Privacy Policy

1. Introduction

Your information is received and controlled by us in accordance with this Privacy Policy when you browse the store, create an account, place an order, or otherwise contact us. We process Personal Information in accordance with the Protection of Personal Information Act, 2013 (Act 4 of 2013) (POPIA).

If you do not accept the terms of this Privacy Policy, please do not browse, register on, or order from this store. If you choose not to provide information that we need in order to sell and deliver goods to you (a delivery address, for example), we will not be able to complete your order.

We may change this Privacy Policy from time to time and you should check it for updates. By continuing to use the store after we publish a change, you agree to that change.

2. Who we are

The responsible party for the purposes of POPIA is:

Trading name

Techcel Shop

Registration number

2026 / 639281 / 07

VAT number

9132874299

Address

21 Benvista Office Park
Jansen Park, Boksburg

Email

support@techcelshop.co.za

Telephone

+27 10 013 4858

Website

techcelshop.co.za

Questions about this policy, or any request relating to your Personal Information, may be sent to support@techcelshop.co.za.

3. Definitions

Personal Information means information that identifies you, or that could be used to identify you when combined with other information, but excludes anonymous or permanently de-identified information and aggregated statistics that cannot be traced back to you.

Process means any operation concerning Personal Information, including its collection, receipt, recording, organisation, storage, updating, retrieval, use, distribution and erasure, and Processing has a corresponding meaning.

Store means the Techcel Shop website at techcelshop.co.za and the services we provide through it, including customer accounts, checkout, payment, delivery and order support.

4. Collecting your personal information

We collect your Personal Information:

• when you create an account: your name, surname, email address and the password you choose, which we store only as a secure one-way hash and never in a readable form;
• when you sign in with Google: Google tells us your name, your email address, whether Google has confirmed that address, and an identifier for your Google account, which is how we recognise you next time. We never receive your Google password, and we do not ask Google for anything else, such as your contacts, calendar or files. You can stop it at any time in your Google account's security settings;
• when you place an order: your delivery address, contact telephone number, the items you buy, and the order and payment records created as a result;
• when you pay: your card or banking details are entered on our payment provider's secure page and are processed by them. We never see, receive or store your full card number, CVV or banking credentials;
• when you browse: the pages and products you view, what you search for and how you arrived at the store, counted as described in clause 7; and, in our web server's logs, technical data such as your IP address and browser;
• when you contact us: the content of your emails or messages to our support team, so that we can help you and keep a record of what was agreed.

5. Using your personal information

We use your Personal Information to:

• process, fulfil and deliver your orders, and keep you informed about them;
• take payment and, where applicable, process a refund;
• maintain your account, order history and saved addresses;
• provide customer support and handle returns, warranty claims and complaints;
• detect and prevent fraud, and secure the store and your account;
• meet our obligations under tax, consumer protection and other applicable laws;
• improve our catalogue, pricing and the way the store works.

We send order-related messages (order confirmation, payment received, dispatch and cancellation notices) because they are necessary to perform our contract with you. These are not marketing and cannot be unsubscribed from while an order is in progress.

6. Sharing your personal information

We do not sell your Personal Information. We share it only where it is necessary to complete your order or to run the store, and only with parties who are required to protect it:

• our payment provider, to take payment securely and to process refunds and payment disputes;
• our delivery partners and couriers, who receive your name, delivery address and contact number so that they can deliver your parcel and contact you about it;
• our email provider, to deliver the transactional emails described above;
• our hosting and infrastructure providers, who store the store's data on our behalf;
• advisors, auditors and authorities, where we are required to disclose information by law or to establish, exercise or defend a legal claim.

7. Cookies and analytics

We use cookies and similar technologies that are necessary for the store to work: keeping you signed in, remembering the contents of your cart, and securing checkout. These cannot be switched off without breaking the store.

The search box's list of your last few searches is kept only in your own browser so it can offer them again; that list is never sent to us, and you can remove any of it, or clear it, from the search box itself.

We count visits to the store ourselves, on our own server, and share them with no one: the pages and products opened, searches and how many products they found, and where a visit came from (for example a Google search, an advert, or a link shared on WhatsApp, as shown by the address of the page that linked to us and any campaign tags on the link). If you have not chosen "Accept all", your visit is counted anonymously: no cookie is set, nothing is stored in your browser, and nothing is recorded that identifies you or your device. If you choose "Accept all", your browser keeps a random identifier for this store so that we can recognise a returning visit and see how you found us, and while you are signed in those visits are linked to your account. We never record your IP address with any of this, and we delete it after 13 months. You can change your choice at any time with "Cookie settings" at the foot of every page; choosing "Only what is needed" there removes the identifier. Clearing this site's data in your browser removes it too, and the cookie bar asks you again.

If you have chosen "Accept all", two more things are kept with that identifier. When you place an order or create an account, we note with it how you first found the store and how you came to it before that order or sign-up (for example "Google search" or a campaign's name), worked out from the visits above. And while you shop without signing in, a copy of your cart (the products and quantities, nothing else) is kept so that we can see what is left in carts; it is deleted when you sign in, empty the cart or choose "Only what is needed" in Cookie settings, and otherwise after 30 days untouched (which is also what happens to a copy left behind when you clear this site's data, since nothing then connects it to you). If you have not chosen "Accept all", none of this is recorded.

Where we use an advertising technology to measure our advertising (Google's tag), it runs only if you choose "Accept all", and Google may then set its own cookies and receive information about your visit. You can control cookies through your browser settings, though blocking necessary cookies will prevent you from signing in or checking out.

8. Storing and securing your personal information

Your Personal Information is stored in a PostgreSQL database that we control. Passwords are stored only as one-way hashes. Access to customer data is restricted to the store owner and to staff whose role grants them that access, and administrative actions are recorded in an audit log.

No method of transmission or storage is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security. If a security compromise affects your Personal Information, we will notify you at the email address on your account and report it as required under POPIA.

We keep your Personal Information for as long as your account is open and thereafter for as long as we are required to keep records of the transaction, including invoices and payment records, which must be retained for tax and audit purposes.

9. Your rights

Under POPIA you have the right to:

• ask what Personal Information we hold about you, and request a copy of it;
• ask us to correct information that is inaccurate, irrelevant, misleading or out of date;
• ask us to delete information we no longer have a lawful reason to keep;
• object to our processing of your Personal Information in certain circumstances;
• withdraw your consent to marketing at any time, without affecting your orders;
• complain to the Information Regulator.

Most of your information can be viewed and corrected yourself under your account. For anything else, contact us at support@techcelshop.co.za.

Deleting your account does not delete records we are legally required to keep, such as invoices and payment records for completed orders, and does not remove information from backups until those backups age off our systems in the ordinary course.

The Information Regulator (South Africa) can be contacted at inforegulator.org.za.

10. How to contact us

If you have privacy concerns, would like to access the Personal Information we hold about you, or wish to exercise any of the rights above, contact us at support@techcelshop.co.za or +27 10 013 4858.