This Privacy Policy describes how Solenco Appliances (“we”, “us”, the responsible party) collects, uses, and shares your personal information when you visit or make a purchase from www.solencostore.com (the “Site”), in accordance with the Protection of Personal Information Act, 2013 (“POPIA”).
Personal information we collect
When you visit the Site, we automatically collect certain information about your device, including your web browser, IP address, time zone, and some of the cookies installed on your device. As you browse, we collect information about the pages or products you view, the websites or search terms that referred you, and how you interact with the Site. We refer to this as “Device Information”, collected using:
- Cookies — data files placed on your device, often with an anonymous unique identifier. To learn more or disable cookies, visit allaboutcookies.org.
- Log files — track actions on the Site (IP address, browser type, ISP, referring/exit pages, date/time stamps).
- Web beacons, tags, and pixels — electronic files that record how you browse the Site.
When you make or attempt a purchase, we collect your name, billing address, shipping address, payment information (including card details), email address, and phone number. We refer to this as “Order Information”.
If you use our live chat, we collect the information described in “Live chat & visitor assistance” below.
“Personal Information” in this policy means Device Information, Order Information, and live-chat information together.
How we use your personal information & our lawful basis
Under POPIA we process your Personal Information on the following bases:
- To fulfil your orders — process payments, arrange shipping, and provide invoices/confirmations. Basis: necessary to perform our contract with you.
- To communicate with you and provide customer support, including via live chat. Basis: performance of our contract / our legitimate interests.
- To screen orders for fraud and risk (in particular your IP address). Basis: our legitimate interests; compliance with law.
- To improve and optimise the Site and assess our marketing (analytics on how customers browse). Basis: our legitimate interests; your consent where required.
- To send marketing where you have asked us to. Basis: your consent.
Live chat & visitor assistance
When live chat is available, our customer-service team can see, in real time, the pages you are viewing, the website you arrived from, how long you have been browsing, whether you have visited before, and your approximate location (city and country, estimated from your IP address). We use this solely to offer you relevant help while you shop.
We process this information in our legitimate interest in providing responsive customer support. It is linked only to a temporary, random session identifier (not your name or email unless you share them in a chat), is automatically deleted approximately 30 minutes after you leave the Site, and is not used for marketing, profiling, or any other purpose. Live-chat transcripts are retained to help us assist you and improve our service.
Sharing your personal information
We share Personal Information with operators (service providers) who help us operate, as described above:
- Shopify powers our online store — see Shopify’s Privacy Policy.
- Google Analytics helps us understand Site usage — see Google’s Privacy Policy; opt out via the Google Analytics opt-out.
- Google Firebase / Google Cloud hosts our live-chat and visitor-assistance infrastructure (messages and live-visitor records).
- Solenco group companies where needed to provide service and support.
We may also disclose your Personal Information to comply with applicable laws and regulations, to respond to a lawful request (such as a subpoena or warrant), or to protect our rights.
Cross-border transfers of personal information
Some of our operators (including Shopify and Google) and group companies are located outside South Africa, including in the United States. Where we transfer Personal Information across borders, we do so in accordance with section 72 of POPIA — for example, where the recipient is subject to laws or binding agreements that provide an adequate level of protection, or where the transfer is necessary to perform our contract with you.
Behavioural advertising
We may use your Personal Information to provide you with targeted advertisements or marketing we believe may interest you. To learn how targeted advertising works, see the Network Advertising Initiative’s educational page. You can opt out of some services via the Digital Advertising Alliance portal.
Do not track
Please note that we do not alter our Site’s data collection and use practices when we see a Do Not Track signal from your browser.
Data retention
We keep your Order Information for our records unless and until you ask us to delete it, subject to legal retention requirements. Live-visitor records are deleted automatically about 30 minutes after you leave the Site. Live-chat transcripts are retained for a reasonable period to support and improve our service.
Your rights
Under POPIA you have the right to be told what Personal Information we hold about you and to request access to it; to request that we correct or delete Personal Information that is inaccurate, irrelevant, excessive, out of date, incomplete, misleading, or obtained unlawfully; to object to the processing of your Personal Information; and to withdraw consent where we rely on it. To exercise these rights, contact us using the details below.
You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator (South Africa) if you believe we have processed your information unlawfully: inforegulator.org.za, e-mail POPIAComplaints@inforegulator.org.za.
Changes
We may update this privacy policy from time to time to reflect changes to our practices or for operational, legal, or regulatory reasons.
Contact us
For more information about our privacy practices, to ask a question, or to make a complaint, email us at hello@solencostore.com or write to us at:
Solenco South Africa CC
Unit 4 Fairview Industrial Park
Leadwood Crescent
Fairview
Port Elizabeth
Eastern Cape, 6070
South Africa