Privacy Policy

01Who we are

Hartenbos River Resort (“we”, “us”, “the resort”) is the responsible party for the personal information described in this policy.

• Registered name: [PLACEHOLDER: registered legal name of the entity that owns / operates the resort]
• Registration number: [PLACEHOLDER: company / CC / trust registration number]
• Physical address: Hartenbos River Resort, Plot 217, Hartenbosch Farm, Hartenbos, Mosselbay, 6420
• Postal address: PO Box 34, Hartenbos, 6520
• Telephone: 044 695 1520
• Privacy enquiries: bookings@hartenbosriver.co.za
• Information Officer: [PLACEHOLDER: name and title of the Information Officer registered with the Information Regulator]

02What we collect

When you send an enquiry through our website

Our enquiry form on the Contact page asks for the following. Fields marked as required are needed so we can answer you; the rest are optional.

When the form is sent, our website also records technical details of the submission: the date and time, your IP address, your browser’s user agent and the page you sent it from. These are used to prevent spam and abuse.

When you book or stay with us

If you go ahead with a booking we collect the details we need to confirm and manage it, such as the information on our reservation form, proof of deposit or payment, and anything you tell us about your stay. You give us this information by email, phone or in person, not through the website.

When you simply browse the website

We do not ask you to create an account. Like most websites, our hosting and statistics tools receive your IP address, browser type, the pages you view and the referring page (see section 5).

03Why we use it

We only use your personal information for the purposes it was collected for:

• to answer your enquiry, check availability and send you a quote;
• to make, confirm, change and manage your booking, and to communicate with you before and during your stay;
• to process deposits, payments and refunds and to keep the financial records the law requires;
• to keep the resort, our guests and our website safe, including filtering spam and preventing abuse;
• to comply with our legal obligations.

We process this information because you asked us to (your consent and steps towards a contract with you), because we need it to carry out your booking, because the law requires it, or because it is in our legitimate interest to run and protect the resort and website. We do not use your enquiry details for marketing and we do not sell, rent or trade your personal information. If we would like to send you news or offers, we will first ask for your permission and you can opt out at any time.

04Who we share it with

Your information is seen by the resort staff who handle enquiries and bookings. We share it with outside service providers (“operators”) only where needed to run our website and business, and they may only use it on our instructions:

• Website hosting – Automattic. Our website runs on WordPress and is hosted by Automattic Inc. Enquiries you submit are stored in our website’s database on Automattic’s servers.
• Spam filtering – Jetpack and Akismet (Automattic). Each enquiry is checked by Akismet, Automattic’s anti-spam service, which receives your name, email address, message, IP address, browser user agent and referring page to decide whether the submission is spam.
• Email. Your enquiry is sent by email to the resort’s booking mailbox, so it is also handled by our email provider.
• Our bank and payment providers when you pay a deposit or balance.
• Authorities where the law requires us to share information, or to protect the rights and safety of our guests, staff or property.

Some of these providers (including Automattic and our email provider) store information on servers outside South Africa. Where that happens we rely on providers that are bound by data protection laws, binding agreements or policies that give your information a level of protection similar to POPIA, as section 72 of POPIA requires.

05Cookies & embedded content

We do not use advertising or marketing cookies. Our website itself only sets the cookies that WordPress and Jetpack need to work:

Some pages load content from other companies, which then receive your IP address and may set their own cookies under their own privacy policies:

• Google Maps – the maps on our Home and Contact pages are embedded from Google.
• Google Fonts – our typefaces are loaded from Google’s servers.
• Facebook – we only link to our Facebook page; Facebook receives information only if you click through.

You can block or delete cookies in your browser settings. The website will still work, although an embedded map may not display.

06How long we keep it

We keep personal information only as long as we need it for the purpose it was collected, or as long as the law requires:

• Enquiries that do not lead to a booking – deleted from the website and our mailbox within 12 months.
• Booking and payment records – kept for 5 years after your stay, as tax and accounting laws require.
• Submissions marked as spam – deleted automatically after about 15 days.
• Website statistics logs – kept by Automattic for 28 days.

When information is no longer needed we delete or destroy it, or anonymise it so it can no longer identify you.

07Keeping it safe

We take reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect your information against loss, misuse and unauthorised access. Our website is served only over an encrypted (HTTPS) connection, access to enquiries and booking records is limited to staff who need it, and our administrator accounts are protected. If we ever have reason to believe your personal information has been accessed without authorisation, we will notify you and the Information Regulator as POPIA requires.

08Your rights

Under POPIA you have the right to:

To use any of these rights, contact us using the details in section 10. We may ask you to confirm your identity before we act on the request, and we will respond within a reasonable time. Some requests for access to records are handled under the Promotion of Access to Information Act 2 of 2000 (PAIA).

09Complaints

If you are unhappy with how we have handled your personal information, please talk to us first so we can try to put it right. You may also complain to the Information Regulator (South Africa):

• Website: inforegulator.org.za
• POPIA complaints: POPIAComplaints@inforegulator.org.za
• General enquiries: enquiries@inforegulator.org.za · 010 023 5200
• Address: Woodmead North Office Park, 54 Maxwell Drive, Woodmead, Johannesburg, 2191

10Contact us

We may update this policy from time to time. The latest version is always on this page, with the date it was last updated at the top.