Privacy Policy

Zafari Africa ("Zafari Africa", "we", "us", or "our") respects your privacy and is committed to protecting your personal information.

1.1 Who We Are

For the purposes of POPIA, the responsible party is Adam Zimmerman and Daniel Zimmerman, trading in partnership as Zafari Africa, of 16 Summerway, Fairmount, Johannesburg, South Africa.

Zafari Africa is not a registered company and therefore has no company registration number. The partners are jointly responsible for the processing of personal information described in this Privacy Policy.

Our Information Officer is Adam Zimmerman, who may be contacted at info@zafariafrica.co.za or 083 548 8469. The Information Officer is responsible for our compliance with POPIA and for handling requests made to us under POPIA and the Promotion of Access to Information Act 2 of 2000 ("PAIA").

1.2 Purpose of this Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store, disclose, and protect your personal information when you visit our Website, purchase our products, book our workshops, download our digital products, subscribe to our communications, or otherwise interact with us.

We process personal information in accordance with the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 ("POPIA"), together with any other applicable South African laws governing privacy and electronic communications.

By using our Website or providing us with your personal information, you acknowledge that you have read and understood this Privacy Policy and agree to the collection, processing, storage, and disclosure of your personal information as described herein, subject to your rights under applicable law.

Where your consent is required by law, we will request it before collecting or processing your personal information. Where processing is necessary to perform a contract, comply with a legal obligation, or pursue our legitimate business interests, we may process your personal information on those grounds without requiring additional consent, provided such processing is lawful and fair.

If you do not agree with this Privacy Policy, you should refrain from using our Website or providing personal information to us. However, please note that certain products, services, or Website features may not be available unless we are able to process the information necessary to provide them.

This Privacy Policy should be read together with our Terms & Conditions, Cookie Policy, and any other policies published on our Website from time to time.

The personal information we collect depends on how you interact with Zafari Africa, the products or services you purchase, and the features of the Website that you use. We collect only the personal information that is reasonably necessary for legitimate business purposes and in accordance with applicable law.

The categories of personal information we may collect include:

2.1 Identity Information

We may collect information used to identify you, including:

• Full name
• Date of birth, where required
• Company or organisation name (where applicable)
• Any other identifying information you voluntarily provide to us

2.2 Contact Information

We may collect your contact details, including:

• Email address
• Telephone or mobile number
• Billing address
• Delivery address
• Any other contact information you choose to provide

2.3 Account and Order Information

When you purchase products, book workshops, or interact with our Website, we may collect information relating to your transactions, including:

• Products or services purchased
• Workshop bookings
• Digital product purchases
• Order history
• Invoice information
• Delivery instructions
• Customer support enquiries
• Communications relating to your purchases or bookings

2.4 Payment Information

Payments are processed securely through trusted third-party payment providers.

We do not store your full debit card or credit card numbers on our systems.

Depending on the payment method used, we may receive limited payment-related information such as:

• Payment confirmation
• Payment reference numbers
• Payment status
• Limited billing information necessary to process your order

2.5 Technical Information

When you visit our Website, certain technical information may be collected automatically, including:

• IP address
• Browser type and version
• Operating system
• Device information
• Date and time of access
• Pages viewed
• Website navigation information
• Referral sources
• Other technical information generated through normal use of the Website

2.6 Marketing and Communication Preferences

We may collect information relating to your communication preferences, including whether you choose to:

• Subscribe to newsletters
• Receive marketing communications
• Participate in promotions or competitions
• Receive workshop updates
• Opt out of marketing communications

2.7 Information You Voluntarily Provide

You may choose to provide us with additional personal information when you:

• Contact us by email, telephone, or social media
• Complete enquiry or contact forms
• Request quotations
• Submit reviews or testimonials
• Participate in surveys
• Attend workshops or educational events
• Otherwise communicate with us

Any information you voluntarily provide will be processed in accordance with this Privacy Policy.

2.8 Special Personal Information

We do not intentionally collect or process special personal information (as defined in POPIA), such as information relating to your health, religious or philosophical beliefs, political opinions, trade union membership, biometric information, or criminal behaviour, unless:

• you have expressly consented
• the processing is authorised or required by law
• the processing is otherwise permitted under POPIA

Where special personal information is lawfully collected, we will apply additional safeguards appropriate to the nature of the information.

2.9 Information We Do Not Intentionally Collect

Our Website is not intended to collect unnecessary personal information.

We do not knowingly collect personal information that is not reasonably required to provide our products, services, or operate our Website.

If we become aware that personal information has been collected unintentionally or in error, we will take reasonable steps to securely delete or anonymise that information where appropriate and permitted by law.

We collect personal information in a variety of ways, depending on how you interact with Zafari Africa. In all cases, we endeavour to collect personal information directly from you wherever reasonably practicable.

3.1 Information You Provide Directly

We collect personal information that you voluntarily provide when you:

• Place an order through our Website
• Book a workshop or educational service
• Purchase digital products
• Request a quotation
• Contact us by email, telephone, social media, or through our Website
• Complete online forms
• Subscribe to newsletters or marketing communications
• Participate in promotions, competitions, surveys, or other marketing initiatives
• Otherwise communicate or interact with us

3.2 Information Collected Automatically

When you visit or use our Website, certain information may be collected automatically through your browser or device. This may include technical information such as your IP address, browser type, operating system, pages visited, referral sources, and information about how you navigate and interact with our Website.

This information helps us improve the performance, functionality, security, and user experience of our Website.

3.3 Cookies and Similar Technologies

We use cookies and similar technologies (including browser local storage) only where they are necessary to operate the Website, keep it secure, maintain your shopping cart, complete checkout, and keep you signed in where you access an account area.

We do not currently use analytics, advertising or behavioural tracking cookies. If we introduce non-essential cookies in future, we will update our Cookie Policy and, where required by law, obtain your consent before placing them on your device.

Further information regarding our use of cookies is available in our Cookie Policy.

3.4 Third-Party Service Providers

We may receive limited personal information from trusted third-party service providers who assist us in operating our business, including payment processors, courier companies, website hosting and cloud infrastructure providers, and email delivery providers.

We only receive information from these providers where it is necessary to provide our products or services, process transactions, operate our Website, or fulfil our legal obligations. The providers we currently use are listed in section 6.7.

3.5 Publicly Available Information

Where permitted by law, we may collect information that has been made publicly available, such as information published on public websites or social media platforms, where relevant to legitimate business purposes.

We will process such information fairly, lawfully, and in accordance with POPIA.

3.6 Information from Other Sources

From time to time, we may receive personal information from other lawful sources, including business partners, referral partners, or individuals acting on your behalf.

Where appropriate, we will take reasonable steps to ensure that such information has been collected lawfully and that you are informed of our processing where required by law.

We process personal information only where we have a lawful basis for doing so and only for purposes that are legitimate, reasonable, and necessary to operate our business and provide our products and services.

We may use your personal information for one or more of the following purposes:

4.1 To Provide Our Products and Services

We use personal information to:

• Process and fulfil orders
• Supply photographic prints and other products
• Deliver digital products
• Arrange and manage workshop bookings
• Provide educational services
• Respond to enquiries
• Communicate with you regarding your purchases or bookings

4.2 To Process Payments

We use personal information to:

• Process payments
• Verify transactions
• Prevent fraudulent or unauthorised transactions
• Issue invoices and receipts
• Maintain accurate financial records

4.3 To Arrange Delivery

Where physical products are purchased, we use your personal information to:

• Prepare orders for dispatch
• Coordinate deliveries with courier providers
• Provide shipment updates where available
• Resolve delivery-related enquiries or issues

4.4 To Provide Customer Support

We use personal information to:

• Respond to questions and enquiries
• Resolve complaints
• Provide after-sales support
• Process returns, exchanges, or refunds where applicable
• Improve customer service

4.5 To Improve Our Website, Products and Services

We may analyse information regarding how visitors use our Website in order to:

• Improve Website functionality
• Enhance user experience
• Develop new products or services
• Improve educational content and workshops
• Analyse customer preferences and purchasing trends
• Improve the overall quality of our business operations

Where reasonably possible, such analysis may be performed using aggregated or anonymised information.

4.6 Marketing Communications

With your consent where required by law, we may use your personal information to:

• Send newsletters
• Notify you of new products
• Inform you of promotions or special offers
• Provide workshop announcements
• Share educational content
• Inform you of other Zafari Africa products or services that may be of interest

You may opt out of receiving marketing communications at any time by using the unsubscribe link included in our emails or by contacting us directly.

4.7 Website Administration and Security

We use personal information to:

• Maintain the security of our Website
• Detect and prevent fraud
• Prevent unauthorised access
• Investigate suspected misuse of the Website
• Protect our systems and customers
• Maintain the integrity and reliability of our online services

4.8 Legal and Regulatory Compliance

We may process personal information where necessary to:

• Comply with applicable laws and regulations
• Respond to lawful requests from courts, regulators, or public authorities
• Enforce our legal rights
• Protect our legal interests
• Resolve disputes
• Maintain records required by law

4.9 Business Administration

We may use personal information for legitimate internal business purposes, including:

• Record keeping
• Accounting and auditing
• Internal reporting
• Business planning
• Risk management
• Insurance purposes
• Business continuity planning
• Managing and improving our operations

4.10 Other Lawful Purposes

We may process personal information for any other purpose that is compatible with the original purpose for which the information was collected, where permitted or required by law, or where you have otherwise provided your consent.

Where we intend to use your personal information for a purpose that is materially different from the original purpose of collection, we will notify you and obtain your consent where required by applicable law.

Zafari Africa processes personal information only where a lawful basis exists under POPIA and any other applicable legislation.

Depending on the circumstances, we may process your personal information on one or more of the following grounds:

5.1 Your Consent

Where required by law, we will process your personal information only after obtaining your voluntary, specific and informed consent.

You may withdraw your consent at any time, provided that such withdrawal does not affect the lawfulness of any processing carried out before consent was withdrawn.

5.2 Performance of a Contract

We process personal information where necessary to fulfil our contractual obligations, including processing orders, delivering products, providing workshops, supplying digital products, processing payments and providing customer support.

5.3 Legal Obligations

We may process personal information where necessary to comply with applicable laws, regulations, court orders or lawful requests from public authorities.

5.4 Legitimate Business Interests

Where permitted by law, we may process personal information for our legitimate business interests, provided that your rights and freedoms are not overridden. These interests include improving our Website, protecting our business, preventing fraud, maintaining records, analysing business performance and improving our products and services.

We treat your personal information as confidential and do not sell, rent or trade your personal information to third parties.

We may share your personal information only where necessary for legitimate business purposes or where required by law.

6.1 Payment Service Providers

Payment information may be shared with trusted third-party payment providers for the purpose of securely processing payments.

6.2 Courier and Delivery Providers

Where physical products are ordered, we may share your name, contact information and delivery address with courier companies responsible for delivering your order.

6.3 Technology and Website Service Providers

We may share limited personal information with service providers that assist us with website hosting, cloud infrastructure and database services, file storage, email delivery, website security, customer support and information technology services.

These providers are required to process personal information only on our instructions and to maintain appropriate security measures.

6.4 Professional Advisers

We may disclose personal information where reasonably necessary to our accountants, auditors, insurers, legal advisers or other professional advisers who assist us in operating our business.

6.5 Legal Requirements

We may disclose personal information where required to do so by law or where we reasonably believe disclosure is necessary to:

• comply with legal obligations
• respond to lawful requests
• protect our legal rights
• investigate fraud
• prevent unlawful activity
• protect the safety of any person

6.6 Business Transactions

Should Zafari Africa undergo a merger, acquisition, restructuring or sale of assets, personal information may be transferred as part of that transaction, subject to appropriate safeguards and applicable law.

6.7 Operators We Currently Use

At the date of this Privacy Policy, the following service providers process personal information on our behalf:

• PayFast (Payfast (Pty) Ltd, South Africa) - payment processing. Your card details are entered on PayFast's systems and are never received or stored by Zafari Africa.
• Google Firebase and Google Cloud Platform (Google LLC and Google Cloud EMEA Limited) - website hosting, database, file storage and administrator authentication.
• Resend (Resend, Inc., United States) - delivery of transactional email such as order confirmations, booking confirmations, workshop access links and shipping notifications.
• The Courier Guy / Shiplogic (South Africa) - collection and delivery of physical orders, using your name, contact details and delivery address.

Each of these providers processes personal information on our instructions under an operator agreement or equivalent contractual terms, and is required to maintain appropriate security safeguards. Where a provider processes personal information outside South Africa, section 7 applies.

This list will be updated when our service providers change.

Some of the third-party service providers we use may store or process personal information outside South Africa.

Where personal information is transferred internationally, we will take reasonable steps to ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place and that your personal information receives a level of protection substantially similar to that required under POPIA.

By using our Website or services, you acknowledge that your personal information may be transferred internationally where necessary for the provision of our services.

We take the security of personal information seriously and implement reasonable technical and organisational measures designed to protect personal information against loss, misuse, unauthorised access, disclosure, alteration and destruction.

These measures may include:

• secure website technologies
• encryption where appropriate
• restricted access to personal information
• secure payment processing through trusted providers
• password-protected systems
• ongoing monitoring of our systems

While we take reasonable precautions to protect personal information, no method of transmitting information over the internet or electronic storage system can be guaranteed to be completely secure.

Accordingly, we cannot guarantee absolute security.

We retain personal information only for as long as reasonably necessary to fulfil the purposes for which it was collected, comply with legal obligations, resolve disputes and enforce our legal rights.

Unless a longer period is required by law or necessary to resolve a dispute, we apply the following retention periods:

• Order, invoice and payment records: five years from the end of the relevant tax year, as required by the Tax Administration Act 28 of 2011
• Customer contact and delivery information: for as long as your relationship with us is active, and for three years thereafter
• Workshop booking and access records: for the duration of your access period, and thereafter for five years for tax and record-keeping purposes
• Marketing subscriber information: until you unsubscribe, after which we retain a minimal suppression record so that we can continue to honour your opt-out
• Contact form submissions and general correspondence: two years from the date of the last communication

Retention periods may be extended where necessary to comply with a legal obligation, resolve a dispute, or establish, exercise or defend a legal claim.

Where personal information is no longer required, we will securely delete, destroy or anonymise it where reasonably practicable and permitted by law.

Our Website uses cookies and similar technologies (including browser local storage) only for purposes that are necessary to its operation, security and functionality.

These technologies may be used to:

• maintain Website functionality
• retain the contents of your shopping cart on your device between visits
• enable the checkout process
• keep you signed in where you access an account area
• protect the Website and its users against fraud and unauthorised access

We do not use cookies or similar technologies to build a profile of you, to track your activity across other websites, or for advertising purposes. We do not currently use analytics cookies.

Where non-essential cookies are introduced in future, we will update our Cookie Policy and, where required by law, obtain your consent before they are placed on your device.

Further information is available in our Cookie Policy.

We respect your communication preferences.

Where required by law, we will obtain your consent before sending you electronic marketing communications.

If you choose to receive marketing communications, we may send you information relating to:

• new products
• photographic prints
• educational content
• workshops
• promotions
• special offers
• other Zafari Africa news

You may opt out of receiving marketing communications at any time by:

• clicking the unsubscribe link included in our emails; or
• contacting us directly.

Opting out of marketing communications will not prevent us from sending service-related communications concerning your orders, bookings or purchases.

Subject to applicable law, you have the right to:

• request access to your personal information
• request correction of inaccurate or incomplete personal information
• request deletion of personal information where legally appropriate
• object to certain forms of processing
• withdraw consent where processing is based on consent
• request information regarding how your personal information is processed
• lodge a complaint with us
• lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator of South Africa where you believe your rights have been infringed

We will consider and respond to requests within a reasonable time and in accordance with applicable law.

To exercise your privacy rights, please contact our Information Officer using the contact details provided below. Where PAIA applies, a request for access to personal information must be made on the prescribed form, and a prescribed fee may be payable.

The Information Regulator (South Africa) may be contacted at JD House, 27 Stiemens Street, Braamfontein, Johannesburg, 2001, or by email at complaints.IR@justice.gov.za.

Our Website, products and services are not directed at children under the age of 18 without the involvement of a parent or legal guardian.

We do not knowingly collect personal information directly from children where such collection is prohibited by law.

If we become aware that personal information has been collected from a child in circumstances where consent was required and not obtained, we will take reasonable steps to delete that information as soon as reasonably practicable.

Parents or legal guardians who believe that a child has provided personal information without appropriate consent are encouraged to contact us.

Our Website may contain links to third-party websites or services.

We are not responsible for the privacy practices, content or security of third-party websites.

We encourage you to review the privacy policies of any third-party websites you visit before providing personal information.

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our business operations, legal obligations, technology or industry practices.

Updated versions will be published on our Website together with the revised "Last Updated" date.

Where required by law, we will notify users of material changes in an appropriate manner.

Your continued use of our Website following the publication of an updated Privacy Policy constitutes acknowledgement of the revised Privacy Policy, to the extent permitted by law.

A security compromise occurs where there are reasonable grounds to believe that personal information in our possession or under our control has been accessed or acquired by an unauthorised person.

If a security compromise occurs, we will:

• notify the Information Regulator as soon as reasonably possible after becoming aware of the compromise
• notify affected data subjects as soon as reasonably possible, unless their identity cannot be established, or a public body or the Regulator has directed a delay in order to protect a criminal investigation
• provide sufficient information for affected persons to take protective measures, including a description of the possible consequences, the measures we have taken or intend to take, and, where known, the identity of the unauthorised person
• investigate the cause, restore the integrity of the affected systems, and take reasonable steps to prevent a recurrence

Notification will be given in writing to the email address we hold for you, or by another method permitted by section 22 of POPIA.

If you believe that your personal information may have been compromised, please contact our Information Officer immediately using the details in section 17.

If you have any questions regarding this Privacy Policy or the manner in which we process your personal information, please contact us:

Zafari Africa

Information Officer: Adam Zimmerman

Address: 16 Summerway, Fairmount, Johannesburg, South Africa

Email: info@zafariafrica.co.za

Telephone: 083 548 8469 / 072 877 5848

Website: www.zafariafrica.co.za

If you believe that we have not adequately addressed your concerns, you may lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator (South Africa) in accordance with POPIA.