Privacy policy

1. Responsible party

The responsible party for personal information collected through this website is BeSkinny Research, 9th Floor, 5th St, Sandhurst, Sandton, 2196, South Africa. Our information officer can be contacted at [email protected].

2. Information we collect

• Order and account information: name, email address, mobile number, delivery and billing address, order history and your research-use declaration.
• Payment information: payment status and reference. Card details are processed by our payment provider and are never stored by us.
• Correspondence: emails and messages you send us.
• Technical and usage information: IP address, browser and device type and pages visited, collected by cookies and analytics tools.

We do not ask for, and do not collect, any health information.

3. How we use it

• To process, fulfil and deliver your orders, including payment reconciliation.
• To record the research-use declaration that accompanies each order.
• To send order, dispatch and tracking updates and respond to your enquiries.
• To prevent fraud and enforce our terms and research-use-only policy.
• To meet legal, tax and accounting record-keeping obligations.
• To send marketing emails, only where you have opted in.
• To understand how the website is used and improve it.

4. Lawful basis

We process personal information where it is necessary to conclude or perform our contract with you, to comply with a legal obligation, for our legitimate interests (such as fraud prevention and site security), or with your consent (marketing and non-essential cookies). You can withdraw consent at any time.

5. Sharing

We share personal information only as needed with:

• our courier, to deliver your order;
• our payment providers, to process payments;
• hosting, email and analytics providers that operate the website on our behalf;
• our WhatsApp messaging provider (WasenderAPI), to send order updates to the mobile number you give at checkout; and
• authorities, where required by law.

We do not sell your personal information. When you use address autocomplete at checkout, the address text you type is sent to Google Maps Platform to return suggestions, in line with Google's Privacy Policy. You can always enter your address manually instead.

6. Cross-border transfers

Our website and order database are hosted in the Netherlands (European Union), and some of our other service providers process data outside South Africa. Where they do, we rely on providers subject to laws, binding agreements or corporate rules that offer a level of protection substantially similar to POPIA, as required by section 72 of the Act.

7. Cookies and analytics

We use essential cookies to run the cart, checkout and your account, and analytics cookies (via Google Tag Manager and Google Analytics) to understand site usage. You can block or delete cookies in your browser settings; essential features may not work without them.

8. Retention and security

We keep order and tax records for as long as South African law requires (generally five years) and other information only as long as needed for the purposes above. We apply reasonable technical and organisational safeguards, including encrypted connections and access controls, to protect your information.

9. Your rights

Under POPIA you may:

• ask whether we hold personal information about you and request a copy;
• request correction or deletion of your information, subject to legal retention duties;
• object to processing, including for direct marketing;
• withdraw consent where processing is based on consent; and
• lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator (South Africa) at inforegulator.org.za.

To exercise these rights, email [email protected]. We respond within a reasonable time and may need to verify your identity first.

10. Children

This website is intended for adults. We sell only to purchasers aged 18 and over and do not knowingly collect information from children.

11. Changes

We may update this policy. The current version is always published on this page. See also our Terms & Conditions.