1. Acceptance and eligibility
By using Ahlan or creating an account, you agree to these Terms, Privacy Notice and Community Policy. The service is intended for people aged 18 or older in South Africa. Registration details must be accurate and you must protect access to your account.
2. Information we collect
We process your phone number and verification, name, profile, city, language and privacy preferences; content and files you submit; messages, reports and appeals; and security, device and usage information, including hashed network identifiers.
3. Why we process information
We use information to operate accounts, send verification SMS, display content, provide optional translation, messaging, calls and notifications, prevent abuse, conduct moderation and appeals, measure service health, and comply with law. We do not sell personal information.
4. Public information and controls
Your name, profile image, city, public posts and directory, marketplace, job, event or group content may be visible to others. Your verified phone is public only when you enable that setting. Messaging controls determine who may contact you. Do not publish sensitive information you do not want shared.
5. Service providers and international processing
We may share the minimum necessary data with hosting providers, Routee for SMS, DeepL when translation is requested, Web Push providers for notifications, and Agora for calls. Processing may occur outside South Africa subject to suitable safeguards and POPIA. Service credentials remain server-side.
6. Cookies and saved accounts
We use necessary secure cookies for sessions and protection, plus an optional saved-account token. Passwords are never stored in cookies. You can remove a saved account from the login page or browser settings.
7. Content and community rules
Illegal, threatening, violent, obscene, exploitative, fraudulent, hateful, harassing, privacy-invasive or infringing content is prohibited, as are malware, malicious scripts and harmful links. You remain responsible for your content and rights to it, and grant Ahlan a limited licence to display it for operating the service until deletion.
8. Reports, moderation and appeals
Duplicate reports are blocked. Reporter reliability and manipulation signals are considered. A trusted-report threshold temporarily hides content for human review; it does not by itself permanently delete content or permanently suspend an account. Moderator decisions and reasons are logged, and content owners may appeal. Malicious reporting may reduce reporter trust or lead to restrictions.
9. Marketplace, directory, jobs, events and groups
Ahlan is a community platform, not the seller, employer, event organiser or contracting party. Independently verify listings, businesses, opportunities and organisers before paying or sharing sensitive documents. Group administrators manage their communities, subject to Ahlan policy and law.
10. Messages and calls
Messaging, files and calls must be used lawfully. Users can restrict, block and report contacts. Ahlan does not claim end-to-end encryption unless expressly stated. Technical information may be processed to deliver calls and prevent abuse.
11. Retention and security
We retain information as needed to provide the service, meet legal duties, resolve disputes and prevent fraud. Safeguards include password hashing, access control, CSRF protection, rate limits, file validation and audit logs. No system is perfectly secure; report suspected compromise promptly.
12. Your POPIA rights
You may request confirmation and access, correction or deletion, object to certain processing, withdraw consent where applicable, and complain to the Information Regulator. Settings allow temporary closure or permanent deletion; anonymised security records or legally required records may remain.
13. Restrictions and termination
We may restrict publishing, remove content or suspend an account for policy or legal violations or risk to others, with human review and appeal where appropriate. Temporary closure is reversible; permanent deletion is not.
14. Disclaimers and liability
The service is provided “as is” without a guarantee of uninterrupted availability or accuracy of user content. Health, religious, legal, financial and employment content is not a substitute for professional advice. Limitations apply only as far as South African law permits and do not exclude non-waivable rights.
15. Changes, law and contact
We may update this document and request renewed acceptance for material changes. South African law governs. Privacy requests: privacy@ahlan.co.za. You may also complain to the Information Regulator South Africa.