Effective date: 10 September 2026
Recipe Exchange respects your privacy. This policy explains how Recipe Exchange collects, uses, stores and protects personal information in accordance with South Africa’s Protection of Personal Information Act, 2013 (POPIA).
Information we collect
- Account information: your display name, email address and securely hashed password when you register.
- Community content: recipes, photographs, ratings and comments you submit.
- Enquiries: your name, email address, subject and message when you contact us.
- Technical information: IP address, browser information, security logs and essential cookie data needed to operate and protect the website.
How we use your information
- Create and manage your account.
- Allow you to save, submit and find your recipes.
- Review, edit, approve and publish recipe submissions.
- Display approved recipes, photographs, ratings and comments.
- Moderate content, including content that may be non-Halaal, misleading, unsafe or unlawful.
- Respond to enquiries and privacy requests.
- Maintain, secure and improve the website.
Information visible to the public
Your display name may appear with recipes, ratings and comments that you submit. Your email address and password are not displayed publicly. Please do not include private information in recipes, comments or images. Before uploading a photograph, remove any location information or other metadata you do not want to share.
Cookies and similar technologies
Recipe Exchange uses essential cookies for sign-in, account preferences, comments, security and reliable website operation. If non-essential analytics or advertising tools are introduced later, this policy and any required consent choices will be updated. If profile avatars are enabled, a privacy-preserving hash of your email address may be sent to Gravatar to check whether you use that service.
Sharing of information
We may share information with trusted hosting, email and technical service providers only where needed to operate Recipe Exchange. We do not sell your personal information. We may disclose information where required by law or where reasonably necessary to protect users, the website or our legal rights.
Retention
Account information is kept while your account is active and for a reasonable period afterwards where needed for security, legal or administrative purposes. Published community content may remain available until it is removed or anonymised following an appropriate request. Contact enquiries and technical logs are kept only as long as reasonably necessary. Limited copies may remain temporarily in backups.
Your rights
Subject to POPIA and other applicable law, you may ask to access, correct or delete your personal information, object to certain processing, or request that processing be restricted. Where practical, we can remove or anonymise community content associated with you. Use our contact form to make a request. You may also lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator of South Africa.
Security
We use reasonable technical and organisational safeguards to protect personal information. No internet service can guarantee absolute security, so please use a strong, unique password and keep it confidential.
Changes to this policy
We may update this policy when the website, law or our practices change. The effective date at the top of this page will be updated when material changes are made.
Contact
For privacy questions or requests, contact Recipe Exchange through our contact form.