Privacy policy
Last updated: 6 September 2026
Spotted finds the photos of you at an event by comparing one selfie with the photos the event's organiser uploaded. That means we handle your face, which South African law (the Protection of Personal Information Act, POPIA) treats as special personal information. This page says what we collect, why, who else touches it, how long we keep it, and how to make us delete it.
Who we are
Spotted is operated by LoveIt Labs in South Africa ("we", "us"). We are the responsible party for the personal information described here. Our information officer can be reached at spotted-support@loveitlabs.co.za.
What we collect
- Account details. Your name, your email address, and a hashed version of your password. If you sign in through an emailed link, we store the one-time token for that link until it is used or expires.
- Your selfie and a face template. When you add a selfie we store the image privately and send it to Amazon Web Services' Rekognition service, which returns a numeric template of your face. We keep the template's identifier; the template itself is held by Rekognition in a collection that only our systems can query.
- Matches. For each event you join, a record of which uploaded photos matched your face, so we can show you your album.
- Event photos. Photos are uploaded by the event's organiser, who is responsible for having the right to do so. We detect faces in every uploaded photo so matching is possible; those detections belong to the organiser's event and are not linked to a person until that person adds a selfie.
- Requests and orders. Which events you asked to join and the organiser's answer, and, where an event charges for downloads, a record of what you bought.
- Technical data. Server logs with your IP address and browser type, and error reports if something breaks. We keep your sign-in token in your browser's memory for the current tab only; closing or reloading the tab signs you out. We do not use advertising cookies or third-party analytics.
Why, and on what basis
- Your selfie and face template are processed with your consent, which you give when you add the selfie. You can withdraw it at any time by deleting the selfie (see below); matching stops immediately.
- Your account, matches, requests and orders are processed because they are needed to provide the service you asked for.
- Technical data is processed in our legitimate interest of keeping the service secure and working.
How matching works
We use your face template only to find your photos in events you have joined. The organiser of an event you ask to join can see your name, email address and selfie when deciding whether to approve you, and which of their photos matched you so they can deliver your album; they never receive your face template. We do not build profiles across events.
Who we share it with
We use these providers to run Spotted. Each one processes data only on our instructions.
- Amazon Web Services (Rekognition) — face detection and the face templates used for matching.
- Cloudflare (R2) — storage for photos and selfies. Links to your files are private and expire.
- Neon — the database that holds accounts, matches, requests and orders.
- Resend — sends our emails (sign-in links, password resets, notifications).
- Fly.io — hosts the application.
- Sentry — receives error reports so we can fix faults.
Some of these providers process data outside South Africa. Where they do, we rely on their contractual commitments to protect it to a standard consistent with POPIA. We do not sell personal information, and we do not share it with advertisers.
How long we keep it
- Selfie and face template: until you delete the selfie or erase your account, or automatically 180 days after the last event you were approved for has ended. Deleting the selfie also removes every match made with it.
- Account details, matches and requests: until you erase your account.
- Orders: kept for five years after the purchase because tax law requires it, but with your name and account removed once you erase your account.
- Erasure records: when you delete your selfie or your account we keep a small record that the erasure happened and when, without your face data, so we can prove we did it.
- Logs and error reports: rotated automatically, typically within 90 days.
- Backups: our database keeps a rolling 14-day recovery window, so something you erase can still sit in a backup for up to 14 days after it leaves the live service. Backups exist only to recover from a failure, and we do not restore erased data back into the service.
Your rights and how to use them
You can ask to see the personal information we hold about you, correct it, object to how it is used, or have it deleted.
Delete your selfie or your account yourself. Sign in and open your account screen, or follow this link: Delete my face. "Delete my selfie" removes the selfie, the face template and your matches and keeps your account. "Erase my account" removes everything above and the account itself.
For anything else, email spotted-support@loveitlabs.co.za. We answer within 30 days.
If you are not satisfied with our answer you may complain to the Information Regulator (South Africa) at inforegulator.org.za.
Children
Spotted is for people aged 18 and over. If you are younger, a parent or guardian must add your selfie for you and can delete it the same way.
Security
Everything travels over HTTPS. Photos and selfies live in private storage and are served through short-lived links. Passwords are stored as salted hashes. Access to production systems is limited to the people who run the service.
Changes
If we change this policy in a way that matters we will update the date at the top and, where we have your email, tell you before the change takes effect.