SA Puppy Watch & Breeders

Privacy Policy

Privacy Policy

Last updated: 08-10-2026

This policy explains how SA Puppy Watch ([legal or trading name]) collects and uses personal information on sapuppywatch.co.za and through our Pet Tracker service. We process personal information in line with the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 (POPIA).

1. Who we are

  • Responsible party: SA Puppy Watch, Heidelberg, South Africa, 6665
  • Website: https://sapuppywatch.co.za
  • Information Officer: Pieter, [email protected]

2. What we collect

Website visitors. Your IP address, browser type, the pages you visit, and cookies (see section 11).

Comments. What you enter in the comment form, plus your IP address and browser user agent string to help spam detection. An anonymised hash of your email address may be sent to the Gravatar service to check whether you have a profile picture; its privacy policy is at https://automattic.com/privacy/. After your comment is approved, your profile picture is visible to the public next to it.

Enquiries and orders. Your name, email address, cell number, town or suburb, your dog’s name and size, and your message.

Microchip and Lost Pet Registry. The details you submit when you register a microchip or report a dog lost or stolen: [owner name, contact details, dog details, microchip number]. Only [fields shown in public search results] are shown publicly. [Describe how the Contact Owner form passes messages on.]

Breeder listings. Business and contact details submitted by breeders for verification and listing.

Scam reports. The information you submit about a suspected scam, which may include the other party’s contact details and your own.

Pet Tracker service.

  • Account details: your name, email address and a password (stored in hashed form).
  • The collar’s identifier (IMEI) and its SIM and network details.
  • Location data from the collar: GPS position, time, speed, battery level and connection status.
  • Safe zones and alert settings that you create.
  • [If push notifications are enabled: notification tokens issued by Google Firebase.]

Payments. Payment is by EFT or PayShap. We see the payer’s name, reference, amount and date on our bank statement. We do not collect card details.

3. Why we use it

  • To run the website, prevent spam and keep it secure.
  • To answer your enquiries, process orders and provide support.
  • To operate the Microchip and Lost Pet Registry, breeder listings and scam alerts.
  • To provide the Pet Tracker service: collar connectivity, location display, alerts, support and billing.
  • To keep payment, tax and other records we are legally required to keep.
  • To protect our rights and comply with the law.

We rely on your consent, on the need to perform our agreement with you, on legal obligations, and on our legitimate interest in running a secure and reliable service. You may withdraw consent at any time (see section 9).

4. Location data from your collar

  • The collar sends its location to our tracking server over the mobile network. Only you (the account holder) and our administrators can see it.
  • We never publish tracker location data, and it is kept separate from the Microchip and Lost Pet Registry.
  • We access it only to run and support the service, for example to fix a fault or to help you locate your pet when you ask us to.
  • Location history is kept for [90 days], then deleted.
  • The collar tracks your pet. Do not attach it to a person. If you share your account login with others, they will see the same data.

5. Who we share it with

We do not sell personal information. We share it only with service providers who help us run the service, and only as needed:

  • Mobile network and SIM providers, for collar connectivity.
  • Hosting and infrastructure providers for our websites and tracking servers.
  • Email and spam-filtering services.
  • Map and notification providers used by the tracker app.
  • Authorities or other parties where the law requires it.

If you request a password reset, your IP address is included in the reset email.

6. Transfers outside South Africa

Some providers may store or process information outside South Africa, [state countries or locations]. Where that happens we make sure the recipient is bound by law or agreement to protect your information to a standard comparable to POPIA.

7. Security

We take reasonable technical and organisational steps to protect personal information, including HTTPS for our websites and app access, firewall restrictions on our servers, access controls and regular backups. No system is completely secure, and we will notify you and the Information Regulator of a breach as the law requires.

8. How long we keep it

  • Comments: the comment and its metadata are kept indefinitely so follow-up comments can be recognised and approved automatically.
  • Registered users: personal information in your profile is kept while your account exists. You can see, edit or delete it at any time, except your username. Site administrators can also see and edit it.
  • Pet Tracker data: account details for as long as you are a customer; location history for [90 days].
  • Registry records: until you ask us to remove them or [period].
  • Payment and order records: for the period required by tax and consumer law, [typically 5 years].

9. Your rights

You may ask us to:

  • tell you what personal information we hold about you and give you a copy;
  • correct or delete it, which does not extend to data we are obliged to keep for administrative, legal or security purposes;
  • stop or restrict processing, or withdraw your consent;
  • object to processing.

Email our Information Officer at [email address]. We aim to respond within [30] days.

10. Children

Our services are not directed at people under 18, and we do not knowingly collect their personal information.

11. Cookies

  • If you leave a comment you may opt in to saving your name, email address and website in cookies. These last one year.
  • If you visit our login page, we set a temporary cookie to check that your browser accepts cookies. It contains no personal data and is discarded when you close your browser.
  • When you log in, we set cookies to save your login information and screen display choices. Login cookies last two days and screen option cookies last a year. If you select Remember Me, your login persists for two weeks. Logging out removes the login cookies.
  • If you edit or publish an article, an extra cookie records the post ID. It contains no personal data and expires after one day.

12. Embedded content from other websites

Articles on this site may include embedded content such as videos, images or articles. It behaves exactly as if you had visited the other website. Those sites may collect data about you, use cookies, add their own tracking and monitor your interaction with the content, including if you are logged in to that site.

13. Complaints

If you are unhappy with how we handle your personal information, contact our Information Officer first. You may also complain to the Information Regulator (South Africa): JD House, 27 Stiemens Street, Braamfontein, Johannesburg, 2001, email [email protected].

14. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy and will change the date at the top when we do. Material changes will be announced on this website.

15. Contact

sapuppywatch.co.za, [email protected]