Privacy Policy

Last updated: 24 November 2025

1. Introduction

Magnifeye Optometrist (“we”, “us”, “our”) is committed to protecting your privacy and handling your personal information in a lawful, transparent, and secure manner.

This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store and protect your personal information when you use our website (the “Website”), contact us, or make use of our services. We process personal information in accordance with the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 (“POPIA”) and other applicable laws.

This Policy is provided as an interim, generic privacy statement and may be replaced by a more detailed, customised version in consultation with our legal advisors.

2. What Personal Information We Collect

We may collect and process the following categories of personal information:

2.1 Information you provide directly

Full name and title;
Contact details (email address, phone number, residential address);
Appointment information (preferred dates, times, reasons for visit);
Information submitted through contact forms or online booking tools;
Health or vision-related information that you choose to provide via the Website or during pre-screening forms;
Billing and payment details when you make purchases of products or services.

2.2 Information collected automatically

IP address;
Browser type and version;
Device type and operating system;
Pages visited and time spent on the Website;
Referring website or source of visit;
Cookie data and similar tracking technologies.

2.3 Information from third parties

Analytics providers (e.g., website analytics services);
Online booking platforms or integrated practice management tools (if applicable);
Payment gateways and financial service providers.

3. Why We Collect Your Information

We process personal information for the following purposes:

To schedule, confirm, manage and follow up on appointments;
To provide optometric and vision-related services to you;
To respond to your enquiries and provide customer support;
To process and fulfil orders for products or services;
To maintain accurate patient and customer records as required by law;
To improve our Website, services, and user experience;
To send important administrative, service or policy-related communications;
To comply with legal, regulatory and professional obligations.

4. Lawful Basis for Processing

We process your personal information on one or more of the following lawful bases:

Your consent (e.g., submitting details via an online form or opting into communications);
Performance of a contract or steps taken at your request prior to entering into a contract;
Compliance with legal and regulatory obligations placed on healthcare providers;
Legitimate interests, such as improving our services and ensuring the security of our systems, provided such interests do not override your rights.

5. How We Use Your Information

Your personal information may be used to:

Identify you as a patient or customer and manage your file;
Provide clinical care and optometric services;
Administer payments, billing, and refunds;
Communicate appointment reminders, updates, and important notices;
Improve the performance and content of the Website;
Protect our practice, staff, other patients, and our legitimate interests;
Generate internal reports and statistics (in de-identified or aggregated form where possible).

6. Cookies and Tracking Technologies

The Website may use cookies and similar technologies to collect information about how visitors use the site. This helps us understand usage patterns and improve functionality and performance.

You can usually choose to disable cookies through your browser settings; however, some features of the Website may not function correctly if cookies are disabled.

7. How We Store and Protect Your Information

We take appropriate, reasonable technical and organisational measures to secure your personal information and to prevent loss, misuse, unauthorised access, disclosure, alteration or destruction.

These measures may include (without limitation):

Restricted access to patient and customer information;
Password-protected systems and devices;
Secure practice management and billing systems;
Use of reputable third-party service providers and hosting environments;
Regular monitoring of our systems for vulnerabilities.

Despite these safeguards, no system can be completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security of your information.

8. Sharing and Disclosure of Personal Information

We will not sell your personal information. We may share your information with:

Our employees and authorised contractors who require the information to perform their duties;
Laboratories, lens suppliers or other healthcare-related service providers involved in your treatment;
Payment processors, banks and financial institutions for payment processing;
IT, hosting and maintenance service providers who assist in operating the Website and systems;
Regulators, professional bodies or legal authorities when required by law.

Where third parties process personal information on our behalf, we require them to do so in compliance with POPIA and with appropriate confidentiality and security measures in place.

9. International Transfers

If it becomes necessary to transfer your personal information outside of South Africa (for example, where a third-party service provider or hosting provider is located overseas), we will take steps to ensure that the recipient is subject to laws, binding corporate rules, or contracts that provide an adequate level of protection for your personal information, as required by POPIA.

10. Data Retention

We retain personal information only for as long as it is reasonably necessary to fulfil the purposes described in this Policy, or as required by law, professional regulations, and our clinical record-keeping obligations.

When personal information is no longer required, we will take reasonable steps to delete, destroy, or de-identify it in a secure manner.

11. Your Rights Under POPIA

You have certain rights in relation to your personal information, including the right to:

Request access to the personal information we hold about you;
Request the correction of inaccurate, incomplete or outdated information;
Request the deletion or destruction of personal information where legally permissible;
Object to the processing of your personal information in certain circumstances;
Withdraw your consent where processing is based on your consent;
Lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator if you believe your privacy rights have been infringed.

To exercise your rights, please contact us using the contact details provided at the end of this Policy.

Information Regulator (South Africa): see the official website of the Information Regulator for current contact details and complaint procedures.

12. Children’s Information

As an optometry practice, we may provide services to children. In such cases, we may collect personal information relating to a child with the consent of a competent person (usually a parent or legal guardian), in accordance with POPIA.

13. Third-Party Websites

The Website may contain links to third-party sites that are not operated by us. We are not responsible for the content or privacy practices of such websites. We encourage you to review the privacy policies of any third-party sites you visit.

14. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. The latest version will always be available on the Website and will be indicated by the “Last updated” date at the top of the Policy.

Your continued use of the Website after any changes are made will constitute your acceptance of the updated Policy.

15. Contact Us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or how we handle your personal information, please contact: