Last updated: 29 August 2026
Growth Garden respects your privacy and aims to handle personal information carefully, transparently and only for legitimate business purposes. This Privacy Policy explains what information we collect, why we use it, who may help us process it, and the choices and rights available to you.
1. Who this policy applies to
This policy applies when you visit growthgarden.co.za, create or use a Growth Garden customer account, join our mailing list, contact us, place an order, submit a review or other content, or provide information about a child for a Growth Garden stage, box, progress or paid-resource experience.
Growth Garden's products, website and customer account are intended to be used by adults. Child information should be supplied by a parent, guardian or other authorised adult and not submitted directly by a child.
2. Information we may collect
Depending on how you use Growth Garden, we may collect:
- Adult customer and account information, such as your name, email address, telephone number, login/account identifiers and communication preferences.
- Order and delivery information, such as products ordered, order status, delivery address, courier/tracking information, refunds or cancellations and related customer-service correspondence.
- Payment-related information. Payments are processed through Shopify and/or the payment provider made available at checkout. Growth Garden does not need to store your full payment-card details in its ordinary operating records. We may receive transaction references, payment status and other information needed to reconcile an order.
- Child profile information supplied by an adult, such as a child's first name, date of birth or age, Growth Garden stage, recommended or purchased box, progress and the paid resources linked to that child's journey.
- Marketing information, including your email address, signup source, consent or subscription status and unsubscribe information when you choose to receive Growth Garden marketing.
- Reviews and user-submitted content, such as a review, rating, name, product or stage information, and any photograph or other content you deliberately submit. Growth Garden will only publish moderated reviews and will seek the necessary permission before reusing submitted photographs or similar user-generated content.
- Website and technical information, which may include browser, device, cookie, analytics, IP-address or interaction information generated when you use our website or related services.
- Correspondence, including messages, enquiries, complaints or support requests you send to us.
3. Why we use personal information
We may use personal information to:
- create and manage your customer account;
- process, verify, pack, deliver, support, cancel or refund genuine orders;
- match a child to the appropriate Growth Garden stage or box using information an adult has supplied;
- show the correct purchased-box resources, progress information and My Garden content to the correct customer;
- communicate important account, order, payment, delivery or service information;
- send marketing only where we have an appropriate basis to do so and respect unsubscribe choices;
- moderate and, where authorised, display genuine customer reviews or user-generated content;
- operate, protect, troubleshoot and improve Growth Garden's website, systems, products and customer experience;
- maintain business, accounting, tax, fraud-prevention, safety and legal records where reasonably required; and
- respond to lawful requests, disputes, complaints or regulatory obligations.
4. Child profile information
Growth Garden uses limited child-profile information because our developmental journey is organised by age and stage. We aim to collect only what is reasonably needed to recommend the correct stage, connect a purchased box to the right child profile and provide the matching paid resources or progress experience.
Creating an account or child profile does not create a physical order. Packing and paid digital access are intended to remain separate and to activate only when the relevant purchase and payment conditions have been met.
If you are an adult responsible for a child and believe child-profile information is inaccurate, unnecessary or should be corrected or removed, please contact us using the details below. Some information may need to be retained where it forms part of a genuine transaction, legal record or unresolved dispute.
5. Marketing and your choices
Joining the Growth Garden mailing list is optional. Marketing messages are separate from essential account, order, payment, safety and delivery communications.
You may unsubscribe from marketing using the unsubscribe option provided in a marketing message or by contacting us. Withdrawing marketing consent does not prevent Growth Garden from sending necessary operational communications about an account or order.
6. Reviews, photographs and user-generated content
Growth Garden does not use fabricated customer testimonials as real reviews. Reviews may be moderated before publication. A review will only be displayed when it meets our publication requirements, and a verified-purchase label will only be used where that status is genuinely supported.
If you submit a photograph, video or other user-generated content, submission alone does not automatically mean Growth Garden may reuse it in advertising or other promotional material. We will use appropriate permission controls before reuse.
7. Service providers and sharing
Growth Garden may use trusted service providers to operate the business. Depending on the service you use, this may include ecommerce and customer-account providers, payment providers, courier and fulfilment services, data-management or customer-portal systems, email providers, hosting, analytics, security, accounting or professional advisers.
For example, Growth Garden currently uses services such as Shopify for ecommerce/customer accounts, Airtable for operational data, Softr for customer-facing portal functions where enabled, and The Courier Guy for the planned delivery workflow. A provider should receive only the information reasonably required for its role.
We may also disclose information where reasonably necessary to comply with law, enforce or protect legal rights, investigate fraud or security incidents, protect customers or the public, or respond to a lawful regulatory or court process.
8. International processing
Some technology providers may process or store information outside South Africa. Where personal information is transferred or processed internationally, Growth Garden will seek to use reputable providers and reasonable safeguards appropriate to the information and the services involved.
9. Cookies and analytics
Our website and service providers may use cookies or similar technologies for functions such as keeping the site working, remembering preferences, understanding site performance, security, analytics and, where enabled, marketing measurement. Available cookie or privacy controls may vary according to the services active on the website.
10. How long we keep information
We do not aim to keep personal information indefinitely. Retention depends on why the information was collected and may take account of active customer relationships, orders and warranties, accounting or tax requirements, safety records, consent history, disputes, fraud prevention, system backups and other lawful business needs. When information is no longer reasonably required, it should be deleted, anonymised or otherwise handled in an appropriate way.
11. Security
Growth Garden uses reasonable organisational and technical measures intended to protect personal information against unauthorised access, loss, misuse or disclosure. No online system can be guaranteed to be completely secure, so we also limit access and rely on reputable providers where appropriate.
12. Your privacy rights
Subject to applicable law, you may ask Growth Garden to confirm whether we hold personal information about you, request access to it, ask that inaccurate information be corrected, request deletion where appropriate, object to certain processing, or withdraw a consent you previously gave.
We may need to verify your identity before acting on a request, especially where the request concerns customer orders, account information or information linked to a child. Some requests may be limited where Growth Garden is legally required or reasonably entitled to retain particular records.
13. Contact and complaints
For a privacy question, correction, access request, objection or complaint, contact Growth Garden at growthgardensa@gmail.com.
If a privacy concern cannot be resolved directly with Growth Garden, you may also have the right to raise the matter with South Africa's Information Regulator.
14. Changes to this policy
We may update this Privacy Policy when our services, providers, legal requirements or operating processes change. The latest version will be published on this page with an updated date.
Growth Garden — Little seeds to big milestones.