Your privacy,in plain English.

Collar & Comb (“we”, “us”, “our”) is a pet grooming business based in Ballito, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. We respect your privacy and are committed to protecting the personal information you share with us.

This Privacy Policy explains what personal information we collect through our website (collarandcomb.co.za) and in the course of providing our services, how we use it, who we share it with, and the rights you have. We process personal information in accordance with the Protection of Personal Information Act, 2013 (POPIA).

By using our website or booking our services, you agree to the practices described in this policy.

The party responsible for processing your personal information (the “Responsible Party” under POPIA) is:

We only collect information that we need to serve you. This includes:

• Contact and booking details you give us through our website form, by phone, email or WhatsApp — your name, email address, phone number, and any message you send us.
• Information about your pet — your pet’s name, and any photos, breed, coat, health, or temperament details you choose to share so we can groom them safely.
• Photos you upload — up to five images of your pet, submitted with a booking request.
• Photos taken at our premises — see Section 5.
• Technical information — when you visit our website, limited technical data such as your device’s IP address may be shared with our font provider (see Section 6). We do not run analytics, advertising pixels, or tracking cookies on this website.

We do not collect payment card information through this website. Payments are made in person or by EFT.

We use your personal information to:

• Respond to your enquiries and confirm your bookings;
• Provide grooming, daycare, boarding, mobile grooming and related services;
• Care for your pet safely, based on the details you provide;
• Contact you about your appointment (for example, reminders or collection);
• Keep records required for running our business.

We contact you only about your booking and your pet. We do not run a marketing mailing list and will not send you promotional emails unless you separately ask us to.

Our lawful basis for this processing under POPIA is the performance of our service to you, your consent, and our legitimate business interests.

We love showing off our happy clients. From time to time we take photos of pets (and sometimes their owners) at our premises and share them on our Facebook and Instagram pages.

If you would prefer that we do not photograph your pet or use their image, simply tell any team member or contact us at vicky@collarandcomb.co.za and we will respect your choice. You may also ask us to remove an existing photo at any time.

This website does not set its own tracking or advertising cookies. However, some features rely on third-party services that may process limited technical data:

• Google Fonts — our website loads fonts from Google, which may receive your device’s IP address to deliver them.
• Website hosting — our site is hosted by a third-party hosting provider that stores the website files and serves them to you.
• Embedded content — some images (such as customer review photos and award badges) are loaded from Google and other websites, and links to Google Maps, Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp will take you to those third parties, who have their own privacy policies.

We encourage you to review the privacy policies of any third-party service you interact with.

We do not sell your personal information, and we do not share it with third parties for their own marketing.

We may share information only:

• With trusted service providers who help us operate (such as our website host or email provider), who may only use it to provide their service to us;
• Where required by law, or to protect our legal rights or the safety of a person or animal.

We are a South African business and store your information in South Africa wherever possible. Some of our service providers (such as our font and hosting providers) may process limited data on servers outside South Africa. Where this happens, we take reasonable steps to ensure your information receives a comparable level of protection, as required by POPIA.

We keep your personal information for as long as you are an active customer, and for up to five (5) years after your last visit, to meet South African tax and record-keeping requirements. After that, we securely delete or anonymise it. Pet photos used on social media may remain published until you ask us to remove them.

We take reasonable technical and organisational measures to keep your information safe, including limiting access to those who need it, using reputable service providers, and securing our devices and accounts. While no method of transmission or storage is completely secure, we work to protect your information against loss, misuse and unauthorised access.

Under POPIA, you have the right to:

• Access the personal information we hold about you;
• Correct or update information that is inaccurate;
• Request deletion of your information, where we are not required to keep it;
• Object to our processing of your information;
• Withdraw consent you have given (for example, for photos), at any time;
• Complain to the Information Regulator.

To exercise any of these rights, contact Vicky Lingley at vicky@collarandcomb.co.za or +27 (0)82 319 3437. We will respond as required by law.

If visitors from the European Union or California use our services, we will honour the equivalent access, deletion and opt-out rights afforded under the GDPR and CCPA as a matter of good practice.

Our services are directed at pet owners aged 18 and over. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe a child has provided us with information, please contact us and we will delete it.

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. The “Last updated” date at the top shows when it was last revised. Significant changes will be posted on this page.

For any privacy questions, requests, or concerns, contact our Information Officer:

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator (South Africa):