Privacy Policy

1. Who we are

SalonHub (“SalonHub”, “we”, “us”, or “our”) operates the website salonhub.co.za and the associated booking management platform. We are a South African software company providing online booking and salon management services.

We are committed to protecting your personal information in accordance with the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 (POPIA) and all applicable South African privacy legislation.

2. Information we collect

We collect information in two ways: from salon owners who register for the platform, and from clients who make bookings through a salon’s booking page.

2.1 Salon owners & staff

• Full name and email address
• Salon name, address and contact number
• Password (stored as a bcrypt hash — never in plain text)
• Billing information processed through PayFast (we do not store card details)
• Usage data: login times, bookings created, pages visited

2.2 Clients (end-customers of salons)

• Full name, mobile number and email address provided at booking
• Appointment history and service preferences
• Notes added by the salon (e.g. allergy information, colour formulas)

2.3 Automatically collected data

• IP address and browser/device type
• Pages visited and time spent on the platform
• WhatsApp and SMS delivery status via third-party providers

3. How we use your information

• To provide and operate the SalonHub platform
• To send appointment confirmations and WhatsApp/SMS reminders on behalf of salons
• To process subscription payments via PayFast
• To send important platform updates and account notifications
• To generate analytics that help salon owners understand their business
• To comply with legal obligations under South African law

We do not sell, rent or share your personal information with third parties for marketing purposes.

4. Third-party services

We use the following third-party services to operate SalonHub. Each has its own privacy policy:

• Google Cloud Platform (GCP) — Cloud hosting and infrastructure, located in Johannesburg (africa-south1)
• Meta (WhatsApp Business API) — Appointment notifications sent via WhatsApp
• Twilio — SMS fallback notifications
• PayFast — Subscription payment processing (PayFast is PCI DSS compliant)

5. Data storage & security

All data is stored on Google Cloud Platform in Johannesburg, South Africa. We use industry-standard security measures including:

• TLS/HTTPS encryption for all data in transit
• Encrypted database storage at rest
• BCrypt password hashing
• JWT-based authentication with 24-hour token expiry
• Secrets managed via Google Cloud Secret Manager

No system is 100% secure. In the event of a data breach, we will notify affected parties within the timeframes required by POPIA.

6. Data retention

We retain personal information for as long as your account is active. If you cancel your subscription:

• Your account data is retained for 30 days to allow reactivation
• After 30 days, all personal data is permanently deleted unless required by law
• Anonymised analytics data may be retained indefinitely

7. Your rights under POPIA

As a data subject under POPIA, you have the right to:

• Access — request a copy of the personal information we hold about you
• Correction — request correction of inaccurate or incomplete information
• Deletion — request deletion of your personal information
• Objection — object to the processing of your personal information
• Complaint — lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator of South Africa

To exercise any of these rights, email us at privacy@salonhub.co.za.

8. Cookies

SalonHub uses minimal cookies: a session cookie for authentication and a preference cookie. We do not use third-party tracking or advertising cookies. You may disable cookies in your browser settings, though this may affect platform functionality.

9. Children’s privacy

SalonHub is not directed at children under the age of 18. We do not knowingly collect personal information from minors.

10. Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of material changes via email or a prominent notice on the platform at least 14 days before the change takes effect. Your continued use of SalonHub after the effective date constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

11. Contact us

For privacy-related queries or to exercise your POPIA rights: