Privacy Policy

Privacy Policy

Postal Address

PO Box 47
Hermanus
7200
South Africa

Office Hours

Winter season
Monday – Friday: 08:00 – 16:00

Sailing season
Monday / Wednesday / Friday: 08:00 – 16:00
Tuesday / Thursday: 08:00 – 14:00

Weekends (sailing season)
Saturday: 11:00 – 15:00
Sunday: Closed

What personal data we collect and why we collect it

Comments

When visitors leave comments on the site we collect:

  • The data shown in the comments form
  • Visitor IP address
  • Browser user agent string

This is used to help detect spam and ensure site security.

If you use Gravatar, an anonymised string (hash) created from your email address may be sent to the Gravatar service to check if you are using it. Their privacy policy is available at: https://automattic.com/privacy/

After approval, your profile image may be visible publicly alongside your comment.

Media

If you upload images to the website, you should avoid uploading images containing embedded location data (EXIF GPS). Visitors can download and extract location data from images on the website.

Contact forms

When you submit a contact form, we may collect:

  • Name
  • Email address
  • Phone number
  • Message content

This information is used only to respond to your enquiry and is not used for marketing unless you explicitly consent.

Cookies

If you leave a comment, you may opt-in to saving your name, email address, and website in cookies. These are for convenience so you do not need to re-enter details. These cookies last for one year.

If you have an account and log in:

  • Temporary cookies check browser compatibility
  • Login cookies last for two days
  • “Remember Me” keeps login active for two weeks
  • Screen options cookies last for one year

If you edit or publish content, an additional cookie may be stored in your browser for one day. It contains no personal data and only stores the post ID.

Embedded content from other websites

Articles on this site may include embedded content such as videos, images, or articles.

Embedded content behaves exactly as if you visited the external website directly. These websites may:

  • Collect data about you
  • Use cookies
  • Track your interaction with embedded content
  • Monitor you if you are logged into their platform

Analytics

We may use analytics tools to understand how visitors use the website. This may include:

  • Pages visited
  • Time spent on site
  • Browser and device type
  • General usage patterns

Where possible, data is anonymised.

Who we share your data with

We may share limited data with trusted service providers who assist in operating the website, such as:

  • Website hosting providers
  • Email service providers
  • Spam detection services

We do not sell personal data to third parties.

How long we retain your data

  • Comments and metadata are retained indefinitely for automatic approval of follow-up comments.
  • User profile data (if registered) is stored until modified or deleted by the user.
  • Contact form submissions are retained only as long as necessary to respond to enquiries.

What rights you have over your data

If you have an account or have left comments, you may request:

  • An exported file of the personal data we hold about you
  • Deletion of your personal data

This excludes data we are required to keep for administrative, legal, or security purposes.

Requests can be sent to: manager@hyc.co.za

Where your data is sent

Visitor comments may be checked through an automated spam detection service.

How we protect your data

We take reasonable steps to protect your personal information, including:

  • Secure hosting environments
  • Access control for administrators
  • Password protection
  • Spam and malware filtering systems

Data breach procedures

In the event of a data breach, we will:

  • Investigate and contain the issue
  • Secure affected systems
  • Notify affected users if required by law
  • Take steps to prevent future incidents

Third parties we receive data from

We may receive limited data from:

  • Spam detection services
  • Embedded third-party content platforms (e.g. YouTube, social media)

We do not purchase personal data from third-party data brokers.

Automated decision-making and profiling

We do not use personal data for automated decision-making or profiling.

Industry regulatory disclosure requirements

No additional industry-specific regulatory disclosures apply beyond standard South African POPIA requirements.