Privacy Policy

Last updated: August 12, 2026

This Privacy Policy describes how Elite Plaques (the "Site", "we", "us", or "our") collects, uses, and discloses your personal information when you visit our Site, use our Services, or make a purchase from eliteplaques.co.za (the "Site"), or otherwise communicate with us regarding the Site (collectively, the "Services"). "You" and "your" means you as the user of the Services, whether you are a customer, website visitor, or another individual whose information we've collected under this Policy.

This Policy is written to comply with the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 ("POPIA"), South Africa's data protection law, and, where relevant to visitors outside South Africa, references other applicable rights. Please read it carefully.

Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time, including to reflect changes to our practices or for operational, legal, or regulatory reasons. We will post the revised Policy on the Site, update the "Last updated" date, and take any other steps required by applicable law.

How We Collect and Use Your Personal Information

To provide the Services, we collect personal information about you from a variety of sources, set out below. What we collect depends on how you interact with us.

We may use your information to communicate with you, provide or improve the Services, comply with applicable legal obligations, enforce our terms, and protect the Services, our rights, and the rights of our users.

What Personal Information We Collect

Information You Give Us Directly

• Contact details — name, address, phone number, email.
• Order information — name, billing address, shipping/delivery address, payment confirmation, email address, phone number.
• Certificate and customisation information — the funded trader or payout certificate you upload, and the personalisation details (name, figures, wording) you request on your plaque.
• Account information — username, password, and other information used for account security.
• Customer support information — anything you choose to include when messaging us.

Some features may require this information; if you choose not to provide it, you may not be able to use those features.

Information We Collect About Your Usage

We may automatically collect information about how you interact with the Services ("Usage Data") using cookies, pixels, and similar technologies. This can include device and browser information, network information, your IP address, and how you use our Site.

Information We Obtain from Third Parties

We may receive information about you from:

• Companies that support our Site and Services, such as Shopify.
• Our payment processors, who collect payment details (e.g. card or bank information, billing address) to process your order.
• Analytics, advertising, and tracking technologies used on the Site, including when you open or click our emails.

Any information we receive from third parties is handled in line with this Policy — see also "Third Party Websites and Links" below.

How We Use Your Personal Information

• Providing the Services. To process payments, fulfil and ship your order, produce your personalised plaque, send account and order notifications, and manage returns or defect claims under our Refund Policy.
• Marketing. With your consent (or where you haven't opted out, if permitted by law), we may send marketing and promotional communications by email, SMS, or post, and show you relevant advertising. You can opt out at any time — see "Managing Communication Preferences" below.
• Security and Fraud Prevention. To detect, investigate, or act on suspected fraudulent, illegal, or malicious activity, including verifying uploaded certificates. Keep your account credentials confidential and contact us immediately if you suspect your account has been compromised.
• Customer Support and Service Improvement. To respond to you, resolve issues, and improve our Services.

Our lawful basis for processing under POPIA is generally one or more of the following: it's necessary to perform our contract with you (fulfilling your order), it's necessary to comply with a legal obligation, it's in our legitimate interest (e.g. fraud prevention, service improvement) balanced against your privacy rights, or you've given consent (e.g. for marketing).

Cookies

Like most websites, we use cookies. For details on cookies used to power our store via Shopify, see shopify.com/legal/cookies. We use cookies to run and improve the Site, remember your preferences, and understand how visitors use the Services. We may permit third-party service providers to use cookies on the Site to help tailor content and advertising.

Most browsers accept cookies by default; you can adjust your browser settings to block or remove them, though this may affect how the Site functions.

Our Site recognises the Global Privacy Control (GPC) signal. Where you send a GPC signal, we will treat it as a valid opt-out request for the associated browser or device, to the extent applicable South African or foreign law requires us to honour it. We do not currently act on other "Do Not Track" browser signals.

How We Disclose Personal Information

We may disclose your personal information to third parties in these circumstances:

• Service providers who perform functions on our behalf — e.g. IT and hosting, payment processing, data analytics, customer support, cloud storage, order fulfilment, and courier/shipping partners.
• Business and marketing partners, where relevant to providing or advertising our Services, and who are bound to use your information in line with their own privacy notices.
• Where you direct or consent to disclosure — for example, to arrange delivery, or through your use of social media or login integrations.
• Within our own business (e.g. staff or contractors who need the information to do their jobs).
• For legal and safety reasons — to comply with a legal obligation, respond to a court order or similar lawful request, enforce our terms, or protect the Services, our rights, or the rights of our users, including in connection with a merger, sale, or restructuring of the business.

We do not sell your personal information to third parties for their own independent marketing purposes, and we do not disclose special personal information (as defined by POPIA — e.g. information about health, race, religion, or similar) except where you've consented or the law permits it.

Third Party Websites and Links

Our Site may link to websites or platforms operated by third parties. If you follow a link to a site we don't control, review that site's own privacy and security terms — we're not responsible for the privacy or security practices of third-party sites, and linking to them doesn't imply our endorsement.

Children's Data

Our Services are not directed at children, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children without the consent of a parent or guardian, as required under POPIA. If you are a parent or guardian and believe your child has provided us with personal information, contact us using the details below and we will delete it.

Security and Retention of Your Information

No security measures are perfect, and we cannot guarantee absolute security — please avoid sending sensitive information to us over insecure channels.

We keep your personal information for as long as reasonably necessary to fulfil the purposes described in this Policy, including to maintain your account, provide the Services, comply with legal or tax obligations, and resolve disputes (see our Refund Policy for order-related retention periods, generally tied to defect-claim and chargeback record-keeping needs). When information is no longer needed, we take reasonable steps to delete or de-identify it.

Your Rights Under POPIA

As a data subject under POPIA, you have the right to:

• Access the personal information we hold about you and how it's used and shared.
• Correct or update inaccurate, incomplete, or outdated personal information.
• Request deletion of personal information we hold about you, subject to any legal or contractual reason we may need to keep it (e.g. tax or dispute records).
• Object to our processing of your personal information for direct marketing purposes, or on other reasonable grounds relating to your particular situation.
• Withdraw consent at any time where we rely on your consent to process your information (this doesn't affect processing carried out before you withdrew it).
• Complain to us directly, or to South Africa's Information Regulator, if you believe we've processed your personal information unlawfully.

You can exercise these rights by contacting us using the details below. We may need to verify your identity before responding, and you may nominate a representative to act on your behalf provided they can prove their authority to do so. We aim to respond within the timeframes required by POPIA.

Managing Communication Preferences

You can opt out of promotional emails at any time using the unsubscribe link in those emails. Even if you opt out of marketing, we may still send non-promotional messages related to your account or orders.

Complaints

If you're unhappy with how we've handled your personal information, please contact us first using the details below. If you remain unsatisfied, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator (South Africa):

• Website: inforegulator.org.za
• Email: complaints.IR@justice.gov.za

International Users and Cross-Border Transfers

We're based in South Africa, but some of our service providers (such as Shopify, payment processors, or analytics tools) may store or process information outside South Africa. Where we transfer personal information across borders, we take reasonable steps required under POPIA section 72 to ensure the recipient is subject to a law, binding agreement, or other arrangement that upholds a similar standard of protection to POPIA.

Contact

For any questions about our privacy practices or this Policy, or to exercise any of your rights, please contact us at:

Email: eliteplaquessa@gmail.com

For the purposes of POPIA, Elite Plaques is the responsible party for the personal information described in this Policy.