Terms of use

1. Accepting these terms

By creating an account or using Sisonke Alert, you agree to these terms. If you do not agree, do not use the service. If you are under 18, a parent or guardian must agree on your behalf.

2. What the service does

Sisonke Alert lets you raise an emergency alert from your phone. When you do, we attempt to share your location, identity and emergency category with responders registered near you and with the trusted contacts you have added. We keep sharing your location until you mark yourself safe.

3. What the service does not do — please understand this

• We are not an emergency service. We do not employ paramedics, firefighters or police. We pass a message along.
• We cannot guarantee a response. No responder may be nearby. A responder who is notified may be unable or unwilling to come. Responders are independent of us.
• We cannot guarantee delivery. Alerts depend on your device having battery, signal, GPS and data. They depend on networks, push-notification providers and SMS carriers we do not control. Any of these can fail.
• Location can be wrong. GPS accuracy varies. Indoors, underground or in dense built-up areas your reported position may be off by a significant distance.

Always contact the official emergency services as well. Never rely on Sisonke Alert as your only means of getting help.

4. Your account

• You sign in with a one-time code sent to your email address. Keep access to that inbox secure.
• Give us accurate details. Responders rely on your name and phone number to find and identify you.
• You are responsible for activity on your account.
• Only add trusted contacts who have agreed to be contacted on your behalf.

5. Acceptable use

You must not:

• Raise a false alert. Deliberately summoning responders to a non-emergency diverts help from someone who needs it, and may be a criminal offence.
• Use the service to harass, stalk, threaten or locate another person without their consent.
• Attempt to access alerts, contacts or location data belonging to anyone else.
• Interfere with, overload, reverse-engineer or probe the service or its infrastructure.
• Use the service unlawfully, or to facilitate anything unlawful.

We may suspend or terminate an account that abuses the service, and we may report false alerts to the authorities.

6. Responders

Responders listed in Sisonke Alert are independent third parties. We do not employ, supervise, insure or vouch for them, and we are not liable for what they do or fail to do. Any arrangement between you and a responder is between the two of you.

7. Availability

We work to keep the service running, but we do not promise it will be uninterrupted or error-free. We may change, suspend or withdraw features, and we may take the service down for maintenance. During a pilot, the service is provided on an evaluation basis and may change substantially.

8. Limitation of liability

To the fullest extent the law allows, Tredicik (Pty) Ltd is not liable for any loss, injury, death, damage to property, or indirect or consequential loss arising from:

• an alert that is not delivered, is delayed, or is delivered to the wrong people;
• a responder who does not arrive, arrives late, or acts negligently;
• inaccurate location data;
• failure of your device, your battery, GPS, a mobile network or a notification provider;
• your reliance on the service instead of contacting the official emergency services.

Nothing in these terms excludes liability that cannot lawfully be excluded, including under the Consumer Protection Act 68 of 2008. Where our liability cannot be excluded, it is limited to the amount you have paid us for the service in the 12 months before the claim.

9. Indemnity

You indemnify Tredicik (Pty) Ltd against claims, losses and costs arising from your breach of these terms, your misuse of the service, or a false alert you raise.

10. Privacy

Our Privacy policy explains what we collect and why. By using the service you agree to the processing described there.

11. Intellectual property

Tredicik (Pty) Ltd owns the Sisonke Alert name, logo, app and website. You get a personal, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable licence to use the app for its intended purpose. You may not copy, resell or create derivative works from it.

12. Ending this agreement

You may stop using the service and delete your account at any time. We may terminate or suspend your access if you breach these terms, or if we discontinue the service. Sections 3, 6, 8 and 9 survive termination.

13. Changes to these terms

We may update these terms. If a change materially affects your rights, we will notify you in the app or by email before it takes effect. Continuing to use the service after that means you accept the new terms.

14. Governing law

These terms are governed by the law of South Africa. Disputes fall under the jurisdiction of the South African courts.

15. Contact

Questions about these terms: support@sisonkealert.co.za