Privacy Policy

Last updated: 22 July 2026

1. Who We Are

This website is operated by Bergroot (Pty) Ltd, referred to in this Privacy Policy as “Bergroot”, “we”, “us” or “our”.

Our website address is: https://bergroot.co.za

Bergroot respects your privacy and is committed to protecting your personal information in accordance with the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 (“POPIA”) and other applicable South African laws.

This Privacy Policy explains what personal information we collect, why we collect it, how it is used and what rights you have regarding your information.

2. Personal Information We Collect

Depending on how you interact with our website or services, we may collect:

Your name and surname
Business or company name
Email address
Telephone or WhatsApp number
Billing or business address
Information submitted through contact, quotation or support forms
Information relating to services you request from us
Account or login information, where applicable
Payment and transaction information
Website usage information
IP address
Browser type and device information
Cookie and analytics information
Correspondence sent to or received from you

We will only collect information that is reasonably necessary for the purpose for which it is required.

3. How We Collect Your Information

We may collect personal information when you:

Contact us by email, telephone or WhatsApp
Complete a form on our website
Request a quotation
Purchase or enquire about a service
Enter into an agreement with Bergroot
Create or use an account on our website
Subscribe to communications
Leave a comment
Interact with our website or online services
Provide information to us during the normal course of business

Certain technical information may also be collected automatically through cookies, server logs and analytics services.

4. How We Use Your Information

We may process your personal information to:

Respond to enquiries
Prepare and provide quotations
Provide, manage and support our services
Communicate with clients and prospective clients
Process orders, invoices and payments
Maintain client and business records
Provide technical support
Manage website accounts
Improve our website and services
Detect fraud, abuse or security threats
Comply with legal, regulatory, accounting and tax obligations
Enforce our agreements or protect our legal rights
Send service-related notices
Send marketing communications where permitted by law

We will not use your personal information for an unrelated purpose without an appropriate legal basis or, where required, your consent.

5. Grounds for Processing Personal Information

We may process personal information where:

You have provided consent
Processing is necessary to enter into or perform a contract
Processing is required by law
Processing protects a legitimate interest of Bergroot, the person concerned or a third party
Processing is necessary for the proper performance of a legal or public-law obligation

You may withdraw consent where processing is based on consent. Withdrawal will not affect processing that lawfully occurred before consent was withdrawn.

6. Contact Forms and Enquiries

When you complete a contact, quotation or enquiry form, we may collect the information entered into the form together with technical information such as your IP address, browser information, date and time of submission.

We use this information to respond to your enquiry, provide requested services, prevent spam and maintain appropriate business records.

Form submissions may be stored on our website, sent to us by email or processed by a trusted form, hosting or email service provider.

7. Comments

When visitors leave comments on the website, we collect the information shown in the comments form. We may also collect the visitor’s IP address and browser user-agent information to assist with spam detection and website security.

An anonymised string generated from your email address, sometimes called a hash, may be sent to the Gravatar service to determine whether you use that service.

After a comment is approved, a profile picture linked to your Gravatar account may be publicly visible alongside the comment.

Comments may be checked through an automated spam-detection service.

8. Media Uploads

Where visitors or registered users are permitted to upload images, they should avoid uploading images containing embedded location information, including EXIF GPS data.

Visitors may be able to download publicly available images and extract location information contained in those images.

9. Cookies

Cookies are small files stored on your device when you visit a website.

We may use cookies to:

Keep the website functioning correctly
Remember your preferences
Maintain login sessions
Improve website security
Understand how visitors use our website
Measure website performance
Support embedded content or third-party services

Comment cookies

When you leave a comment, you may choose to save your name, email address and website in cookies. These cookies are provided for convenience so that you do not need to enter the information again when leaving another comment. These cookies may remain for up to one year.

Login cookies

When you visit a login page, a temporary cookie may be set to determine whether your browser accepts cookies. It contains no directly identifying information and is normally deleted when you close your browser.

When you log in, cookies may be created to save your login details and display preferences.

Login cookies normally remain for approximately two days. Display preference cookies may remain for approximately one year. Selecting “Remember Me” may keep you logged in for approximately two weeks.

Publishing cookies

If you edit or publish an article, an additional cookie may be stored in your browser. This cookie does not contain personal information and normally records only the identification number of the article. It usually expires after one day.

Managing cookies

You can block or delete cookies through your browser settings. Blocking certain cookies may prevent some parts of the website from working correctly.

Where required, we may display a cookie notice or request consent before placing non-essential cookies.

10. Analytics

We may use website analytics services to understand how visitors find and use our website.

Analytics information may include:

Pages visited
Approximate location
Device type
Browser type
Referral source
Time spent on the website
Website interactions
Anonymised or shortened IP address information

This information is generally used in aggregated form to improve website performance, content and user experience.

11. Embedded Content From Other Websites

Pages on this website may include embedded content such as videos, maps, images, social media posts, forms or articles.

Embedded content behaves in substantially the same way as it would if you visited the third-party website directly.

Third-party websites may:

Collect information about you
Use cookies
Include additional tracking
Monitor your interaction with the embedded content
Link your interaction to an account you hold with that third party

Your use of third-party services is also governed by the privacy policies of those providers.

12. Communication by Email and WhatsApp

When you communicate with Bergroot by email or WhatsApp, we may retain your name, contact details, message contents, attachments and related correspondence.

We use this information to respond to you, provide services, maintain business records and manage our relationship with you.

WhatsApp and email services are operated by third-party providers. Information transmitted through these services may be processed on infrastructure located outside South Africa.

Please avoid sending highly sensitive personal information through ordinary email or WhatsApp unless it is necessary and an appropriate secure method has been arranged.

13. Marketing Communications

We may send marketing communications where:

You have consented to receive them
You are an existing client and the communication relates to similar services
Another lawful basis permits the communication

You may unsubscribe from marketing communications at any time by:

Using the unsubscribe option in the communication
Replying and asking to be removed
Contacting Bergroot through the details published on our website

Opting out of marketing will not prevent us from sending essential service, account, invoice, security or contractual communications.

14. Who We Share Your Information With

We do not sell or rent your personal information.

We may share information with trusted service providers where reasonably necessary, including:

Website hosting providers
Domain and email service providers
Website maintenance and security providers
Cloud storage providers
Accounting and invoicing providers
Payment processors
Analytics providers
Spam-prevention services
Communication platforms
Professional advisers
Contractors assisting us in delivering services

These providers may only process information for the relevant service and must handle it appropriately.

We may also disclose information:

Where required by law
In response to a lawful request from a regulator, court or public authority
To establish, exercise or defend legal rights
To investigate fraud, abuse or security incidents
As part of a business sale, restructuring or transfer, subject to suitable safeguards

If you request a password reset, your IP address may be included in the password-reset email.

15. International Transfer of Information

Some of our service providers may store or process information outside South Africa.

Where personal information is transferred internationally, we will take reasonable steps to ensure that the recipient is subject to appropriate legal, contractual or organisational safeguards as required by applicable law.

16. How Long We Retain Your Information

We retain personal information only for as long as reasonably necessary for the purpose for which it was collected, or as required by law.

Retention periods may depend on:

The nature of the information
Our relationship with you
Contractual requirements
Tax, accounting and company-law obligations
Security requirements
Potential or actual legal disputes
Applicable limitation periods

Comments

Where comments are enabled, comments and their associated metadata may be retained indefinitely. This allows us to recognise and approve follow-up comments without holding each comment for manual moderation.

Registered users

For users who register on the website, we store personal information supplied in their user profiles.

Users may generally view, edit or request deletion of their personal information, although certain information such as usernames or legally required records may not be changeable or removable.

Website administrators may also access and edit user information when necessary to administer the website.

Business and financial records

Invoices, quotations, contracts, transaction records and related business information may be retained for the periods required by South African tax, accounting and other applicable laws.

When information is no longer required, we will take reasonable steps to delete, destroy or de-identify it.

17. How We Protect Your Information

We use reasonable technical and organisational safeguards to protect personal information against:

Loss
Unauthorised access
Unlawful processing
Accidental destruction
Alteration
Disclosure
Misuse

These safeguards may include access controls, passwords, encryption, backups, website security controls, software updates and restricted administrative access.

No internet-based system is completely secure. While we take reasonable precautions, we cannot guarantee that unauthorised access or a security incident will never occur.

Where required by law, affected individuals and the Information Regulator will be notified of a security compromise.

18. Your Rights

Subject to applicable law, you may have the right to:

Ask whether we hold personal information about you
Request access to your personal information
Request correction of inaccurate or incomplete information
Request deletion or destruction of information that we are no longer authorised to retain
Object to certain processing
Withdraw consent where processing is based on consent
Object to direct marketing
Request information about third parties or categories of third parties that have had access to your information
Lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator
Request that a decision based solely on automated processing be reconsidered, where applicable

We may need to verify your identity before processing a request.

Some requests may be refused or limited where permitted by law, including where information must be retained for legal, contractual, administrative, security or evidentiary purposes.

19. Children’s Personal Information

Our website and services are not intentionally directed at children.

We do not knowingly collect personal information from children without the consent of a competent person or another lawful basis.

A parent or guardian who believes that a child has provided personal information to us may contact us to request that the information be reviewed or removed.

20. Links to Other Websites

Our website may contain links to websites operated by third parties.

Bergroot does not control those websites and is not responsible for their privacy practices, security or content. You should review the privacy policy of each third-party website you visit.

21. Data Breaches and Security Incidents

Where we reasonably believe that personal information has been accessed or acquired by an unauthorised person, we will investigate the incident and take appropriate steps.

Where required by POPIA, we will notify the Information Regulator and affected individuals as soon as reasonably possible, subject to any lawful delay.

22. Complaints

You may contact Bergroot first if you have a question, objection or complaint regarding how your personal information has been handled.

You also have the right to submit a complaint to the South African Information Regulator if you believe that your personal information has been processed in violation of POPIA.

Information about complaints is available from the Information Regulator’s official website.

23. Contacting Bergroot

Questions, requests or objections relating to privacy or personal information may be submitted by email on info@bergroot.co.za

Please mark privacy-related correspondence for the attention of the:

Information Officer
Bergroot (Pty) Ltd

Your request should include enough information for us to identify you, understand the request and locate the relevant records.

24. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect:

Changes to our website or services
Changes to the way we process information
Changes to our service providers
Legal or regulatory developments
Security or operational requirements

The latest version will be published on this website together with its updated revision date.

Continued use of the website after an updated policy has been published will be subject to the latest version of this Privacy Policy.