Terms & Conditions of Use

1. Definitions & Interpretation

In these Terms & Conditions, the following definitions apply:

• “Platform” means the AgriCore web application, its APIs, databases, and all associated services accessible at agricore.site or any successor domain.
• “Company”, “We”, “Us”, “Our” refers to Bubble Universe, the entity that owns and operates AgriCore.
• “User”, “You”, “Your” refers to any individual or entity that accesses or uses the Platform, including farmers, advisors, administrators, and other authorised personnel.
• “Personal Information” has the meaning ascribed to it in the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 (POPIA).
• “Data Subject” means the person to whom personal information relates, as defined by POPIA.
• “Responsible Party” means Bubble Universe, the entity that determines the purpose of and means for processing personal information.
• “Processing” means any operation or activity concerning personal information, including collection, storage, modification, retrieval, use, dissemination, or destruction.
• “Services” means all features, tools, analytics, and functionalities provided through the Platform.
• “Content” means any text, data, images, documents, or other material uploaded, generated, or displayed on the Platform.

2. Platform Purpose & Scope

AgriCore is an agricultural intelligence platform designed to assist farmers, advisors, and agricultural organisations in South Africa. The Platform provides tools for farm performance tracking, support plan management, analytics, weather data, and farmer data management.

3. ECT Act Disclosure (Section 43)

In compliance with Section 43 of the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act 25 of 2002 (ECT Act), the following information is disclosed:

• Full name: Bubble Universe
• Legal status: Private entity
• Website address: agricore.site
• Email: support@agricore.co.za
• Nature of services: Agricultural data management, analytics, farmer support, and advisory coordination platform
• Pricing: AgriCore is currently provided free of charge. Should fees be introduced, users will be notified in advance with at least 30 days’ notice.
• Cancellation: Users may cancel their accounts at any time by submitting an account deletion request through the Platform’s Settings panel.
• Applicable code of conduct: We adhere to the conditions set out in the ECT Act and POPIA.
• Alternative dispute resolution: See Section 20 (Dispute Resolution) of these Terms.

4. Acceptance of Terms

By creating an account, accessing, or using the Platform, you agree to be bound by these Terms & Conditions in their entirety. If you do not agree with any provision of these Terms, you must immediately cease use of the Platform and close your account.

These Terms constitute a legally binding agreement between you and Bubble Universe. Your continued use of the Platform after any amendments to these Terms (as described in Section 21) constitutes your acceptance of the modified Terms.

5. Eligibility & Registration

To use AgriCore, you must:

• Be at least 18 years of age, or have the legal capacity to enter into a binding agreement under South African law.
• Provide accurate, complete, and truthful information during the registration process.
• Register with a valid email address that belongs to you.
• Be authorised by your organisation (if applicable) to use the Platform on its behalf.

Accounts are assigned roles (farmer, advisor, admin, supervisor, field agent, office staff) that determine access levels and permissions. Advisor accounts are subject to identity verification by a Platform administrator before full access is granted.

6. POPIA Compliance & Data Protection

AgriCore is committed to complying with the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 (POPIA). Bubble Universe acts as the Responsible Party as defined under section 1 of POPIA.

Information Officer

As required by section 55 of POPIA, our designated Information Officer can be contacted at:
Email: privacy@agricore.co.za
Enquiries regarding the processing of your personal information, data access requests, and complaints should be directed to the Information Officer.

Your Rights Under POPIA (Sections 23–25)

• Right to be informed (s18): You have the right to know what personal information we collect and why.
• Right to access (s23): You may request a copy of the personal information we hold about you.
• Right to correction (s24): You may request that incorrect, misleading, or outdated information be corrected or deleted.
• Right to deletion (s24): You may request the deletion of your personal information, subject to legal retention requirements.
• Right to object (s11(3)): You may object to the processing of your personal information on reasonable grounds.
• Right to complain (s74): You may lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator if you believe your rights under POPIA have been infringed.

The Information Regulator can be contacted at:

• Website: www.justice.gov.za/inforeg/
• Email: enquiries@inforegulator.org.za

Lawful Basis for Processing (s9–s12)

We process personal information on the following lawful bases:

• Consent (s11(1)(a)): Given during registration when you agree to these Terms.
• Contractual necessity (s11(1)(b)): Processing necessary to provide the Platform’s Services to you.
• Legitimate interest (s11(1)(f)): For improving agricultural outcomes and Platform functionality.
• Legal obligation (s11(1)(c)): Compliance with applicable South African laws, including agricultural regulations.

Conditions for Lawful Processing (s4)

We adhere to all eight conditions for lawful processing as set out in Chapter 3 of POPIA:

1. Accountability: We take responsibility for ensuring compliance with POPIA.
2. Processing limitation: We process personal information only for lawful purposes and with your knowledge.
3. Purpose specification: We collect personal information for specific, explicitly defined, and legitimate purposes.
4. Further processing limitation: We do not use personal information for purposes incompatible with the original purpose.
5. Information quality: We take reasonable steps to ensure information is complete, accurate, and up to date.
6. Openness: We are transparent about the types of information we collect and how we use it.
7. Security safeguards: We implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your data.
8. Data subject participation: You have the right to access, correct, and delete your personal information.

Cross-Border Data Transfers (s72)

AgriCore uses Supabase (hosted infrastructure) for data storage and authentication. Your data may be stored on servers located outside of South Africa. In accordance with section 72 of POPIA, any cross-border transfer of personal information is subject to adequate safeguards, including that the recipient country provides an adequate level of protection or that appropriate contractual protections are in place.

7. Data Usage, Retention & Privacy

Categories of Personal Information Collected

• Identity information: Name, email address, phone number, home address, role, profile image.
• Farm data: Farm name, size, type, province, district, crop and livestock records, soil data, yield history.
• Performance data: Production records, performance scores, analytics data.
• Verification documents: Identity documents and farm registration documents (for advisors).
• Technical data: IP addresses, browser/device information, login timestamps, activity logs.
• Communication data: Support tickets, ticket replies, and notification content.

How We Use Your Data

• Providing personalised dashboards, analytics, and support plans.
• Generating reports and insights for agricultural decision-making.
• Verifying user identity and authorisation for data integrity.
• Communicating important notifications about your account, farm data, and Platform updates.
• Monitoring login activity and security events to protect your account from unauthorised access.
• Aggregated, de-identified statistics for Platform improvement and agricultural planning (no individual identification).

Data Retention

We retain your personal information only for as long as is necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, or as required by applicable law. Specifically:

• Account data: Retained for the duration of your active account and for 12 months after account deletion approval, after which it is permanently destroyed.
• Farm records and analytics: Retained for the duration of your account. Upon deletion, all associated farm data is permanently removed.
• Activity logs: Retained for 24 months for security and audit purposes.
• Login activity: Retained for 12 months for security monitoring.
• Support tickets: Retained for 24 months after resolution.

Data Storage & Security

Your data is stored securely using industry-standard encryption and access controls. We use Supabase for data storage with Row Level Security (RLS) policies to ensure users can only access data they are authorised to view. Passwords are hashed using bcrypt and are never stored in plain text. All API communications are encrypted using TLS/HTTPS. We implement input sanitisation, rate limiting, and CSRF protections.

Data Breach Notification (s22)

In accordance with section 22 of POPIA, in the event of a security compromise involving personal information, we will notify the Information Regulator and affected data subjects as soon as reasonably possible after discovery of the breach, unless a law enforcement authority directs otherwise. The notification will include the nature of the breach, the categories of data affected, and recommended measures to mitigate harm.

8. User Responsibilities & Conduct

As a user of AgriCore, you agree to the following:

• Provide accurate, truthful, and up-to-date information when registering and using the Platform.
• Keep your login credentials confidential and not share your account with others.
• Use the Platform only for lawful, authorised purposes related to agricultural management.
• Not attempt to access data or records belonging to other users without proper authorisation.
• Not upload malicious content, harmful files, or attempt to exploit the Platform’s systems.
• Not use automated scripts, bots, or other means to scrape, crawl, or extract data from the Platform without authorisation.
• Not attempt to reverse-engineer, decompile, or disassemble any part of the Platform.
• Not impersonate any person or entity, or falsely represent your affiliation with any person or entity.
• Report any security vulnerabilities or suspicious activity to the Platform administrator promptly.
• Comply with all applicable South African laws and regulations while using the Platform.
• You are solely responsible for all activity that occurs under your account.

9. Account Management

Account Creation

To use AgriCore, you must create an account with a valid email address and strong password. Accounts are assigned roles that determine access levels. Advisor accounts require identity verification by a Platform administrator before full access is granted.

Account Deletion

You may request account deletion at any time through the Settings panel in your dashboard. Deletion requests require password confirmation and are reviewed by an administrator. Upon approval, your account and associated data will be permanently removed in accordance with our data retention policies and any applicable legal retention requirements. This process is irreversible.

Account Suspension & Termination

We reserve the right to suspend or terminate your account at any time, with or without notice, if we reasonably believe that you have violated these Terms, engaged in fraudulent or unlawful activity, or pose a security risk to the Platform or other users. You may also request termination of your account at any time.

10. Support & Ticket Policy

AgriCore provides a built-in ticketing system for reporting bugs, requesting features, or submitting general enquiries. When submitting a support ticket:

• Provide clear, descriptive titles and details about the issue.
• Select the appropriate ticket type (Bug, Feature Request, General Enquiry) and urgency level.
• File attachments are limited to JPG, PNG, PDF, and TXT files (max 10 MB per file).
• Ticket submissions are rate-limited to prevent abuse (5 tickets per 15-minute window).
• You will receive notifications when your ticket status is updated or resolved.
• Support is provided on a best-effort basis. We do not guarantee specific response times.

11. Intellectual Property

All Platform code, designs, logos, trademarks, and content created by or on behalf of AgriCore are the intellectual property of Bubble Universe and are protected under the South African Copyright Act 98 of 1978, the Trade Marks Act 194 of 1993, and applicable international intellectual property treaties.

You may not copy, reproduce, distribute, modify, publicly display, or create derivative works from any part of the Platform without prior written consent from Bubble Universe.

Farm data and records submitted by users remain the property of the respective users or their authorised organisations. By uploading Content to the Platform, you grant Bubble Universe a limited, non-exclusive licence to store, process, display, and back up that Content solely for the purpose of providing the Services. This licence terminates upon account deletion.

12. Disclaimer & Limitation of Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by South African law, including the Consumer Protection Act 68 of 2008:

• The Platform and all Services are provided “as is” and “as available”, without warranties of any kind, whether express, implied, or statutory, including but not limited to implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement.
• We do not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, reliability, or timeliness of any analytics, scores, recommendations, or data generated by or displayed on the Platform. These are advisory tools and must not be the sole basis for critical agricultural, financial, or safety decisions.
• We are not liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, including but not limited to crop losses, livestock losses, financial damages, loss of profit, loss of data, or business interruption, arising from or in connection with your use of the Platform.
• Weather data, market prices, geolocation data, and other external data are provided by third-party services and may be subject to delays, inaccuracies, or interruptions beyond our control. We bear no responsibility for the accuracy or availability of third-party data.
• The Platform does not replace professional agricultural consulting, veterinary advice, legal advice, or regulatory guidance. Always seek qualified professional advice for critical decisions.
• Service availability may be interrupted for maintenance, updates, or due to circumstances beyond our reasonable control, including but not limited to infrastructure outages, network failures, and third-party service disruptions.
• Our total aggregate liability to you for all claims arising out of or relating to these Terms or your use of the Platform shall not exceed the amount you have paid to us (if any) in the 12 months preceding the claim.

13. Indemnity

You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless Bubble Universe, its directors, officers, employees, agents, and affiliates from and against any and all claims, damages, losses, liabilities, costs, and expenses (including reasonable legal fees) arising out of or in connection with:

• Your use of or access to the Platform.
• Your violation of any provision of these Terms.
• Your violation of any applicable law or regulation.
• Any Content you upload, submit, or transmit through the Platform.
• Any third-party claim arising from your use of the Platform or your actions on the Platform.
• Any unauthorised access to the Platform caused by your failure to safeguard your credentials.

This indemnification obligation shall survive the termination of your account and these Terms.

14. Consumer Protection Act Compliance

Where applicable, these Terms are subject to the Consumer Protection Act 68 of 2008 (CPA). In terms of the CPA:

• Plain language (s22): These Terms are written in plain and understandable language. If any provision is unclear, please contact us for clarification.
• Right to fair and honest dealing (s40–s41): We do not engage in unconscionable conduct, false advertising, or misleading representations about the Platform or its capabilities.
• Right to fair value (s48): We do not include unfair, unreasonable, or unjust terms. Any term that is found to be unfair under the CPA shall be severable from the remainder of these Terms.
• Right to privacy (s11): We respect your right to restrict unwanted communications. You may opt out of non-essential notifications at any time through the Settings panel.
• Cooling-off period (s16): Where you transact electronically with us, you may cancel any agreement within 5 business days after the date on which the agreement was concluded, without reason or penalty. This applies only to paid services (if introduced).
• No waiver of constitutional rights: Nothing in these Terms is intended to waive, limit, or restrict any right you may have under the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996.

15. Cybercrimes Act & Security

In accordance with the Cybercrimes Act 19 of 2020:

• Any unauthorised access to, interception of, or interference with the Platform, its data, or its systems constitutes a criminal offence and will be reported to the SAPS and prosecuted to the full extent of the law.
• Users must not engage in any activity that would constitute a cybercrime, including hacking, phishing, identity theft, data theft, malware distribution, or denial-of-service attacks.
• We implement appropriate security measures as required by section 19 of POPIA and cooperate with law enforcement authorities in the investigation of cybercrimes.
• We reserve the right to monitor system activity and access logs for security purposes, and to take immediate action (including account suspension) to protect the Platform and its users.

16. Promotion of Access to Information (PAIA)

In terms of the Promotion of Access to Information Act 2 of 2000 (PAIA), any person may request access to records held by Bubble Universe, subject to the grounds of refusal set out in the Act. Requests must be made in accordance with the prescribed form and procedure.

A PAIA manual in terms of section 51 of PAIA is available upon request. Please contact our Information Officer at privacy@agricore.co.za for a copy or to submit a PAIA request.

17. Force Majeure

We shall not be liable for any failure or delay in performing our obligations under these Terms where such failure or delay results from any cause beyond our reasonable control, including but not limited to: acts of God, natural disasters, pandemic, epidemic, fire, flood, earthquake, explosion, war, terrorism, strikes, labour disputes, government actions, power failures, internet or telecommunications failures, denial-of-service attacks, or third-party service provider outages.

18. Severability & Waiver

If any provision of these Terms is found to be invalid, unlawful, or unenforceable by a court of competent jurisdiction, that provision shall be severed from these Terms and the remaining provisions shall continue in full force and effect.

The failure of Bubble Universe to enforce any right or provision of these Terms shall not constitute a waiver of such right or provision. Any waiver must be in writing and signed by an authorised representative of Bubble Universe.

These Terms, together with any policies or guidelines referenced herein, constitute the entire agreement between you and Bubble Universe regarding the use of the Platform.

19. Governing Law & Jurisdiction

These Terms shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the Republic of South Africa, without regard to its conflict of law principles.

You consent to the exclusive jurisdiction of the High Court of South Africa in the province in which Bubble Universe is registered, for any dispute arising out of or in connection with these Terms.

20. Dispute Resolution

In the event of any dispute arising out of or in connection with these Terms:

1. Informal resolution: The parties shall first attempt to resolve the dispute informally by contacting our support team via the in-app ticket system or at support@agricore.co.za.
2. Mediation: If the dispute cannot be resolved informally within 30 days, either party may refer the dispute to mediation in accordance with the rules of the Arbitration Foundation of Southern Africa (AFSA) or another mutually agreed mediator.
3. Litigation: If mediation fails, either party may institute legal proceedings before a court of competent jurisdiction in South Africa.

Nothing in this section prevents either party from seeking urgent interim relief or interdict from a court of competent jurisdiction where necessary to protect its rights or property.

21. Changes to These Terms

We reserve the right to amend or update these Terms & Conditions at any time. Material changes will be communicated to you via the Platform’s notification system and/or email with at least 14 days’ prior notice before the changes take effect.

The “Last updated” date at the top of this page indicates when the most recent revision was made. Your continued use of the Platform after the effective date of any changes constitutes your acceptance of the updated Terms. If you do not agree with the changes, you must stop using the Platform and request account deletion.

22. Contact Information

If you have questions about these Terms, your data, privacy, or the Platform, please contact us:

• General support: support@agricore.co.za or via Dashboard → Support
• Privacy & POPIA enquiries: privacy@agricore.co.za (Information Officer)
• PAIA requests: privacy@agricore.co.za

Information Regulator (South Africa):
Website: www.justice.gov.za/inforeg/
Email: enquiries@inforegulator.org.za