This Privacy Policy applies to Snows Boutique, a South African fashion boutique operating at snowsboutique.co.za. When we refer to "we", "us" or "our" throughout this policy, we mean Snows Boutique and its owner, Mrs Snow.

We are committed to protecting your personal information and handling it responsibly in accordance with the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA) of South Africa.

By using our website or purchasing from us, you agree to the collection and use of your information as described in this policy.

We only collect information that is necessary to process your orders, deliver your purchases, and provide you with a good shopping experience.

Your information is used solely to provide and improve our service to you. We will never use your data for purposes you haven't consented to.

• Processing and fulfilling your orders — including packing, dispatching and arranging delivery of your purchases.
• Communicating with you about your order, delivery updates, exchange requests or any queries you raise with us.
• Improving our website and service — using anonymised analytics to understand how customers use our site and where we can do better.
• Sending you updates about new arrivals or promotions — only if you have explicitly opted in to receive marketing from us. You can unsubscribe at any time.
• Complying with our legal obligations under South African law, including tax and accounting requirements.

We do not sell, rent or trade your personal information to any third party. We only share your data with trusted service providers who need it to help us run our business, and only to the extent necessary.

• Courier and delivery partners — your name, phone number and delivery address are shared with our couriers to fulfil your order.
• Payment processors — your payment details are handled by our secure payment provider. We never see or store your full banking information.
• Website service providers — such as our hosting provider and WooCommerce platform, which process data as part of running our online store.
• Legal or regulatory authorities — only if required to do so by law or a valid legal process.

Our website uses cookies — small text files stored on your device — to make the site work properly and give you a better experience.

• Essential cookies keep your shopping cart active and allow you to navigate our website.
• Analytics cookies help us understand how visitors use our site, so we can improve it. This data is anonymised.
• Preference cookies remember your choices, like login state or language settings.

You can control and disable cookies through your browser settings at any time. However, disabling essential cookies may affect how the site functions.

We take the security of your personal information seriously and implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect it against unauthorised access, disclosure, alteration or destruction.

• Our website uses SSL encryption (HTTPS) to protect data transmitted between your browser and our site.
• Payment transactions are processed through our secure payment provider and we do not store sensitive payment details.
• Access to customer data is strictly limited to authorised personnel only.

Under the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA), you have the following rights regarding your personal information:

• Right to access — you may request a copy of the personal information we hold about you at any time.
• Right to correction — you can ask us to correct any inaccurate or incomplete personal information.
• Right to deletion — you may request that we delete your personal information, subject to any legal obligations we have to retain it.
• Right to object — you can object to us processing your data for direct marketing purposes. We will stop immediately upon request.
• Right to withdraw consent — where processing is based on your consent, you may withdraw it at any time without affecting processing already carried out.

To exercise any of these rights, contact us at info@snowsboutique.co.za or via WhatsApp on 067 814 2894. We will respond within a reasonable time.

We retain your personal information only for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes outlined in this policy, or as required by South African law.

• Order records are retained for a minimum of 5 years for accounting and legal compliance purposes.
• Account information is kept for as long as your account remains active, and deleted upon request.
• Marketing preferences are stored until you unsubscribe or withdraw consent.

Our website may contain links to external websites — such as our payment provider or social media pages. Once you leave our site, this Privacy Policy no longer applies.

We are not responsible for the privacy practices of third-party websites and encourage you to read their own privacy policies before providing any personal information.

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or legal requirements. When we do, we will update the "Last updated" date at the top of this page.

We encourage you to review this policy periodically. Continued use of our website after changes are posted constitutes your acceptance of the updated policy.

If you have any questions, concerns or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or how we handle your personal information, please reach out to us directly.

• Email: info@snowsboutique.co.za
• WhatsApp: 067 814 2894
• Website: snowsboutique.co.za