Privacy policy

This Privacy Policy explains how National Stainless Steel Centre (Pty) Ltd (“NSSC”, “we”, “us”) collects, uses, shares and protects your personal information when you visit or buy from our online shop at shop.nssc.co.za (the “Site”). We process personal information in line with the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 (POPIA).

Who is responsible for your information

NSSC is the responsible party for personal information collected through the Site:

National Stainless Steel Centre (Pty) Ltd
Cnr Pomona Road & 5th Avenue, Bredell, Kempton Park, Gauteng, 1619, South Africa
Email: online-shop@nssc.co.za
Phone: +27 11 552 8800

Questions, requests and complaints about privacy can be sent to our Information Officer at online-shop@nssc.co.za (subject line: “Privacy – Information Officer”) or by post to the address above.

What we collect

• Order and account information – your name, email address, phone number, billing and delivery addresses, the products you buy, order history, and your account login if you create one.
• Payment information – payments are processed by our payment provider, Paystack. We do not see or store your full card details; we receive confirmation of payment and limited details such as the payment method and the last digits of a card.
• Customer support information – what you tell us when you contact us by email, phone, the contact form, live chat or WhatsApp, and our replies.
• Device and usage information – collected automatically through cookies and similar technologies: your IP address, browser and device type, time zone, pages and products viewed, search terms, how you arrived at the Site, and how you use it.
• Marketing preferences – whether you have subscribed to our emails or SMS messages, and how you interact with them.

We collect this information directly from you, automatically when you use the Site, and from our service providers (for example, delivery status updates from our courier).

How and why we use it

• To process, deliver and support your orders, including collections, returns and refunds – necessary to perform our contract with you.
• To communicate with you about your orders and enquiries – necessary to perform our contract and to respond to you.
• To prevent fraud and keep the Site and payments secure – our legitimate interest and legal obligations.
• To keep accounting, tax and VAT records – required by law.
• To understand how the Site is used and improve it – our legitimate interest.
• To send you news and offers by email or SMS – only with your consent, or where you are an existing customer and have not opted out, as permitted by section 69 of POPIA.
• To show you relevant NSSC adverts on other websites and social media – our legitimate interest, subject to your cookie choices and the opt-outs below.

We do not sell your personal information.

Who we share it with

We share personal information only with service providers that help us run the shop, and only as much as they need:

• Shopify – our e-commerce platform, which hosts the Site, checkout and order data. Shopify’s privacy policy.
• Paystack – payment processing. Paystack’s privacy policy.
• The Courier Guy – delivery of your orders (your name, phone number and delivery address).
• Omnisend – sending our marketing emails and SMS messages to subscribers. Omnisend’s privacy policy.
• Google – website analytics and advertising (Google Tag Manager, Google Analytics, and our Google & YouTube sales channel). Google’s privacy policy.
• Meta – advertising and our Facebook & Instagram sales channel, and WhatsApp if you message us there. Meta’s privacy policy.

We may also disclose personal information where the law requires it, to respond to a lawful request from a court or authority, or to protect our rights, our customers or the public.

Information sent outside South Africa

Some of our service providers, including Shopify, Google, Meta and Omnisend, store or process information outside South Africa, for example in Canada, the United States, Ireland and other countries in the European Union. Where this happens, we rely on providers that are bound by data protection laws, binding agreements or corporate rules that give your information a level of protection substantially similar to POPIA, as required by section 72 of POPIA.

Direct marketing

We only send you marketing emails or SMS messages if you have agreed to receive them or if you are an existing customer who has not opted out. Every marketing message includes a way to unsubscribe, and you can also ask us to stop at any time by emailing online-shop@nssc.co.za. Opting out of marketing does not affect messages about your orders.

Cookies and similar technologies

A cookie is a small file stored on your device when you visit a website. We use:

• Necessary cookies – to run the shop, cart, checkout and your account, and to remember your privacy choices. The Site cannot work properly without these.
• Analytics cookies – from Shopify and Google, to understand how visitors use the Site so we can improve it.
• Advertising cookies – from Google and Meta, to measure our adverts and show relevant NSSC adverts on other websites and social media.

Shopify publishes the current list of cookies it sets on online stores at shopify.com/legal/cookies. Most cookies expire between 30 minutes and two years after they are set.

You can block or delete cookies in your browser settings (see allaboutcookies.org for help). Blocking necessary cookies may stop parts of the Site, such as the cart and checkout, from working. Because there is no agreed industry standard for “Do Not Track” browser signals, the Site does not change its behaviour when it receives one.

To opt out of personalised advertising you can use:

• Google: adssettings.google.com, and the Google Analytics opt-out add-on
• Meta (Facebook and Instagram): in the Facebook or Instagram app, go to Settings → Accounts Centre → Ad preferences

How long we keep it

We keep personal information only for as long as we need it for the purposes above. Order, invoice and payment records are kept for at least five years, as required by South African tax law. Marketing data is kept until you unsubscribe or ask us to delete it. Support messages are kept for as long as needed to resolve your query and handle any follow-up. After that, information is deleted or de-identified.

How we protect it

We take reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect your personal information against loss, misuse and unauthorised access. Checkout and payment pages are encrypted, card payments are handled by Paystack, and access to customer information is limited to staff and service providers who need it. If we believe your personal information has been accessed without authorisation, we will notify you and the Information Regulator as required by POPIA.

Your rights

Under POPIA you have the right to:

• ask whether we hold personal information about you, and request a copy of it;
• ask us to correct, update or delete information that is inaccurate, out of date, incomplete or that we are no longer allowed to keep;
• object to us processing your information for legitimate-interest purposes, and to direct marketing at any time;
• withdraw your consent where we rely on it, without affecting processing that took place before; and
• lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator.

To exercise any of these rights, email online-shop@nssc.co.za. We may need to verify your identity before acting on a request, and we will respond within a reasonable time.

Children

The Site is intended for adults. We do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 18. If you are a parent or guardian and believe your child has given us personal information, please contact us and we will delete it.

Complaints

If you have a concern about how we handle your personal information, please contact our Information Officer first using the details above so we can try to resolve it. If you are not satisfied with our response, you may complain to the Information Regulator (South Africa):

Woodmead North Office Park, 54 Maxwell Drive, Woodmead, Johannesburg, 2191
Complaints: POPIAComplaints@inforegulator.org.za
General enquiries: enquiries@inforegulator.org.za · 010 023 5200
Website: inforegulator.org.za

Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes to our practices or for legal or regulatory reasons. The latest version is always available on this page, with the date it was last updated.

Last updated: 7 October 2026