Privacy Policy
Who We Are
Silk Lab is a web design and development studio based in Cape Town, South Africa. Silk Lab operates the website at silklab.co.za and provides custom web design, development, and related digital services to clients.
For the purposes of the Protection of Personal Information Act, 4 of 2013 (POPIA), Silk Lab is the Responsible Party in respect of the personal information collected and processed in connection with this website and its services.
Information Collected
Silk Lab collects personal information only when you actively provide it. This includes:
Contact and enquiry information
- Your name and email address when you submit a contact form
- Your phone number or business name if you choose to include them
- The content of messages or enquiries you send
- Replies to email correspondence you initiate
Project-related information
- Business details, content, and assets provided during a project engagement
- Invoicing details where required to process payment
Silk Lab does not collect sensitive personal information as defined under POPIA, and does not process the personal information of children.
How Your Information Is Used
Personal information collected by Silk Lab is used for the following purposes:
- To respond to enquiries and provide the information or quotation requested
- To deliver agreed services and manage the working relationship
- To issue invoices and process payments
- To fulfil any legal or regulatory obligations that apply
Personal information is not used for unsolicited marketing. If Silk Lab wishes to make contact about related services in the future, this will only happen with your explicit consent.
Legal Basis for Processing
Under POPIA, personal information is processed on the following grounds:
Consent
When you submit a contact form or send an email to Silk Lab, you are consenting to that information being used to respond to your enquiry. Consent may be withdrawn at any time by contacting Silk Lab at the address in section 12.
Performance of a contract
Where you engage Silk Lab for services, personal information is processed as necessary to perform the agreed work, including communication, delivery, and invoicing.
Storage and Security
Personal information provided to Silk Lab is held in email correspondence and project files managed through Silk Lab's email platform and standard file storage on Silk Lab devices. Each platform used operates its own security controls and infrastructure, and their respective privacy policies apply to the data they handle.
Email communications travel over standard internet infrastructure. No transmission over the internet can be guaranteed to be completely secure. Silk Lab takes reasonable care with the accounts and devices it directly controls.
Sharing Your Information
Silk Lab does not sell, rent, or trade personal information to any third party.
In the course of delivering services, personal information may be processed by the following categories of third-party service providers:
- Email service providers used to route and deliver transactional emails
- Hosting and infrastructure providers on whose servers this website and associated services run
- Payment processing platforms where invoices are issued or payments collected
These providers are engaged only to the extent necessary to deliver the service and are required to handle personal information in accordance with applicable data protection law.
Personal information may be disclosed where required to do so by law, by court order, or to cooperate with a lawful government or regulatory request.
Data Retention
Silk Lab retains personal information for as long as is reasonably necessary for the purposes for which it was collected:
- Enquiry correspondence: retained in the normal course of email correspondence management for as long as is relevant to the business relationship
- Client project records: retained for a minimum of 5 years after project completion for record-keeping and legal compliance purposes
- Invoicing and financial records: retained for a minimum of 5 years as required by South African financial record-keeping obligations
Your Rights Under POPIA
As a data subject under the Protection of Personal Information Act, you have the following rights in relation to your personal information:
Right of access
You may request confirmation of whether Silk Lab holds personal information about you and, if so, access to that information.
Right to correction
You may request that Silk Lab correct inaccurate or incomplete personal information held about you.
Right to deletion
You may request that Silk Lab delete your personal information where it is no longer necessary for the purpose for which it was collected, or where you have withdrawn consent and no other legal basis applies.
Right to object
You may object to the processing of your personal information on grounds of legitimate interest. Silk Lab will consider your objection and cease processing unless compelling legitimate grounds that override your rights can be demonstrated.
Right to complain
If you believe your personal information has been processed in violation of POPIA, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator of South Africa. Contact details for the Information Regulator are available at www.justice.gov.za/inforeg.
To exercise any of the above rights, please contact Silk Lab using the details in section 12.
Cookies
The Silk Lab website does not use cookies for tracking or analytics purposes. No third-party tracking scripts or advertising networks are active on this site.
Standard browser behaviour may result in temporary session data being stored locally by your browser, but Silk Lab does not control or access this data.
Third-Party Links
This website may contain links to external websites operated by third parties. Silk Lab is not responsible for the privacy practices or content of those sites. Reviewing the privacy policies of any external sites you visit is recommended.
Changes to This Policy
Silk Lab may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in practices or applicable law. The date at the top of this page will be updated whenever changes are made. Periodic review of this policy is encouraged.
Continued use of the silklab.co.za website after any changes to this policy constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.
Contact and Complaints
For questions about this Privacy Policy, to exercise your rights under POPIA, or to raise a concern about how your personal information is handled:
Silk Lab will respond to all privacy-related requests within a reasonable time and in accordance with its obligations under POPIA.