HerdSafe Privacy Policy

Effective Date: 21 July 2026

HerdSafe (“the App”) is developed and published by Hostigo (Pty) Ltd (“Hostigo”, “we”, “our”, or “us”).

This Privacy Policy explains how HerdSafe collects, stores, uses, protects, and shares your information when you use the HerdSafe mobile application and any associated services.

By downloading, installing, or using HerdSafe, you agree to this Privacy Policy.

1. Who We Are

HerdSafe is a livestock management application designed to help farmers and agricultural businesses manage livestock, breeding, health records, paddocks, financial records, tasks, reports, and other farm-related information.

Developer:

Hostigo (Pty) Ltd

Website:

https://hostigo.co.za

Support Email:

support@hostigo.co.za

2. Information We Collect

Depending on how you use HerdSafe, we may collect the following information.

Account Information

When creating an account, we may collect:

• Name
• Email address
• Authentication information
• User ID generated by Firebase Authentication

Passwords are never stored by Hostigo and are securely managed by Google Firebase Authentication.

Farm Information

You may choose to store information including:

• Farm names
• Farm locations
• Herd information
• Paddock information
• Animal identification
• Ear tags
• Breeding records
• Health treatments
• Vaccinations
• Weight records
• Financial transactions
• Tasks
• Notes
• Custom settings

This information is provided by you.

Device Information

The App may collect limited technical information including:

• Device type
• Operating system version
• App version
• Crash reports
• Diagnostic information

This information helps improve the reliability of the application.

3. How We Store Your Information

HerdSafe is designed with an offline-first architecture.

Your information is primarily stored locally on your device.

If you enable cloud backup or synchronization, your information is securely stored using:

• Firebase Authentication
• Google Cloud Firestore

Google securely hosts this information on its cloud infrastructure.

4. Cloud Backup

If cloud backup is enabled:

Your farm records may be uploaded securely to Firebase Cloud Firestore to allow:

• Data backup
• Device replacement
• Synchronisation between supported devices
• Recovery of your farm information

Only authenticated users can access their own data.

5. How We Use Your Information

We use your information to:

• Operate HerdSafe
• Synchronise your data
• Provide cloud backups
• Improve application performance
• Resolve technical issues
• Respond to support requests
• Improve future versions of HerdSafe

We do not sell your personal information.

6. Third-Party Services

HerdSafe uses trusted third-party services including:

Google Firebase Authentication

Used for:

• Secure login
• User authentication
• Password management

Privacy Policy:

https://firebase.google.com/support/privacy

Google Cloud Firestore

Used for:

• Secure cloud storage
• Backup
• Data synchronisation

Privacy Policy:

https://firebase.google.com/support/privacy

Google Play Services

The Android version may use Google Play Services required for:

• Application licensing
• App updates
• Security
• Billing
• Notifications

Privacy Policy:

https://policies.google.com/privacy

7. Payments

Purchases made through Google Play are processed securely by Google.

Hostigo does not collect or store your payment card information.

Payment processing is handled entirely by Google Play.

8. Data Security

We implement reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect your information.

These include:

• Secure authentication
• Encrypted communications (HTTPS/TLS)
• Firebase security rules
• Access controls
• Authentication requirements

While we strive to protect your information, no system can guarantee absolute security.

9. Data Sharing

We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal information.

Information may only be shared:

• when required by law;
• to protect our legal rights;
• with trusted service providers that operate the services described in this policy;
• with your explicit consent.

10. Your Rights

Depending on your jurisdiction, you may have the right to:

• Access your information
• Correct inaccurate information
• Delete your account
• Delete cloud backups
• Withdraw consent where applicable
• Request a copy of your stored data

Requests may be submitted to:

support@hostigo.co.za

11. Deleting Your Data

You may request deletion of your account and associated cloud data at any time.

To request deletion, contact:

support@hostigo.co.za

Please include the email address associated with your HerdSafe account.

We will process verified deletion requests within a reasonable period unless we are legally required to retain certain information.

12. Children’s Privacy

HerdSafe is intended for agricultural businesses and individuals aged 18 years or older.

We do not knowingly collect personal information from children.

If we become aware that a child has provided personal information, we will delete it promptly.

13. International Users

Your information may be processed in countries where Google Cloud operates its infrastructure.

By using HerdSafe, you consent to such transfers where permitted by applicable law.

14. POPIA Compliance

For users located in South Africa, Hostigo processes personal information in accordance with the Protection of Personal Information Act, 2013 (POPIA).

We collect only information necessary to provide the services described in this Privacy Policy and implement appropriate safeguards to protect personal information.

15. GDPR

Where applicable, HerdSafe also complies with the principles of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) for users located in the European Economic Area.

16. Changes to this Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time.

The latest version will always be published on our website.

Continued use of HerdSafe after changes become effective constitutes acceptance of the updated Privacy Policy.

17. Contact Us

If you have any questions regarding this Privacy Policy or your personal information, please contact us:

Hostigo (Pty) Ltd

Website:

https://hostigo.co.za

Email:

support@hostigo.co.za