Privacy notice

Who is responsible

Memory House operates the service. Its formal legal entity and registered Information Officer details are being verified and will be published here. Owners, contributors and people depicted in a memory can submit a request through the Privacy Centre. We verify identity before disclosing or changing information. A direct Information Officer address will be added once verified.

What we collect

Depending on your role, we collect names, contact details, account and membership information, photos, captions, stories, voice recordings and transcripts, consent choices, purchase details, moderation actions, privacy requests and technical records needed to secure the service. Photos and stories may identify other people; contributors should have permission to share them.

Why we process it

• Create and administer Memory Houses and verify access.
• Receive, moderate and display authorised memories; produce requested albums.
• Communicate about a project and send optional reminders only where selected.
• Handle purchases, requests, complaints and legal duties.
• Detect misuse, maintain security and investigate incidents.

Processing depends on the purpose and may rely on consent, a contract, a legal duty or a legitimate interest recognised by applicable law. Optional reminders and directory visibility can be withdrawn without losing access to the core service.

Optional website analytics

When available, you can choose whether to help us improve Memory House through optional website analytics. If you allow it, we record predefined page categories, actions, error categories and a broad screen-size category using a short-lived random session identifier. These records help us understand where people encounter difficulties. They do not contain your photos, captions, messages, form answers, private house links or payment details. We do not use session recordings, advertising trackers or cross-device identification for this feature.

You can decline without losing any service features, and change your choice using Analytics preferences on the website. Withdrawing stops optional collection and requests deletion of the current session’s live analytics records. Sessions expire after 30 minutes of inactivity or 24 hours. Reports use up to 30 days of raw events; expired events are excluded and removed by the analytics cleanup process. Backup retention follows the retention section below; withdrawal does not promise immediate removal from every retained backup. Operational payment and service records remain separate. Browser privacy signals requesting an opt-out are respected.

Visibility and sharing

Drafts are private to authorised participants and reviewers. An owner decides which memories are approved; the visibility of approved material depends on the project settings. A publicly shared memory may be seen and copied by others. We use hosting, messaging, payment and other service providers only as needed to run the service. We do not sell personal information. Contributors should avoid posting identity numbers, medical details, contact details of others or information about children without appropriate authority.

Processing outside South Africa

Some providers may process information outside South Africa. Transfers must meet POPIA's requirements for cross-border transfers. We are documenting provider locations and contractual safeguards; we cannot promise that all information remains in South Africa.

Retention and deletion

We keep information for its purpose and applicable legal obligations, then delete or de-identify it where appropriate. An inactive house is not silently deleted: an unpaid house would first receive notice, a grace period and a chance to export or reactivate. A removal request may require review of other people's rights and legal retention duties. Deleted live content may remain in time-limited backups until their retention period ends once independent backups are operational. Specific retention periods will be published after the schedule is approved.

Your choices and rights

You can ask for access, correction or deletion, object to certain uses, withdraw optional consent and complain to the Information Regulator. We may need to verify your identity before disclosing or changing a record. Owners can download their project's portable archive; this does not include every operational record. Anyone can make a tracked request in the Privacy Centre.

Security and incidents

We use role-based access controls, private media responses, audit records and managed infrastructure. No online system is risk-free. An owner export is available. If personal information is involved in a security compromise, we will assess and report it under POPIA. See our security and continuity page for current capabilities and limitations.