Privacy Policy
Last updated: July 13, 2026
Thank you for choosing to shop with Alexander Bernhardt Publishing Co. South Africa (“we,” “us,” or “our”). We respect your privacy and are committed to protecting your personal information in accordance with the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 (“POPIA”) and other applicable South African laws. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store, disclose, and safeguard your personal information when you visit our website, communicate with us, create an account, or purchase physical books, e-books, audiobooks, or other products (“Products”).
1. Information We Collect
1.1 Personal Information You Provide
Account Information: Your name, email address, billing address, delivery address, telephone number, username, password, and other account details.
Order Information: Your purchase history, order details, delivery instructions, transaction information, and payment status. Payment-card information is generally processed directly by our authorised payment service providers, and we may not receive or retain your complete card details.
Customer Service: Information contained in emails, telephone calls, messages, enquiries, complaints, return requests, and other correspondence between you and us.
1.2 Automatically Collected Information
Device & Usage Data: Your Internet Protocol address, browser type and version, device type, operating system, referring website, pages viewed, links selected, dates and times of visits, session information, and information about how you use our website.
Cookies & Tracking Technologies: We may use cookies, web beacons, pixel tags, local storage, and similar technologies to recognise your device or browser, remember your preferences, maintain your shopping cart, secure your account, and understand how our website is used.
1.3 Third-Party Sources
We may receive personal information about you from third parties such as payment processors, delivery providers, website-hosting providers, analytics services, communications providers, fraud-prevention services, and marketing partners. We will process information obtained from third parties only where permitted by law and for purposes connected with our business activities.
2. How We Use Your Information
We use personal information to:
Process and Fulfill Orders: Confirm and process payments, prepare and deliver Products, manage returns and refunds, and send order and delivery notifications.
Provide Digital Content: Deliver e-books, audiobooks, and other Digital Content through your account, email, download link, or an authorised third-party platform.
Customer Support: Respond to enquiries, resolve complaints, process requests, provide assistance, and improve our customer service.
Marketing & Personalization: Where permitted by law, send information about Products, offers, events, or services that may interest you, personalise your experience, and conduct customer surveys. You may opt out of direct marketing at any time.
Analytics & Site Improvement: Analyse website traffic, purchasing patterns, technical performance, and usage trends to maintain and improve our website, Products, services, and customer experience.
Compliance & Security: Verify identities where necessary, prevent fraud and unlawful activity, protect our customers, systems, and business, maintain appropriate records, enforce our terms, and comply with legal, tax, accounting, and regulatory obligations.
We process personal information only where we have a lawful justification for doing so, including where processing is necessary to perform a contract with you, comply with a legal obligation, pursue a legitimate interest, protect a legitimate interest of the data subject, or where you have provided consent when consent is required.
3. Cookies & Similar Technologies
• Essential Cookies: These cookies are necessary for the operation and security of the website and for features such as shopping carts, checkout, account login, and fraud prevention.
• Performance & Analytics Cookies: These cookies help us understand how visitors use the website, identify technical problems, and improve website performance and usability.
• Advertising & Targeting Cookies: Where used and permitted, these cookies help us measure marketing activity and provide content or advertising that may be relevant to your interests. Where required, these cookies will be used only after you have provided the necessary consent.
You can manage or disable cookies through your browser settings or any cookie-management tool made available on our website. Disabling essential cookies may prevent certain parts of the website from functioning correctly.
4. Sharing Your Information
We do not sell or rent your personal information. We may share information with:
• Service Providers: Payment processors, banks, delivery and courier companies, website hosts, technology providers, email or SMS providers, professional advisers, analytics providers, customer-support providers, and other operators that assist us in conducting our business. These parties may process personal information only for authorised purposes and subject to appropriate confidentiality and security requirements.
• Legal & Regulatory Authorities: Government departments, regulators, law-enforcement agencies, courts, tribunals, or other persons where disclosure is required or permitted by law, necessary to protect legal rights, or required to investigate fraud, security incidents, or unlawful activity.
• Business Transfers: A prospective purchaser, successor, investor, professional adviser, or other relevant party in connection with a proposed or completed merger, restructuring, acquisition, financing arrangement, or sale of all or part of our business or assets, subject to appropriate safeguards.
5. Data Security
We implement reasonable and appropriate administrative, technical, organisational, and physical safeguards designed to protect personal information against loss, damage, unauthorised destruction, unlawful access, interference, misuse, disclosure, or alteration. These safeguards may include encrypted connections, access restrictions, secure hosting arrangements, passwords, firewalls, monitoring, staff controls, and contractual protections for service providers. Although no electronic system can be guaranteed to be completely secure, we will take reasonable steps required by applicable law to identify and address security risks. Where a security compromise involving your personal information occurs, we will notify the Information Regulator and affected persons where required by POPIA.
6. Your Rights & Choices
Subject to POPIA and other applicable laws, you may have the right to:
Access & Portability: Ask whether we hold personal information about you and request access to that information in the manner prescribed by law.
Correction: Request the correction or updating of inaccurate, incomplete, excessive, outdated, misleading, or unlawfully obtained personal information.
Deletion: Request the deletion or destruction of personal information that we are no longer authorised or required to retain.
Restriction or Objection: Object to certain processing of your personal information or request that processing be limited, where applicable.
Opt-Out of Marketing: You may unsubscribe from promotional electronic communications at any time by using the “unsubscribe” link included in the communication or by contacting us at info@alexander-bernhardt.co.za. Transactional and service-related communications concerning your orders or account may still be sent where necessary.
To exercise your rights, please email info@alexander-bernhardt.co.za. We may request reasonable information to confirm your identity and authority before acting on a request. We will respond within the periods required by applicable law. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator of South Africa if you believe that your personal information has been processed unlawfully.
7. International Data Transfers
Some of our service providers, technology systems, hosting facilities, payment services, or business partners may be located outside South Africa. As a result, your personal information may be transferred to or processed in another country. Where we transfer personal information outside South Africa, we will take reasonable steps to ensure that the transfer complies with POPIA, including by confirming that the recipient is subject to an applicable law, binding corporate rules, contractual agreement, or other protection that provides an adequate level of protection, or by relying on another lawful basis for the transfer.
8. Children’s Privacy
Our website is intended primarily for adults and is not directed at children. We do not knowingly collect personal information directly from a child without the consent of a competent person, unless the collection is otherwise permitted by law. If you are a parent or legal guardian and believe that a child has provided us with personal information without appropriate authorisation, please contact us so that we can investigate and, where appropriate, delete or restrict the information.
9. Third-Party Links
Our website may contain links to websites, applications, payment platforms, social-media services, or other services operated by third parties. We do not control these third parties, and this Privacy Policy does not govern their privacy practices. We encourage you to review the privacy policies and terms of any third-party service before providing personal information or using that service.
10. Changes to This Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our Products, services, systems, business practices, or legal obligations. The revised Privacy Policy will be posted on our website with a new “Last updated” date. Where required or appropriate, we will provide additional notice before a material change takes effect.
11. Contact Us
If you have questions, concerns, complaints, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or the processing of your personal information, please contact us:
Email: info@alexander-bernhardt.co.za
Mail: Alexander Bernhardt Publishing Co. South Africa
Attn: Information Officer
11 Woodlands Close
Pinelands 7405
Cape Town
South Africa
Telephone Contacts:
Cape Town: +27 73 800 3858
Johannesburg: +27 82 570 4051
Durban: +27 82 845 0224
Website: www.alexander-bernhardt.us
By using our website or purchasing Products, you acknowledge that you have read and understood this Privacy Policy.