Privacy Policy

CARS GOLD

www.carsgold.co.za

Effective Date: February 2025 | Last Updated: February 2025

Applies to users globally, including the EU (GDPR) and California (CCPA/CPRA)

📋 Copy Full Policy Text

1. Introduction

Welcome to Cars Gold ("we", "us", or "our"), a used car dealership based in Johannesburg, South Africa, operating through our website at www.carsgold.co.za. We are committed to protecting your personal information and your right to privacy.

This Privacy Policy explains what information we collect, why we collect it, how we use it, and what rights you have in relation to your personal data. It applies to all visitors and users of our website, regardless of where you are located – including users in the European Union and California, USA.

By using our website, you acknowledge that you have read and understood this Privacy Policy. If you do not agree with any part of this policy, please discontinue use of our website.

2. Information We Collect

2.1 Personal Information

We may collect the following personal data when you interact with our website:

Contact details: full name, email address, phone number, and physical address (submitted via contact or enquiry forms)
Finance application data: income details, employment status, identity number, and other financial information required to process vehicle finance applications
Newsletter preferences: name and email address provided when subscribing to our mailing list
WhatsApp communication: phone number and message content when you initiate contact via our WhatsApp click-to-chat button
Communication records: records of correspondence when you contact us by any means

2.2 Non-Personal / Technical Information

We also automatically collect certain non-identifiable technical information when you visit our website, including:

IP address and approximate geographical location
Browser type, version, and operating system
Pages visited, time spent on pages, and referring URLs
Device type and screen resolution
Cookie identifiers and tracking data (see Section 5)

3. How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect for the following purposes:

To respond to your enquiries and provide customer support
To process and facilitate vehicle finance applications on your behalf
To send newsletters, promotions, and relevant updates (only with your consent)
To improve our website, services, and user experience
To serve relevant advertisements via Google AdSense
To analyse website traffic and user behaviour using Google Analytics
To comply with applicable legal obligations
To detect and prevent fraud or misuse of our website

4. Legal Bases for Processing (GDPR)

If you are located in the European Union or European Economic Area, we process your personal data under the following legal bases as defined by the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR):

Consent (Art. 6(1)(a)): For newsletter subscriptions, cookies, and marketing communications. You may withdraw consent at any time.
Contractual necessity (Art. 6(1)(b)): To process finance applications or respond to enquiries that constitute pre-contractual steps.
Legitimate interests (Art. 6(1)(f)): To improve our website performance and deliver relevant content, where your interests and rights do not override ours.
Legal obligation (Art. 6(1)(c)): Where we are required to process your data to comply with applicable law.

5. Cookies & Tracking Technologies

Our website uses cookies and similar tracking technologies to enhance your browsing experience. A cookie is a small text file stored on your device by your web browser when you visit a website.

Types of Cookies We Use

Essential cookies: Required for the website to function properly. These cannot be disabled.
Analytics cookies: Used by Google Analytics to collect anonymised data on how visitors use our website.
Advertising cookies: Used by Google AdSense to serve personalised or contextual advertisements based on your browsing activity.
Preference cookies: Remember your settings and preferences for future visits.

When you first visit our website, you will be presented with a cookie consent banner. You may accept all cookies, reject non-essential cookies, or customise your preferences. You can also manage or delete cookies at any time through your browser settings. Note that disabling certain cookies may affect the functionality of our website.

For more information on how Google uses cookies, please visit: https://policies.google.com/technologies/cookies

6. Google AdSense & Third-Party Advertising

We use Google AdSense to display advertisements on our website. Google AdSense is a service provided by Google LLC that uses cookies and web beacons to serve ads based on your prior visits to our website and other sites on the internet.

Google's use of advertising cookies enables it and its partners to serve ads based on your visit to our site and/or other websites. You may opt out of personalised advertising by visiting Google's Ads Settings at https://adssettings.google.com, or by visiting www.aboutads.info.

We do not control the cookies or data practices of Google or other third-party advertisers. We encourage you to review the privacy policies of these third parties for more information. Cars Gold does not receive access to any personal data collected directly by Google for advertising purposes.

7. How We Share Your Information

We do not sell your personal information. We may share your data only in the following circumstances and with appropriate safeguards in place:

Financial institutions: When you submit a vehicle finance application, your data is shared with relevant banks or financial service providers to assess and process your application.
Service providers: We engage trusted third-party companies to assist with website hosting, analytics (Google Analytics), and advertising (Google AdSense). These providers are contractually obligated to handle your data in accordance with applicable law.
Legal compliance: We may disclose your information where required to do so by law, court order, or governmental authority.
Business transfers: In the event of a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets, your information may be transferred as part of that transaction. We will notify you of any such change.

We require all third parties to respect the security of your personal data and to treat it in accordance with applicable law. We do not permit our service providers to use your data for their own marketing purposes.

8. Data Retention

We retain your personal information only for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes for which it was collected, or as required by applicable law. Specifically:

Contact form enquiries: Retained for up to 24 months from the date of last contact
Finance application data: Retained in accordance with financial regulatory requirements, typically 5 years
Newsletter subscriber data: Retained until you unsubscribe or withdraw consent
Analytics and cookie data: Subject to Google's own retention policies

When your data is no longer required, we will securely delete or anonymise it.

9. International Data Transfers

Cars Gold is based in South Africa. If you access our website from outside South Africa, including from the European Union or California, USA, your information may be transferred to and processed in South Africa or other countries where our service providers are located.

Where we transfer personal data outside of the European Economic Area, we ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place in accordance with GDPR requirements, including the use of standard contractual clauses approved by the European Commission or reliance on providers who participate in adequacy-recognised frameworks.

Third-party services such as Google operate globally and may process your data in the United States or other jurisdictions. Google's cross-border data transfers are governed by their own privacy frameworks and applicable data transfer mechanisms.

10. Your Rights Under GDPR (EU/EEA Users)

If you are located in the European Union or European Economic Area, you have the following rights under the GDPR:

Right to access: You may request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
Right to rectification: You may ask us to correct any inaccurate or incomplete data we hold.
Right to erasure ("right to be forgotten"): You may request that we delete your personal data, subject to certain legal exceptions.
Right to restriction of processing: You may ask us to limit how we use your data in certain circumstances.
Right to data portability: You may request that we transfer your data to another organisation in a structured, machine-readable format.
Right to object: You may object to processing based on legitimate interests or for direct marketing purposes.
Right to withdraw consent: Where processing is based on consent, you may withdraw that consent at any time without affecting the lawfulness of prior processing.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us using the details in Section 16. We will respond to your request within 30 days. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority.

11. Your Rights Under CCPA/CPRA (California Residents)

If you are a resident of California, USA, you have the following rights under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) and the California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA):

Right to know: You may request information about the categories and specific pieces of personal information we have collected about you, and how it has been used and shared.
Right to delete: You may request that we delete your personal information, subject to certain exceptions.
Right to correct: You may request that we correct inaccurate personal information we hold about you.
Right to opt-out of sale or sharing: You have the right to opt out of the sale or sharing of your personal information for cross-context behavioural advertising. See below.
Right to limit use of sensitive personal information: You may limit how we use or disclose sensitive personal data.
Right to non-discrimination: We will not discriminate against you for exercising any of your CCPA/CPRA rights.

🚫 DO NOT SELL OR SHARE MY PERSONAL INFORMATIONCars Gold does not sell your personal information for monetary consideration. However, the use of advertising and analytics cookies by third parties (such as Google) may constitute "sharing" under California law. To opt out, please use our cookie preference tool, visit Google Ads Settings at https://adssettings.google.com, or contact us at [email protected].

12. How to Exercise Your Rights

You may exercise any of the rights described in Sections 10 and 11 by contacting us through any of the following channels:

Email: [email protected]
Phone: 011 346 5076
Website: www.carsgold.co.za

We will verify your identity before processing any request to protect the security of your personal data. We will acknowledge your request promptly and respond within the timeframes required by applicable law (30 days under GDPR; 45 days under CCPA/CPRA, extendable once by an additional 45 days where reasonably necessary).

13. Data Security

We implement reasonable and appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal information against unauthorised access, disclosure, alteration, or destruction. These measures include secure server infrastructure, encrypted data transmission (SSL/TLS), and restricted access controls.

However, no method of transmission over the internet or method of electronic storage is completely secure. While we strive to use commercially acceptable means to protect your personal data, we cannot guarantee absolute security. In the event of a data breach that is likely to result in a risk to your rights and freedoms, we will notify you and the relevant regulatory authorities as required by applicable law.

14. Children's Privacy

Our website and services are not directed at children under the age of 18. We do not knowingly collect personal information from minors. If you are a parent or guardian and believe that your child has provided us with personal information without your consent, please contact us immediately at [email protected] and we will take steps to delete such information from our records.

In compliance with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) and equivalent laws, we do not knowingly collect, use, or disclose personal data from children under 13 years of age in the United States.

15. Updates to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, services, legal requirements, or for other operational reasons. When we make material changes, we will update the "Last Updated" date at the top of this policy and, where appropriate, notify you by email or via a prominent notice on our website.

We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy periodically to stay informed about how we are protecting your information. Your continued use of our website after any changes constitutes your acceptance of the updated policy.

16. Contact Information

If you have any questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or our data practices, please contact us:

Cars Gold
Used Car Dealership – Johannesburg, South Africa
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 011 346 5076
Website: www.carsgold.co.za
Location: 471 Louis Botha Avenue Highland North Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa 2191

This Privacy Policy was prepared in good faith to reflect our data practices and applicable legal requirements. It does not constitute legal advice. Cars Gold recommends consulting a qualified legal professional for any specific legal concerns.