This policy explains what personal information Utilitech (Pty) Ltd collects when you use this store, why we collect it, who we share it with, and what rights you have over it. It is written to comply with the Protection of Personal Information Act, 2013 (POPIA).
Who we are
Utilitech (Pty) Ltd is the responsible party for the personal information described here.
Unit 1 Knightsgate Industrial, 1 Jonas Road, Germiston, 1400, South Africa
Company registration number CK2017/068019/07
Telephone +27 11 824 2534
Email thomas@ridgidtools.co.za
What we collect
Contact and delivery details — your name, company, email address, telephone number, and billing and delivery addresses.
Order information — what you bought, when, what it cost, and the status of your order.
Payment information — handled by our payment provider, not by us. We receive confirmation that a payment succeeded and the last few digits of the card. We never see or store your full card number.
Customs and export information — for orders leaving South Africa we may need an importer’s tax or VAT number, an import permit, or similar documents required by your country’s customs authority.
Account details — if you create an account, your login credentials and saved addresses.
Technical information — IP address, browser and device type, and how you move around the site.
Correspondence — what you tell us when you email, call or use the contact form.
Why we collect it
To fulfil your order. Processing payment, arranging delivery, clearing goods through customs, and keeping you informed. Without this information we cannot supply you.
To meet our legal obligations. South African tax and customs law requires us to keep invoices and export documentation, generally for five years.
To support you after the sale. Handling warranty claims, service and repair, returns and technical questions.
To run and improve the store. Keeping the site working, preventing fraud, and understanding which products and pages are useful.
To measure our advertising. Understanding whether our ads lead to orders and enquiries, using the Google services described under “Advertising and analytics”.
To send you marketing — only if you have asked us to. Every marketing email carries an unsubscribe link, and unsubscribing does not affect the emails we must send you about your orders.
Who we share it with
We do not sell your personal information. We do not share it with anyone for their own marketing. We share only what is necessary, with:
Shopify, which hosts this store and processes orders on our behalf.
Google, for advertising measurement, remarketing and analytics, as described under “Advertising and analytics”.
Our couriers and freight agents, who need your name, address and telephone number to deliver to you, and who may pass documentation to customs authorities in the destination country.
Our payment provider, which processes your payment directly.
Customs and revenue authorities, where the law of South Africa or of the destination country requires it.
Our accountants and auditors, and our professional advisers where necessary.
RIDGID, where a warranty claim needs to be referred to the manufacturer — and then only the details relevant to the claim.
Information leaving South Africa
Because Shopify and some of our service providers operate outside South Africa, your information may be processed in other countries. Where that happens we rely on the safeguards permitted by section 72 of POPIA, including contractual protections requiring a comparable standard of care. Export orders necessarily involve sending your delivery details to the destination country.
How long we keep it
Order, invoice and export records are kept for at least five years, as tax and customs law requires. Account details are kept while your account is open. Marketing consent is kept until you withdraw it. Enquiries that do not lead to an order are kept for two years so we can pick up the conversation if you come back to us.
Security
We take reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect your information, and our store runs over an encrypted connection. No system is perfectly secure, and we will tell you and the Information Regulator promptly if a breach affects your information, as POPIA requires.
Cookies
This site uses cookies to keep your cart working, to remember your preferences, to understand how the store is used and to measure our advertising (see “Advertising and analytics” below). You can block or delete cookies in your browser, but parts of the store — the cart in particular — will stop working properly if you do.
Advertising and analytics
We advertise on Google and use Google’s tools to understand how the store is used and whether our advertising works. Specifically, we use:
Google Analytics — to see how visitors find and use the store and which pages and products are viewed.
Google Ads conversion tracking — to count when someone who has seen or clicked one of our ads goes on to place an order or send us an enquiry.
Enhanced conversions — to make that count more accurate, as described below.
Remarketing — so that people who have visited the store may be shown our ads on Google and on other sites and apps.
These tools use cookies and similar technologies, and collect the technical information described under “What we collect”.
What we share with Google, and why
When you place an order, we send Google your email address, telephone number, name and address, together with the order number and order value. When you submit a quote request or the contact form, we send your email address and telephone number.
Your email address, telephone number, name and street address are hashed using SHA-256 before they are sent — converted into a fixed code from which the original cannot practically be read. Your town or city, postal code and country, and the order number and value, are sent as they are.
Google compares the hashed information with hashed information it already holds for signed-in Google accounts, so that it can tell us how many orders and enquiries came from our ads. We see totals in our Google Ads reports, not who you are on Google. We use this only to measure how effective our advertising is and to spend our advertising budget sensibly.
Google’s role
Google is an independent company, and the information may be processed outside South Africa. Google publishes which of its advertising services it provides as a service provider processing data on an advertiser’s behalf — including enhanced conversions and Google Analytics — and which it provides as a separate business making its own decisions about the data, including other Google Ads features such as remarketing. You can read:
how Google uses information from sites that use its services, at policies.google.com/technologies/partner-sites;
Google’s information on its advertising services and data protection terms, at business.safety.google/adsservices.
Your choices
Manage or turn off personalised ads from Google at adssettings.google.com.
Where a cookie banner is shown, use it to choose whether to accept analytics and advertising cookies. You can also block or delete cookies in your browser, as described under “Cookies”.
If you object to your information being used to measure our advertising, email thomas@ridgidtools.co.za or call +27 11 824 2534.
Your rights
Under POPIA you may:
ask what personal information we hold about you, and receive a copy;
ask us to correct or delete information that is wrong, misleading or no longer needed;
object to us processing your information in certain circumstances;
withdraw your consent to marketing at any time;
complain to the Information Regulator.
To exercise any of these, email thomas@ridgidtools.co.za or call +27 11 824 2534. We may need to confirm your identity first. We will respond as soon as we reasonably can, and in any event within the period POPIA allows.
Children
This store sells professional equipment and is not intended for children. We do not knowingly collect information about anyone under 18.
Complaints
Please raise any concern with us first — we would rather put it right. If you are not satisfied, you may complain to:
The Information Regulator (South Africa)
JD House, 27 Stiemens Street, Braamfontein, Johannesburg, 2001
Email: complaints.IR@justice.gov.za
Changes to this policy
We may update this policy from time to time. The version published on this page is the one that applies.
Contact us
Utilitech (Pty) Ltd, Unit 1 Knightsgate Industrial, 1 Jonas Road, Germiston, 1400, South Africa
Telephone +27 11 824 2534 · Email sales@ridgidtools.co.za
Office hours 08:00–16:00 Monday to Thursday, 08:00–15:00 Friday
