Privacy policy

1. Who we are

Episode is operated by [Legal name] ([Sole proprietor, or private company ((Pty) Ltd)], [CIPC registration number, if a company]), [Physical street address], phone [Customer phone number]. We are the “responsible party” for your personal information. Our Information Officer is [Information Officer name], reachable at hello@episode08.com.

2. What we collect and why

• Account (required): your email address, and if you sign in with Google, the name and profile picture Google shares with us. We use it to sign you in and keep your designs and orders.
• Designs (required to make your tee): the photo you upload and the location, artist name, date and caption you enter. We use it to preview, review, print and deliver your order.
• Orders(required to deliver): the recipient's name, delivery address and phone number, what you ordered, amounts, order status history and tracking numbers.
• Payments: Yoco processes your payment and gives us a payment reference and status. We never receive your card details.
• Technical: your IP address, browser and the pages you request, kept in our hosting provider's logs, and a short-lived counter linked to your account that limits how many requests you can make.

Giving us this information is voluntary, but without the required items we can't create your account, print your order or deliver it. We process it to perform our contract with you; to meet legal duties, such as keeping transaction records under the Tax Administration Act 28 of 2011; and for our legitimate interests in running a safe, lawful service, such as reviewing designs before printing and preventing fraud and abuse. A person reviews every order. We make no automated decisions about you.

3. Photos of other people

If your design shows anyone other than you, you confirm that you have their permission to have their image printed on clothing. If anyone shown is under 18, you confirm that you are their parent or guardian or have that person's consent. Don't upload intimate images, or images that reveal someone's health, religion or other sensitive details, without their clear permission.

We use design images only to preview, review, print and deliver your orders. We don't use facial recognition or any other way of identifying people, and we don't publish designs. We can't check every permission, so we rely on your confirmation, and we may refuse or cancel an order (with a full refund) that breaks these rules. If you appear in a design and object, email hello@episode08.com. We will stop using the image and delete it unless the law requires us to keep it.

4. Who we share it with

• Our print partner ([Print partner name and town], South Africa) sees your design, order, name, email, phone number and delivery address, to print and dispatch your order.
• Our courier ([Courier name]) gets the recipient's name, phone number and address.
• Yoco (South Africa) processes payments under its own privacy notice.
• Google Cloud stores our database and your photos in its Johannesburg region.
• Vercel Inc. (USA) hosts the site. Our code runs in its Cape Town region, and it keeps short-lived request logs.
• Resend (USA) sends our emails, so it processes your email address, name and the content of the email.
• Upstash ([region]) stores the request counters described in clause 2.
• Google provides Google sign-in, if you choose it, and address suggestions at checkout, under its own privacy policy.

Some of these providers are based in, or may process information in, the United States or other countries whose laws may not protect personal information to the same standard as POPIA. We transfer information to them because it is necessary to provide the service you asked for, and they are contractually bound to keep it confidential and secure. We don't sell your personal information.

5. How long we keep it

• Your account and saved designs: until you delete a design or ask us to close your account.
• Order records (including the recipient details, items, amounts, dates and payment reference): [5 years after we submit the tax return for that period, or 7 years if we are a company], and longer while a tax audit, complaint or legal claim about the order is open.
• Print files: until 6 months after delivery, for defect claims (clause 10 of our terms).
• Complaint and dispute correspondence: up to 3 years after it is resolved.
• Hosting and email logs: as long as our providers keep them, currently [1 day for hosting logs and 30 days for email logs — confirm]. Request counters expire within minutes.

When we no longer need information, we delete it or de-identify it. We delete information on request unless we still need it or must keep it, for example for an open order, under tax law, or for a dispute or legal claim. If so, we keep only what is needed, restrict its use and tell you why.

6. Security

We take appropriate, reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect your information: encrypted connections, access limited by role (only our admins and your order's assigned print partner see order details), request limits, and card payments handled only by Yoco. No website or transmission is completely secure, so we can't guarantee that information will never be accessed without authorisation. If we have reasonable grounds to believe your personal information has been accessed or acquired by someone unauthorised, we will notify the Information Regulator and you as soon as reasonably possible, by email or on our website, and tell you what happened, what we are doing and what you can do.

7. Your rights

Free of charge, you can:

• ask whether we hold information about you, and for a copy of it;
• ask us to correct or delete information that is inaccurate, irrelevant, excessive, out of date, incomplete, misleading or unlawfully obtained;
• object at any time, on reasonable grounds, to processing based on our legitimate interests;
• object to marketing at any time;
• withdraw any consent you have given.

Email hello@episode08.com, write to us at [Physical street address], or contact us in any other reasonable way. We may ask you to prove your identity first. We respond within 30 days; if we need more time to provide copies of records, we may extend once by up to 30 days and will tell you.

You can complain to the Information Regulator: Woodmead North Office Park, 54 Maxwell Drive, Woodmead, Johannesburg 2191; P.O. Box 31533, Braamfontein 2017; 010 023 5200 or 0800 017 160; enquiries@inforegulator.org.za; or online at eservices.inforegulator.org.za.

Our manual under the Promotion of Access to Information Act is available at [PAIA manual link — page to be added].

8. Marketing

We only send emails about your account and orders. If we start sending marketing, we will only email customers about Episode's own similar products, give you the chance to opt out when you order and in every marketing email, and ask anyone who hasn't ordered for consent first. We never share your details for other businesses' marketing.

9. Cookies and browser storage

We use only cookies that are strictly necessary: a secure session cookie that keeps you signed in (for up to 30 days) and security cookies that protect sign-in. Your cart and any unsaved design are stored in your own browser and aren't sent to us until you save or check out. We use no analytics, advertising or tracking cookies, and no third-party analytics scripts. Google sign-in and Yoco's checkout may set their own cookies under their own policies.

10. Children

Episode is for people aged 18 and older. We don't knowingly collect a child's personal information for an account or order. If we learn that we have, we will delete it. Images of children in designs are covered by clause 3.

11. Changes

We may update this policy; the date above shows the current version. If a change materially affects how we use your information, we will tell you by email or on the site before it takes effect. Nothing in this policy limits your rights under POPIA or the Consumer Protection Act. Our Terms of Sale apply to your orders.