Privacy policy
The short version: you can use Q-tsek without an account or giving your name. When you share an update, we check your phone's location once to make sure you're at the branch, then throw it away. Your updates are published anonymously. We use Google Analytics to count visits; you can opt out.
Who we are
Q-tsek! (q-tsek.co.za) shows crowd-reported queue times for Home Affairs and licensing offices. It is run by Haiko Nieuwoudt in South Africa and is not affiliated with the Department of Home Affairs, the City of Cape Town or any other government body. Questions about this policy or your information: haiko@dontsp.am.
What you share, and what's published
- Queue updates: how many people are ahead of you, at which branch and when. Published anonymously.
- Visits: if you check in and later tap "I'm leaving", the service you came for and your arrival and departure times, used to work out average waits. Published anonymously, only as averages.
- Notes and tips: anything you type about what you needed to bring, or a nearby helper with its map pin. These are published as you write them, so please don't include names, phone numbers or other personal details. Posts containing links, email addresses or phone numbers are held until we've checked them, and we can hide any post.
Your location
- When you tap Submit on an "I'm here" update, your phone's location is sent once so we can check you're near the branch. It's used for that check and not stored.
- If you allow location when you open the site, it's used only in your browser to sort branches nearest-first. It isn't sent to us.
What we keep to stop spam
- An anonymous device ID: a random code your browser creates and sends with each update. It lets us count how many people share updates and limit how often one device can post. It isn't linked to your name, phone number or anything else about you.
- Your IP address, scrambled: we keep a one-way scrambled version of it (not the address itself) for up to two days, only to limit how often updates can be sent.
Stored on your device
Q-tsek keeps a few things in your browser's local storage: the anonymous device ID, your current check-in until you tap "I'm leaving", and which department you last looked at. Clearing your browser's site data removes them. Q-tsek's own code doesn't set cookies; Google Analytics does, as described below.
Google Analytics
We use Google Analytics to understand how Q-tsek is used: how many people visit, which pages they view, how they found the site, and roughly where they are (country or city) and what device and browser they use. It sets cookies to tell visits apart and collects this on Google's servers; it doesn't give us your name or contact details, and it doesn't store your IP address. It never receives the location you share when sending an update. You can opt out on all websites with Google's opt-out browser add-on, or by blocking cookies in your browser.
Other services
- OpenStreetMap: the map for placing a tip loads its tiles from OpenStreetMap's servers, which receive your IP address.
- Google Maps: "Open in Maps" links take you to Google Maps, under Google's own privacy policy.
Advertising
Q-tsek is free, and is to be supported by ads served by Google AdSense. When ads are shown, Google and other third-party vendors use cookies to serve ads based on your previous visits to this and other websites. You can opt out of personalised advertising in Google's Ads Settings, or opt out of some vendors' use of cookies at aboutads.info. Learn more about how Google uses information from sites that use its services. Ads never affect queue information.
Your rights
Under South Africa's Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA) you can ask what personal information we hold about you and ask us to correct or delete it. Because updates are anonymous, we may not be able to tell which ones are yours, but email us and we'll help where we can. If you're unhappy with how we've handled your information, you can complain to the Information Regulator.
Changes
If we change what we collect, we'll update this page and the date at the top.