1. Popia compliance – the POPIA Act
The POPIA Act is enforceable from 1 July 2021, from which time information gathering and sharing must comply with the Act.
This Privacy Policy communicates how we will interact with you according to the Act and what you need to do.

2. Who we are & how to contact us
Our website address is: https://www.persiancarpetsonline.co.za. Please contact us via the contact details listed on the contact page if you:
• have any queries about this notice;
• need further information about our privacy practices;
• wish to withdraw consent;
• exercise preferences or access or correct your personal information

3. Definition of personal information
According to the act ‘‘personal information’’ means information relating to an identifiable, living, natural person, and where it is applicable, an identifiable, existing juristic person. Further to the POPI Act, we also regard the following as personal information:
• Names;
• Cell numbers;
• Physical addresses including residential, postal and delivery addresses;
• Email addresses;
• Pictures;
• Information about purchases.

4. WHY do we collect information:
We collect and process your personal information for the following purposes:
• for marketing and re-marketing purposes – to advise you of products available, competitions, marketing events and special sales related to our business;
• to contact you for the purposes of understanding your requirements further;
• for invoicing purposes;
• for delivery purposes;

5. HOW do we collect information:
We collect details including your name, contact details, and any additional information that may be relevant to assisting you in purchasing a carpet.
We collect information as follows:
• From you personally verbally or via electronic communication method electronically where you provide us with your personal details. Where possible, we will inform you what information you are required to provide to us.
• From website and social media usage information may be collected using “cookies” which allows us to collect standard internet visitor usage information.

6. TO WHAT USE do we put your information
We use your personal information only for the purposes for which it was collected and agreed with you.
In addition, where necessary your information:
1. may be retained for legal or research purposes e.g. to gather contact information;
2. to ensure that our records are kept accurate and up to date;
3. to confirm and verify your identity or to verify that you are an authorised user for security purposes;
4. to comply with the legal obligations to which we are subject;
5. to conduct market or customer satisfaction research or for statistical analysis;
6. for audit and record-keeping purposes;
7. in connection with legal proceedings.

7. Disclosure of information
We disclose your personal information to the following third parties:
• To our service providers who are involved in the delivery of products or services to you, which service providers also comply with the privacy requirements as required by the protection of personal information act.
• To any agency to which we have a duty or a right to disclose in terms of law or industry codes;
• To any appropriate agency if we are pursuing the protection of our rights.
We confirm that, where possible, you will be informed of the same.

8. Information sharing
We rely on American third-party service providers for the following communication services:
1. electronic message delivery e.g. Whatsapp owned by Meta
2. data analytics e.g. Meta and Google
3. Social media and search engine marketing e.g. Google
This may mean that your information will be shared with these parties, most of whom are not bound South African law but are bound by their own Privacy Policies to which you would have agreed upon your sign-up with those service providers.
If you have provided details that allow for communication on those channels, please ensure that you understand how those service providers will use your data, including your search history and purchases.
When share we contract with third parties in South Africa, we ensure that they have policies in place to ensure that the management of your personal information is communicated by those service providers.

9. Information security
We are legally obliged to provide adequate protection for the personal information we hold and to stop ensure that we have taken steps to stop unauthorized access and use of personal information.
We continue to review our security controls and related processes to ensure that your personal information remains secure. Our security policies and procedures cover: physical security; computer and network security; access to personal information; secure communications; retention and disposal of information; acceptable usage of personal information; governance and regulatory issues; monitoring access and usage of private information; investigating and reacting to security incidents.
We will ensure that anyone with whom we share your personal information agrees to treat your information with the same level of protection as we are obliged to.

10. Your rights to access your information
You have the right to request a copy of the personal information we hold about you. To do this, simply contact us at the cell number, email address or address provided and specify what information you require.
In order to request this information, you will be required to provide a copy of your identity document and answer security questions to confirm your identity before providing details of your personal information.

11. Correction of your information
You have the right to ask us to update, correct or delete your personal information (in terms of the relevant legislation).
In order to request this information, you will be required to provide a copy of your identity document and answer security questions to confirm your identity before providing details of your personal information.

12. Comments and other media on Social Media Platforms
Comments left on a public social media platform are not regarded as personal information.
If you upload images to any social media site, you should avoid uploading images with embedded location data (exif gps) included. Visitors to the website can download and extract any location data from images on the website.

13. Embedded content from other websites
Articles on this site may include embedded content (e.g. Videos, images, articles, etc.). Embedded content from other websites behaves in the exact same way as if the visitor has visited the other website.
These websites may collect data about you, use cookies, embed additional third-party tracking, and monitor your interaction with that embedded content, including tracking your interaction with the embedded content if you have an account and are logged in to that website.

14. How long we retain your data
Data is retained indefinitely.