Privacy Policy

Club Scene (“we”, “us”, “our”) is a nightlife event-discovery platform operated by Club Scene in the Republic of South Africa. We are the “responsible party” for your personal information under the Protection of Personal Information Act, 2013 (“POPIA”).

This Privacy Policy explains what personal information we collect, why we collect it, how we use and protect it, and the rights you have. It also serves as our notification to you under section 18 of POPIA. Contact us about privacy at any time at info@club-scene.co.za.

This policy applies to personal information we process through our website and progressive web app (the “Platform”). It does not cover the practices of the independent venues, event organisers, or third-party services (such as ticketing, maps, or ride-hailing apps) that we link to — they have their own privacy policies. We are a discovery platform and do not own or operate the venues or events we list.

We collect only what we need to run the Platform:

Information you give us

• Account details — your email address, and password (stored only in encrypted/hashed form), or, if you use Google sign-in, the basic profile information Google shares with us.
• Profile details — your username (public), first name and surname (optional), profile photo (optional), and your home city.
• Engagement— the events and venues you favourite, the events you mark as “I'm going”, and the star ratings you leave.
• Communications — messages you send us, for example support requests.

Information we collect automatically

• Location— approximate or precise device location, only with your permission, to show what's near you (see section 5).
• Usage & device data — basic technical information such as device type, browser, and pages viewed, and limited log data needed to keep the Platform secure and working.
• Cookies & local storage — small amounts of data stored on your device to keep you signed in and remember preferences such as your chosen city (see section 6).

We do not knowingly collect special personal information (such as health, religion, or political beliefs) or the personal information of children under 18.

POPIA requires a lawful basis (“justification”) for processing. We rely on the bases shown below:

• To provide the Platform — create your account, show listings, and save your favourites, attendance, and ratings. Basis: performance of our agreement with you (these Terms).
• To show what's near you — process location to rank events and venues by distance. Basis: your consent.
• To keep the Platform safe and improve it — security, troubleshooting, preventing abuse, and understanding overall usage. Basis: our legitimate interests, balanced against your rights.
• To communicate with you — service messages (for example password resets) and, only if you opt in, occasional updates. Basis: performance of our agreement / your consent.
• To comply with the law — where we are legally required to. Basis: legal obligation.

Providing account and profile information is voluntary, but some information is needed to use account features — without it, those features will not work. You can browse the Platform without an account.

A core purpose of Club Scene is helping you discover nightlife near you, so location matters — and we handle it carefully:

• We only access your location after you grant permission through your browser or device. You are asked, not tracked by default.
• Location is used at the moment you request nearby results, to calculate distances. We do not continuously track your movements or build a location history.
• You can decline or withdraw location access at any time in your browser or device settings. If you do, you can still use the Platform by choosing a city manually.
• We do not sell your location, and we do not share it with venues or advertisers.

We use a small number of cookies and browser local-storage items that are necessary to run the Platform — for example, to keep you signed in and to remember your city preference. We do not use these technologies for cross-site advertising. You can clear or block them in your browser settings, though some features may then not work as intended.

We do not sell your personal information. We share it only as follows:

• Service providers (“operators” under POPIA) who process data on our behalf under written agreements, including: Supabase (Authentication, database, and file storage); Vercel (Application hosting and content delivery); Google (Optional Google sign-in (OAuth)); these providers may only use the data to provide their service to us.
• Public profile data — your username, and any ratings you leave, are shown publicly on the Platform by design.
• Legal & safety — where required by law, court order, or to protect our rights, users, or the public.
• Business transfer — if the Platform is ever merged or acquired, subject to this policy.

Some of our service providers store or process data on servers located outside the Republic of South Africa. Where personal information is transferred across borders, we do so in line with section 72 of POPIA — meaning the recipient is subject to laws or agreements that provide an adequate, comparable level of protection for your information.

We will only send you electronic marketing (such as newsletters) if you have opted in, as required by section 69 of POPIA. Every marketing message includes an easy way to unsubscribe, and you can opt out at any time by contacting info@club-scene.co.za. Service messages needed to run your account are not marketing and will still be sent.

We take reasonable technical and organisational measures to safeguard your personal information against loss, unauthorised access, and misuse — including encryption in transit, access controls, and database-level security rules. No system is perfectly secure, but if a breach affecting your personal information occurs, we will notify you and the Information Regulator as required by section 22 of POPIA.

We keep your personal information only for as long as needed for the purposes described here, or as required by law. If you delete your account, we will delete or anonymise your personal information within a reasonable period, except where we must retain certain records to comply with legal obligations or resolve disputes. Some content, such as events, is “soft-deleted” so it disappears from the Platform while limited records are retained for integrity.

Under POPIA you have the right to:

• Access the personal information we hold about you;
• Correct or update information that is inaccurate or incomplete;
• Delete your information or account where appropriate;
• Object to processing based on our legitimate interests, and withdraw consent (such as for location or marketing) at any time — without affecting processing already carried out;
• Complain to the Information Regulator (see section 15).

To exercise any of these rights, email us at info@club-scene.co.za. You can also update much of your information yourself on your profile.

The Platform lists nightlife events and is intended for users aged 18 and over. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe a child has provided us with personal information, please contact us and we will delete it.

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we make material changes we will update the “last updated” date above and, where appropriate, notify you. Please review it periodically.

For any privacy question or request, contact us first at info@club-scene.co.za— we're happy to help.

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with South Africa's data-protection authority:

• The Information Regulator (South Africa)
• JD House, 27 Stiemens Street, Braamfontein, Johannesburg, 2001
• Complaints: POPIAComplaints@inforegulator.org.za
• Enquiries: enquiries@inforegulator.org.za
• Website: inforegulator.org.za (complaints can be lodged via the eServices portal)