Privacy Policy

1) Introduction

Helix Research (“we”, “us”, “our”) respects your privacy and is committed to protecting your personal information. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store, share, and protect personal information when you use our Website or place an order, in line with the Protection of Personal Information Act, 2013 (“POPIA”) and other applicable South African law. It should be read together with our Terms of Service.

2) Information we collect

Depending on how you use the Website, we may collect:

• Account & identity information — name, email address, phone number, and password (stored in hashed form).
• Order & delivery information — delivery address, Pudo locker selection, order history, and loyalty points balance.
• Payment information — we do not store full card or banking details on our servers. Payments are arranged through your chosen method (e.g., EFT, cryptocurrency, or Cash Send) and any card processing is handled by third-party payment providers.
• Communications — messages you send us and your newsletter or back-in-stock notification preferences.
• Technical & usage information — a de-identified (hashed) form of your IP address for visitor counting, pages viewed, device/browser information, and data stored locally in your browser (e.g., your cart, recently viewed items, and preferences).

3) How we use your information

• to process, fulfil, and deliver your orders;
• to create and manage your account and loyalty points;
• to communicate with you about orders, queries, and (where you opt in) marketing or restock alerts;
• to provide support and resolve disputes;
• to detect, prevent, and investigate fraud, abuse, and security incidents;
• to understand and improve our Website through aggregated analytics; and
• to comply with our legal obligations.

4) Lawful basis for processing (POPIA)

We process personal information where it is necessary to perform our contract with you (e.g., to fulfil an order), to comply with a legal obligation, to pursue our legitimate interests (e.g., fraud prevention and improving our service) in a way that does not override your rights, or on the basis of your consent (e.g., marketing). You may withdraw consent at any time where processing is based on consent.

5) Who we share it with

We do not sell your personal information. We share it only as needed with:

• Couriers and delivery partners — to deliver your order;
• Payment providers — to process or verify payments;
• Service providers — such as email/communication and hosting providers who help us operate the Website; and
• Authorities — where required by law or to protect our rights.

These parties are only permitted to use your information for the purposes we specify.

6) Cookies, local storage, and analytics

We use browser local storage to remember your cart, preferences, and session, and we use analytics (including Google Analytics) to understand Website usage. You can clear this data in your browser at any time, and you can opt out of our own visit analytics for a browser by appending ?noanalytics=1 to a page URL. Most browsers also let you block or delete cookies.

7) Security

We take reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect your personal information, including encryption in transit, hashed passwords, access controls, rate limiting, and regular backups. No method of transmission or storage is completely secure, but we work to safeguard your information and to address any incidents promptly.

8) Retention

We keep personal information only for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes described in this Policy, including to meet legal, accounting, tax, or reporting requirements. When information is no longer needed, we delete or de-identify it.

9) Your rights

Subject to applicable law, you have the right to:

• access the personal information we hold about you;
• request correction of inaccurate or incomplete information;
• request deletion of your information where appropriate;
• object to or restrict certain processing, including direct marketing; and
• lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator of South Africa.

To exercise these rights, contact us using the details on our Website. We may need to verify your identity before acting on a request.

10) Cross-border transfers

Some of our service providers may process information outside South Africa. Where this happens, we take reasonable steps to ensure your information receives a level of protection consistent with POPIA.

11) Children

Our Website and products are intended only for users who are 18 years or older. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children.

12) Changes to this Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. The updated version will be posted on the Website with a revised “Last updated” date. Continued use of the Website after changes means you accept the revised Policy.

13) Contact

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or how we handle your personal information, please contact us using the contact channels listed on our Website.