Privacy Policy
1. Introduction
This Privacy Policy explains how The Decor Connection (Pty) Ltd trading as Naturology collects, uses, stores and protects personal information when you visit or use our Website, purchase our products or otherwise interact with us.
We are committed to respecting your privacy and processing your personal information in a lawful, fair and transparent manner in accordance with the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 and other applicable South African law.
By using the Website or providing us with your personal information, you acknowledge that you have read and understood this Privacy Policy.
2. Responsible party and Information Officer
For purposes of South African data protection law, the “responsible party” that determines the purposes and means of processing your personal information is:
The Decor Connection (Pty) Ltd trading as Naturology
Registration number: 2019/556164/07
Address: 33 Carisbrook Street, Sydenham, Johannesburg, 2192, South Africa
Telephone: 011 640 7185
Email for privacy enquiries: marnie@naturology.co.za
Information Officer: Marnie Guinsberg
The Information Officer is responsible for encouraging and ensuring our compliance with applicable data protection laws and for dealing with requests made to us in terms of those laws.
3. Personal information we collect
We may collect and process the following categories of personal information, depending on how you interact with us:
Identification and contact details, such as your name, surname, email address, telephone number, delivery address and billing address
Account details, such as your username, password, order history and preferences if you create an online account
Order and transaction information, such as products purchased, order values, dates of purchase, payment references and delivery details
Communication data, such as your queries, feedback, complaints, reviews and any correspondence with us
Technical and usage data, such as your internet protocol address, browser type, device identifiers, pages visited, time spent on the Website and referral sources, collected via cookies and similar technologies
Marketing preferences, such as whether you wish to receive newsletters, product updates and promotions
Any other information you voluntarily provide to us.
We do not intentionally collect special (sensitive) personal information such as health information through the Website, other than where you voluntarily disclose it in a query or complaint. If you choose to share such information, you do so voluntarily and we will handle it with additional care.
4. How we collect personal information
We collect personal information in the following ways:
Directly from you when you create an account, place an order, complete forms, contact us by email, telephone or social media, subscribe to our mailing lists or participate in competitions or surveys
Automatically when you browse the Website, through cookies, log files and similar technologies
From third party service providers, such as payment gateways or couriers, who provide us with information about your transactions or deliveries
From publicly available sources where it is lawful and appropriate to do so.
5. Purposes and legal bases for processing
We process your personal information for the following purposes and on the following lawful bases:
To provide you with our products and services, including processing and fulfilling your orders, delivering products, handling payments, returns and customer service. This is necessary to perform a contract with you or to take steps at your request before entering into a contract.
To manage your online account, order history and preferences. This is necessary to perform a contract and for our legitimate interests in managing customer relationships.
To communicate with you about your orders, queries, complaints or feedback. This is necessary to perform a contract and for our legitimate interests in providing good customer service.
To send you marketing communications about our products, services, promotions and news, where you have consented or where we are otherwise lawfully permitted to do so. This is based on your consent or our legitimate interests in promoting our business, subject to your right to opt out at any time.
To improve and optimise the Website, products and services, including through analytics and usage statistics. This is for our legitimate interests in understanding and developing our business.
To prevent and detect fraud, misuse of the Website or violations of our Terms and Conditions. This is for our legitimate interests and to comply with legal obligations.
To comply with applicable law, including tax, accounting and consumer protection obligations, and to respond to lawful requests from authorities. This is necessary to comply with legal obligations.
For any other purpose that you consent to or that is compatible with the original purpose for which the data was collected.
Where we rely on your consent, you may withdraw it at any time, but this will not affect the lawfulness of processing that took place before withdrawal.
6. Disclosure and sharing of personal information
We will not sell your personal information. We may share your personal information with:
Our employees and authorised representatives who need it to perform their duties and who are bound by confidentiality obligations
Third party service providers who process personal information on our behalf in order to provide services such as website hosting, payment processing, courier and delivery services, email and SMS communication, analytics, marketing or data storage
Professional advisers, such as auditors, lawyers and consultants, where necessary for legitimate business purposes and subject to confidentiality obligations
Law enforcement, regulators, courts or other authorities where we are required or permitted by law to do so, or where we reasonably believe that disclosure is necessary to protect our rights, your safety or the safety of others
Any third party that acquires or merges with our business, in which case we will take reasonable steps to ensure that they honour this Privacy Policy.
Where third parties process personal information on our behalf, we will ensure that appropriate written agreements are in place requiring them to process the information only in accordance with our instructions and to implement appropriate security measures.
7. Cross‑border transfers
Some of our service providers or their servers may be located outside the Republic of South Africa. As a result, your personal information may be transferred to and processed in countries that may have different data protection laws.
Where we transfer personal information across borders, we will do so in accordance with applicable law, for example by ensuring that:
the recipient is subject to a law, binding code of conduct or binding agreement that provides an adequate level of protection, or
you have consented to the transfer, or
the transfer is otherwise permitted by law.
8. Data retention
We will keep your personal information for as long as reasonably necessary to fulfil the purposes for which it was collected, including for purposes of satisfying any legal, accounting or reporting requirements.
Retention periods may vary depending on the type of information and the context of processing, but in general:
order and transaction records are kept for as long as required by tax and accounting laws
account information is kept for as long as your account is active and for a reasonable period thereafter, unless you request deletion and we are not legally required to retain it
marketing data is kept until you opt out or withdraw consent, after which we will stop sending marketing communications but may retain limited information to record your preference.
9. Security
We take reasonable and appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal information against loss, misuse, unauthorised access, alteration, destruction or disclosure.
These measures may include access controls, encryption where appropriate, secure servers, firewalls, regular backups and staff training on data protection.
However, no system is completely secure. Transmission of information over the internet is at your own risk and we cannot guarantee absolute security.
10. Your rights
Subject to certain limitations, you have the following rights in relation to your personal information:
The right to be informed that your personal information is being collected and how it will be used
The right to request access to personal information that we hold about you
The right to request the correction, update or deletion of your personal information where it is inaccurate, outdated, irrelevant, excessive or incomplete
The right to object, on reasonable grounds, to our processing of your personal information where the law allows such objection
The right to object to or opt out of direct marketing communications at any time
The right to withdraw consent where processing is based on consent
The right to lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator if you believe we are not complying with applicable data protection law.
To exercise any of these rights, please contact us using the details in the Contact section below. We may require you to provide proof of identity and sufficient detail to locate the personal information in question.
11. Cookies and similar technologies
The Website uses cookies and similar technologies to:
enable basic site functionality
remember your preferences
improve performance and user experience
analyse Website traffic and usage patterns
support marketing and advertising activities.
You can manage your cookie preferences through your browser settings. If you disable cookies, some features of the Website may not function properly.
12. Direct marketing
We may send you direct marketing communications by email, SMS or other electronic means regarding our products, services and promotions:
where you have given us your express consent, or
where you have previously purchased products from us and we are permitted by law to market similar products to you, subject to your right to opt out.
You can opt out of marketing communications at any time by using the unsubscribe option in our messages or by contacting us directly.
13. Third party sites
The Website may contain references to third party websites or services that are not controlled by us. This Privacy Policy does not apply to those third parties and we are not responsible for their privacy practices. You should review the privacy policies of any third party websites you visit.
14. Children
Our Website and products are not directed at children and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 18 without appropriate consent. If you believe we have collected personal information about a child inappropriately, please contact us so that we can investigate and delete the information where appropriate.
15. Changes to this Privacy Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, technology or legal requirements. The latest version will be made available on the Website with an updated “Last updated” date.
If the changes are material, we may also notify you by email or through a notice on the Website where appropriate.
16. Contact and complaints
If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or wish to exercise your data protection rights, please contact:
The Decor Connection (Pty) Ltd trading as Naturology
Information Officer: Marnie Guinsberg
Address: 33 Carisbrook Street, Sydenham, Johannesburg, 2192, South Africa
Telephone: 011 640 7185
Email: marnie@naturology.co.za
You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator established in terms of South African law.