Privacy policy

Effective 2 October 2026

Track That Race is one platform for any race with a start and a finish. It tracks every entry live, times it at each checkpoint or lap, and publishes results per class. To do that it needs some personal information. This page says what it collects, why, who sees it, and what you can ask for, as the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA) requires.

1. Who is responsible

Track That Race is built and run by Maré Greyling, trading as thevertex, in South Africa. I am the responsible party and the Information Officer for your personal information. Contact: hello@mare-greyling.com.

2. What I collect

• Your account: your name, email address, mobile or WhatsApp number and password (stored scrambled, never readable). If you sign in with Google or Apple, I receive your name and email address from them, nothing else.
• Race information: the races you enter or help run, the entry you race in (for example a boat, a team or just yourself), your class, the people in your entry, your role (for example organiser, race control, scrutineer, marshal, captain or crew), times and results.
• Location: while you record a race on your phone or watch, the GPS position of you or your entry, including in the background with the screen off, so the track is complete. Location is not recorded when you are not recording a race.
• Photos, videos and voice: what you choose to add to a race, and voice messages or help requests you record, with their written transcripts.
• Messages and help: messages to and from race control, alerts such as a call for help, and support requests. A support request can include a screenshot and a record of the screens you visited just before it, so I can see what went wrong.
• Your device: the type of phone or watch, app version and a notification token, so the app can send you race notices.
• Waiting list: if you join the waiting list, your email address and, if you give it, your WhatsApp number.

3. Why I use it

• To run races: track every entry live, time it at each checkpoint or lap, and publish results per class.
• For safety during a race: race control sees where every entry is and receives calls for help.
• To send you what you asked for: race invites, notices, crew requests and answers, by email, WhatsApp or app notification.
• To keep your account secure and to fix problems you report.

I do not sell your personal information, and I do not use it for advertising.

4. Who sees it

• The public: a race's live map and published results show entry names and numbers, the names of the people racing, positions and times. That is the purpose of a race tracker.
• People running your race: the organisers, race control and scrutineers of a race you are in see your details for that race. An organiser sees contact details only for people in races they organise.
• People in the same entry (for example a captain and crew) see each other's names.
• Service providers that run parts of the platform for me (section 5).

5. Service providers

These companies process information on my behalf, only for the purpose named:

• My hosting provider: the server and database the platform runs on.
• Email delivery, and Meta (WhatsApp): sending you invites and notices.
• Google: Google sign-in, Google Maps, app notifications (Firebase) and the Gemini AI model.
• Apple: Sign in with Apple, Apple Maps, app notifications and App Store purchases.
• Anthropic: the Claude AI model.
• Expo: delivering notifications to the phone app.
• Paystack: card payments on the web and Android, if you pay for anything. I never see or store your card number.

Some of these providers process information outside South Africa. I only use providers bound by data-protection rules at least as strong as POPIA's, as section 72 of POPIA requires.

6. AI

Some features use AI to help: reading a course file, finding a person, transcribing a voice message, or writing a short note about an entry's track. When AI is switched on, the text needed for that task is sent to Anthropic (Claude) or Google (Gemini). AI never calculates a time, never decides a position or a result, and never raises a safety alarm; those come from the race engine and from people.

7. How long I keep it

I keep your account information while your account is open. Race tracks and results are kept as the record of that race. When you delete your account, or ask me to, I delete your personal information, except for what the law requires me to keep and your name in results that have already been published, which you can ask me to remove. Backups are overwritten on a rolling basis.

8. Your rights

You may ask to see the personal information I hold about you, to correct it, or to delete it. You may object to how it is used, and withdraw any consent you gave. You can delete your account in the app under Settings, or email hello@mare-greyling.com. If you are not happy with my answer, you may complain to the Information Regulator: inforegulator.org.za.

9. Children

Track That Race is meant for adults. A person under 18 may use it only with the consent of a parent or guardian, who is responsible for that account.

10. Security

Information travels encrypted (HTTPS). Passwords are stored scrambled. Access to contact details is limited by role, as described in section 4. No system is perfectly secure; if a breach affects your information, I will tell you and the Information Regulator as POPIA requires.

11. Changes

If this policy changes, the new version is posted here with a new date. A significant change is also sent to you by email or in the app.