Privacy Policy

1. About this policy

Jointly is operated by Arcline Software Development (Pty) Ltd ("Jointly", "we", "us"), the responsible party for your personal information. This policy explains how we handle personal information when you use Jointly. It sets out:

• what we collect, and why each item is needed;
• what we use it for, and our legal grounds;
• who it is shared with, and where it is stored;
• how long we keep it;
• your rights, and how to use them; and
• how to contact us.

It applies to our website (jointly.co.za), the Jointly web app (app.jointly.co.za), our iPhone and Android apps, and any support you receive from us (together, "Jointly"). It does not cover other companies' websites or services, even if Jointly links to them.

We process personal information in line with the Protection of Personal Information Act, 2013 (POPIA) and the Promotion of Access to Information Act, 2000 (PAIA).

2. Who uses Jointly

Jointly is for parents and guardians who share the care of their children, and the professionals who support them (mediators, legal practitioners and providers), plus anyone a parent invites with limited access (a "team member"). Jointly is not for children: children cannot have accounts. Information about children is added by their parents (see section 6).

3. What we collect when you sign up — and why

We ask only for what Jointly needs to work. Anything not essential is optional, and you can use Jointly without it.

New accounts are reviewed and approved by our team before first use, because Jointly holds sensitive information about children.

4. What else we collect as you use Jointly

• Records you and your co-parent create: messages and attachments, calendar events, handovers, journal entries, documents, children's information, shared costs, payments, maintenance obligations, corrections and approvals.
• Mediation and consultations: requests, notes and outcomes shared with a mediator or provider you work with.
• Safety: SOS alerts you send, message reports you make (section 9), and which conversations you have muted.
• Device and notifications: a notification token for each device where you allow notifications, your app settings (such as light or dark mode and design), and basic technical information our servers record when you use Jointly (IP address, device and browser type, time of request) to keep the service secure and working.
• Location — only if you choose: see section 8.
• Payments: subscriptions are paid on our website through PayFast. We receive confirmation of payment and your plan; we never see or store your card details.

5. How we use your information, and our legal grounds

We do not sell or rent your personal information, use it for advertising, or let anyone else use it for their own marketing.

6. Children's information

Parents add information about their children — for example names, dates of birth, school, doctors, medical and allergy details, emergency contacts and schedules — so that both parents can look after them. We process it only to provide Jointly, with the consent of the parent or guardian who added it. It is visible only to the people in that family space who are allowed to see it.

7. Artificial intelligence (AI) features

Jointly offers optional AI tools:

• Writing help — suggests calmer or clearer wording for a message you are writing, and checks spelling and grammar;
• Ask Jointly — answers questions about co-parenting and about your family's information in Jointly;
• Smart plan import — reads a parenting plan or agreement you upload and suggests the schedule and arrangements to set up.

These are provided by Anthropic, PBC (the maker of Claude) in the United States. When you use one, only the text or document needed for that request is sent, over an encrypted connection. The app explains this and asks for your consent before you first use an AI feature; everything else in Jointly works without AI.

• Your family's information is not used to train AI models — not by Jointly, and not by Anthropic. Under Anthropic's commercial terms, data sent through its API is not used for training and is kept by Anthropic only for a limited period (up to 30 days) for safety and abuse monitoring, unless the law requires longer or a request is flagged for a policy violation (https://www.anthropic.com/legal/privacy).
• AI suggestions are produced automatically and can be wrong. They are not legal, psychological or therapeutic advice. You decide what to send.

The tone check that runs while you type a message (for example, flagging words that may come across as hostile) runs within Jointly and is not sent to an AI provider.

8. Location

Location is off unless you turn it on. You can choose to attach your location when you record a handover, as evidence of where it took place. It is then saved with that handover and visible to the people in your family space who can see handovers. We never track your location in the background or collect it at any other time. You can refuse or withdraw location access in your device settings at any time.

9. Messages: reporting and muting

You can report a message that is abusive, threatening, inappropriate or spam. A report records who reported it, the message, the reason and any note. Reports are reviewed by Jointly's administrators as soon as possible and are not shown to the person whose message was reported. If you ask, we also alert the mediator linked to your family space.

You can mute a conversation to stop push notifications for it. Messages are still delivered and kept. SOS alerts and formal notices are never muted.

10. App permissions

The apps ask for a permission only when you use the feature that needs it. You can change any permission in your device settings at any time; if you refuse one, only that feature is affected.

• Camera and photos — to photograph or attach receipts, documents, journal photos, message attachments and your profile picture.
• Notifications — alerts about messages, approvals, handovers, payments and SOS alerts, and silent updates that correct the unread count on the app icon and clear notifications you have already read on another device. We do not send marketing by push notification.
• Location (optional, while using the app only) — section 8.
• Face ID / Touch ID (optional) — to lock the app. Biometric data stays on your device; Jointly never receives it.
• Files — to save or share PDF reports and documents you export.

Jointly does not access your contacts, microphone, device calendar, or motion and fitness data.

11. Cookies and similar technologies

Websites. jointly.co.za and app.jointly.co.za use cookies and browser storage that are needed to work — keeping you signed in, security, and remembering preferences such as theme and design. Our marketing website (jointly.co.za) also uses Google Analytics to understand, in aggregate, how visitors use the site (for example which pages are visited and how people found us). These cookies are only set if you choose Accept analytics in the cookie banner; if you decline, Google Analytics is not loaded at all. Google may process this outside South Africa. You can block these cookies in your browser or with Google's opt-out add-on (https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout); the site still works without them. We do not use advertising pixels.

Apps. The iPhone and Android apps do not use cookies, advertising identifiers, analytics or tracking tools, and do not track you across other companies' apps or websites.

12. Who we share information with

People you share with. The point of Jointly is shared records: what you add to a family space is visible to your co-parent and to the mediators, practitioners and team members linked to it, according to the access each has.

Service providers who process information only on our instructions, under confidentiality and security obligations (POPIA s20–21):

When the law requires it. We disclose information when required by law, court order or subpoena, to protect someone's safety, or to protect our users' or our rights — and only what is required.

If our business changes hands. If Jointly is merged, sold or restructured, information may transfer to the new owner, who must keep protecting it under this policy.

De-identified statistics. We may use or share statistics that cannot identify any person (for example, how many families use a feature).

13. Information stored outside South Africa

Our database is hosted in the European Union (Sweden), and email and optional AI features are provided from the United States. These transfers are allowed under section 72 of POPIA because the recipients are bound by laws or agreements giving protection substantially similar to POPIA (in the EU, the GDPR), or because the transfer is needed to provide the service you asked for.

14. How we protect your information

• Encrypted in transit (HTTPS/TLS) and at rest.
• Sensitive identifiers such as ID numbers are additionally encrypted and shown only on request to people allowed to see them.
• Role-based access: co-parents, team members and professionals see only the areas shared with them; our staff access data only when needed to support you or keep Jointly safe, and that access is logged.
• Two-factor authentication and app lock (Face ID / Touch ID) are available.

No system is completely secure. If a security compromise affects your personal information, we will notify you and the Information Regulator as POPIA requires (s22).

15. How long we keep information

We keep personal information only as long as it is needed for the purpose we collected it for, or as the law requires. In deciding this we consider how sensitive it is, the risk of harm if it were misused, why we hold it, and our legal, tax and accounting duties.

• Account details — while your account is open, then erased or anonymised when you close it (section 16).
• Shared family-space records (messages, payments, costs, calendar, handovers, audit trail) — for the life of the family space and at least five years after it closes, because they may be needed in maintenance or other legal proceedings.
• Reports and security logs — as long as needed to deal with the issue and protect users.
• Payment records — as long as tax and accounting law requires.

We may keep information longer if there is a complaint or likely legal claim.

16. Closing your account

You can close your account at any time in the app (Profile → Close account) or on the website:

1. Your account is scheduled to close 14 days later. Sign in during that time to cancel.
2. After 14 days we lock the sign-in, stop any subscription billing, and erase or anonymise your personal information (your profile, contact details, ID number, notification tokens and other personal data you added).
3. Shared records stay. Messages, costs, calendar entries and other records in a family space also belong to the other parent and the professionals who rely on them, so they remain — no longer linked to your name. They can only be erased with the agreement of everyone in that family space, or by court order.

17. Your rights

Under POPIA you have the right to:

• Access — ask whether we hold personal information about you and get a copy. We may need to leave out other people's personal information, for example parts of shared records about your co-parent.
• Correct — ask us to correct or update information that is wrong, incomplete or out of date. Most details you can change yourself in Profile.
• Delete — ask us to delete information we no longer need or have no lawful reason to keep. We may be unable to delete it where the law requires us to keep it, it is needed for a legal claim or court process, or it is part of shared records other people rely on (section 16).
• Object — object to processing based on our legitimate interests, and to direct marketing at any time.
• Withdraw consent — where we rely on consent (for example AI features or location), you can withdraw it at any time. This doesn't affect processing already done, and the related feature will stop working for you.
• Complain — to the Information Regulator (section 20).

How to make a request. Email infosec@jointly.co.za. We will confirm your identity before acting, so that nobody else can get your information. There is no charge, unless a request is clearly unfounded, repetitive or excessive (PAIA may also allow a prescribed fee for some access requests). We aim to respond within 30 days and will tell you if we need longer.

18. Marketing

We only send marketing emails if you have agreed to them, and every one has an unsubscribe link. Service messages — for example about your account, security, approvals or your subscription — are not marketing and will still be sent.

19. Other websites

Jointly may link to other websites or services (for example a provider's website). We are not responsible for their privacy practices; please read their privacy policies.

20. Information Officer and complaints

• Responsible party: Arcline Software Development (Pty) Ltd
• Information Officer: Tim Huppert
• Privacy and security: infosec@jointly.co.za
• Support: support@jointly.co.za · https://www.jointly.co.za/contact

If you are unhappy with how we handle your information, please contact us first. You can also complain to the Information Regulator (South Africa):

• JD House, 27 Stiemens Street, Braamfontein, Johannesburg, 2001
• complaints.IR@inforegulator.org.za
• https://inforegulator.org.za

21. Changes to this policy

We will update this policy when how we handle information changes, and change the "Last updated" date. If a change is significant, we will tell you in Jointly or by email before it takes effect.