Bright & Early — Privacy Policy
Effective date: 1 October 2026
Last updated: 1 October 2026
Bright & Early ("Bright & Early", "we", "us") connects skilled workers with people who want to hire them. This policy explains what personal information we collect, why, and your rights under the Protection of Personal Information Act, 2013 (POPIA).
Responsible party: Bright and Early (Pty) Ltd (registration number
2026/671281/07), 19 Springbok St, Cape Town, South Africa.
Information Officer: Michael Parks, CEO — hello@brightandearly.work — +27 21 301 0589.
1. What we collect
You give us:
- Account: your name and mobile number. You sign in with a one-time code sent to that number.
- Worker profile: your trade and skills, day rate, service area (suburb and travel radius), a short bio, a profile photo, and portfolio photos of your work.
- Identity verification (see §4):
- South African citizens and permanent residents: your 13-digit ID number, your full legal name as it appears on your ID, a photo of your ID, and a selfie.
- Foreign nationals: a photo of your passport photo page, a photo of your work permit, visa, or asylum/refugee permit, the permit type and expiry date, and a selfie.
- Credentials (optional): trade certificates, qualifications, or proof of public-liability cover you choose to upload.
- Messages to us: whatever you include when you email support.
We collect automatically:
- Usage & device data: app version, device type/OS, and basic diagnostics needed to run and troubleshoot the service.
- Approximate location: derived from the suburb you type (we geocode it to place you on the map). We do not track your device's live GPS location in the background.
We do not collect payment card details in the current version of the app.
2. Why we use it (and our lawful basis under POPIA)
| Purpose | Lawful basis |
|---|---|
| Create and run your account; send one-time sign-in codes by SMS | Performance of a contract with you |
| Build and display your worker profile so you can be found and hired | Performance of a contract / your consent |
| Verify your identity, right to work, and credentials | Your consent; legitimate interest in a safe, trusted marketplace |
| Match your selfie to your ID photo (biometric information) | Your explicit consent (POPIA s27) |
| Safety, fraud prevention, and enforcing our Terms | Legitimate interest; legal obligation |
| Improve and troubleshoot the app | Legitimate interest |
We do not sell your personal information, and we do not use your ID documents or selfie for marketing.
3. Who we share it with
- People hiring see your public profile: display name, trade, skills, service area, rating, portfolio photos, and whether you are verified. They never see your ID number, legal name, ID or permit documents, or selfie. Your phone number stays private and is only shared with a hirer once you accept a job.
- VerifyNow, our identity-verification partner, which checks your ID number and legal name against the Department of Home Affairs population register and compares your selfie with your ID photo. VerifyNow processes this information on our behalf, under contract, only to perform the check.
- Other service providers who process data on our behalf under contract: our hosting, database and authentication provider (Supabase), our SMS provider, and a mapping/geocoding provider.
- Our verification team, who review foreign-national documents, credentials, and any check that can't be completed automatically.
- Authorities, where we are legally required to disclose, or to protect rights and safety.
4. Identity verification
Consent first. Before any check runs, the app asks for your consent — once for the ID check and separately for the selfie match, because a face comparison is biometric information, which POPIA treats as special personal information. Verification is optional, but unverified workers are not shown to hirers.
How it works.
- South African ID: your ID number and legal name are sent to VerifyNow, which confirms them with Home Affairs. You then photograph your ID and take a selfie, and the two are compared.
- Foreign nationals: your passport, permit, and selfie are reviewed by our verification team. Your permit's expiry date decides how long you stay listed; when it expires you are removed from search until you upload a renewal.
What we keep.
- Only the last 4 digits of your ID number — never the full number. The full number is sent to VerifyNow for the check and is not stored by us afterwards.
- Your legal name as confirmed, the result of the check, and your verification status.
- The photos of your ID or passport and permit, and your selfie, in a private store that is not publicly accessible and is viewed only by our verification team.
- For foreign nationals, your permit type and expiry date.
We never show you, or anyone else, the name Home Affairs holds for an ID number.
How long. Your consent, documents, and selfie are kept for 12 months from your consent, then deleted unless you verify again. You can withdraw consent at any time from Help & support → Withdraw verification consent in the app, or by emailing us. Withdrawing deletes your documents and selfie and removes your verified status; it does not affect checks already completed lawfully.
5. Storage, security, and international transfers
We use industry-standard measures — encryption in transit, row-level access controls, and restricted document storage — to protect your information. Our database and document storage are hosted on servers in Western Europe, outside South Africa. For this cross-border transfer we rely on section 72 of POPIA: the data is held under European data-protection law (the GDPR), which gives protection substantially similar to POPIA, and our providers process it under contract only to run the service.
If we become aware of a security compromise affecting your personal information, we will notify you and the Information Regulator as POPIA requires.
6. How long we keep it
We keep your account and profile information for as long as your account is active. Verification documents and selfies are kept for the shorter period in §4. When you delete your account (see §8) we remove your profile, photos, and documents. We may retain limited records where the law requires it.
7. Your rights under POPIA
You have the right to:
- Access the personal information we hold about you;
- Correct or update it;
- Delete your account and personal information;
- Withdraw consent for verification at any time;
- Object to certain processing;
- Complain to the Information Regulator (South Africa) — inforegulator.org.za · POPIAComplaints@inforegulator.org.za.
To exercise any of these, contact our Information Officer (above), email support@brightandearly.work, or use the in-app controls (Account details, Help & support).
8. Deleting your account
You can permanently delete your account and data from inside the app: Profile → Account details → Delete account. You can also request deletion at brightandearly.work/delete-account or by emailing support@brightandearly.work. Deletion removes your profile, portfolio photos, verification documents and selfie, and sign-in identity.
9. Children
Bright & Early is for adults. You must be at least 18 years old to use it.
10. Changes
We may update this policy. Material changes will be notified in the app or by SMS, and the "last updated" date above will change.
11. Contact
Bright and Early (Pty) Ltd
Information Officer: Michael Parks, CEO
hello@brightandearly.work · +27 21 301 0589 · 19 Springbok St, Cape Town
Support: support@brightandearly.work