How we collect, use, and protect your personal information.
Dr. Stephanie Gouws General Practitioner ("we", "us", or "our Practice") is committed to protecting your privacy and handling your personal information responsibly. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store, and safeguard your personal information in accordance with the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 (POPIA) of South Africa.
By using our website at drstephaniegouws.co.za or submitting a contact or appointment request, you confirm that you have read and understood this policy.
The responsible party for your personal information is:
When you use our website contact form or make an appointment enquiry, we may collect the following personal information:
We also collect non-personal, anonymised data through Google Analytics (page views, browser type, general geographic region) to help us improve our website. This data cannot identify you personally.
We collect your personal information for the following purposes:
We will not use your personal information for any purpose other than those listed above without your prior consent.
Contact form submissions are received and stored securely. Our website is hosted on Netlify, a reputable hosting provider. Form submissions are retained only as long as necessary to fulfil the purpose for which they were collected, after which they are deleted.
We do not sell, rent, or share your personal information with third parties for marketing purposes.
Access to your personal information is limited to:
We do not disclose your personal information to any other third party unless required by law or with your explicit consent.
Our website uses Google Analytics to collect anonymised usage data. Google Analytics may use cookies to track sessions. You can opt out of Google Analytics tracking by installing the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on.
Other than analytics, we do not use cookies to track or identify you personally.
As a data subject under POPIA, you have the right to:
To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at drstephaniegouws@gmail.com.
If you are not satisfied with how we handle your personal information, you may contact the Information Regulator of South Africa:
We take reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect your personal information from unauthorised access, disclosure, alteration, or destruction. Our website uses HTTPS encryption for all data transmitted between your browser and our server.
Our website contains links to the websites of our associated practitioners (Attie Olivier Social Worker, Intelligent Wound Care, and Numi Foot Med). These sites are independently operated and have their own privacy policies. We are not responsible for the content or privacy practices of these external sites.
Our website is not directed at children under the age of 18. We do not knowingly collect personal information from minors. If a parent or guardian believes their child has submitted personal information to us, please contact us so we can delete it promptly.
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Any changes will be published on this page with an updated "Last updated" date. We encourage you to review this policy periodically.
If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or how we handle your personal information, please contact us: