Privacy Policy
1. About this notice
RefineX respects the privacy of customers, suppliers, business representatives and people who contact us. This Privacy Policy explains what personal information we receive through our website and business enquiries, why we use it, who may receive it, and how to contact us about your information.
RefineX is a trading name of The Gold and Diamond Dealer (Pty) Ltd, company registration number 2026/263142/07. For privacy requests, contact info@refinex.org.
This notice applies to website enquiries and other communications with RefineX. Where a customer enters a separate transaction, the relevant agreement and any additional collection notice will explain the information required for that transaction.
2. Information we collect
Website enquiries. When you use the contact form, we receive the name, email address, telephone number, selected metal category and message you provide. The form currently asks for all five fields so that we can identify your enquiry and contact you. We may also receive information you send to our published email address or through other business contact channels.
Business relationships. If you progress from an enquiry to a quotation, assessment or transaction, we may need information about the customer, business, authorised representative and material. Depending on the agreed service and applicable law, this can include business contact details, company and registration information, authority to act, material descriptions, provenance or ownership records, collection details, transaction documents and payment information. We will explain what is needed and how it should be submitted before requesting sensitive documents.
Technical information. The website’s hosting, security and delivery systems may process information needed to operate and protect the site, such as IP addresses, request times, browser and device information, error information and security logs. Any specific non-essential analytics or tracking technology must be disclosed on the basis of the website’s verified technical configuration, as described in the Cookie Policy.
Please do not submit passwords, account-login credentials, identity documents, complete banking records or confidential information about another person in the general enquiry field. If documents are required for a transaction, request an appropriate submission method from our team.
3. Why we use information
We use enquiry information to:
- receive, identify and answer enquiries about our services;
- contact the person who made an enquiry and request clarification where needed;
- consider whether the material and requested service can be discussed further;
- prepare or administer a quotation or transaction where the parties choose to proceed;
- keep appropriate business records, resolve complaints and protect against fraud or misuse; and
- meet legal duties that apply to an actual activity or transaction.
Under South Africa’s Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 (POPIA), the basis for processing depends on its purpose. It may include taking steps requested before entering a contract, performing an agreement, complying with a legal obligation or pursuing a legitimate interest where the law permits. Consent will be requested where the particular activity requires it. We do not treat submission of an enquiry as blanket consent to unrelated uses of personal information.
4. Required and optional information
The website identifies required fields on its enquiry form. Without sufficient contact information and a description of the request, we may not be able to respond. Information needed only for an actual transaction will be requested separately. We aim to request information proportionate to the purpose and will review whether both a phone number and email address remain necessary for every general enquiry.
5. When information may be shared
Information is available only to people and service providers who need it for legitimate business or technical purposes, such as handling enquiries, operating the website and email service, hosting, security, authorised professional advice or completing a separately agreed transaction. Additional recipients, such as carriers, assay providers, payment providers or compliance specialists, are relevant only where they actually participate in an agreed process.
We may disclose information to a competent authority where a lawful duty or properly authorised request requires it. We do not publish customer enquiry details on the website. Any use of a service provider must be assessed against the appropriate confidentiality and data-protection requirements.
6. Where information is held and how long it is kept
The current website enquiry function is designed to send submissions to RefineX by email rather than maintain a separate public enquiry database in WordPress. An enquiry may nevertheless be held in business mailboxes, technical logs or backups, and relevant correspondence may be retained with a quotation or transaction record. We keep information only for as long as needed for the enquiry, a legitimate business purpose, an applicable legal retention requirement or the management of a claim or dispute. We then delete, de-identify or securely dispose of information as appropriate.
7. Security and international processing
Hosting, email and other communications may involve service providers or infrastructure outside South Africa. Where personal information is transferred across borders, the transfer must comply with the applicable provisions of POPIA, including section 72. We will not claim that information is stored exclusively in South Africa without verifying it.
8. Your rights and how to contact us
Subject to applicable law, you may ask whether RefineX holds personal information about you, request access to it, ask for inaccurate information to be corrected, request deletion where legally appropriate, object to certain processing or withdraw consent where consent is the relevant basis. A legal record-keeping duty may mean that some information cannot immediately be deleted.
Send a request to info@refinex.org, marked Privacy Request. Include enough detail to help us locate the information, but do not send copies of identity documents unless requested through an appropriate channel. We may need to verify your identity or authority before releasing a record. Requests for access to records may also fall under the Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA).
You may contact the Information Regulator (South Africa) through https://inforegulator.org.za/ if you have a complaint about the handling of personal information.
9. Direct marketing
A request for a quotation or information about refining services is not, by itself, an agreement to receive future promotional communications. If RefineX conducts direct marketing by electronic communications, it will apply the consent and existing-customer rules relevant to that activity and provide appropriate opportunities to object or opt out, as required by law. Service communications about an enquiry or an agreed transaction are distinct from unrelated promotional campaigns.
10. Children’s personal information
The website is designed for commercial enquiries about precious-metal services. It does not invite the submission of children’s personal information. If such information is received, it must be assessed and handled in accordance with the additional protections in POPIA; it must not be used for an unrelated purpose merely because someone submitted it through a form.
11. Cookies and related technology
Our Cookie Policy explains how website cookies and related technologies are handled and which details require verification against the installed services. A cookie choice or disclosure will be provided where required for the technologies actually in use. An external link, including a WhatsApp link, does not by itself mean that the linked service has stored a cookie through this website.
12. Changes to this policy
We may update this notice when processing practices, systems or legal duties change. Material changes will be communicated as required by law.