Privacy Policy

Last updated: 18 June 2026

Shofar Books respects your privacy and is committed to protecting personal information in accordance with the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013, commonly known as POPIA, and other applicable South African laws.

This Privacy Policy explains what personal information we collect, why we collect it, how it may be used and shared, and the rights available to you.

1. Who we are

Shofar Books is an independent South African publishing house and online bookstore.

For purposes of POPIA, Shofar Books is the responsible party for personal information processed through this website and in connection with its publishing, sales, marketing and customer-support activities.

Physical address:
Shofar Books
3 Grove Street
Oakdene
Kuils River
Cape Town
South Africa

Privacy and POPIA enquiries:
info@shofarbooks.co.za

2. Scope of this policy

This policy applies when you:

• Browse or use our website.
• Create or manage a customer account.
• Purchase a printed book, e-book or other product.
• Contact us about an order, delivery, refund or payment.
• Submit a publishing enquiry or request a quotation.
• Submit a manuscript or other publishing material.
• Apply for or purchase publishing services.
• Subscribe to our newsletter or marketing communications.
• Participate in an event, promotion, competition, workshop or literary initiative.
• Communicate with us by email, telephone, WhatsApp, social media or an online form.
• Appear on our website as an author, contributor, supplier or business partner.

3. Personal information we may collect

Depending on how you interact with Shofar Books, we may collect the following information:

Identity and contact information

This may include:

• Your name and surname.
• Email address.
• Telephone or WhatsApp number.
• Billing and delivery address.
• Country or region.
• Business or organisation name.
• Communication preferences.

Account information

When you create a website account, we may process:

• Your username.
• Your encrypted password.
• Your account preferences.
• Saved billing and delivery details.
• Previous orders, downloads and account activity.

You are responsible for keeping your login details confidential.

Order and transaction information

When you place an order, we may process:

• Products ordered.
• Order value.
• Billing and delivery details.
• Payment status.
• Transaction references.
• Delivery, collection and tracking information.
• Refund, exchange and customer-support records.
• E-book download history where applicable.

Payments may be processed by an independent payment gateway. Shofar Books does not ordinarily receive or store your complete card or online banking credentials. We may receive confirmation that payment was successful, unsuccessful, reversed or refunded, together with a transaction reference.

Publishing and manuscript information

When you submit a manuscript or request publishing services, we may collect:

• Your manuscript or sample chapters.
• Your biography or author profile.
• Your photograph or headshot.
• Your address and contact details.
• Your publishing objectives and service requirements.
• Quotations, contracts, invoices and payment records.
• Editing, design, production and printing instructions.
• ISBN, distribution and publication information.
• Correspondence and approval records relating to your book.
• Information about contributors, illustrators, editors or other parties involved in the project.

Manuscripts may sometimes contain personal information about the author or other people. Authors should avoid including unnecessary private information about third parties and should ensure that they have the necessary authority to provide any personal information contained in submitted material.

Public author and book information

Where an author has entered into a publishing, listing, distribution or promotional arrangement with Shofar Books, we may publish agreed information such as:

• The author’s name.
• Author photograph.
• Biography.
• Book title, cover and description.
• Social-media or website links.
• Public awards, achievements or event information.

Information intended for an author profile, book listing, press release or promotional campaign will be publicly accessible.

Enquiry and communication information

When you contact us, we may collect:

• The information entered into an enquiry form.
• Copies of emails, messages and correspondence.
• Details of the enquiry, complaint or request.
• Attachments, images or documents supplied by you.
• Notes required to respond to or manage the matter.

Newsletter and marketing information

When you subscribe for updates, we may collect:

• Your name.
• Email address.
• Subscription date and consent record.
• Email engagement information, such as whether an email was delivered, opened or selected.
• Your communication preferences.

Technical and website information

When you use the website, certain technical information may be collected automatically, including:

• IP address.
• Browser type and version.
• Device type.
• Operating system.
• Referring page.
• Pages visited.
• Approximate location derived from an IP address.
• Date and time of access.
• Website errors, security events and activity logs.
• Cookie and session identifiers.

This information helps us operate, secure, maintain and improve the website.

4. How we collect personal information

We generally collect information directly from you when you:

• Complete a form.
• Create an account.
• Place an order.
• Contact us.
• Submit a manuscript.
• Sign a publishing agreement.
• Subscribe to communications.
• Attend or enter a Shofar Books event or initiative.

We may also receive information from:

• Payment providers.
• Delivery and courier services.
• Authors, publishers, distributors or booksellers.
• Event organisers and business partners.
• Publicly available sources.
• Social-media platforms where you communicate with us.
• Service providers acting on our behalf.

Where information is not collected directly from you, we will process it only where legally permitted and reasonably necessary.

5. Why we process personal information

We may process personal information to:

• Create and administer customer accounts.
• Accept, process and deliver orders.
• Provide access to purchased e-books.
• Process payments, cancellations, returns and refunds.
• Communicate about orders and deliveries.
• Respond to enquiries, complaints and support requests.
• Assess manuscripts and publishing enquiries.
• Prepare publishing quotations and agreements.
• Provide editing, design, printing, publishing and distribution services.
• Create author pages and book listings.
• Promote authors, books, events and publishing opportunities.
• Send newsletters where permitted.
• Prevent fraud, misuse, unauthorised downloads and security threats.
• Maintain accounting, tax and business records.
• Enforce contractual rights.
• Comply with legal and regulatory obligations.
• Improve our website, services and customer experience.
• Establish, exercise or defend legal claims.

6. Lawful processing

Shofar Books processes personal information only where there is a lawful justification, including where:

• You have given consent.
• Processing is necessary to perform or enter into a contract with you.
• Processing is required by law.
• Processing protects your legitimate interests.
• Processing protects the legitimate interests of Shofar Books or a third party, provided those interests do not unjustifiably prejudice your privacy rights.

You may withdraw consent where processing is based on consent. Withdrawal does not affect processing that occurred lawfully before consent was withdrawn.

7. Mandatory and voluntary information

Most personal information is provided voluntarily.

However, certain information is required to:

• Complete and deliver an order.
• Process payment.
• Create an account.
• Provide publishing services.
• Assess or respond to an enquiry.
• Meet legal, accounting or contractual requirements.

Where required information is not supplied, we may be unable to process an order, provide a service, enter into an agreement or respond fully to a request.

Newsletter subscription and promotional consent are voluntary and are not required to purchase a product or use our publishing services.

8. Sharing personal information

We may share personal information with trusted parties where reasonably necessary, including:

• Staff and authorised contractors.
• Website hosting and technical-support providers.
• Payment gateways and financial institutions.
• Couriers, delivery companies and collection services.
• Printers, designers, editors and production partners.
• Booksellers, distributors and publishing partners.
• Newsletter and email-delivery providers.
• Accountants, auditors and professional advisers.
• Fraud-prevention and cybersecurity providers.
• Government departments, courts, regulators or law-enforcement authorities where legally required.
• A buyer, successor or business partner in connection with a lawful business restructuring or transfer.

These parties may process information only for the services they provide or as permitted by law.

Shofar Books does not sell personal information to third parties.

9. Delivery information

Where a physical order must be delivered, we may provide the courier or delivery service with information reasonably required to complete the delivery, such as:

• Recipient name.
• Delivery address.
• Contact number.
• Order or tracking reference.
• Delivery instructions.

Delivery providers may process this information under their own privacy and operational requirements.

10. Payments

Online payments are handled through third-party payment providers.

Payment providers may collect information such as card details, bank information, identity information, device information and fraud-prevention data directly from you.

Their processing is governed by their own privacy and security terms. Shofar Books generally receives transaction confirmation and reference information rather than full payment credentials.

11. Direct marketing and newsletters

We may send newsletters and promotional communications where:

• You have consented to receive them.
• You are an existing customer and the communication concerns Shofar Books’ own similar products or services, where permitted by law.
• Another lawful basis allows the communication.

Marketing messages will identify Shofar Books and provide a reasonable method of unsubscribing.

You may unsubscribe at any time by:

• Using the unsubscribe option in the message.
• Contacting info@shofarbooks.co.za.
• Asking us to stop marketing communications.

Unsubscribing from marketing does not prevent us from sending transactional communications relating to an order, account, publishing project or other active business relationship.

12. Cookies

Cookies are small data files stored on your device when you use a website.

Our website may use:

Necessary cookies

These support essential website functions such as:

• Maintaining a shopping cart.
• Processing checkout steps.
• Keeping a user logged in.
• Managing security.
• Remembering cookie preferences.
• Providing access to account and download functions.

The website may not operate correctly if necessary cookies are disabled.

Functional cookies

These may remember preferences and improve website usability.

Analytics cookies or similar technologies

These may help us understand website traffic, popular pages, device categories and website performance.

Where non-essential cookies require consent, they will be used in accordance with the consent choices made available on the website.

You can also manage cookies through your browser settings. Blocking some cookies may affect website functionality.

13. Website analytics and activity records

We may analyse website activity to understand how the site is used and to identify technical, usability and security problems.

Analytics information may include page views, device categories, referral sources, approximate location, downloads, outbound links and website errors.

Where reasonably possible, reporting is aggregated or de-identified.

14. Comments, reviews and public submissions

Where comments, reviews or public submissions are enabled, information you choose to publish may become visible to other website visitors.

We may process:

• Your display name.
• Review or comment content.
• Submission date.
• Email address.
• IP address and technical information used for moderation and spam prevention.

We may remove content that is unlawful, abusive, misleading, defamatory, infringing or unrelated to the relevant product or discussion.

Do not include private or sensitive information in a public comment or review.

15. Social media and external links

Our website may include links to social-media platforms, author websites, newsletter pages or other external services.

Selecting an external link may allow that service to collect information about your visit. External websites operate under their own privacy policies, and Shofar Books is not responsible for their independent privacy practices.

16. Embedded content

Pages may contain embedded content such as videos, maps, social-media posts or external forms.

Embedded content may behave as though you visited the external provider directly. The provider may collect technical information, use cookies or track interaction with that content in accordance with its own privacy terms.

17. International transfers

Some service providers, hosting infrastructure, email systems, cloud-storage services or business partners may be located outside South Africa.

Where personal information is transferred internationally, Shofar Books will take reasonable steps to ensure that the transfer is permitted under POPIA and that appropriate safeguards are in place.

18. Information security

Shofar Books takes reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect personal information against:

• Loss or damage.
• Unauthorised access.
• Unlawful processing.
• Accidental disclosure.
• Destruction or alteration.
• Cybersecurity threats.

Measures may include controlled access, passwords, encryption where appropriate, security software, backups, website monitoring and restrictions on staff or service-provider access.

No electronic system can be guaranteed to be completely secure. Customers should use strong passwords, protect their account credentials and notify us promptly of suspected unauthorised account activity.

Where a security compromise creates a legal notification obligation, Shofar Books will notify the Information Regulator and affected persons as required by law.

19. Retention of personal information

We retain personal information only for as long as reasonably necessary to:

• Complete the purpose for which it was collected.
• Perform a contract.
• Maintain order and publishing records.
• Comply with tax, accounting and other legal requirements.
• Resolve disputes.
• Prevent fraud or abuse.
• Establish, exercise or defend legal claims.

Retention periods may differ depending on the type of information and the applicable legal or business requirement.

When personal information is no longer required or authorised to be retained, it will be deleted, destroyed or de-identified where reasonably practicable.

20. Children’s personal information

The website is intended primarily for adults.

We do not knowingly collect or process personal information from a child without the consent of a parent, guardian or other competent person, unless another lawful basis applies.

Where a child is involved in a publishing project, author profile, competition, event or other Shofar Books initiative, we may require proof of authority and consent from the child’s parent or guardian.

21. Special personal information

We do not ordinarily request special personal information such as health information, religious beliefs, race, political views, biometric information or criminal information unless it is relevant and lawful to process it.

Manuscripts, biographies and publishing material may contain information of this nature. Where it is voluntarily supplied, we will process it only for an appropriate publishing, contractual or legal purpose and with suitable safeguards.

22. Your rights

Subject to POPIA and other applicable laws, you may have the right to:

• Ask whether we hold personal information about you.
• Request access to your personal information.
• Ask us to correct inaccurate, incomplete or outdated information.
• Request deletion or destruction of information that we are no longer authorised to retain.
• Object to certain processing.
• Withdraw consent where processing depends on consent.
• Object to direct marketing.
• Request that processing be restricted in appropriate circumstances.
• Lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator.

We may require reasonable proof of identity before processing a privacy request.

Certain requests may be limited where information must be retained by law, is subject to confidentiality or legal privilege, concerns another person, or is required for an existing legal or contractual matter.

23. How to make a privacy request

Privacy requests may be sent to:

Information Officer
Shofar Books
3 Grove Street
Oakdene
Kuils River
Cape Town
South Africa

Email: info@shofarbooks.co.za

Please clearly describe:

• The information or account concerned.
• The action you are requesting.
• Your contact details.
• Any information reasonably required to verify your identity.

We will respond within a reasonable period and in accordance with applicable law.

24. Complaints

Please contact Shofar Books first so that we have an opportunity to investigate and resolve your concern.

You may also lodge a POPIA complaint with:

Information Regulator South Africa
JD House
27 Stiemens Street
Braamfontein
Johannesburg
2001
South Africa

POPIA complaints email: POPIAComplaints@inforegulator.org.za

The Information Regulator provides an online complaints service and is responsible for monitoring and enforcing POPIA.

25. Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy where our services, website technology or legal obligations change.

The revised policy will be published on this page with an updated revision date. Material changes may also be communicated through the website or another appropriate channel.

26. Contact us

Questions about this policy or the way Shofar Books processes personal information may be directed to:

Shofar Books
3 Grove Street
Oakdene
Kuils River
Cape Town
South Africa

Email: info@shofarbooks.co.za