Privacy policy

last updated: 30 september 2026

the serious part

uncivil clothing (pty) ltd, trading as “uncivil”, operates this store and website, including the information, content, features, tools, products and services made available through it (collectively, the “services”).

uncivil is powered by shopify, which provides the ecommerce platform that enables us to offer the services to you.

this privacy policy explains how we collect, use, store, protect and disclose your personal information when you visit or use the services, make a purchase or other transaction, create an account, subscribe to marketing, contact us or otherwise interact with uncivil.

for the purposes of the protection of personal information act 4 of 2013 (“popia”), uncivil clothing (pty) ltd, trading as uncivil, is the responsible party in relation to the personal information described in this privacy policy, except where another party determines independently how and why your information is processed.

if there is a conflict between this privacy policy and our terms of service regarding the collection, processing or disclosure of personal information, this privacy policy will apply.

please read this privacy policy carefully. by accessing or using the services, you acknowledge that you have read and understood how we process personal information as described below.

a note on the tone

some of the wording on this website is deliberately irreverent. that is the brand identity, not an attempt to make light of your rights.

privacy itself is not the punchline. nothing humorous, sarcastic or uncivil in this policy is intended to limit your rights, reduce our obligations or override applicable law. if the joke and the law ever disagree, the law wins. annoyingly sensible, but necessary.

personal information we collect or process

“personal information” means information that identifies you or can reasonably be linked to you. under popia, it may also include information relating to an identifiable juristic person.

personal information does not include information that has been anonymised or de-identified so that it can no longer reasonably be linked to an identifiable person.

depending on how you interact with the services, where you live and what applicable law permits or requires, we may collect or process the following categories of personal information:

contact information

this may include your name, email address, telephone number, billing address, delivery address and any other contact details you provide.

payment and financial information

this may include your selected payment method, billing details, transaction information, payment status and payment confirmation.

payments may be processed directly by shopify or another payment provider. those providers may collect and process payment card or financial account information in accordance with their own privacy policies. uncivil may not receive or retain your complete payment card details.

account information

this may include your username, encrypted password, account preferences, settings and other information associated with your customer account.

order and transaction information

this may include products you view, add to your cart or wishlist, purchase, return, exchange or cancel, together with your order history and delivery information.

communications

this includes information you provide when you contact us, submit a form, respond to a survey, request support, leave a review or otherwise communicate with us.

please do not send sensitive or confidential information unless it is genuinely necessary. we sell apparel. we do not need your life story, medical history or your mother’s maiden name.

device and technical information

this may include your device type, browser, operating system, network connection, internet protocol address, device identifiers and other technical information generated when you access the services.

usage information

this may include information about how you find, access, navigate and interact with the services, including pages viewed, links selected, products viewed, cart activity, referring pages and the date and time of your interactions.

marketing information

this may include your marketing preferences, whether you opened or interacted with a communication and information used to measure the effectiveness of our advertising.

information you choose to make public

if you post a review, comment, photograph or other content in a publicly accessible part of the services, that information may be visible to other people. public means public. the internet remains deeply committed to remembering things.

where we obtain personal information

we may collect personal information from the following sources:

  • directly from you when you create an account, place an order, subscribe to communications, contact us or otherwise provide information to us;

  • automatically from your device when you visit or use the services, including through cookies and similar technologies;

  • from shopify and other service providers that help us operate the store, process payments, fulfil orders, provide analytics, prevent fraud, manage communications or deliver customer support;

  • from delivery companies, payment providers and other parties involved in completing a transaction;

  • from advertising, marketing or business partners where permitted by law; and

  • from publicly available sources or other third parties where collection is lawful.

cookies and similar technologies

we and our service providers, including shopify, may use cookies, pixels, tags, local storage and similar technologies to operate the services, remember your preferences, keep your cart functioning, understand how the website is used, prevent fraud, measure performance and provide or assess advertising.

some cookies are necessary for the website to function. others may be used for analytics, personalisation or advertising where permitted by law and, where required, with your consent.

you can manage cookies through the consent controls made available on the website or through your browser settings. blocking certain cookies may cause parts of the services to stop working properly. your browser is allowed to have boundaries, but there may be consequences.

how we use personal information

depending on how you interact with us, we may use personal information for the following purposes:

providing and improving the services

we may use personal information to:

  • provide and operate the services;

  • process payments and complete transactions;

  • accept, fulfil, deliver, return, exchange or cancel orders;

  • create, maintain and manage customer accounts;

  • remember preferences and cart contents;

  • provide order, account and delivery notifications;

  • respond to enquiries and provide customer support;

  • manage reviews, promotions or other website features;

  • personalise product recommendations or website content;

  • analyse performance and customer interactions;

  • improve our products, services, website and customer experience; and

  • maintain records relating to our transactions and business activities.

marketing and advertising

where permitted by law, we may use personal information to send promotional communications by email, SMS or other channels and to display or measure advertising on our services or other platforms.

we will obtain consent where required. you may unsubscribe from promotional emails using the unsubscribe link included in those emails.

if you unsubscribe, we may still send non-promotional messages concerning your account, purchases, deliveries, returns, security or other transactions. abandoning the newsletter does not make your order disappear.

security and fraud prevention

we may use personal information to:

  • authenticate accounts;

  • protect payments and transactions;

  • detect, investigate and prevent suspected fraud, abuse, unlawful conduct, security incidents or malicious activity;

  • protect our customers, business, website and service providers; and

  • enforce our terms, policies and legal rights.

if you create an account, you are responsible for protecting your login details. please do not share your password. not even with someone who claims the relationship is “different this time.”

communicating with you

we may use personal information to respond to enquiries, provide support, send service messages and maintain our relationship with you.

legal and regulatory purposes

we may process personal information to:

  • comply with applicable laws, tax requirements and accounting obligations;

  • respond to lawful requests, court orders, subpoenas, warrants or regulatory enquiries;

  • investigate or participate in legal proceedings;

  • establish, exercise or defend legal claims;

  • enforce our terms and policies; and

  • protect our rights or the rights, property and safety of other people.

legal grounds for processing

where applicable law requires us to identify a lawful basis for processing, we may process personal information:

  • with your consent;

  • where processing is necessary to enter into or perform a contract with you;

  • where processing is necessary to comply with a legal obligation;

  • where processing protects your legitimate interests;

  • where processing is necessary for our legitimate business interests or those of a third party, provided those interests do not unjustifiably override your rights; or

  • on another basis permitted by applicable law.

where we rely on consent, you may withdraw it at any time. withdrawing consent does not affect processing that lawfully occurred before the withdrawal.

when we disclose personal information

we may disclose personal information to third parties for legitimate business or legal purposes, subject to this privacy policy and applicable law.

these parties may include:

shopify and service providers

we may disclose information to shopify and to vendors that provide services on our behalf, including website hosting, information technology, payment processing, fraud detection, analytics, cloud storage, customer support, marketing, order fulfilment and delivery.

these providers may process personal information only as permitted by their agreements with us, their own legal obligations and applicable privacy laws.

payment and delivery providers

we may provide the information necessary to process your payment, deliver your purchase, manage a return or complete another transaction requested by you.

marketing and business partners

where permitted by law, we may disclose certain information to partners that help us deliver, personalise or measure marketing and advertising.

depending on where you live and how applicable law defines terms such as “share” or “sell,” some advertising-related disclosures may fall within those definitions even where no money is exchanged for your personal information.

where required, we will provide a way to consent, object or opt out.

parties you authorise

we may disclose information when you request, direct or consent to the disclosure, including through social media features, login integrations or other third-party services you choose to use.

affiliates and related entities

we may disclose information within our corporate group where necessary to operate, manage or protect the business.

business transfers and legal disclosures

we may disclose personal information in connection with a merger, restructuring, financing, sale, acquisition, insolvency or transfer of all or part of the business.

we may also disclose information where reasonably necessary to comply with legal obligations, respond to lawful requests, enforce our terms or protect the services, our rights or the rights and safety of our customers and others.

we do not disclose personal information simply because someone asked nicely.

our relationship with shopify

the services are hosted by shopify. shopify collects and processes personal information relating to your access to and use of the services so that it can provide and improve the platform and related services.

information submitted through the services may be transmitted to shopify and other service providers located in countries outside South Africa or outside the country where you live.

we may use shopify features that rely on information obtained from your interactions with this store, other merchants and shopify. for certain processing activities, shopify may independently determine how and why personal information is processed and may therefore act as a separate responsible party, controller or business under applicable privacy laws.

you can learn more about shopify’s processing practices and available privacy controls through the shopify consumer privacy policy and privacy portal.

third-party websites and services

the services may contain links to websites, social media platforms or other services operated by third parties.

if you follow a link to a third-party service, its own privacy policy and terms will apply. we do not control and are not responsible for the privacy, security, accuracy or operation of third-party services.

including a link does not necessarily mean that we endorse the third party, its content or its life choices.

information posted in public or semi-public areas of third-party platforms may be viewed and used by other people without restriction. consider that before posting anything you would prefer not to explain later.

direct marketing

we may send direct marketing communications where you have consented or where another lawful basis permits us to do so.

you may opt out of email marketing at any time by selecting the unsubscribe link in the communication. you may also contact us at hello@uncivil.co.za.

where popia applies, we will process personal information for direct marketing in accordance with its requirements, including the rules governing unsolicited electronic communications and existing customer relationships.

opting out of marketing does not prevent us from sending transactional or service-related communications.

children’s personal information

the services are not intended for children, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children without the consent of a competent person or another lawful basis where required.

for South African users, a child generally means a natural person under 18 years of age who is not legally competent to take a particular action without assistance.

if you are a parent or guardian and believe that a child has provided personal information to us unlawfully, please contact us at hello@uncivil.co.za. we will investigate and, where appropriate, delete the information.

we do not knowingly sell or share, as those terms may be defined under applicable privacy laws, the personal information of anyone under 16 years of age.

security and data compromises

we use reasonable technical and organisational safeguards designed to protect personal information against loss, misuse, unauthorised access, interference, alteration, disclosure or destruction.

no security measure or transmission method is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee perfect security. please do not use unsecured channels to send sensitive or confidential information.

if we become aware of a security compromise involving personal information, we will investigate and provide notifications to affected persons and the relevant authorities where required by law.

how long we retain personal information

we retain personal information only for as long as reasonably necessary for the purposes described in this privacy policy, including to:

  • provide the services and maintain your account;

  • complete transactions and maintain business records;

  • comply with tax, accounting and other legal obligations;

  • resolve complaints or disputes;

  • prevent fraud or abuse; and

  • establish, exercise or defend legal claims.

retention periods vary according to the nature of the information, why it was collected, the sensitivity of the information, legal requirements and the potential risk created by continued retention.

when personal information is no longer required, we will delete, destroy, anonymise or de-identify it as required or permitted by law.

international transfers

we, shopify and our service providers may transfer, store or process personal information outside South Africa or outside the country where you live.

where popia applies, we will take reasonably appropriate steps to ensure that cross-border transfers comply with section 72 of popia. this may include transferring information to a recipient that is subject to a law, binding corporate rules or an agreement providing an adequate level of protection, obtaining consent where appropriate or relying on another lawful transfer basis.

where information is transferred from the european economic area or the united kingdom, recognised transfer safeguards may be used where required, including applicable standard contractual clauses or equivalent approved mechanisms.

your rights and choices

depending on where you live and subject to applicable law, you may have the right to:

  • request confirmation that we hold personal information about you;

  • request access to the personal information we hold about you;

  • request information about how your personal information is processed;

  • request correction or completion of inaccurate or incomplete personal information;

  • request deletion or destruction of personal information where legally permitted;

  • object to certain processing of your personal information;

  • request restriction of processing in certain circumstances;

  • withdraw consent where processing is based on consent;

  • request a copy of certain personal information in a commonly usable format, where applicable;

  • object to certain direct marketing;

  • submit a complaint concerning our processing of personal information;

  • challenge certain decisions based solely on automated processing, where applicable; and

  • exercise any other right available under applicable privacy law.

these rights are not absolute. we may refuse or restrict a request where permitted or required by law, including where retaining information is necessary to fulfil a legal obligation, complete a transaction, prevent fraud or establish, exercise or defend a legal claim.

to exercise a right, contact us at hello@uncivil.co.za. please describe your request clearly enough for us to understand what you need.

we may need to verify your identity before processing a request. this is to avoid handing your information to a stranger with confidence and good punctuation.

where permitted by law, you may authorise another person to submit a request on your behalf. we may require evidence of that authority and may still ask you to verify your identity directly.

we will not discriminate against you for exercising a privacy right, and we will respond within the period required by applicable law.

managing communication preferences

you may unsubscribe from promotional emails at any time by using the unsubscribe link included in the message.

you may also manage certain communication and cookie preferences through the controls available on the services.

even after opting out of promotional communications, you may continue to receive messages relating to orders, payments, deliveries, returns, account security or other transactions.

complaints

if you have a complaint about how we process personal information, please contact us first at hello@uncivil.co.za so that we can investigate and try to resolve it.

depending on where you live, you may also have the right to lodge a complaint with your local privacy or data-protection authority.

in South Africa, complaints concerning popia may be submitted to the Information Regulator through its official complaints page or the channels published by the regulator.

contacting us first is appreciated, but it does not remove your right to approach the Information Regulator or another competent authority.

changes to this privacy policy

we may update this privacy policy from time to time to reflect changes to our services, processing practices, technology, legal obligations or other operational requirements.

when we make changes, we will publish the revised policy on this website and update the “last updated” date. we will provide additional notice where required by law.

you should review this policy occasionally. we promise not to make that sound exciting.

contact us

if you have questions about this privacy policy, want to exercise a privacy right or wish to complain about how we process your information, contact us at:

uncivil clothing (pty) ltd, trading as uncivil
email: hello@uncivil.co.za

responsible party: uncivil clothing (pty) ltd