11. Cookies & Analytics

This notice is provided under section 18 of POPIA by FindHomes (Neighbourgood, 84 Harrington Street, Cape Town, South Africa). It describes everything our website stores on your device and every analytics data flow, and how to object.

Strictly necessary

• Sign-in cookies (names starting with sb-): keep you signed in. Deleted when your session ends or you sign out.
• Your cookie setting (fh_consent): remembers that you have seen our cookie notice and whether you switched analytics off, for 12 months from your last visit.
• Payments: handled entirely on Paystack's own website; we load no payment scripts on ours.
• Search abuse prevention (fh_anon_id cookie and findHomes_anonUserId browser storage): a random identifier attached to search requests so we can rate-limit automated abuse and keep search available for everyone; also used to improve result quality. The cookie lasts up to two years and is renewed on each visit. It identifies a browser, not a person.

Functional

• Interface preferences and search history stored in your browser (sidebar_state, findHomes_searchHistory, fh_last_collection, calculator inputs, dismissed-prompt flags).
• Google sign-in: the Google Identity Services script offers one-tap sign-in on app pages.
• Maps: map tiles are delivered by Mapbox. The Mapbox library also sends aggregate usage telemetry to Mapbox (a US company) and stores a random identifier in your browser (mapbox.eventData); Mapbox states this data is not used for advertising or profiling. We currently cannot switch this off.

Analytics (you can switch this off)

• PostHog product analytics (first-party; data processed by PostHog Inc., US Cloud, under a data processing agreement): page views, clicks, searches, error reports, and session recordings with all typed input and personal details masked. Uses a ph_ cookie and browser storage for up to one year.

We process this first-party product analytics on the basis of our legitimate interest in keeping the service working and improving it (POPIA section 11(1)(f)), whether or not you are signed in.

Advertising measurement (switched off with analytics)

• Meta pixel (Meta Platforms, US) and the Google Ads tag (Google, US): these tell Meta and Google which pages you view and whether you contact an agent, create an account, sign in or create an alert, so they can match that to people who saw or clicked our ads and we can tell which ads work. We send listing ids and the page address — never your name, email address, cell number or search text — and nothing is sent from account, alert, sign-in or search pages. Meta and Google use their own cookies (_fbp, _fbc, _gcl_au, _gcl_aw, up to 90 days) and may combine this with what they already know about you under their own privacy policies.

We do this on the basis of our legitimate interest in measuring our advertising (POPIA section 11(1)(f)). Switching analytics off in Cookie Settings or Settings → Privacy also switches these off.

You can object at any time: use Cookie Settings (signed out) or the switch under Settings → Privacy (signed in; applies to your whole account). If you switch analytics off, search and every other feature work exactly the same — we set no analytics cookies and keep only anonymous, aggregate visit counts that cannot be traced back to you (a daily-rotated, irreversible hash).

Your rights and how to object

You may access or correct your personal information, and you may object to analytics processing at any time: use the button below, the switch under Settings → Privacy (signed in), or contact our Information Officer (founders@findhomes.co.za, 079 908 3384) — we also accept objections on Form 1 of the POPIA Regulations. We honour the Global Privacy Control browser signal automatically. Complaints may be lodged with the Information Regulator (inforegulator.org.za, complaints.IR@inforegulator.org.za).