Privacy Policy

Introduction

This Notice explains how we obtain, use and disclose your personal information, in accordance with the requirements of the Protection of Personal Information Act (“POPIA”).

We want you to know:

• the information that we collect;
• the steps we take to protect the information that you provide us;
• how we use that information; and
• when we share it with others.

Generally, we may collect the information described below and use such information for the purposes described below. You can limit the information that you provide us by not submitting the online request forms described below, in which case you will not be eligible for the service requested in the form.

This Privacy Policy only applies to the TLGSA websites and does not apply to, and TLGSA is not responsible for, the privacy policies or practices of websites operated by third parties, even if they are linked to TLGSA websites. If you choose to link to or from another website to or from the TLGSA websites, you should refer to such other website’s privacy policy and practices and note that we do not accept any responsibility or liability for these policies. This policy does not apply to user posts or other third-party content, including, for example posts to our Facebook or other social media site. We do not promise to keep such third-party content private, or to keep private the identity of such third-party contributors. Each TGLSA franchise is independently owned and operated by a franchisee and TLGSA cannot guarantee compliance by all franchisees with this Privacy Policy, although TLGSA will attempt to require franchisees to comply.

I. What Information do we collect and why? 

The Little Gym South Africa collects Personally Identifiable Information and other information regarding visitors to our Sites. “Personally Identifiable Information” is information that The Little Gym South Africa has collected and can reasonably link to a specific person or device. We may collect Personally Identifiable Information or other information about you directly from you and from third parties, as well as automatically through your use of our Sites.

1.1 Information we collect automatically.

We may automatically collect the following Personally Identifiable Information or other information about your use of our Sites through cookies, web beacons, and other technologies: your domain name; your browser type and operating system; web pages you view; links you click; your IP address; device ID; the length of time you visit our Sites; page views; and the referring URL or webpage that led you to our Sites. Please see the section “Cookie Policy” to learn more about our use of cookies.

1.2 Information you choose to provide to us.

We collect Personally Identifiable Information directly from you in various ways:

A. Enrolment Information   

• Certain areas and features of our Sites, by sending an email, or directly in person at the franchisee The Little Gym location may require registration. To register for programs and events, you must first complete the registration form or create an account directly. During registration you will be required to give certain contact information (such as full name, email address, phone number, child’s name, and birthdate). This information is used to contact you about the products and services in which you have expressed interest and to enrol your child in specific events.  At your option, you may also provide additional information about yourself, your child, and family members, but it is not required. 
• You will need to provide your debit or credit card number and expiration date for billing purposes. This information will be shared with third parties only to process payments. For security, we can only see the last four digits of your card. If there are any issues with your order, we will use this information to contact you.
• We may also collect Personally Identifiable Information such as your name, address, phone number, and email address from you in connection with contests and other promotions that we may conduct or offer through our Site.
• We also host a blog which allows you to post information online. Please note that all this information will be available for public viewing, so you should not post any information that is considered confidential and/or that you would prefer to keep private.

B. Referral Information

If you know a parent who would be interested in learning more about The Little Gym®, you may refer him or her to TLGSA by sharing Personally Identifiable Information. TLGSA or the franchisee may use the Personally Identifiable Information that you provide to notify the referred parent of your referral and for the other purposes described in this Privacy Policy.

C. Prospective Franchisee Information

If you are interested in learning about franchise opportunities with TLGSA, you may complete the form on our sites. If you choose to do so, TLGSA will collect your personal information on the form. This form is not an application for consideration as a franchisee. TLGSA may later send you an application form that collects additional information, including financial information such as an estimate of your available liquid capital and approximate net worth (collectively “Prospective Franchisee Information”). TLGSA will not sell, rent, or otherwise disclose the Prospective Franchisee Information you provide without first obtaining your consent. However, if you are an employee of a current TLGSA franchisee, we may communicate the fact of your application to your current franchisee employer.

D. Resume Information

If you’re interested in working at a The Little Gym® location, you may send to any franchisee your resume by email or regular mail to the addresses posted on the careers page (Franchisees’ The Little Gym businesses are each independently owned and operated). If you send information to TLGSA about your interest in employment at a franchisee’s site, we may forward that information to the franchisees located near you, but TLGSA will not rent, sell, or otherwise disclose the information. If TLGSA sends your information to a franchisee, TLGSA will ask the franchisee to not rent, sell, or otherwise disclose the personal information in your resume to any third party, but cannot guarantee that the Franchisee will not do so.

II. How we use your Information

We use the Personally Identifiable Information or other information that we gather about you for the following purposes:

• To respond to your inquiries and for other customer service purposes.
• To tailor the content and information that we may send or display to you, to offer location customization and personalized help and instructions, and to otherwise personalize your experiences while using the Site.
• To administer contests and other promotions we may conduct from time to time through the Sites.
• For marketing and promotional purposes. For example, we may use your Personally Identifiable Information, such as your email address, to send you news and newsletters, special offers, and promotions, or to otherwise contact you about information we think may interest you. We also may use the information that we learn about you to assist us in advertising on third-party websites.
• We display personal testimonials of satisfied customers on our Sites, in addition to other endorsements. We may post your testimonial along with your name. If you wish to update or delete your testimonial, you can contact us at [email protected]
• To better understand how users’ access and use our Sites, both on an aggregated and individualized basis, in order to improve our Sites and respond to user desires and preferences, and for other research and analytical purposes.

III. How we share your Information

We may share the information that we collect about you, including Personally Identifiable Information, as follows:

A. Affiliates

We may disclose the information we collect from you to our franchisees, affiliates, or subsidiaries; however, if we do so, their use and disclosure of your Personally Identifiable Information will be subject to this Policy.

B. Service Providers

We may disclose the information we collect from you to third-party vendors, service providers, contractors, or agents who perform functions on our behalf. For example, we may disclose your email address to a third-party vendor or service provider for the purpose of sending you updates about your local The Little Gym location.

C. Credit Card Processors

We use an outside credit card processing company, PayU (https://southafrica.payu.com/), to charge customers for programs and services. This company does not share or use personal information for any secondary purpose beyond filling your order. When you make a payment on our platform, the transaction is securely processed through PayU. The payment details are encrypted and transmitted to PayU, where the transaction is authorized and captured. Once the payment is successfully processed, you will receive a confirmation of your transaction.

We care about the security of your personal information, and when you submit personal information, such as credit card information, that information is encrypted and protected by Secure Sockets Layer Protocol (SSL) encryption technology and stored on our servers. However, no transmission over the Internet and no electronic data storage method is 100% secure. Therefore, we cannot guarantee the absolute security of the personal information you provide to TLGSA either during its transmission or its storage on TLGSA’s systems. If you believe that the security of your data has been compromised, please notify TLGSA immediately, and if it involves your credit card, immediately notify your credit card company in accordance with their policies.

D. Business Transfers

If we are acquired by or merged with another company, if substantially all our assets are transferred to another company, or as part of a bankruptcy proceeding, we may transfer the information we have collected from you to the other company.

E. In Response to Legal Process

We also may disclose the information we collect from you to comply with the law, a judicial proceeding, court order, or other legal process, such as in response to a court order or a subpoena.

F. To Protect Us and Others

We also may disclose the information we collect from you where we believe it is necessary to investigate, prevent, or act regarding illegal activities, suspected fraud, situations involving potential threats to the safety of any person, violations of our policies, or as evidence in litigation in which The Little Gym is involved.

G. Aggregate and De-Identified Information

We may share aggregate or de-identified information about users with third parties for marketing, advertising, research, or similar purposes.

H. Facebook

We also use Personally Identifiable Information and other information provided by users in combination with Facebook to create and target audiences, as well as measure and optimize our advertising. Personally Identifiable Information is locally hashed on our system before we upload and pass such data to Facebook to be used to create a custom audience (the “Hashed Data”), and/or is sent securely via an API. For more information on Facebook Custom Audiences go here or to opt-out, go to the Facebook ad preferences page. We may also work with other ad networks and marketing platforms that enable us and other participants to target ads to audiences submitted by us and others. You may control how Facebook and other ad networks display certain ads to you, as explained further in their respective privacy policies or by using the opt-outs described below (link to “in the Third-Party Ad Networks section below”).

I. Third Parties

We do not share your Personally Identifiable Information with third parties for their direct marketing purposes unless we have obtained your consent to do so in advance.

IV. Third-Party Links

Our Sites may contain links to third-party websites. Any access to and use of such linked websites is not governed by this Policy, but instead is governed by the privacy policies of those third-party websites. We are not responsible for the information practices of such third-party websites.  Please read their respective privacy policies (if any) for information about how these third parties handle the processing of Personally Identifiable Information and other information.

4.1 International Users.

We are headquartered in South Africa. Please be aware that information you provide to us or that we obtain through the Sites may be collected in your country and subsequently transferred to, maintained, accessed and otherwise processed in South Africa or another country by us or our service providers for the purposes mentioned above in accordance with applicable law. The privacy laws of these countries may not always offer the same level of protection as in your country.

V. Security of my Personal Information

We have implemented commercially reasonable precautions, including, where appropriate, password protection, encryption, SSL, firewalls, and internal restrictions on who may access data to protect the information we collect from loss, misuse, and unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration, and destruction. Please be aware that despite our best efforts, no data security measures can guarantee 100% security.

You should take steps to protect against unauthorized access to your accounts and computer by, among other things, signing off after using a shared computer, choosing a robust password that nobody else knows or can easily guess, and keeping your log-in and password private. We are not responsible for any lost, stolen, or compromised passwords or for any activity on your account via unauthorized password activity.

VI. Choices regarding use of Personally Identifiable Information

As explained above, TLGSA may send periodic promotional or informational emails to you about recommendations or other information we think may interest you. If, at any time, you prefer not to receive such email communications from TLGSA, you will have the ability to unsubscribe by means of a link provided in such emails from TLGSA. Please note that it may take up to ten (10) business days for us to process opt-out requests.

If, at any time, you prefer not to receive any other form of communication from TLGSA, or request the deletion of your account, you will have the ability to do so directly from the point-of-sale system, or by using the contact form on www.thelittlegym.co.za/contact-us, and sending your request of changes to your account or deletion.

VII. Children Privacy

Our Site is not designed or intended for use by children under 13. Please note that certain features of our Sites allow for the posting of testimonials, photos, and videos. If you are posting any materials to our Sites, you may not post any materials showing or depicting a child unless you are either the parent and/or legal guardian of that child and authorized to post such material.

VIII. How to Contact Us 

If you have questions about The Little Gym® programs or franchising opportunities with TLGSA, please see the information listed on our www.thelittlegym.co.za/contact-us page.

If you have any questions about this Policy, please contact us by email at [email protected].

For technical questions about the operation of a TLGSA website (e.g., if you are having trouble downloading a form or other information), please contact our webmaster.

IX. Changes to this Privacy Policy

We reserve the right to modify, alter, or update this Privacy Policy at any time, so we encourage you to review this Privacy Policy frequently in this space. This Privacy Policy is also subject to our Terms of Use posted at the TLGSA websites. This Privacy Policy was last updated on 7 January 2025. 

X. Request for access to personal information

According to the Promotion of Access to Information Act 2 of 2000, company records are accessible to the public under certain circumstances. If you would like records that TLGSA or its franchises might have, which you believe can be disclosed by TLGSA or its franchisees, download the fees document that lists the costs and type of information available. Then complete the form and return it to the address given in the form.

• PAIA Manual The Little Gym South Africa (TLGSA)
• PAIA Manual The Little Gym Sea Point (Franchisee)
• Fees
• Form

XI. Acceptance of this Privacy Policy

By providing personal information to a TLGSA or a franchisee, you consent to the collection, use and disclosure of that information in accordance with this Privacy Policy.