Privacy policy
How we collect, use and protect personal information, in plain language. We follow South Africa's Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA).
1. Who we are
The Studio Hub builds club software: Dojo Hub for martial arts clubs, Dance Hub, Gymnastics Hub and PT Hub. We're based in Centurion, South Africa.
Our Information Officer is Brett Clarke. For anything about your information, email info@thestudiohub.co.za or WhatsApp 066 257 6432.
2. Two kinds of information
Information about you and your club. When you fill in a form, book a demo, sign up or pay us, we decide how that information is used. Under POPIA we are the responsible party for it.
Information your club keeps in its hub. Your members' details, bookings, payments and gradings belong to your club. Your club is the responsible party. We are the operator: we store and process it only to run the hub for your club, and only as your club instructs.
If you're a member of a club that uses one of our hubs, your club is your first point of contact about your information. We'll help them answer you.
3. What we collect
From people who contact us or sign up:
- Your name, club name, email and WhatsApp number.
- Your club's style, size and city.
- Where you came from, like the ad or page you clicked.
- Messages you send us, and notes from calls and demos.
- Billing details for your plan. Your payment provider holds your full bank or card details, not us.
What clubs keep in their hub (decided by each club):
- Member and family details, including children's details added by a parent or guardian.
- Memberships, bookings, check-ins, belts, gradings and report cards.
- Invoices, payments and arrears.
- Signed contracts and waivers, which can include health information a member chooses to give.
- Messages between the club and its members.
From our websites: basic visit information, like the pages viewed and the link or ad you came from. Our sites don't use advertising cookies. If we ever add them, we'll update this page and ask where the law requires it.
4. Bank and card details
The hubs don't store full bank account numbers or card numbers. Each club connects its own payment provider (Netcash, Ozow or Yoco today), and that provider holds those details. The hub keeps what it needs to match payments, like a reference, the bank name and the last digits.
5. How we use it
- To run the hubs, the member app, club websites and the AI coach.
- To set up your club, bill your plan and give support.
- To reply to you and book demos.
- To send you updates about our products. You can opt out at any time.
- To keep the service safe, fix problems and improve it.
- To meet our legal and tax duties.
We don't sell personal information. We never use a club's member information for our own marketing.
6. The AI coach
When you or your club uses the AI coach, the information needed to answer is sent to our AI provider, Anthropic (Claude), to produce the reply. Anthropic doesn't use it to train its models.
Admin jobs the AI suggests wait for a person to confirm them, and every job is logged. Clubs choose whether WhatsApp replies send by themselves or wait for approval. Anything touchy, like money owed, cancellations, injuries or a child's safety, always goes to a person.
7. Who we share it with
Only with the service providers we need to run the hubs, under agreements that keep it confidential and secure:
| Provider | What for | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Supabase | Database, logins and file storage | European Union (Paris, France) |
| Cloudflare | Website hosting and security | Global network |
| Resend | Sending emails | Outside South Africa |
| Twilio / WhatsApp | WhatsApp and SMS, through the club's own account | Outside South Africa |
| Anthropic | The AI coach | Outside South Africa |
| The club's payment provider | Debit orders, card and instant EFT payments | As chosen by the club |
We also share information if the law requires it.
8. Information stored outside South Africa
Some of our providers store or process information outside South Africa. We only use providers bound by data protection laws or agreements that give at least the same protection as POPIA. Our main database is in the European Union, which is covered by the GDPR.
9. How we keep it safe
- All traffic to the hubs and our websites is encrypted.
- Each club can only see its own information. Staff and coaches only see what their role allows.
- Changes to members, money and memberships are logged.
- Only the people who need it on our team can reach club data, and only to give support or fix problems.
If we find that personal information was accessed without permission, we'll tell the affected club, the people involved where we need to, and the Information Regulator, as POPIA requires.
10. How long we keep it
We keep information while your club uses our hubs. When your plan ends, you can ask for an export of your club's data for 30 days. After that we delete it, except records the law makes us keep, like invoices for tax.
Enquiries that don't turn into a club are deleted after 2 years without contact.
11. Your rights
- Ask what information we hold about you, and get a copy.
- Ask us to correct or delete it.
- Object to us using it, or opt out of marketing at any time.
- Complain to the Information Regulator at inforegulator.org.za.
To use any of these, email info@thestudiohub.co.za or WhatsApp 066 257 6432. If your information is in a club's hub, we'll pass your request to that club and help them deal with it.
12. Changes to this policy
If we change this policy, we'll update the date at the top. If the change is big, we'll tell our clubs by email first.