or driver's licence, where we ask for them.
- Profile photo: optional, if you choose to add one.
- Ride information: dates, times, start and end points, routes, distance and cost of your rides.
- End-of-ride photos: a photo of the parked vehicle, required at the end of every ride, so we can confirm it was parked safely.
- Support messages and photos you send to our team.
- Location: your device's location when you use the app, to show nearby vehicles and run your ride, and, if you allow it in your device settings, while the app is running in the background.
- Vehicle GPS: our vehicles have GPS so we can locate them, show your trip maps, and recover lost or stolen vehicles.
- Device information: device type, operating system, app version and device identifiers, used to run the app and send push notifications.
- Website data: IP address, browser type, pages visited and cookies.
- Payment details: your card details are collected and processed by our payment provider. We don't store your full card number.
Camera permission
The app uses your camera to scan vehicle QR codes, take end-of-ride photos and verify your identity. You can turn camera access off in your device settings, but you won't be able to unlock a vehicle without it.
How we use your information
- To run your rides and bill you
- To verify your identity and prevent fraud and misuse
- To confirm vehicles are parked safely
- To respond to support requests and resolve problems
- To send service messages such as receipts, safety alerts and account updates, and promotions unless you opt out
- To improve our app, website and services through research and analysis
- To comply with the law
Who we share it with
We never sell or rent your personal information. We only share it with:
- Service providers who help us run GONOW, such as payment processing, hosting, customer support and insurance. They may only use it to provide services to us.
- Authorities, when the law requires it (for example a court order or subpoena), or when needed to protect someone's safety or our rights and property.
- A buyer or successor if GONOW is involved in a merger, acquisition or sale. We'll tell you if this changes how your information is used.
- Municipalities, universities and planning partners, but only anonymised data that cannot identify you, for statistics, research and urban planning.
Where your information is stored
Some of our service providers may store information outside South Africa. When this happens, we take steps to make sure it is protected to a standard comparable to POPIA.
How long we keep it
We keep your personal information while your account is active. When you delete your account, we delete your personal information within 30 days, except:
- Payment and invoice records, which we keep for 5 years as required by South African tax law
- Records linked to an accident, damage, insurance claim or unpaid balance, which we keep until the matter is fully resolved
- Anonymised trip statistics that can no longer identify you
Deleting your account
You can ask us to delete your account at any time. Go to gonowondemand.com/delete-account, or email support@gonowondemand.com with the subject "Account deletion request".
Your rights
Under POPIA, you can ask us to:
- Show you the personal information we hold about you
- Correct or update it
- Delete it
- Stop using it for direct marketing
- Withdraw consent you've given us
To make a request, email support@gonowondemand.com. If you're unhappy with how we handle your information, you can complain to the Information Regulator at inforegulator.org.za.
Marketing and notifications
You can unsubscribe from marketing emails using the link in any email, and turn off push notifications in your device settings. We'll still send messages needed to run your account and rides.
Children
GONOW accounts are for people aged 16 and older. If you're 16 or 17, you need a parent or guardian's permission to create an account. We don't knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 16. If we learn that we have, we'll delete it.