How We Protect Customer Information
This POPIA and GDPR-aware policy explains how Oak Tree Antiques handles personal information across enquiries, quote requests, checkout, billing, delivery, and customer support.
1. Information We Collect
Depending on the flow, we may collect your name, email address, phone number, delivery or billing details, order and quote references, payment status, shipment information, and message history.
- Checkout uses contact, payment-state, order, and fulfilment details needed to process your purchase.
- Quote requests use your selected items, contact details, fulfilment preference, delivery address where relevant, and notes.
- Order tracking uses your order number and buyer email to verify access before showing order or shipment information.
2. Why We Use It
We use personal information to answer enquiries, prepare quotes, process orders, manage payments, arrange delivery, provide order tracking, handle consignment requests, protect against misuse, and keep required business records.
3. Service Providers
We may share the minimum necessary information with payment gateways, email providers, hosting or storage providers, courier/logistics partners, and support tools where they are needed to operate the service.
Some providers may host, access, or process information outside South Africa. Where that happens, the business should maintain appropriate contractual and transfer safeguards before using the provider for live commerce.
4. Retention
We keep records only for as long as they are needed for fulfilment, accounting, fraud prevention, legal obligations, dispute handling, audit trails, or customer support.
- Financial and transaction records may need to be retained even when some personal details are later reduced.
- Free-form messages should not include unnecessary sensitive personal information.
- Customer data reduction, anonymisation, or deletion must not break lawful accounting or audit traceability.
5. Your Choices
You may ask to access, correct, or update your information. You may also ask about deletion or restriction where the law allows it, subject to records we must keep for lawful business, finance, or audit reasons.