Privacy Policy

1. Introduction

1.1 Almoguera Injection & Blow Moulding (Pty) Ltd (“Almoguera”, “we”, “us” or “our”) respects your privacy and is committed to processing personal information lawfully and in a reasonable manner that does not infringe your privacy, in accordance with the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 (“POPIA”) and the Regulations made under it.

1.2 This Privacy Policy explains what personal information we collect, why and how we process it, with whom we share it, how we protect it and the rights you have. It is intended to give you the information required by section 18 of POPIA.

1.3 Under POPIA, personal information includes information relating to an identifiable, living natural person and, where applicable, an identifiable, existing juristic person. This Policy therefore also applies to information about the companies and other entities we deal with.

2. Who we are

2.1 Almoguera is the responsible party, as defined in POPIA, for the personal information processed under this Policy. Our details are:

3. Information Officer

3.1 Our Information Officer is responsible for encouraging compliance with POPIA and for dealing with requests and complaints relating to personal information. You may contact the Information Officer, [name of registered Information Officer], at admin@almomoulding.co.za, or in writing at the physical address above, marked for the attention of the Information Officer.

4. Scope of this Policy

4.1 This Policy applies to the personal information of:

1. (a) visitors to our website;
2. (b) persons who contact us through our enquiry form, by email, by telephone or through WhatsApp;
3. (c) our customers and prospective customers, and their employees and representatives;
4. (d) our suppliers, service providers and contractors, and their employees and representatives; and
5. (e) any other person whose personal information we process in the course of our business.

4.2 This Policy does not govern the personal information of our own employees, which is dealt with in our internal policies.

5. Definitions

5.1 Terms used in this Policy that are defined in POPIA have the meanings given to them in POPIA. In particular:

1. (a) data subject means the person to whom personal information relates;
2. (b) operator means a person who processes personal information on our behalf in terms of a contract or mandate, without coming under our direct authority;
3. (c) processing means any operation concerning personal information, including its collection, receipt, recording, organisation, storage, updating, retrieval, use, dissemination, erasure or destruction;
4. (d) special personal information means the categories of personal information referred to in section 26 of POPIA; and
5. (e) direct marketing means approaching a data subject, in person, by mail or by electronic communication, to promote or offer goods or services, or to request a donation.

6. Personal information we collect

6.1 Depending on how you interact with us, we may collect the following categories of personal information:

1. (a) Identity and contact information: name, job title, the organisation you represent, email address, telephone numbers, and physical and postal addresses.
2. (b) Enquiry and communication information: the content of your enquiries, drawings, specifications and information about samples you share with us, and records of our correspondence, including emails, telephone calls and WhatsApp messages.
3. (c) Commercial and transactional information: quotations, orders, delivery details, invoices, payment history and credit terms.
4. (d) Supplier and compliance information: company registration details, B‑BBEE status documents, tax and VAT information, bank confirmation details and other information required to onboard and manage suppliers.
5. (e) Technical information: internet protocol (IP) address, browser type, device information, and the date and time of access and pages requested, recorded in standard server logs when you visit our website.

6.2 We do not intentionally collect special personal information or the personal information of children, and we ask that you do not send it to us.

7. How we collect personal information

7.1 We collect personal information:

1. (a) directly from you, when you complete our enquiry form, email, telephone or message us, meet with us or provide documents to us;
2. (b) from the organisation you work for or represent;
3. (c) from publicly available sources, such as company websites, public registers and professional directories, where reasonably necessary for our business purposes; and
4. (d) automatically, through the server logs created when you use our website.

7.2 Where we collect personal information from a source other than you, we do so only as permitted by section 12(2) of POPIA.

8. Purposes for which we process personal information

8.1 We collect and process personal information for specific, explicitly defined and lawful purposes related to our functions and activities, namely to:

1. (a) respond to enquiries and requests for quotations;
2. (b) evaluate designs, drawings, specifications and samples submitted to us;
3. (c) conclude and perform contracts, including the design, tooling, manufacture and delivery of products and related after sales service;
4. (d) manage customer and supplier accounts, invoicing, payments and collections;
5. (e) onboard and manage suppliers, service providers and contractors;
6. (f) maintain quality control and product traceability records;
7. (g) comply with our legal and regulatory obligations, including obligations under tax, company and B‑BBEE legislation;
8. (h) conduct direct marketing in accordance with clause 10;
9. (i) administer, secure and maintain our website and information systems;
10. (j) establish, exercise or defend legal claims; and
11. (k) any other purpose to which you have consented.

8.2 We will not further process personal information in a manner that is incompatible with the purpose for which it was collected, except as permitted by section 15 of POPIA.

9. Lawful grounds for processing

9.1 We process personal information only where at least one of the grounds in section 11(1) of POPIA applies, namely where:

1. (a) you, or a competent person where you are a child, have consented to the processing;
2. (b) processing is necessary to carry out actions for the conclusion or performance of a contract to which you, or the organisation you represent, is a party;
3. (c) processing complies with an obligation imposed on us by law;
4. (d) processing protects a legitimate interest of yours; or
5. (e) processing is necessary for pursuing our legitimate interests or those of a third party to whom the information is supplied.

9.2 Where we rely on your consent, you may withdraw it at any time. Withdrawal does not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before the withdrawal, or processing on any other lawful ground.

9.3 Where we rely on a legitimate interest, you may object to the processing at any time on reasonable grounds relating to your particular situation, in the prescribed manner set out in clause 16.

10. Direct marketing

10.1 We will only send you direct marketing by means of electronic communication, including email, SMS and WhatsApp messages, in accordance with section 69 of POPIA, namely where:

1. (a) you have given your consent; or
2. (b) you are our customer, we obtained your contact details in the context of the sale of a product or service, the marketing relates to our own similar products or services, and you were given a reasonable opportunity to object, free of charge and without unnecessary formality, when your details were collected and on each later communication.

10.2 Where your consent is required and you have not previously withheld it, we may approach you only once to request your consent, in the manner and form prescribed by the Regulations.

10.3 Every direct marketing communication will identify us and include an address or other contact details to which you can send a request to stop receiving such communications.

10.4 You can opt out at any time by following the instructions in the communication, or by emailing admin@almomoulding.co.za with the word “unsubscribe”. The marketing option on our enquiry form is optional and is never selected by default.

11. Sharing personal information

11.1 We do not sell personal information. We may share personal information, to the extent necessary, with:

1. (a) operators who process personal information on our behalf, such as our website hosting, email and information technology service providers;
2. (b) our professional advisers, including accountants, auditors and legal advisers;
3. (c) logistics and courier service providers, to deliver products;
4. (d) banks and payment service providers;
5. (e) service providers involved in fulfilling an order, such as testing laboratories, where this is necessary;
6. (f) regulators, courts, law enforcement agencies and other public bodies, where we are required or permitted by law to do so; and
7. (g) a prospective purchaser or successor of our business, or of part of it, subject to appropriate confidentiality undertakings.

11.2 We require our operators, by written contract, to process personal information only with our knowledge or authorisation, to treat it as confidential and to establish and maintain appropriate security safeguards, as required by sections 20 and 21 of POPIA.

12. Transborder information flows

12.1 Some of the service providers we use may store or process personal information outside South Africa. In particular:

1. (a) when you contact us through WhatsApp, your messages and contact details are processed by WhatsApp, a service of Meta Platforms, which may process them outside South Africa; and
2. (b) some images on our website are currently delivered from the servers of Unsplash, an image service provider located outside South Africa, which receives your IP address when the images load.

12.2 We will transfer personal information to a third party in a foreign country only where section 72 of POPIA permits it, including where the recipient is subject to a law, binding corporate rules or a binding agreement that provides an adequate level of protection substantially similar to POPIA, where you consent to the transfer, or where the transfer is necessary for the performance of a contract with you or for your benefit.

13. Security of personal information

13.1 We secure the integrity and confidentiality of personal information in our possession or under our control by taking appropriate, reasonable technical and organisational measures to prevent its loss, damage or unauthorised destruction, and unlawful access to or processing of it, as required by section 19 of POPIA. These measures include access controls and passwords, limiting access to persons who need the information to perform their duties, secure storage of physical records, regular backups and an encrypted (HTTPS) connection to our website.

13.2 No method of transmitting information over the internet is completely secure. Please take care when sending personal information to us electronically.

13.3 Where there are reasonable grounds to believe that personal information has been accessed or acquired by an unauthorised person, we will notify the Information Regulator and, unless the identity of the affected persons cannot be established, the affected data subjects, as soon as reasonably possible, as required by section 22 of POPIA.

14. Retention of personal information

14.1 We retain personal information only for as long as necessary to achieve the purpose for which it was collected, unless a longer period is required or authorised by law, is reasonably required for a lawful purpose related to our functions or activities, is required by a contract, or you have consented to it, as provided in section 14 of POPIA.

14.2 As a guide:

1. (a) company records and accounting records are retained for at least seven years, as required by section 24 of the Companies Act 71 of 2008;
2. (b) records relevant to tax are retained for at least five years from the date of submission of the relevant return, as required by the Tax Administration Act 28 of 2011;
3. (c) enquiries and quotations that do not result in an order are retained for up to [two years] from our last contact; and
4. (d) server logs are retained by our hosting provider for a limited period for security and administration purposes.

14.3 When personal information is no longer required, we destroy or delete it, or de‑identify it, as soon as reasonably practicable and in a manner that prevents its reconstruction.

15. Your rights

15.1 Subject to POPIA, you have the right to:

1. (a) be notified that personal information about you is being collected, or has been accessed or acquired by an unauthorised person;
2. (b) establish whether we hold personal information about you and request access to it, in accordance with section 23 of POPIA;
3. (c) request the correction, destruction or deletion of your personal information, in accordance with section 24 of POPIA;
4. (d) object, on reasonable grounds relating to your particular situation, to the processing of your personal information;
5. (e) object at any time to the processing of your personal information for direct marketing, and to receiving unsolicited electronic communications;
6. (f) not be subject to a decision based solely on the automated processing of your personal information that results in legal consequences for you or affects you to a substantial degree. We do not make decisions of this kind;
7. (g) withdraw your consent where processing is based on consent;
8. (h) submit a complaint to the Information Regulator; and
9. (i) institute civil proceedings regarding an alleged interference with the protection of your personal information, as provided in section 99 of POPIA.

16. How to exercise your rights

16.1 To exercise any of your rights, please contact our Information Officer in writing using the details in clause 3. Objections to processing should be made on Form 1, and requests for correction or deletion on Form 2, as prescribed by the Regulations relating to the Protection of Personal Information, 2018.

16.2 Requests for access to records are dealt with in accordance with the Promotion of Access to Information Act 2 of 2000 (“PAIA”) and our PAIA manual, which is available on request from our Information Officer. A prescribed fee may be payable for access to records.

16.3 We may ask you to provide proof of identity before we act on a request, to protect your personal information. We will respond within a reasonable time and within any period prescribed by law.

17. The Information Regulator

17.1 If you are not satisfied with how we have handled your personal information, we would appreciate the opportunity to address your concern first. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator:

18. Cookies and website technologies

18.1 Our website does not use cookies or similar tracking technologies, and we do not use analytics, advertising or social media tracking tools on it.

18.2 Like most websites, our hosting provider records technical information about visits in server logs, as described in clause 6, for security and administration purposes.

18.3 Our website contains links to services operated by others, including WhatsApp and Google Maps. When you follow those links, the privacy practices of those services apply, and we encourage you to read their privacy policies.

18.4 If we introduce cookies or similar technologies in future, we will update this Policy before doing so and, where required, obtain your consent before setting any cookies that are not strictly necessary.

19. Children

19.1 Our website and services are directed at businesses and are not intended for persons under the age of 18. We do not knowingly process the personal information of children.

20. Changes to this Policy

20.1 We may amend this Policy from time to time. The current version will always be available on our website, with its effective date. Where a change materially affects how we process your personal information, we will take reasonable steps to bring it to your attention.