This page explains how to ask THRIVE SA (PTY) LTD to delete your account and your personal information — whether you used the Thrive SA app on Android, the members website, or only this website. It also sets out what we delete, what the law requires us to keep, and how long it takes.
You do not need the app to do this. You do not need to sign in, and you do not need to still have the app installed. One email to privacy@thrivesa.co.za is enough.
1. How to request deletion
There are two ways. Either one starts the same process.
Option A — by email (works for everyone)
- Email privacy@thrivesa.co.za.
- Put Delete my data in the subject line.
- Include the details listed in section 2 so that we can find your record and be sure it is you.
- We reply to confirm we have it, and again when it is done.
Option B — inside the Thrive SA app
- Sign in and open Profile.
- Tap the settings icon in the top corner.
- Open Data & Privacy.
- Tap Request account deletion, confirm, and add a reason if you want to. The reason is optional.
2. What to include in your request
We only need enough to find your record and to be reasonably sure the request is really from you:
- your full name;
- the email address or cellphone number you gave us;
- whether you are (or were) a Thrive member, or only used the free Thrive Check.
Please do not email us your ID number or any card details. We do not need them to delete your data. If we cannot match your request to a record from the details above, we will ask you for one more piece of information before we act — we will never simply delete an account on an unverified request.
3. What we delete
When we receive a verified deletion request, we remove or de-identify personal information held by Thrive where we no longer have a lawful or operational reason to retain it. Some bureau-enquiry records may need to be retained for a limited period where required for duplicate-retrieval controls, authorised partner arrangements, legal obligations or regulatory requirements.
In practice that means the following is removed or de-identified:
| Information | What happens |
|---|---|
| Your sign-in account for the app | Closed and deleted — you can no longer sign in |
| Your name, cellphone number and email address | Deleted |
| Your South African ID number held on your member record | Deleted — see section 4 on bureau-enquiry records |
| The credit information and score held in your Thrive account | Deleted from your Thrive account — see section 4 on the bureau's own record |
| Your Thrive plan, analysis and progress | Deleted |
| Your debt review status and checklist | Deleted |
| Documents and photographs you uploaded to your vault | Deleted from storage |
| Your conversations with Zoe, the in-app assistant | Not stored on our servers, so there is nothing of them to delete. The daily message counts we keep for fair-use limits are deleted with your account. Our AI processor's own copy is generally deleted within 30 days, subject to limited exceptions |
| Your Thrive Check answers and Thrive Readiness Score | Deleted |
| Your notification and marketing preferences | Deleted, except the suppression entry in section 4 |
You can also delete any single document from the vault yourself, at any time, without deleting your account.
4. What we have to keep, and why
POPIA lets us refuse to erase information we have a lawful reason to keep. Where that applies to you, we tell you exactly what we are keeping and why. In practice it is short:
| What we keep | Why | For how long |
|---|---|---|
| Invoices, payment records and the record of any paid service you bought | Tax and company record-keeping law | 5 years |
| A minimal suppression entry — enough to recognise that you asked not to be contacted | So that we can honour your opt-out and do not contact you again by mistake | Indefinitely |
| A record that a deletion request was made and completed | To prove we complied, if you or the Information Regulator ever ask | Indefinitely |
| Bureau-enquiry records, including the identifying information needed to run and control those enquiries | To support bureau processing and to stop a repeat enquiry being run and charged for twice | Only for as long as reasonably required for those purposes, subject to applicable consent, authorised partner, legal and regulatory requirements |
| Information an authorised service provider is independently required to retain | That provider's own legal and regulatory obligations, which are separate from ours | As required of them |
| Anything we are required to keep for an active legal claim or a regulator's request | Legal obligation | Until it ends |
Deleting information held in your Thrive account does not delete or alter the source information held by a registered credit bureau, nor information an authorised partner is independently required to retain. Where required, Thrive will coordinate a deletion or correction request with the relevant service provider.
5. What happens after you ask
- We acknowledge it — normally within 5 working days.
- We check it is you — if the details in section 2 are not enough to match your record, we come back to you once.
- We delete — we normally aim to complete a verified deletion request within 14 working days and will respond within the period required under POPIA and its applicable regulations.
- We confirm in writing — we email you to say it is done, and list anything from section 4 that we have kept, with the reason.
Deletion is permanent. Once your account is deleted we cannot restore your report, your plan, your documents or your history, and a new account would start empty.
6. Worth doing first
- Download your data. In the app: Profile → Settings → Data & Privacy → Download my data. Or ask us by email — it is your right under POPIA either way.
- Cancel your membership. Deleting your data does not by itself cancel a membership or stop a debit order. Cancel in the app under Membership, or speak to your consultant, or email support@thrivesa.co.za.
7. If you only want part of it removed
You do not have to delete everything. You can ask us to stop marketing you, to correct something that is wrong, or to remove one particular item, and keep your account. Email privacy@thrivesa.co.za and say what you want removed. To stop marketing only: reply STOP on WhatsApp, or use the unsubscribe link in any email.
8. Contact and complaints
- Responsible party
- THRIVE SA (PTY) LTD (registration number 2025/741148/07), trading as Thrive SA
- Address
- Cape Town, South Africa
- Deletion and privacy
- privacy@thrivesa.co.za
- General support
- support@thrivesa.co.za
If you are not happy with how we handled your request, tell us first at privacy@thrivesa.co.za. You may also complain to the Information Regulator (South Africa): JD House, 27 Stiemens Street, Braamfontein, Johannesburg 2001 · complaints.IR@justice.gov.za · inforegulator.org.za.
Full detail on what we collect and why is in our Privacy Policy.