1. Information We Collect

Information you provide directly

• Contact forms: When you use our “Work with me” or contact forms, we collect the information you submit, such as your name, email address, and the content of your message.
• Comments: If you leave a comment on the Site, we collect the name, email address, and comment content you provide.

Information collected automatically

When you visit the Site, certain information is collected automatically, including:

• IP address and approximate location (country/city level)
• Browser type and version, device type, and operating system
• Pages visited, time spent on pages, and referring website
• Cookies and similar tracking technologies (see Section 4)

2. How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect to:

• Respond to your inquiries and messages
• Operate, maintain, and improve the Site and its content
• Analyze how visitors use the Site so we can improve the experience
• Display relevant content and affiliate product recommendations
• Comply with legal obligations

We do not sell your personal information.

3. Amazon Associates Program Disclosure

Vickie de Beer / vickiedebeer.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com and its affiliated sites.

As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases.

This means that when you click on certain links to Amazon products on this Site and make a purchase, we may receive a small commission at no additional cost to you.

Amazon uses cookies to track referrals from this Site. When you click an affiliate link, Amazon may place cookies on your device to attribute your purchase to this Site. We do not have access to your Amazon account information, payment details, or purchase history. For details on how Amazon handles your data, please review the Amazon Privacy Notice.

4. Cookies and Tracking Technologies

Cookies are small text files stored on your device when you visit a website. The Site uses cookies for the following purposes:

• Essential cookies: Required for the Site to function properly (e.g., security, form submissions).
• Analytics cookies: Help us understand how visitors use the Site (e.g., Google Analytics or similar services).
• Affiliate cookies: Placed by Amazon and other affiliate partners when you click affiliate links, used to attribute purchases.
• Social media cookies: Embedded content from platforms such as Facebook and Instagram may set cookies when you interact with it.

Managing cookies

You can control or delete cookies through your browser settings. Most browsers allow you to block cookies entirely, though this may affect how the Site functions. For more information, visit www.allaboutcookies.org.

5. Third-Party Services

The Site uses or may use the following third-party services, each of which has its own privacy policy:

• Amazon Associates – affiliate advertising (Amazon Privacy Notice)
• Google Analytics – website analytics (Google Privacy Policy)
• WordPress / hosting provider – website platform and hosting
• Facebook and Instagram – embedded social content and links (Meta Privacy Policy)

Third-party links on the Site lead to external websites we do not control. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of those websites, and we encourage you to review their privacy policies.

6. How Long We Keep Your Information

We retain personal information only as long as necessary for the purposes described in this policy:

• Contact form submissions are kept as long as needed to respond to and follow up on your inquiry.
• Comments and their metadata are retained indefinitely so follow-up comments can be recognized automatically.
• Analytics data is retained according to the settings of our analytics provider.

7. Your Rights

Depending on where you live, you may have the following rights regarding your personal information:

• Access – request a copy of the personal data we hold about you
• Correction – request that we correct inaccurate or incomplete data
• Deletion – request that we delete your personal data
• Objection – object to or restrict certain processing of your data
• Withdrawal of consent – withdraw consent where processing is based on consent

These rights may be available to you under laws such as the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the South African Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA), or the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), depending on your location.

To exercise any of these rights, contact us using the details in Section 10. We will respond within the timeframe required by applicable law.

8. Data Security

We take reasonable technical and organizational measures to protect your personal information against loss, misuse, and unauthorized access. However, no method of transmission over the internet is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

9. Children’s Privacy

The Site is not directed at children under the age of 13 (or the equivalent minimum age in your jurisdiction), and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe a child has provided us with personal information, please contact us and we will delete it.

10. Contact Us

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or how your data is handled, please contact:

Vickie de Beer | Email: vickie@hardrain.co.za  |.  Website: https://vickiedebeer.com

11. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Any changes will be posted on this page with an updated effective date. We encourage you to review this page periodically.

Last updated: 31-08-2026