1. Who We Are

Ricoma South Africa (“Ricoma SA”, “we”, “us”, “our”) is the certified partner and authorised distributor of the Ricoma range of commercial embroidery machines in South Africa, serving clients throughout Sub-Saharan Africa including South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Angola, Mozambique, Zambia, Malawi, Rwanda, Nigeria, and beyond.

2. Scope of This Policy

This Privacy Policy applies to:

• All visitors to and users of the Ricoma South Africa website (www.ricoma.co.za);
• Prospective, current, and past customers who enquire about, purchase, or receive training on Ricoma embroidery machines and related products;
• Any individual or juristic person who submits personal information to Ricoma South Africa via any channel, including email, telephone, web forms, or in person.

This Policy does not apply to third-party websites that may be linked from our website. We encourage you to review the privacy policies of any third-party sites you visit.

3. What Is Personal Information?

Under POPIA, “personal information” means any information relating to an identifiable, living, natural person or an existing juristic person. This includes, but is not limited to:

• Full name, identity number, and date of birth;
• Contact details: email address, telephone number, postal and physical address;
• Company name, registration number, VAT number (for business customers);
• Financial information required for invoicing and payment processing;
• Technical information such as IP address, browser type, and website usage data collected via cookies;
• Correspondence records: enquiries, support tickets, and training requests;
• Purchase history and machine specifications relevant to your account.

4. Information We Collect and How We Collect It

4.1 Information You Provide Directly

We collect personal information that you voluntarily provide when you:

• Complete and submit an enquiry, contact, or quotation request form on our website;
• Place an order for a machine or accessories;
• Register for a training session or workshop;
• Contact us by email, telephone, or in person;
• Participate in surveys, promotions, or competitions.

4.2 Information Collected Automatically

When you visit our website, we may automatically collect certain technical information, including:

• IP address and approximate geographic location;
• Browser type, version, and operating system;
• Pages viewed, time spent on pages, and referring URLs;
• Cookie identifiers and session data (see Section 10 on Cookies).

4.3 Information from Third Parties

We may receive personal information from third parties such as payment processors, logistics or courier partners, and Ricoma’s international head office where relevant to fulfilling your order or service request. Any such information is handled in accordance with this Policy.

5. Why We Process Your Personal Information

Ricoma South Africa processes personal information only for specific, lawful purposes. These include:

• Sales & Fulfilment: Processing and fulfilling orders for embroidery machines, accessories, and software;
• Customer Support: Responding to customer enquiries, providing quotations, and offering post-sales technical support;
• Training: Scheduling, confirming, and delivering machine training and demonstration sessions;
• Billing: Sending invoices, processing payments, and maintaining financial records as required by South African law;
• Service Communications: Sending service-related updates and communications relevant to your purchase or enquiry;
• Website Improvement: Improving the functionality and content of our website based on usage analytics;
• Legal Compliance: Complying with our legal obligations under South African law, including POPIA, the Consumer Protection Act (CPA), the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act (ECTA), and tax legislation;
• Warranty & Service: Managing warranty claims, service records, and machine registration data;
• Dealer Relations: Maintaining records and managing our relationship with authorised dealers and resellers in Sub-Saharan Africa.

6. Lawful Basis for Processing

We rely on one or more of the following lawful grounds to process your personal information, as provided for under POPIA:

• Consent — where you have given us specific, voluntary, and informed consent;
• Contractual necessity — where processing is necessary to perform a contract with you (e.g., fulfilling an order);
• Legal obligation — where processing is required to comply with applicable South African legislation;
• Legitimate interests — where processing is necessary for our legitimate business interests and these interests do not override your fundamental rights (e.g., internal analytics and fraud prevention).

7. Sharing Your Personal Information

We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal information to third parties. We may share your information only in the following circumstances:

7.1 Service Providers and Operators

We may share your information with trusted third-party service providers who assist us in operating our business, including:

• Payment gateway and banking partners for processing transactions;
• Courier and logistics companies for delivering machines and accessories;
• IT service providers, website hosting, and cloud storage vendors.

All such third parties are required, by written agreement or binding obligation, to process your personal information only on our instructions and to maintain appropriate security measures equivalent to those required under POPIA.

7.2 Ricoma International

As the South African authorised distributor of Ricoma machines, we may share limited personal information (such as machine serial numbers and contact details) with Ricoma’s international head office for purposes of warranty registration, product support, and compliance with our distributor agreement. Where such sharing involves cross-border transfer, it is done in accordance with Section 8 of this Policy.

7.3 Legal Requirements

We may disclose your personal information where we are required to do so by law, court order, regulatory authority, or to protect the rights, property, or safety of Ricoma South Africa, our customers, or the public.

7.4 Business Transfers

In the event of a merger, acquisition, or sale of business assets, personal information we hold may be transferred to the acquiring party, subject to equivalent privacy protections.

8. Cross-Border Transfers of Personal Information

Ricoma South Africa serves clients across Sub-Saharan Africa. Where we transfer personal information outside the borders of the Republic of South Africa, we will only do so if:

• The recipient country or organisation is subject to a law, binding corporate rule, or agreement that provides a level of protection substantially equivalent to POPIA;
• You have consented to the transfer;
• The transfer is necessary for the performance or conclusion of a contract in your interests;
• The transfer is for your benefit and it is not reasonably practicable to obtain your consent, and if it were, you would likely consent.

We take reasonable steps to ensure that cross-border transfers comply with Section 72 of POPIA and that your personal information remains protected to the standards required by South African law.

9. How Long We Keep Your Personal Information

We retain personal information only for as long as is necessary to fulfil the purposes for which it was collected, or as required by law. Specific retention periods include:

• Customer transaction records: 5 years from the date of the transaction (in accordance with the South African Companies Act and SARS requirements);
• Warranty and machine service records: for the duration of the warranty period plus 2 years;
• Website analytics data: up to 24 months on a rolling basis;
• Enquiry and correspondence records: 3 years from last contact.

When personal information is no longer required, we will securely destroy, delete, or de-identify it in accordance with POPIA.

10. Cookies and Website Tracking

Our website uses cookies and similar tracking technologies to improve your browsing experience and analyse website usage. Cookies are small text files stored on your device.

Types of cookies we use:

• Essential / functional cookies: necessary for the website to operate correctly (e.g., session management);
• Analytics cookies: used to understand how visitors interact with our website (e.g., pages visited, time on site). We may use tools such as Google Analytics for this purpose.

You may withdraw your consent to non-essential cookies at any time by adjusting your browser settings. Please note that disabling certain cookies may affect the functionality of our website.

11. How We Protect Your Personal Information

Ricoma South Africa implements reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect your personal information against loss, unauthorised access, disclosure, alteration, or destruction. These measures include:

• Secure, encrypted connections (HTTPS/TLS) for data transmission on our website;
• Access controls restricting personal data to authorised personnel only;
• Secure storage of records, both digitally and in hard copy where applicable;
• Regular review of our information security practices.

While we take all reasonable precautions, no method of transmission over the internet or electronic storage is entirely secure. In the event of a security compromise that is likely to affect your rights and interests, we will notify you and the South African Information Regulator in accordance with Section 22 of POPIA.

12. Your Rights Under POPIA

As a data subject under POPIA, you have the following rights regarding your personal information:

• Right to be notified: You have the right to be informed when your personal information is being collected, and the purpose for which it is collected.
• Right of access: You may request confirmation of whether we hold your personal information and request a copy thereof (subject to applicable exemptions).
• Right to rectification: You may request that we correct or update inaccurate or incomplete personal information.
• Right to erasure / deletion: You may request the deletion of your personal information where it is no longer necessary for the purpose collected, subject to our legal obligations.
• Right to object: You have the right to object to the processing of your personal information, in particular for direct marketing purposes.
• Right to withdraw consent: Where processing is based on your consent, you may withdraw that consent at any time without affecting the lawfulness of processing prior to withdrawal.
• Right to lodge a complaint: You have the right to lodge a complaint with the South African Information Regulator if you believe your personal information has been processed in violation of POPIA.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at info@ricoma.co.za. We will respond to your request within a reasonable timeframe and in accordance with POPIA.

13. Direct Marketing

We may send you service-related communications relevant to your purchase or enquiry. You may opt out of receiving any such communications at any time by:

• Clicking the “unsubscribe” link in any email we send you;
• Contacting us directly at info@ricoma.co.za.

Opting out will not affect transactional communications related to your purchases or service requests.

14. Contact Us and How to Lodge a Complaint

14.1 Contact Us

For all POPIA-related queries, requests to exercise your data subject rights, or to report a privacy concern, please contact us at: info@ricoma.co.za

14.2 South African Information Regulator

If you are not satisfied with our response or believe that your rights under POPIA have been infringed, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the South African Information Regulator:

15. Children’s Personal Information

Our website and services are intended for adults and business operators. We do not knowingly collect personal information from persons under the age of 18. If you believe a minor has submitted personal information to us, please contact us immediately at info@ricoma.co.za and we will take appropriate steps to delete that information.

16. Links to Third-Party Websites

Our website may contain links to external websites operated by third parties, including Ricoma’s international website and social media platforms. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of those websites and encourage you to review their respective privacy policies before submitting any personal information.

17. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, legal obligations, or operational requirements. The updated policy will be posted on our website with a revised “Effective Date.” Where changes are material, we will take reasonable steps to notify you by email or a prominent notice on our website.

Continued use of our website or services after the updated policy has been posted constitutes your acknowledgement of the updated terms.

18. Governing Law

This Privacy Policy is governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the Republic of South Africa, including the Protection of Personal Information Act, 4 of 2013 (POPIA), the Consumer Protection Act, 68 of 2008 (CPA), and the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act, 25 of 2002 (ECTA).