Privacy Policy
Last updated 2 September 2026
Moody SA is a public mood map. Anything you post is meant to be seen — this page explains exactly what we keep, why, and what you can ask us to remove. We follow South Africa's Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA).
What we collect
- Account details — your email address (via email sign-up or Google) and the display name you choose. You also get a permanent @number.
- Your moods — the mood, the optional reason text, and the place you tap on the map (province, city or town). We never read your device GPS.
- Interactions — hugs, echoes, support messages and reports you send.
- A device identifier — a random ID stored in your browser to keep older anonymous pins linked and to limit spam. It is not tied to your identity.
- Messages to us — anything you send through the contact or advertising forms, including the contact detail you give us.
What is public
Your display name, @number, mood, reason text and chosen place are visible to everyone — including visitors who are not signed in. Your email address is never shown to other users. Do not post anything you would not want read publicly, and please don't post other people's personal information.
Why we use it
- To show the live map, the feed and the country's mood insights.
- To run your account and keep you signed in.
- To moderate abuse, handle reports and prevent flooding.
- To generate short AI vibe summaries. Only aggregated mood and reason text is sent to our AI provider — never your email or account details.
How long we keep it
The map shows the last 24 hours, but pins stay in our database so you can see your own history and so moderators can review reports. Delete your pins any time, or ask us to close your account and we'll remove your profile and pins.
Your rights
Under POPIA you can ask to see the information we hold about you, correct it, or have it deleted. You can also object to how we use it. Contact us through the app and we'll respond within a reasonable time.
Storage and third parties
Data is stored with our hosting and database provider on secure infrastructure, which may be outside South Africa. Sign-in with Google is handled by Google. Map tiles are served by a mapping provider, which may see your IP address. We use Google Analytics to count visits and see which parts of the map are used, with IP addresses anonymised and advertising features switched off. We do not sell your data and we do not run advertising trackers.
Children
Moody SA is not intended for children under 13. If you are under 18, please use it with a parent or guardian's permission.
Changes
If this policy changes in a meaningful way we'll update the date above and, where it matters, tell you in the app.