Last updated: 24 November 2021
Protecting your privacy is as important to us as it is to you. For us, it’s more than just making sure we comply with the relevant legislation; you trust us with your personal information and we respect that trust. This privacy notice explains why and how we collect, use and store your personal information. If you have any questions please contact us at 0860 022 002 or at [email protected].
All of the provisions of this privacy notice are important, but please pay special attention to the parts that are in bold writing. These parts contain information about provisions that have special consequences for you. These parts are only intended to bring such provisions to your attention, and, where necessary, to explain their fact, nature and effect. Where explanations are given, they may be contained in a box. Such boxed explanations are aids to understanding only and are not provisions themselves. They do not limit the meaning or application of the provisions, and do not apply only to the situations and examples described in the boxes or only to similar situations or examples.
We want you to understand who you are sharing your information with, what kind of information we are collecting and how we use the information.
In your day-to-day dealings with Woolworths we obtain information about you. We want you to know exactly what that information is and what we do with it. After all, trust is nothing without transparency.
We ask for your information to make sure that we can offer the right product at the right time and in the right place. This includes making sure that you can receive the benefit of the WRewards programme, analysing your data to better understand what your needs are, and sending you promotional information.
The Protection of Personal Information Act (POPI) is aimed at protecting your personal information and prescribes what we must and must not do with it. POPI created an Information Regulator who checks that companies like Woolworths manage personal information in a responsible manner that respects your privacy.
Other legislation also applies to your personal information. For instance, if you are applying for a Credit Card, a Store Card or a Personal Loan the Financial Intelligence Centre Act and the National Credit Act have to be complied with. This means that from time to time we will be obligated to process your personal information in a certain way (or keep it for a certain period).
This privacy notice forms part of our agreement with you. You should read it along with the terms and conditions that apply. These terms and conditions can be accessed here.
From time to time we may have to amend this notice to accommodate changes in our business or services or if legal requirements change.
By agreeing to this privacy notice, you provide us with your express consent and agreement that we may collect, get, receive, record, organise, collate, store, update, change, retrieve, read, process, consult, use and share your personal information in the manner set out in this privacy notice.
If you do not agree with this privacy notice, or are concerned about any aspect as it relates to your personal information, please do not continue to use the Woolworths website or any services offered by us.
In the paragraph above you expressly give your permission to us to process your personal information in the manner and for the purposes set out in this privacy notice. By doing this, you know and accept that you are giving up certain parts of your right to privacy.
Who you are sharing your information with
You know us just as Woolworths, but in fact we are a group of companies that includes Woolworths (Proprietary) Limited, Woolworths Financial Services (Proprietary Limited) and Virtual Market Place (Proprietary) Limited, the operator of the MySchool MyVillage MyPlanet. When you share your information with one of these companies, subject to your marketing and/or communication preferences selected in your application form or as otherwise indicated by you to us, you may also be sharing it with one of the others. This notice relates to the following three companies:
In some instances you may also be sharing your information with other companies that are part of Woolworths Holdings Limited or other companies that help us provide services to you. This notice does not apply to them.
When you apply to join WRewards or LittleWorld, or apply for a Woolworths Store Card, Credit Card, loan or insurance, we collect the personal information we need to make it happen.
If you are a member of the WRewards programme or the LittleWorld programme, have a Store Card or Woolworths Credit Card or an online account we collect your personal information. Depending on what you apply for we require information such as your name, e-mail address, contact numbers, ID or passport number, gender, date of birth, physical address, billing address, payment card details, financial information and history, employment information, communication preferences, language preferences, signature and eventually a Woolworths card number. We collect this information to process your application so you can have a customer record with us. This is how we provide all the services as set out in the terms and conditions for these programmes and cards.
Only your email address, name and surname, contact details and such other information as we specify from time to time, constitutes compulsory information. All other information is optional. If you do not agree to share compulsory information with us, then you will not be able to make full use of the features that are offered to Woolworths customers. If you do not agree to share your optional information with us, then you might not be able to enjoy all of the features and functionality on our website or offered through any Woolworths services.
In the paragraph above, you agree and accept that there is certain compulsory information you must provide us with if you want to enjoy all of the features and functionality on the Website. If you decide not to provide us with such compulsory information, you agree that we may limit certain features and functionality on the website or our services.
If you swipe any Woolworths or MySchool card, we collect some more information, such as your shopping preferences. Analysing information like this helps us ensure we do the best possible job of meeting your needs.
We send out surveys from time to time. You can choose to respond or not, and you can unsubscribe from receiving them.
When you shop at www.woolworths.co.za we collect standard information about your internet connection and website use. We collect this information from registered and unregistered users. We use this information to help us improve our website and online services.
The type of information we collect includes the URL you came from, IP address, domain type, browser type, the country and telephone code where your device is located, the web pages viewed during your visit, the advertisements you clicked on, and any search terms you entered on our website (user information).
When you place an online order with us, we may offer to store your payment card details for your convenience so you do not have to re-enter these details in future. However, if you prefer that we do not retain these details, you can go to ‘My Account’, click on ‘Edit or delete a credit card’ and delete any card information that we hold about you.
A cookie is a small piece of information stored by your browser on your device. It may contain some personal details, the contents of your shopping basket, and date and time information in an encrypted format, which can be recalled when you return to the Woolworths website. This speeds up our identification, ordering and delivery processes.
We use cookies to identify the device you use to connect to our website. We use anonymous cookies to collect data about how you use our website, so that we can improve and optimise your website experience. We use the anonymous DoubleClick cookie and Google Analytics cookie to optimise your web experience and deliver relevant advertising on the Google Display Network based on the activity of visitors to our website.
You may disable the use of cookies by configuring your browser to refuse all cookies or to indicate when a cookie is being sent. However, if you do so, you may not be able to enjoy all of the features and functionality of the website.
You can opt out of Google Analytics for Display Advertisers and out of customized Google Display Network advertising by visiting Google's Ad Preferences Manager.
When you contact our customer support services, we collect information that helps us to categorise your query, respond to it and, if applicable, investigate what went wrong. We also use this information to track potential problems and trends to customise our support responses to provide a better service to you.
We do not collect the information of persons under 18 without the consent of their parents or guardians. If you are under the age of 18 you must not provide personal information to us without the consent of your parent or guardian.
Our facilities are monitored by CCTV cameras.
Our facilities are monitored by CCTV cameras for public safety, crime prevention and quality control.
We have to collect some of your information when you enter into a lay-by agreement, purchase a cell phone, replace a lost or stolen gift card or transfer a gift card to another branch and other services.
We use your personal information to provide our products and services to you. This includes:
In addition to the general uses listed here, Woolworths Financial Services (WFS) processes your information if you apply for a credit card, store card, loans or insurance. If you have applied for one of these products, the WFS terms and conditions will apply.
If you have applied for a Woolworths Store Card,Credit Card or Personal Loan your personal information will also be used for the following purposes:
MySchool MyVillage MyPlanet cardholders are automatically members of WRewards. You will automatically receive swipe benefits, but in order for you to enjoy all the benefits of the programme, your personal information will be shared with Woolworths. If you choose not to join WRewards, your information will not be shared with Woolworths.
If you are a MySchool MyVillage MyPlanet supporter, your personal information will also be used to create an account for you, and to make sure that you and the schools and/or charities you support receive the benefits promised by the programme.
Be sure to read the MySchool MyVillage MyPlanet terms and conditions on www.myschool.co.za
When you contact our call centres, the information you give us will be used to investigate and resolve your query, complaint or request. Calls are recorded for quality control and record-keeping purposes.
Our call centres are committed to keeping your personal information safe and secure. Please take care not to provide more information than what we ask for. Never give us your banking details, credit card details or any passwords. Any unnecessary information you give us will not be retained.
Your privacy is important to us, which is why it is our policy not to share your personal information with other companies. We will never sell your personal information.
We use suppliers or service providers who we trust to provide services to us and sometimes that involves sharing your information with them. They operate under strict requirements aimed at keeping your personal information secure and confidential and they will only use it for the purpose for which we have sent it to them.
Some of these service providers may be located in other countries that may not have the same levels of protection of personal information as South Africa. If this is the case, we require that they undertake to protect the personal information of our customers to the same level that we do.
You have the right to know what personal information we have about you, to correct it and to opt out of any marketing.
You have the right to:
It can take us up to 21 days to respond to your request.
If you want us to delete all personal information we have about you, you will probably have to terminate all agreements you have with us in respect of your Store Card, Credit Card or Personal Loan and WRewards programme. We cannot maintain our relationship with you without having some of your personal information.
We can refuse to delete your information if we are required by law to retain it or if we need it to protect our rights.
You can request access to the information we hold about you by contacting our call centres.
You are able to view and correct some of your information online by creating an online profile. Other information can be corrected via the call centre.
Security
We have implemented reasonable security safeguards to protect the personal information that you provide. For example sensitive data (such as your credit card information) is protected by SSL encryption when it is exchanged between your web browser and our website.
We regularly monitor our systems for possible vulnerabilities and attacks. As no system is perfect we cannot guarantee that information may not be accessed, disclosed, altered or destroyed by breach of any of our physical, technical or managerial safeguards.
In this paragraph, you acknowledge that you know and you accept that technology is not absolutely secure and there is a risk that your personal information will not be secure when processed by means of technology. We do not promise that we can keep your personal information completely secure. You will not be able to take action against us if you suffer losses or damages in these circumstances.
Please note that any e-mail you send to us is not encrypted and may be monitored by us. Please do not send us sensitive or confidential personal information by means of e-mail. Instead, contact our call centre on 0860 022 002 or send a message via our website.
Although we cannot prevent all security threats, we have measures in place to minimise the threat to your privacy. We will let you know of any breaches which affect your personal information.
You have a right to lodge a complaint to the Information Regulator ([email protected]) for any contravention of POPI.
To the extent allowed by law, we are not responsible for the privacy practices of a third party site to which there may be a link on the website, or for any claims, loss or damage arising from these.
We advise you to read the privacy policy of each site which you visit and to determine your privacy settings in accordance with your personal preferences.
We are not liable if you suffer losses or damages when visiting third party websites by following a link to that website from the Website. You accept that there may be risks when you use such third party websites, and you do so at your own risk.
Protection of Personal Information Act and other laws
If this privacy notice or any provision in this privacy notice is regulated by or subject to POPI or other laws, it is not intended that any provision of this privacy notice contravenes any provision of POPI or such other laws. Therefore all provisions of this privacy notice must be treated as being qualified, to the extent necessary, to ensure that the provisions of POPI and such other laws are complied with.
No provision of this privacy notice: