Privacy policy

Last updated 10 November 2026

This policy explains how Bowtique handles personal information, in line with South Africa's Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA). It covers salon owners and stylists who use Bowtique, the clients who book through salon websites, and customers who create a Bowtique account.

Salon owners and stylists

For your account we collect your name, email address and password (stored only as a secure hash), or your Google profile if you sign in with Google. We also store the salon details you enter.

We use this to run your account and website, send you booking, billing and security emails, and support you. We don't sell your information.

Salon clients

When someone books on a salon's website, we store their name, phone number, optional email address, booking details and any notes they add. The salon is the responsible party for this information; Bowtique processes it on the salon's behalf to manage bookings and send confirmations and reminders by email or WhatsApp. To ask about your information, contact the salon directly — or us, and we'll pass your request on.

If you sign up to a salon's newsletter, the salon receives your email address. You can unsubscribe at any time.

If you book a house call, the address you give is shared with that salon so they can come to you. It is stored with your booking and used for nothing else.

If you book through a link shared by one of the salon's promoters, your booking is linked to that promoter so the salon can pay them a referral fee. The promoter sees your first name with the initial of your surname, the treatment, the date and whether the appointment went ahead — never your phone number, email address or notes.

Customer accounts

A customer account is optional. For it we collect your name, email address, password (stored only as a secure hash) and, if you add it, your phone number. Once you verify your email, your account shows bookings made with that email address at any Bowtique salon. We also store the salons you save.

Reviews are public. When you review a salon, your rating, your review and your first name with the initial of your surname (for example “Thandi M.”) appear on the salon's website. The salon sees the review and can reply publicly. You can edit your review at any time.

You can delete your account from the Account page. This removes your account, reviews and saved salons; salons keep their records of appointments you booked with them.

The Bowtique feed

Salons can share photos of their work on the public feed at bowtiquesa.com, with their town, prices and rating. Salons must only share photos they have the right to use, including the permission of anyone shown in them.

Promoters and sales partners

Salon promoters and Bowtique sales partners have an account with their name, email address, password (stored only as a secure hash) and, for sales partners, an optional phone number. We use these to run their account and to record the referral fees or commissions they earn.

When a salon signs up through a sales partner, the partner can see the salon's name, when it joined, whether it is live and which plan it is on. They don't see the salon's clients, bookings or payments.

Payments

Payments are handled by PayFast. Card details go straight to PayFast and are never stored by Bowtique. We keep a record of each payment (amount, date, reference) for invoicing and accounting.

Who else processes information

• Our hosting and database providers, who store the service's data.
• Our email provider, which delivers confirmation, reminder and account emails.
• Meta (WhatsApp), which delivers appointment reminders and new-booking alerts for salons on a package that includes them.
• PayFast, for payments.
• Google, only if you choose to sign in with Google.

Some of these providers may store data outside South Africa. We only use providers that protect personal information to a standard comparable to POPIA.

Cookies and visit statistics

Bowtique uses essential cookies to keep you signed in and protect forms against forgery. If you open a sales partner's link, a cookie remembers their code for 30 days so it can be filled in if you create a salon. We don't use advertising cookies.

If you open a salon promoter's link, the salon's website remembers the promoter's code in your browser for 30 days, so a booking you make in that time is credited to them. It is stored only on your device.

Salon websites count visits and taps on WhatsApp, call and directions links so salons can see how their site is doing. These are daily totals only — no cookies, IP addresses or anything else that could identify you are stored. If your browser sends a Do Not Track or Global Privacy Control signal, nothing is counted.

How long we keep information

We keep account and salon data while your account is open. When you close it, we delete it, except records we must keep by law, such as invoices. Booking records are kept for as long as the salon's account exists so the salon has a history of its appointments.

Your rights

You may ask to see, correct or delete your personal information, or object to how we use it. Email admin@bowtiquesa.com. If you're unhappy with our response, you can complain to the Information Regulator (South Africa) at inforegulator.org.za.

Security

We use encrypted connections (HTTPS), hashed passwords, and access controls that keep each salon's data separate. If a breach affects your information, we'll tell you and the Information Regulator as POPIA requires.