Our Privacy Policy:

We take all reasonable steps to protect the personal information of users. For the purpose of this clause, “personal information” shall be defined as detailed in the Promotion of Access to Information Act 2 of 2000 (PAIA).

This Privacy Policy describes how we handle the information we collect and receive from you. By using this website, you agree and signify your acceptance of the Privacy Policy.

1. Collection of personal data

When you purchase something from our store, as part of the buying and selling process, we collect the personal information you give us such as your name, address, email address, telephone number and credit card information.

1.1 Collection of anonymous data

When you browse our store, we also automatically receive your computer’s internet protocol (IP) address in order to provide us with information that helps us learn about your browser and operating System. Any information we collect from you may be used in one of the following ways:

  • To personalize your experience and to respond to your individual needs.
  • To improve our website based on the information and feedback we receive from you.
  • To improve customer service requests and support needs.
  • To process transactions and to deliver the purchased product as requested.
  • Email marketing (if applicable): With your permission, we may send you emails about our store, new products and other updates.

2. Consent

By using the SAVetshops website you consent to our Terms and Conditions and also to our Privacy Policy contained herein.

3. Disclosure

We may disclose your personal information if we are required by law to do so or if you violate our Terms of Service.

We will not disclose any information regarding a user nor will we, sell, trade or otherwise transfer your personally identified information to any third parties unless your prior written approval is obtained. This does not include the third parties who assist us with our website, conducting our business, servicing you – all these parties agree in writing to keep this information confidential.

We share your personal information with:

  • Other divisions or companies within the group of companies to which we belong so as to provide joint content and services like registration for transactions and customer support, to help detect and prevent potentially illegal acts and violations of our policies, and to guide decisions about our products, services, and communications;
  • An affiliate, in which case we will seek to require the affiliates to honour this privacy policy;
  • Credit bureaus to report account information, as permitted by law;
  • Other third parties who provide us with relevant services where appropriate (for example our couriers).

We may disclose personal information if required by a subpoena or court of law; to comply with any law; to protect the safety of any individual or the general public; and to prevent violation of our customer relationship terms.

We may disclose aggregate statistics (information about the customer population in general terms) about the personal information to advertisers or business partners.

4. Retention

We will only retain your personal information for as long as it is necessary to fulfill the purposes explicitly set out in this policy. During the period of retention, we will continue to abide by our non-disclosure obligations and will not share or sell your personal information.

We may retain your personal information in physical or electronic records at our discretion.

5. Data Storage

Our store is hosted by Xneelo. They provide us with the online e-commerce platform that allows us to sell our products and services to you. Your data is stored through’s data storage, databases and the general application. Xneelo stores your data on a secure server behind a firewall.

5.1 Payment

Customer details are separate from card details. Customer details will be stored by SAVetshops separately from card details which are entered by the client on Payfast secure site. For more detail on Payfast refer to www.payfast.co.za. For more insight, you may also want to read Payfast’s End-user agreement (https://www.payfast.co.za/end-user-agreement) or Privacy Statement (https://www.payfast.co.za/privacy-policy).

6. Third-Party Services

In general, the third-party providers used by us will only collect, use and disclose your information to the extent necessary to allow them to perform the services they provide to us.

However, certain third-party service providers, such as payment gateways and other payment transaction processors, have their own privacy policies in respect of the information we are required to provide to them for your purchase-related transactions.

For these providers, we recommend that you read their privacy policies so you can understand the manner in which your personal information will be handled by these providers. We accept no responsibility for the privacy practices of third party sites.

In particular, remember that certain providers may be located in or have facilities that are located in a different jurisdiction than either you or us. So if you elect to proceed with a transaction that involves the services of a third-party service provider, then your information may become subject to the laws of the jurisdiction(s) in which that service provider or its facilities are located.

Once you leave our store’s website or are redirected to a third-party website or application, you are no longer governed by this Privacy Policy or our website’s Terms of Service.

6.1 Links

When you click on links on our store, they may direct you away from our site. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of other sites and encourage you to read their privacy statements.

7. Security

To protect your personal information, we take reasonable measures and follow industry best practices to make sure it is not inappropriately lost, misused, accessed, disclosed, altered or destroyed.

If you provide us with your card information, the information is encrypted using secure socket layer technology (SSL) and stored with a AES-256 encryption. Although no method of transmission over the Internet or electronic storage is 100% secure, we follow all PCI-DSS requirements and implement additional generally accepted industry standards.

While reasonable measures are taken to ensure the security and integrity of information submitted to this site, we cannot under any circumstances be held liable for any loss or other damage sustained by a user or users as a result of intentional or accidental release of information by an employee of the website owner or any third party.

8. Cookies

The website utilises cookies. A cookie is a small file that is placed on the user’s hard drive in order to keep a record of a user’s interaction with the website. Cookies from this website allow the website owner to tailor advertising and other services to your displayed preferences. Cookies by themselves cannot be used to personally identify users but will be used to compile anonymised statistics relating to use of services offered or to provide us with feedback on the performance of the website.

9. Age of Consent

By using this site, you warrant that you are 18 (eighteen) years of age or older and of full legal capacity. If you are under the age of 18 (eighteen) or if you are not legally permitted to enter into a binding agreement, then you may use this site only with the involvement and supervision of your parent or legal guardian. If your parent or legal guardian supervises you and gives his/her consent, then such person agrees to be bound to these Terms and Conditions and to be liable and responsible for you and all your obligations under these Terms and Conditions.

We regard the safety and privacy of children using this website extremely seriously however, it remains the ultimate responsibility of the parents and other care-givers of children to ensure that they are not exposed to inappropriate content or behavior.

10. Communications from us

Where you have indicated that you would like to receive newsletter(s) from us, we may send email communications to you concerning our Pet Products and/or our Pet Services.

You can also unsubscribe from receiving electronic marketing messages by following the “unsubscribe” instructions included in our communication (and you may change your preferences and cease receiving direct marketing from us through your account settings). We will not change your preferences without their consent.

11. Changes to this Privacy Policy

We reserve the right to modify this privacy policy at any time, so please review it frequently. Changes and clarifications will take effect immediately upon their posting on the website. If we make material changes to this policy, we will notify you here that it has been updated, so that you are aware of what information we collect, how we use it, and under what circumstances, if any, we use and/or disclose it. If our store is acquired or merges with another company, your information may be transferred to the new owners so that we may continue to sell products to you.

 

Our Security Policy:

1. Introduction

There is no such thing as “perfect security”. We have to balance between increased levels of security and the convenience to you in transacting with us.

2. Our security responsibilities

We will ensure that:

  • We host our website in a secure server environment that uses a firewall and other advanced security measures to prevent interference or access from outside intruders.
  • The information you give to us that is stored on or passes through our systems is protected. Encryption is used to protect the personal information you give us. This includes using your credit card on our website (see below).
  • The links from our systems to systems under the control of third parties (for example our payment gateway) are secure.
  • We perform regular backups of data to ensure it can be recovered in the case of a disaster.
  • We log all access to our system. If any unauthorised behaviour should occur, this will assist us in identifying and resolving the issue.
  • We take reasonable steps to secure your payment information and use a payment system that is sufficiently secure with reference to accepted technological standards at the time of the transaction and the type of the transaction concerned.

3. Our security disclaimers

Please note the following:

  • The third parties whose systems we link to are responsible for the security of information while it is collected by, stored on, or passing through the systems under their control.
  • We will use all reasonable endeavours to ensure that our website and your information is not compromised. However, we cannot guarantee that no harmful code will enter our website (for example viruses, bugs, trojan horses, spyware or adware). You should be aware of the risks associated with using websites (addressed below).
  • If you experience a problem or loss that is caused by information you provided to us, your computer being compromised in some way or by something beyond our control, we cannot take responsibility for causing the problem. We will, however, do our best to help you if we can.

4. Your security responsibilities

4.1 Recommended steps

You should:

  • Install and activate appropriate security software on your computer. This should include anti-virus, anti-spyware and anti-spam software.
  • Run regular scans of your computer for viruses.
  • Update your security software to ensure you are always running the current version.

4.2 Additional steps

Other steps you should take to help protect your computer include:

  • Check your Internet browser’s security settings for ways to make your browsing more secure.
  • Make sure that you have entered secure pages when filling in your credit card details. Look for a small yellow lock commonly seen at the bottom right of your browser and http changes to https on the address bar.
  • Sign out after you have transacted electronically.

5. Credit card information

5.1 Safe and secure

Transacting with us electronically (including transacting and using your credit card on our website) is safe and secure. It is much the same as transacting in person face-to-face.

5.2 Payment processing

We do not get involved in any credit card transactions directly. All credit card transactions are handled or acquired for us via our payment gateway who are the approved payment gateway for our bankers. No credit card details are stored on our website. Our payment gateway uses the strictest form of encryption, namely Secure Socket Layer 3 (SSL3). You may go to their website to view their security certificate and security policy.

5.3 Payment verification

A Certificate Authority (or CA) checks, verifies, and certifies our service provider’s company registration documents and domains to ensure that nobody can impersonate them to obtain your payment Information.

5.4 Secure URL

Our entire site is secured using an SSL certificate.  The padlock in the address bar of the site is indicative of a secure internet connection.

6. Phishing

6.1 Secure URL

You must only log in to your account from a page that contains our ordinary domain name in the URL.

6.2 No confirmation through links

We will never ask you to confirm your username and password or other sensitive information by clicking on any links in an email other than the email link we send you at registration to verify your email address. Be aware of “phishing” attacks where criminals attempt to obtain your sensitive information by sending you an email masquerading as an email from us, asking you to access your account or verify information via links in the email, or diverting you to a fake version of our website. Please report any suspected phishing attacks to us immediately to prevent any harm to you or other users.

7. Contact us

Please report any suspicious or unauthorised activity relating to your use of our website to us directly, because it will help make our website as secure as we can.

8. Our right to take action

We reserve the right to take whatever action we may deem necessary at any time to preserve the security and reliable operation of our system. You undertake not do (or permit anything to be done) that may compromise the system under our control.

SAVetshops may change this policy from time to time by updating this page. You should check this page regularly to ensure that you are happy with any changes. This policy is effective from 25 November 2020.

 

How to contact SAVetshops:

If you have any questions about our Terms & Conditions, Privacy Policy, Security Policy, Delivery or Returns Policy please contact us using the methods below:

Email us: onlineorders@savetshops.co.za

 

POPIA Privacy Statement

Reasons for Statement

In terms of your relationship with you, our customer, supplier, or employer, personal information will be collected and processed.  As a responsible party under the POPI Act, SAVetshops (Pty) Ltd, acknowledges the compliance aspects of the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA) and respects the privacy and confidentiality of your personal information.

Conditions
SAVetshops (Pty) Ltd as a responsible party we will process your data in line with the conditions as stipulated in POPI to:

  • Comply with the provisions of POPIA and only process your information as per the respective conditions.
  • Accept responsibility and accountability to manage and protect your Personal Information in our business relationship.
  • Only obtain information from yourself for transactions and/or subsequent agreements as indicate in our Privacy Policy.
  • Where applicable, obtain the necessary consent, which can be withdrawn.
  • Process your Personal Information for the purpose required in terms of our business relationship.
  • Not allow unauthorised access or sharing of your information. Should there be a requirement for further processing of your information, you will be informed accordingly.
  • Only store personal information for as long as necessary and required by law.
  • Take care to ensure that your Personal Information is complete, accurate, not misleading, and up to date.
  • Be open and transparent on the Personal information required and what is used for.
  • Undertake to safeguard and protect your Personal Information whilst in our possession.
  • Ensure participation from yourself should you enquire about the Personal Information in our possession.

Processing
In providing products and services to you, Personal Information forms the basis of the transaction.  In order to fulfill our duties, your data will be shared with other parties to process and is only done so in line with contractual relationships and as required by the relevant laws, and as outlines in our Privacy Policy.

In the processing of share your personal information, SAVetshops (Pty) Ltd will not only act in line with POPIA, but also other laws that relate to your personal information, including the contractual obligation between the respective parties.

POPIA also allows you to voice concerns or complaints.  You can do this with the Information Officer, and if not satisfied with the outcome, to the Information Regulator. The details are:

The Information Officer: Ronelle Hagemann
SAVetshops (Pty) Ltd
Telephone Number: +27 437486700
Email: ronelle@savetshops.co.za

The Information Regulator
Website: https://www.justice.gov.za/inforeg/
Telephone number: 012 406 4818
Email: inforeg@justice.gov.za

Privacy Policy was updated 6 July 2021.