Privacy Policy

Liv’sBestFriends is a consulting practice based in Cape Town, South Africa, and is the responsible party under the Protection of Personal Information Act, 2013 (POPIA). The owner serves as the Information Officer and can be contacted through the form below for any privacy related queries or requests. Liv’sBestFriends respects your privacy and handles the personal information you share with care, confidentiality, and in accordance with POPIA.

This notice explains how personal information collected through this website and its contact form is used, how cookies are used, and what choices and rights you have. By using this website, you agree to the terms of this notice. Any updates to this notice will be posted on this page, and continued use of the website after such changes signifies acceptance of the updated terms.

Information collected

When you use the contact form, Liv’sBestFriends collects only the information needed to respond to your enquiry. This may include:

• First name and last name
  
• Email address
  
• Phone number
  
• Details about your dog
  
• Details about your living circumstances
  
• The content of your message
  
  

Providing this information is voluntary, but without it Liv’sBestFriends may not be able to respond to your enquiry. Please do not include detailed medical information, diagnostic reports, or very sensitive personal details in the message field; such information can be shared, if needed, in a consulting setting rather than via the website.

The services offered may involve sensitive topics such as health, medical details, physical and emotional well-being. Any such information that you choose to share is treated as “special personal information” under POPIA and is handled with particular care and confidentiality, and only to the extent necessary to provide consulting and related services.

How your information is used

The personal information you provide through the contact form is used solely to:

• Receive and review your enquiry
  
• Contact you to respond to your message and, where requested, to schedule or prepare for appointments
  
• Maintain basic records of communications, where reasonably necessary for practice and legal purposes
  
  

Liv’sBestFriends does not use your contact form information for direct marketing unless you have explicitly agreed to this, and you may withdraw such consent at any time. You may also request access to, correction of, or deletion of your personal information, subject to applicable legal and professional obligations, by filling out the request form below.

Third-party services and operators

This website is hosted by a third-party web hosting provider. This means that personal information submitted through the form may be stored and processed on servers operated by this service provider, which acts as an “operator” under POPIA and may only process your personal information on documented instructions and for the limited purposes of hosting, transmitting, storing, and securing data on behalf of Liv’sBestFriends.

Liv’sBestFriends selects service providers that apply appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal information. However, these providers have their own privacy policies and terms of use, and you are encouraged to enquire about those policies if you would like more detail about how they handle data.

Your rights

Under POPIA, and subject to certain lawful limitations, you have the right to:

• Ask whether Liv’sBestFriends holds personal information about you and, if so, to request access to it
  
• Request correction or updating of personal information that is inaccurate or incomplete
  
• Request deletion of personal information where there is no lawful reason to continue processing it
  
• Withdraw consent where processing is based on your consent (for example, for optional communications)
  
• Object to certain types of processing, where applicable
  
• Lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator if you believe your personal information is not being handled lawfully
  
  

If you wish to exercise any of these rights, please fill out the request form below. If you are not satisfied with the response, you may lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator (South Africa) using the details available on the Regulator’s website: https://inforegulator.org.za/complaints/

Cookies and tracking

This website uses cookies and similar technologies to ensure the site functions properly and, where enabled, to understand how visitors use the site.

• Strictly necessary and functional cookies These cookies are required for basic operation of the website, such as security, basic performance, and correct display of pages. They cannot be switched off in the systems that serve the site, and they do not store information that directly identifies you.
  
• Analytics cookies (if enabled in future) At present, the website does not use analytics cookies. If anonymised analytics cookies are introduced at a later stage, they will be used only to collect aggregated, nonidentifying information about how visitors use the site (for example, which pages are most visited) to help improve content and usability. Analytics cookies will not be used to track you across other websites or to build marketing profiles, and no marketing or advertising cookies will be used.
  
  

You can control cookies through your browser settings at any time, including blocking or deleting cookies from this site. Please refer to your browser’s help pages for instructions on how to manage cookies. If a cookie banner or preference tool is implemented in future, you will be able to manage any nonessential cookies directly through that interface.

Embedded content from third-party services (for example, videos) may also set their own cookies or use other tracking technologies. Liv’sBestFriends does not control these technologies and is not responsible for how those third parties handle information; you are encouraged to review their privacy and cookie notices.

Security and retention

Liv’sBestFriends takes reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect personal information against loss, misuse, unauthorised access, alteration, or destruction. These measures include:

• Using secure (SSL/TLS) connections for the transmission of contact form data
  
• Restricting access to contact form submissions
  
• Protecting accounts with strong authentication measures
  
  

Personal information collected through the contact form is kept only for as long as reasonably necessary to:

• Respond to your enquiry
  
• Maintain basic records in line with professional, ethical, or legal requirements
  
• Comply with applicable laws
  
  

Thereafter, information is securely deleted or deidentified, unless a longer retention period is required or permitted by law or professional rules. While reasonable safeguards are in place, no system can be guaranteed to be completely secure, and you are requested to avoid including unnecessary or highly sensitive details in online forms.

External websites and links

This website may contain links to external websites or embedded content from other providers. These external sites and services are not controlled by Liv’sBestFriends, and their privacy and security practices may differ. You are encouraged to read the privacy notices of any external sites you visit. Liv’sBestFriends is not responsible for the privacy practices or content of such third-party sites.

Contact

For any questions, requests, or concerns about this notice or the way your personal information is handled, please fill out the request form below.