Voort privacy notice
Last updated: [DATE OF PUBLICATION]
This notice tells you what personal information Voort handles, why, where it goes, how long we keep it, and what you can do about it. It follows the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 (POPIA).
The short version
- Who we are. Voort is made by Heferon (Pty) Ltd, registration number 2026/337285/07, Cape Town. We decide why and how your information is used.
- What we ask for. Your email address and date of birth to set up your account. Then, with your clear yes, your health and ability answers, body measurements, food and workout logs. Meal photos are optional.
- Why. To check that a plan is safe to give you, to work out your calorie and protein targets, and to show your progress.
- Health information. The law calls it special personal information. We only handle it if you say yes in a separate box. You can say no to each box and you can withdraw a yes at any time.
- Where it is kept. Your health, body and food information is stored in Frankfurt, Germany, in the European Union.
- AI. Voort uses AI to estimate meals from photos and to write your weekly summary. AI never sets your targets. We never send AI your name, email, date of birth or the free-text health notes you type. We send a photo only if you use photo logging. We do not keep it unless you tap "Keep photo".
- Your card. Your card details go only to Paystack. We never see them.
- No sale. We do not sell your information and we do not use it for advertising.
- Your rights. See it, fix it, delete it, object, withdraw consent. Use Settings in the app or write to [PRIVACY EMAIL]. You can also complain to the Information Regulator (section 17).
- Age. Voort is for people aged 18 and over.
The full notice follows.
1. Who is responsible
Heferon (Pty) Ltd, registration number 2026/337285/07, is the responsible party under POPIA.
- Address: [PHYSICAL ADDRESS], Cape Town, South Africa
- Telephone: [PHONE]
- Privacy email: [PRIVACY EMAIL]
- Information Officer: Eugene Hefer, Information Regulator registration [registration number pending]
In this notice "we", "us" and "Heferon" mean Heferon (Pty) Ltd. "You" means the person using Voort.
2. What we collect, why, and whether you must give it
| Group | What | Why we need it | Must you give it? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Account | Email address, date of birth (kept only after you pass the age check), sex recorded at birth, time zone, language, units, plan | To sign you in, to check that you are 18 or older, to calculate your targets, to show times and units the way you like | Email and date of birth: yes, we cannot open an account without them. Sex recorded at birth: you may decline. If you decline, we use the safer, higher minimum calorie target. |
| Health profile | Your yes or no answers to the readiness questions (PAR-Q+), our eating-habits screening questions, and your optional ability profile (how you move, any mobility aid, conditions you choose from a list, access needs). Optional notes you type about a condition. | To check that exercise and a calorie target are safe for you, to adapt your plan to your body, and to stop and point you to a doctor when the answers say so | The readiness and screening answers: yes, if you want a plan. The ability profile and notes: no, every question is optional. |
| Exercise risk notice | The full name you type when you accept the exercise risk notice, and the time and version of the notice | To record that you read the risk notice before your first workout plan | Yes, if you want a workout plan. Without it you can still log food and weight. |
| Body and food | Weight, height, body measurements, your goal, food and drink logs, workouts, weekly check-ins, and the targets we calculate | To calculate your calorie and protein targets, to build your plan, to show your progress | Yes, if you want a plan. |
| Meal photos | A photo you take for photo logging, and the estimate that comes back | To estimate what is on the plate so you can check it and save it to your food log | No. You can type or search for your food instead. |
| Payments | Your plan, charge dates and amounts, the Paystack customer and subscription codes, your card brand, last four digits and expiry date for display, and your receipts | To take payment, to show your billing history and to cancel or refund | Only if you buy a paid plan. |
| Messages | What you send to support. If the AI coach chat is switched on, your chat messages | To answer you and to run the chat | No. |
| Technical | A scrambled (hashed) form of your IP address and device details, sign-in codes, sign-in sessions, request counts, and the AI features you used | To keep your account secure, to stop abuse, and to keep AI use within daily limits | Yes. The app cannot run without them. |
Almost all of this comes from you. Paystack tells us whether a payment went through.
Law. No law forces you to give us this information. Tax law makes us keep payment records. POPIA limits how anyone may handle information about children (section 34), so we ask for your date of birth to confirm that you are 18 or older.
3. Special personal information and your consent
POPIA treats health information as special. Your readiness answers, ability profile, body measurements, weight, food logs and meal photos all count, because they say something about your body or health.
We handle special personal information on the ground of your consent (POPIA section 27(1)(a)), which we ask for separately for each purpose. That is why you see separate boxes, all unticked, each for one purpose:
- Your health profile
- Your body measurements and food logs
- Your meal photos
- Sending information to AI providers outside South Africa
- Marketing emails
You choose each box on its own. You need the first two for a plan. The other three are optional. We record what you ticked, the wording you saw and when. You can withdraw any box at any time in Settings under Privacy and consents. We stop using the information for that purpose from your next request and offer to delete it. Withdrawing does not affect anything we did before you withdrew. The exact wording of each box is in our consent texts.
4. Photos
Photo logging is optional and needs two boxes: photos and AI outside South Africa.
- Your phone removes hidden details (such as location) from the photo before it leaves your phone.
- We send the photo to our AI provider (section 5) to get an estimate of the food and a calorie range.
- We do not keep the photo. It is used for the estimate and then discarded, unless you tap Keep photo. If you keep it, it is stored privately and only you can open it. You can delete it at any time.
- We keep a record of the estimate (the food items and calorie range, with no picture) for 12 months.
- Every estimate is a guess. You check it and change it before anything is saved to your food log.
- We never use your photos for advertising or marketing. If we ever want to, we will ask you separately and in writing.
5. AI processing
Where we use AI. Estimating meals from photos. Writing your weekly summary. The AI coach chat, when it is switched on. Every AI text is labelled "AI". AI can make mistakes. Check important health decisions with your doctor.
What AI does not do. AI does not set your calorie, protein or weight-loss targets. Fixed rules in our own software set them, and the AI can only explain them. AI does not decide whether to refuse you a plan. If a message looks like a medical question, our software gives a fixed safe answer and points you to a health professional.
What we send.
| Feature | What goes to the AI provider |
|---|---|
| Photo estimate | The photo and a fixed instruction. Nothing that names you. |
| Weekly summary | A random code that stands for you, your age band (for example 30 to 39), your goal, your level, safety flag codes, your targets and your week's totals. Nothing else. |
| AI coach chat | Your message, with email addresses, phone numbers and ID numbers removed first, and the same coded profile as above. |
What we never send to AI. Your name. Your email address. Your date of birth. The free-text notes you type about your health or a condition. Your payment details.
Providers. Cloudflare (Workers AI) handles photo estimates and summaries. Groq handles text when we use it as a back-up. Cloudflare states that it does not use content processed by Workers AI to train AI models, and that it does not keep inputs or outputs after they are no longer needed for a standard AI request. We use Groq with zero data retention switched on. Both are bound by written agreements with us.
If you say no to the AI box, you still get calorie and protein targets and a plain-language weekly summary written by our own software. You do not get photo estimates, AI-written summaries or the AI chat.
How long. The text we send to and get back from AI (summaries and chat) is deleted after 90 days. We keep a log of AI use with no content for 12 months, to check safety and cost.
6. Who we share with
We use these service providers. Each one acts for us as an "operator" under POPIA. Each is bound by a written agreement that requires it to keep your information secure and confidential, to use it only for us, and to tell us straight away if it is compromised.
| Provider | What it does for us | What it handles | Country | Why sending information there is lawful (POPIA section 72) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Neon | Our database | All the information you give us, stored | Your information is stored in Frankfurt, Germany (EU). Neon is part of Databricks, a company in the USA. | Binding data processing agreement and EU data protection law, section 72(1)(a); your consent, section 72(1)(b) |
| Vercel | Hosting and the servers that run the app | Information passes through the servers while the app works. The database is at Neon. | A company in the USA. Our servers run in Cape Town (South Africa) or Frankfurt (Germany). Under its agreement Vercel may also process information in the USA and other countries. | Vercel's binding data processing agreement, section 72(1)(a); your consent, section 72(1)(b) |
| Cloudflare (Workers AI) | AI for photo estimates and summaries | The photo, or the coded summary data in section 5 | A company in the USA. Processing runs on Cloudflare's worldwide network. Cloudflare's option to keep processing in one region does not cover Workers AI, so a request may be processed in any country where that network runs. | Binding data processing agreement, section 72(1)(a); your consent in the AI box, section 72(1)(b) |
| Groq | AI for text, as a back-up | The coded summary data or your chat message, with zero data retention | USA | Binding data processing agreement with standard contractual clauses, section 72(1)(a); your consent in the AI box, section 72(1)(b) |
| Brevo | Sends our emails: sign-in codes, receipts, notices and, if you agree, marketing | Your email address and the content of the email | France (EU) | Binding data processing agreement and EU data protection law, section 72(1)(a); your consent, section 72(1)(b) |
| Paystack | Takes your payments | Your email address, plan, amount and your card details, which you type on Paystack's secure page | [CONFIRM Paystack entity and country] | The transfer is needed to carry out your purchase, section 72(1)(c); binding agreement, section 72(1)(a) |
We also share information where the law makes us, for example with a court or the tax authority. We do not sell your information. We do not give it to advertisers.
At launch no coach, wearable or fitness-app company receives your information. If we add coaches or device links, we will ask you first, separately, and tell you what is shared.
7. How long we keep it
| What | How long | Then |
|---|---|---|
| Your account, profile, screening answers, body and food logs, workouts, check-ins and kept photos | While your account is open. Up to 30 days after you ask us to delete your account. | Deleted |
| Proof of what you agreed to: a consent log of each box you ticked or withdrew, the version of the wording and the time, and for the exercise risk notice the name you typed. It holds no health answers. | While your account is open and for 3 years after | Deleted. After your account closes we use it only to show what you agreed to, if that is ever questioned. |
| Sign-in codes | 24 hours | Deleted |
| Request counts used to stop abuse | 7 days | Deleted |
| Sign-in sessions | 90 days after they end | Deleted |
| Meal photos you did not keep | Not stored | None |
| Record of a photo estimate (items and calorie range, no picture) | 12 months | Deleted |
| Text sent to and from AI (summaries and chat) | 90 days, rolling | Deleted |
| Log of AI use with no content | 12 months | Deleted |
| Safety flags (for example "see a doctor first") | While active, then 12 months after cleared, with minimal details | Deleted |
| How your targets were worked out (inputs, rules version, result) | 12 months after they are replaced | Deleted |
| Counts of AI use against daily limits | 13 months | Deleted |
| Security and staff-access logs | 12 months | Deleted |
| Operations logs | 12 months | Deleted |
| Payment records and receipts | 5 years | When you delete your account we detach your identity from them. We delete them at 5 years. |
| A downloaded copy of your data | 7 days | Deleted |
We run an automatic clean-up every day. If a legal duty makes us keep something longer, we tell you which record and why.
8. Keeping your information safe
We protect your information with encrypted connections, encryption of stored data, extra encryption for the free-text health notes you type, access limited to your own account, named staff accounts with two-step sign-in, and a log of every time staff open member data. We keep health information out of web addresses, analytics and error reports. We check these safeguards before launch and every quarter. No system is perfect. The section on breaches (section 12) says what we do if something goes wrong.
9. Your rights
You can:
- See your information (POPIA section 23). In the app, choose Settings, then Download my data. You get a file with your profile, answers, logs, chat history and consent history. Asking whether we hold information about you is free.
- Correct it (section 24). Edit your profile and logs in the app, or write to us.
- Delete it (section 24). In the app, choose Settings, then Delete my account. We remove your information from our live systems within 30 days. Two records stay for the periods in section 7: payment records, with your identity detached, and the consent log that shows what you agreed to.
- Object (section 11(3)). You can object to us using your information for our own legitimate purposes, such as security records. Write to [PRIVACY EMAIL].
- Withdraw consent (section 11(2)(b)). In Settings under Privacy and consents. Each box is separate.
- Switch off marketing. Use the unsubscribe link in any marketing email, or Settings.
Write to [PRIVACY EMAIL] for anything you cannot do in the app. We answer within 30 days. We check that you are you by your signed-in session or by writing to the email on your account. We do not charge a fee.
10. Decisions made by software
Some decisions about you are made by software without a person: your calorie and protein targets, and the screening result that says a plan is fine or that a doctor needs to see you first. POPIA section 71 allows this when you can see the logic and speak up.
- How was this calculated? Every target has a page that shows the formula, the numbers you gave us and the safety limits applied.
- Edit my inputs. Change an answer and we recalculate.
- Contact a human. Choose Contact support and a person reads your message. We state the reply time on that page.
We do not refuse a person because of a disability. Our safety rules look at specific risk answers, one at a time. For some of them a doctor's clearance lets you continue. Others stay closed in this version of Voort, and the stop screen tells you which applies to you.
11. Marketing and cookies
We send marketing email only if you ticked the marketing box. We ask once. Every marketing email says it comes from Heferon and has an unsubscribe link that works in one click. Receipts, sign-in codes, security notices and renewal notices are service messages and carry no promotion.
Voort uses the cookie or storage needed to keep you signed in. We do not use advertising trackers. [CONFIRM whether any analytics tool is used, and name it here]
12. If something goes wrong
If we have reasonable grounds to believe someone unauthorised has accessed or obtained your information, we tell the Information Regulator and we tell you, as soon as reasonably possible after we find out. We tell you in writing, normally by email. The message says what happened, the likely consequences, what we are doing about it, what you can do to protect yourself and, if we know, who got your information. Our providers must tell us straight away if they have a problem.
13. Children
Voort is only for people who are 18 or older. We ask for your date of birth before we ask anything else. If you are under 18 you will see a polite stop screen and we keep nothing about you except a note on your device that you cannot continue. If we find an account that belongs to someone under 18, we delete it.
14. Changes to this notice
When we change this notice we publish a new version with a new date. If the change affects what you consented to, such as a new provider or a new purpose, we ask for your consent again before using your information in the new way. Earlier versions are kept so you can see what applied when.
15. Other documents
- Terms of use
- Refund policy
- Company and legal information
- Data sources
- Heferon's PAIA manual: [PAIA MANUAL URL]
16. Contact us
Heferon (Pty) Ltd, Information Officer: Eugene Hefer [PHYSICAL ADDRESS], Cape Town [PRIVACY EMAIL] | [PHONE]
17. Complain to the Information Regulator
You may complain to us first, but you do not have to. You can go straight to the Information Regulator (South Africa):
- Website: https://inforegulator.org.za
- How to complain: register on the Regulator's eServices portal (https://eservices.inforegulator.org.za) and lodge the complaint there, or email POPIAComplaints@inforegulator.org.za
- General enquiries: enquiries@inforegulator.org.za
- Telephone: 010 023 5200. Toll free: 0800 017 160
- Address: Woodmead North Office Park, 54 Maxwell Drive, Woodmead, Johannesburg, 2191