Privacy Policy

Who is responsible

The Germany-based operator of TravelChannel.co.za is the controller under the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and, where applicable, the responsible party under South Africa’s Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA). Privacy requests can be sent to travelchannel.co.za@gmail.com. The operator’s full legal name and service address must also appear in the site’s German legal notice.

Information we may collect

• Account and profile details such as email address, display name, home town, introduction and optional profile photo.
• Submitted photos, videos, captions, tags, dates, places and map locations.
• Private creator and payout preferences, kept separate from public profiles.
• Service information such as views, likes, moderation status, device/browser details and security logs.

Storage and external media choices

• Necessary: secure sign-in, fraud prevention, service delivery and remembering your privacy choice.
• Functional: remembering likes and avoiding repeated view counts in one browsing session.
• External media: loading approved YouTube videos and interactive 360° tours from third-party providers.

Optional features remain off until selected. Use the “Privacy choices” button at the bottom of any page to change or withdraw a choice.

How we use it

We use information to confirm accounts, connect contributions to creators, moderate and display approved discoveries, provide maps, prevent abuse, communicate submission decisions, administer permitted rewards and improve the service. Social publishing only follows the permissions selected by the contributor.

Location and sensitive places

A submitted map link may reveal an exact position. Contributors should not expose private homes, vulnerable people or sensitive wildlife locations. TravelChannel.co.za may generalise, hide or remove a location for safety.

Sharing, service providers and embedded apps

Information may be processed by providers needed for hosting, secure sign-in, storage, email, maps and approved social publishing. We do not sell member personal information. Public profile details and approved contributions are visible by design; private contact and payout details are not placed on the public profile. When a TravelChannel app is embedded on a hotel, lodge or partner website, that website controls its own page and cookies while TravelChannel.co.za remains responsible for processing inside the embedded app. The embedded app presents its own compact privacy choices. A participating business receives contributor details or media for its own publication only where a suitable permission and data-sharing arrangement has been recorded.

Retention and security

We retain information only for as long as reasonably needed for the service, moderation, accounting, security, legal duties and backups. We use reasonable safeguards, but no internet system can promise absolute security.

Lawful basis

Depending on the feature, processing is based on performing the service you request, your consent, compliance with legal duties, or legitimate interests such as moderation, fraud prevention, security and improving the platform. Optional social-media publishing is based on the contributor’s specific selection and may be withdrawn for future use.

Your choices and rights

You may ask to access, correct or receive your information, object to or restrict certain processing, withdraw consent for future processing, or request deletion subject to legal and operational retention duties. You may complain to the competent German data-protection authority and, where POPIA applies, South Africa’s Information Regulator. Contact us from your confirmed account email.

Children, transfers and changes

Children should use contributor features only with appropriate parent or guardian permission. Some service providers may process information outside South Africa with appropriate safeguards. Material policy changes will be posted here with a revised date.