Privacy Policy

1. Introduction

Herschell is a brand owned and manufactured by Swift Industrial (Pty) Ltd (“Herschell”, “Swift Industrial”, “we”, “us” or “our”).

We respect your privacy and are committed to processing your personal information lawfully, fairly and transparently. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store, share and protect personal information when you visit the Herschell website, contact us, submit an enquiry, apply to become a distributor or otherwise interact with us.

This policy has been prepared in accordance with the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 (“POPIA”) and other applicable South African laws.

2. Responsible Party

For purposes of POPIA, the responsible party is:

3. Information Officer

Questions or requests concerning personal information may be directed to:

4. Personal Information We Collect

Depending on how you interact with us, we may collect:

• Your name, surname and job title;
• Company or organisation name;
• Email address and telephone number;
• Physical, postal or delivery address;
• Province, country or geographic area;
• Information submitted through contact, enquiry, distributor or support forms;
• Details about the products, services or distribution opportunities that interest you;
• Communications exchanged with us;
• Records of consent and communication preferences;
• Website usage information, including your IP address, browser type, device information, pages visited, referral source and the dates and times of visits;
• Information collected through cookies and similar technologies; and
• Any other information you voluntarily provide to us.

We do not intentionally collect special personal information through the website unless it is necessary, lawful and provided for a specific purpose.

5. How We Collect Personal Information

We may collect personal information:

• Directly from you when you complete a website form, contact us or communicate with our team;
• When you enquire about our products, services, technical support, training or distribution opportunities;
• Automatically through cookies, server logs and website analytics;
• From a business, employer, distributor or representative with whom you are associated;
• From publicly available sources, where lawful; or
• From authorised service providers and business partners.

Where information is not collected directly from you, we will only collect and process it where permitted by law.

6. Why We Process Your Information

We may process personal information to:

• Respond to enquiries and requests;
• Provide product information, technical support and customer service;
• Assess and respond to distributor applications or business proposals;
• Identify suitable retailers, distributors or service points;
• Arrange product training, meetings or demonstrations;
• Manage customer, supplier, distributor and other business relationships;
• Send requested communications and, where permitted, marketing information;
• Improve our website, products, services and customer experience;
• Analyse website traffic and usage;
• Maintain website security and prevent fraud, abuse or unlawful activity;
• Comply with legal, regulatory, contractual and record-keeping obligations;
• Establish, exercise or defend legal rights; and
• Carry out other purposes that are compatible with the purpose for which the information was collected.

7. Lawful Grounds for Processing

We process personal information where:

• You have given your consent;
• Processing is necessary to enter into or perform a contract with you;
• Processing is required to comply with a legal obligation;
• Processing protects your legitimate interests or those of another person;
• Processing is necessary for the proper performance of a public-law duty; or
• Processing is necessary for our legitimate business interests or those of a third party, provided that your rights and interests are not unjustifiably affected.

Where we rely on consent, you may withdraw it at any time. Withdrawal will not affect processing that occurred lawfully before consent was withdrawn.

8. Voluntary and Mandatory Information

Unless indicated otherwise, providing personal information through our website is voluntary.

Certain information may be required for us to respond to an enquiry, assess a distributor application, provide requested support or fulfil a contractual or legal obligation. If you do not provide the required information, we may be unable to process your request or provide the relevant service.

9. Marketing Communications

We may send marketing communications where you have consented to receive them or where otherwise permitted by law.

You may unsubscribe at any time by:

• Using the unsubscribe option included in the communication; or
• Contacting us using the details in this policy.

Opting out of marketing will not prevent us from sending communications that are necessary for an existing business relationship, transaction or service request.

We will not sell your personal information to third parties for their own marketing purposes.

10. Cookies and Website Analytics

Our website may use cookies and similar technologies to:

• Enable essential website functions;
• Remember preferences;
• Maintain website security;
• Understand how visitors use the website;
• Measure website performance; and
• Support advertising or marketing activities, where applicable and permitted.

Essential cookies may operate automatically because they are necessary for the website to function. Where legally required, optional analytics, advertising or similar cookies will only be activated after you have made a selection through our cookie consent tool.

You can manage non-essential cookies through the website’s cookie settings or your browser. Blocking certain cookies may affect how the website functions.

Details of the cookies in use, their providers, purposes and retention periods should be made available through the website’s cookie notice or preference tool.

11. Sharing Personal Information

We may share personal information with:

• Our employees and authorised representatives;
• Affiliated companies where necessary for legitimate business purposes;
• Website hosts, developers and IT support providers;
• Email, customer relationship management, analytics and communication service providers;
• Professional advisers, auditors and insurers;
• Logistics, distribution and other operational service providers;
• Regulators, law-enforcement agencies, courts or government authorities where required by law; and
• A purchaser, successor or relevant adviser in connection with a lawful merger, sale, restructuring or transfer of all or part of our business.

Service providers may only process personal information for authorised purposes and must apply appropriate privacy and security safeguards.

12. Cross-Border Transfers

Some service providers or systems may store or process personal information outside South Africa.

Where personal information is transferred to another country, we will take reasonable steps to ensure that the recipient is subject to a law, binding agreement or corporate rules that provide an adequate level of protection, or that another lawful basis for the transfer exists under POPIA.

13. Information Security

We use reasonable and appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal information against loss, damage, unauthorised destruction, unlawful access, interference, alteration or disclosure.

These measures may include access controls, password protection, security monitoring, staff confidentiality obligations, secure hosting and appropriate agreements with service providers.

No internet-based system is completely secure. Although we take reasonable precautions, we cannot guarantee the absolute security of information transmitted through the website.

Where a security compromise affects your personal information, we will respond and provide notifications as required by applicable law.

14. Retention of Information

We retain personal information only for as long as reasonably necessary to fulfil the purpose for which it was collected, unless:

• A longer period is required or authorised by law;
• Retention is reasonably required for lawful business purposes;
• Retention is required by a contract; or
• You have consented to a longer retention period.

When information is no longer lawfully required, we will securely delete or destroy it, or de-identify it so that it can no longer be linked to you.

15. Accuracy of Information

We take reasonably practicable steps to keep personal information complete, accurate, not misleading and updated where necessary.

Please notify us if your information changes or if you believe that information held by us is inaccurate.

16. Your Rights

Subject to POPIA and any applicable limitations, you may have the right to:

• Ask whether we hold personal information about you;
• Request access to your personal information;
• Request the correction, updating or deletion of inaccurate, irrelevant, excessive, outdated, incomplete, misleading or unlawfully obtained information;
• Object to the processing of your personal information on reasonable grounds;
• Object to direct marketing;
• Withdraw consent where processing is based on consent;
• Request the destruction or deletion of information that we are no longer authorised to retain;
• Request that a decision based solely on automated processing be reconsidered, where applicable; and
• Lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator.

We may need to verify your identity before processing a request. Certain requests may be refused or limited where permitted by law, and we will explain the applicable reason.

Requests may be sent to the Information Officer using the details in section 3.

17. Automated Decision-Making

We do not intend to make decisions that have legal or substantial effects on website users based solely on automated processing.

If this changes, we will provide appropriate information about the processing and safeguards available to affected individuals.

18. Children’s Information

The website is intended for a general and business audience and is not specifically directed at children.

We do not knowingly collect personal information from children without the consent of a competent person or another lawful basis. If you believe that a child has provided personal information to us unlawfully, please contact the Information Officer so that we can investigate and take appropriate action.

19. Third-Party Websites

Our website may contain links to websites, platforms or services operated by third parties. We do not control those third parties and are not responsible for their privacy practices.

You should review the privacy policy of a third-party service before providing personal information to it.

20. Complaints

Please contact our Information Officer first if you have a concern about how we process your personal information. We will attempt to investigate and resolve the concern appropriately.

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the South African Information Regulator:

The Regulator’s contact information may change, and you should consult its official website for the latest details.

21. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy to reflect changes to our website, business practices or legal obligations.

The latest version will be published on this page and identified by its effective date. Material changes may also be communicated through an appropriate notice on the website.

22. Contact Us

For privacy-related questions, requests or objections, please contact: