Pets4Life Academy (Pty) Ltd · Privacy Policy
Last updated: 14 September 2026
1. Who We Are
Pets4Life Academy (Pty) Ltd “Pets4Life Academy”, “we”, “us” is responsible for the personal information we process for our dog-training and Academy services.
This policy covers the Pets4Life Academy Leads app, our training enquiry and lead-management system at dogtraining.pets4life.co.za, our booking and Academy operations system at dogacademy.pets4life.co.za, and communications with our training team, including WhatsApp. It describes enabled services; some integrations may still be in testing.
Privacy contact: info@pets4life.co.za
Business address: 4 Sandpiper Crescent, Okavango Park, Brackenfell, Cape Town, South Africa, 7506
Please address privacy requests to the person responsible for information protection at Pets4Life Academy.
2. Information We Collect
Depending on your interaction with us, we collect:
- Contact details: your name, telephone/WhatsApp number, email address and relevant billing details.
- Enquiry and service information: your questions, requested services, questionnaire answers, booking dates, attendance, package or membership details, invoices, payment amounts, methods, references and payment status.
- Dog and household information: your dog’s name, breed, age, behaviour, training history, vaccination information, care needs and training goals, and relevant household circumstances you choose to share. Dog records can be linked to identifiable owners.
- Communications: messages sent to our business, replies, staff notes, and attachments you provide where received and retained by the service in use. The API integration may initially record media references rather than download the media itself.
- WhatsApp integration information: sender and recipient identifiers, profile names where supplied, message and conversation identifiers, timestamps, delivery/read/failure events, referral information where available, and technical event records used for support and auditing.
- Website activity: visitor/session identifiers, pages visited, enquiry-form submissions, WhatsApp or telephone button clicks, referral pages, landing pages and advertising campaign parameters such as UTM tags and advertising click identifiers. Hosting and security services may also record IP addresses, browser/device information and request logs.
We receive information directly from you, from authorised staff capturing your enquiry or service records, and from services such as Meta/WhatsApp when an integration is enabled. Where another person supplies information on your behalf, they should have your authority to do so.
Please avoid sending unnecessary identity documents, financial credentials, human medical information or personal information about other people. For household questions, general information or age ranges are preferable where sufficient.
3. Why We Use Information
We use information to respond to enquiries, assess training needs, provide safe and appropriate dog care and training, arrange appointments, manage attendance and memberships, issue invoices, record payments, provide client access, communicate service updates, resolve complaints and maintain accurate records.
We also use relevant website and campaign information to understand how enquiries reach us and evaluate our marketing. Clicking a WhatsApp button does not by itself establish that a message was sent. Where possible, we associate a received enquiry with its source; unmatched messages can still be recorded as enquiries.
We process information on an applicable lawful basis under South Africa’s Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA), including your consent where required, taking steps at your request before a service agreement, performing that agreement, complying with legal obligations, and pursuing legitimate interests where lawful and appropriately balanced with your rights. Using our website does not constitute blanket consent to every form of processing.
Providing information is generally voluntary. If necessary contact, booking or safety information is withheld, we may be unable to respond or provide the requested service. Optional marketing choices do not determine whether you can use our services.
4. Linking Training Enquiries And Academy Records
Our dog-training system is the master record for training leads. When an assessment is booked, relevant owner, dog, booking, enquiry-source and history information may be transferred to or linked with the Academy system. Staff may also create an Academy client manually and link an existing lead or create an associated history record.
Telephone numbers are standardised to help match records and avoid duplicates. People sharing a number can be matched incorrectly; please contact us to correct a link. These administrative matching steps do not automatically determine your eligibility for training or the suitability of your dog.
5. Whatsapp And Meta
When you contact our connected business WhatsApp number, relevant messages and event information may be stored in our business systems and linked to your enquiry, client, dog or booking record. We may use WhatsApp to respond and send booking confirmations, reminders, changes, cancellations, client-portal links and relevant invoice notices, subject to applicable messaging requirements.
Connecting our business account does not give us general access to your private WhatsApp conversations with other people or your entire contact list. WhatsApp and Meta separately process information under their own policies:
https://www.whatsapp.com/legal/privacy-policy
https://www.facebook.com/privacy/policy/
If an authorised business administrator uses a Meta connection or login flow, we may receive the account identifiers and basic profile information necessary to authorise that business integration. We do not use this to publish to the administrator’s personal profile.
6. Marketing, Cookies And Website Storage
We distinguish service communications from promotional messages. We will seek consent for electronic direct marketing where required and provide a way to object or opt out. You may request that promotional messages stop by replying STOP or contacting our privacy contact. Necessary service communications may continue through an appropriate channel.
Our websites may use cookies or browser storage for sessions, security, visitor identification and source attribution. Where advertising or analytics tools require consent, they should operate subject to that consent. You can manage cookies through your browser and any site controls provided; blocking essential storage may affect functionality. We do not treat permission to handle an enquiry as permission for unrelated marketing.
7. Sharing And International Processing
Relevant information is accessible to authorised staff and trainers for their work. Service providers may process information for hosting, backups, IT support, communications, accounting and payment services. Meta/WhatsApp processes messaging information when that channel is used. Advertising or analytics providers receive information when the relevant tools are enabled and lawfully used.
We do not sell personal information. We may disclose information where required by law or reasonably necessary for lawful claims, fraud prevention or safety. We seek to limit provider access to what is necessary and use appropriate contractual and security arrangements.
Some providers may process data outside South Africa. Where this occurs, we must use a transfer basis permitted by POPIA, such as adequate protection, appropriate binding arrangements or another applicable lawful exception.
8. Security And Retention
We use reasonable technical and organisational measures appropriate to the information, including access restrictions and security controls. Integration credentials are stored encrypted in the Academy plugin. No system can be guaranteed completely secure. Keep your login details and private client-portal links confidential.
Records are kept for as long as reasonably necessary for the purpose collected, ongoing services, legal recordkeeping, disputes and security. Retention depends on the record type. Enquiry histories, message logs and technical audit records are not necessarily deleted automatically when a conversation ends. We must review retention and delete or de-identify information when continued retention is no longer justified. Backups may persist until their normal replacement cycle, with access restricted.
Where a security compromise requires notification, we will notify the Information Regulator and affected individuals as required by applicable law.
9. Your Rights And Data-Deletion Requests
Subject to applicable law, you may request access to your information; correction of inaccurate information; deletion or destruction of information we are no longer entitled to retain; object to certain processing; withdraw consent where processing relies on it; and stop direct marketing.
To request deletion of information held through the Pets4Life Academy Leads app, WhatsApp integration or our websites, email info@pets4life.co.za with the subject “Personal information deletion request”. Include your name and the phone number or email associated with your records, and describe which information you want deleted. Do not send passwords or access tokens.
We may request proportionate verification to protect your information. We will explain the outcome, including any information that must be retained for legal obligations, claims or another lawful reason. Deletion from our systems does not remove messages from your own device or records independently controlled by Meta or other parties. Removing a Meta connection does not automatically delete previously stored service records; you can request deletion using the process above.
10. Children And Photographs
Our service administration is intended for adults. Where information about a child is necessary, a parent, guardian or other legally competent person should supply or authorise it where required by law. We ask only for information relevant to the service.
Submitting training information or a dog photograph does not automatically grant permission to publish identifiable client or family content for advertising. We will seek appropriate permission for that separate use.
11. Questions, Complaints And Changes
Please contact us using the privacy contact above with any concern. You may also lodge a complaint with South Africa’s Information Regulator:
https://inforegulator.org.za/complaints/
General enquiries: enquiries@inforegulator.org.za
Telephone: 010 023 5200
We may update this policy as our services or practices change. The current version will be available on our websites with its revision date. Where required, we will provide additional notice or obtain fresh consent for a new use.