Privacy Policy

Who we are

This website is operated by Characters Hair, a hair salon located on the first floor of the Royal Randwick Shopping Centre, 73–109 Belmore Road, Randwick NSW 2031, Australia.

If you have any question about your privacy or this policy, contact us at hello@charactershair.com.au or on (02) 9399 7897.

What we collect

We collect personal information in two ways on this website, and no others.

When you submit the enquiry form on our contact page, we collect the details you type into it: your name, phone number, email address, the service you are interested in, and your message. All of these fields are ones you choose to fill in - if you would rather not use the form, call the salon instead.

Automatically, through our web host and Google Analytics. Like virtually every website, our host records standard technical information when a page is requested - including your IP address, browser type and the page you viewed. Google Analytics separately records which pages you visit, roughly where in the world you are, and whether you arrived from a search engine, a social link or an advertisement. This is used to serve the site, keep it secure, and understand which pages are useful. We do not use it to identify individual visitors.

How we use your information

We use the details you send us for one purpose: to respond to your enquiry and, if you go ahead, to arrange your appointment. That is it.

We do not sell, rent or trade your personal information to anyone, and we do not disclose it overseas except as described in "Who else handles your information" below.

Marketing

We do not add website enquirers to a mailing list, and we do not send marketing emails or messages to the address you use to contact us. Any promotional communication we send goes only to clients who have booked with us through our booking system, Phorest, and every one of those messages carries an unsubscribe option.

Who else handles your information

We use a small number of third-party services to run this website and our salon. Each has its own privacy policy, and we encourage you to read them.

• Web3Forms - processes our enquiry form. When you press Send, your form details pass through Web3Forms, which emails them to our salon inbox. See web3forms.com.
• Google Firebase Hosting - hosts this website and keeps the standard server logs described above.
• Google Maps - our contact page embeds a Google map so you can find us. Loading that page loads content from Google, which may set its own cookies and receive your IP address.
• Google Analytics - measures how this website is used. It runs on every page, sets cookies in your browser, and sends your page views and IP address to Google, which may process and store that data outside Australia. See Google's privacy policy.
• Phorest - our salon booking system. Every "Book Now" button takes you off this website to Phorest, where any booking details you enter are collected and held under Phorest's own privacy policy. See phorest.com.

We may also disclose personal information where we are required to by law.

Cookies and analytics

This website uses Google Analytics 4 to measure how people find and use the site - which pages are popular, which services people look at, and whether visitors arrive from a search engine or a social link. We use this to improve the website. We do not run advertising pixels, and we do not use analytics to build a marketing profile of you or to retarget you with ads.

The cookies it sets. Google Analytics stores small identifiers in your browser - named _ga and _ga_… - so that repeat visits from the same browser are counted as one visitor rather than several. They contain a random number, not your name or contact details, and they expire automatically after up to two years.

What Google receives. The pages you view on this site, your approximate location, your device and browser, and your IP address. Google uses the IP address to work out roughly where you are and does not store it in our reports. Google processes this data on our behalf and may do so outside Australia, including in the United States.

How to opt out. You can block analytics cookies in your browser settings, browse in a private window, or install Google's official Analytics opt-out add-on. Most browsers also honour a "Do Not Track" or tracking-protection setting. The website works exactly the same either way - nothing is withheld if you opt out.

How long we keep it

We keep website enquiries for up to 24 months, so that we can look back at what you asked for if you contact us again, after which they are deleted. If you would like your enquiry deleted sooner, just ask - see below. Client records created when you book or visit the salon are held separately in Phorest and kept for as long as you remain a client of the salon.

Keeping your information secure

This website is served over an encrypted (HTTPS) connection, and enquiries are transmitted securely to our inbox. Access to that inbox is limited to salon staff who need it. No method of transmission over the internet is completely secure, but we take reasonable steps to protect the information you give us from misuse, loss and unauthorised access.

Accessing, correcting or deleting your information

You have the right to ask us what personal information we hold about you, to have it corrected if it is wrong, and to ask us to delete it. Email hello@charactershair.com.au or call (02) 9399 7897 and we will respond within a reasonable period. There is no charge for making a request.

If you are unhappy with how we have handled your personal information, please tell us first so we can put it right. If you are still not satisfied, you can complain to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner at oaic.gov.au.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time - for example, if we add a new tool to the website. The current version always appears on this page, with the date it was last updated shown at the top.