Privacy Policy

1. Responsible Party

The responsible party for the processing of your personal information is:

• Safari Shop Builder (Pty) Ltd
• Johannesburg, South Africa
• Information Officer: privacy@safarishopbuilder.co.za
• Phone: +27 78 449 0641

2. Personal Information We Collect

We collect the following categories of personal information:

• Identity information: full name, email address, phone number
• Business information: business name, store details
• Financial information: payment details processed via third-party providers (Yoco, PayFast, Paystack)
• Technical information: IP address, browser type, device information
• Usage information: how you interact with our platform
• Content: product images, descriptions, and store content you upload

3. Purpose of Processing

We process your personal information for the following lawful purposes (Section 11 of POPIA):

• To provide and maintain our e-commerce platform services
• To process payments and transactions
• To communicate with you about your account and services
• To send marketing communications (only with your explicit consent)
• To comply with legal obligations
• To protect our legitimate interests and prevent fraud

4. Lawful Basis for Processing

Under POPIA, we process your information based on:

• Your consent (for marketing and newsletter subscriptions)
• Contractual necessity (to provide our services to you)
• Legal obligation (tax records, fraud prevention)
• Legitimate interest (platform security, service improvement)

5. Your Rights Under POPIA

As a data subject, you have the right to:

• Be notified when your personal information is collected (Section 18)
• Request access to your personal information (Section 23)
• Request correction of inaccurate information (Section 24)
• Request deletion of your personal information (Section 24)
• Object to the processing of your information (Section 11(3)(a))
• Withdraw consent for marketing communications at any time
• Lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator
• Request a copy of your data in a portable format

6. Third-Party Sharing

We do not sell your personal information. We share data only with:

• Payment processors (Yoco, PayFast, Paystack) — to process transactions
• Cloud infrastructure (Supabase, Vercel) — to host and deliver our services
• Email services — to send transactional and marketing emails
• Law enforcement — when required by South African law

All third-party providers are contractually bound to protect your information in accordance with POPIA requirements.

7. Cross-Border Transfers

Some of our service providers operate outside South Africa. Where personal information is transferred internationally, we ensure adequate safeguards are in place as required by Section 72 of POPIA, including ensuring the recipient country has adequate data protection laws or obtaining your consent.

8. Data Retention

We retain your personal information only for as long as necessary:

• Active accounts: for the duration of your subscription
• Cancelled accounts: data retained for 30 days, then deleted
• Transaction records: retained for 5 years (SARS requirement)
• Marketing consent records: retained until consent is withdrawn

9. Data Security

We implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal information, including:

• Encryption of data in transit (TLS/SSL) and at rest
• Row-level security on database access
• Regular security audits
• Access controls and authentication
• Secure payment processing via PCI-compliant providers

10. Direct Marketing

In accordance with Section 69 of POPIA, we will only send you marketing communications if you have given us explicit consent. You can withdraw consent at any time by clicking "unsubscribe" in any marketing email or contacting us directly.

11. Cookies

We use essential cookies to operate our platform and optional analytics cookies to improve our services. You can manage cookie preferences in your browser settings.

12. Children's Information

Our services are not directed at children under 18. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If we become aware that we have collected information from a child, we will delete it promptly.

13. Information Regulator

If you are not satisfied with how we handle your personal information, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator of South Africa:

14. Changes to This Policy

We may update this policy from time to time. Material changes will be communicated via email to active subscribers and posted on our website with an updated effective date.

15. Contact Us