Privacy policy
How A-Ride collects, uses, shares and protects personal information, and the rights of riders, drivers and agents under POPIA.
Who runs A-Ride
A-Ride is run by ArkLive Ventures from the Co-Create Hub, 7 Victoria Street, Stellenbosch. ArkLive Ventures is the responsible party for personal information under the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA).
Questions, requests and complaints about personal information go to the Information Officer at info@aride.co.za.
Last updated: 13 November 2026.
What A-Ride collects
On the waitlist: name, WhatsApp number, email address (optional), whether the person joins as a rider, driver or agent, and who invited them. Drivers also give the make, model and type of their car, how many trips they do a day, and a photo of the front and back of their driving licence or ID. A-Ride reads the barcode on the back to check the details; it keeps the names, the licence codes and expiry dates and only the last four digits of the ID number.
To activate a referral link: legal name, a South African bank account in the person's own name (the account number is stored encrypted and only its last four digits are shown), the account type, an optional income tax number and the agreements given.
In the app: phone number, name, the pickup and drop-off points of each trip, location during a trip (and a driver's location while online), trip and payment history, ratings, messages between rider and driver, safety alerts, and the device and notification identifiers needed to sign in and send trip updates. Card details are handled by the payment provider; A-Ride does not store card numbers.
The play demo on aride.co.za/info runs in the browser and collects no personal information.
Why A-Ride uses it
To run the waitlist and tell people when A-Ride opens near them; to check drivers before they drive; to match riders with drivers and run each trip; to take payments and make payouts; to keep riders and drivers safe; to record who brought whom and work out agents' earnings; to prevent fraud and abuse; and to meet legal duties, such as tax records.
A-Ride contacts people about A-Ride on WhatsApp and by email. Anyone can ask it to stop at any time.
Who it is shared with
The other person on a trip sees what they need: a rider sees the driver's name, photo, car and plate; a driver sees the rider's first name and pickup point.
Service providers who run parts of A-Ride on its behalf: website and app hosting, the database, email delivery and payments. They may use the information only to provide their service to A-Ride.
Authorities, when the law requires it, or to protect someone's safety.
A-Ride never sells personal information.
Where it is stored, and for how long
Some of A-Ride's service providers store information outside South Africa. A-Ride uses providers that are bound to protect it to a standard at least equal to POPIA.
Information is kept only as long as it is needed for the purpose it was collected for, or as long as the law requires (for example, payment and tax records).
How it is protected
Pictures of IDs and licences and bank account numbers are stored encrypted. Only A-Ride's team can open them, and every opening is logged. Staff access is limited to what each role needs.
Rights
Anyone can ask A-Ride what personal information it holds about them, ask for it to be corrected or deleted, or object to its use, by writing to info@aride.co.za.
Anyone who is unhappy with how A-Ride handles their information can complain to the Information Regulator: inforeg.org.za, complaints.IR@justice.gov.za.
On this device
The website and app store small items on the device, such as a sign-in, the waitlist confirmation and display settings. A-Ride uses no advertising trackers.
Age
A-Ride is for people aged 18 and over.
Changes
When this policy changes, the new version is posted here with its date, and A-Ride tells people in the app or by email about a change that matters to them.