Privacy policy

Privacy Policy

Vela Co Pty Ltd Last updated: 2 July 2026

1. About This Policy

Vela Co Pty Ltd ("Vela Co", “Vela”, "we", "us", "our") operates an online cosmetic haircare store and supplies products wholesale to salons and stockists across Australia. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store, and disclose personal information when you visit our website, purchase from our online store, apply for or hold a wholesale account, join our affiliate program, leave a product review, or otherwise interact with us.

We are committed to handling personal information in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs). While Vela Co may currently fall under the small business threshold in some circumstances, we choose to apply APP-aligned practices across our business as a matter of good practice and because our service providers require it.

By using our website or purchasing from us, you agree to the collection and use of information as described in this policy.

2. Information We Collect

From Retail Customers

  • Name, email address, phone number, billing and shipping address, and birthdate
  • Order history and purchase details
  • Payment information (processed securely through our payment gateway — we do not store full card details)
  • Account details if you create a customer account
  • Marketing preferences and email/SMS engagement data
  • Product reviews, ratings, and any photos or comments you submit

From Wholesale Customers (Salons & Stockists)

  • Business name, ABN, business contact details
  • Salon owner/staff contact information
  • Order history, credit terms, and account status
  • Any documentation required to verify trade eligibility

From Affiliate Program Participants

  • Name, email address, payment/payout details
  • Referral and commission activity, click and conversion data

Collected Automatically

  • IP address, browser type, device information
  • Pages visited, time on site, referral source
  • Cookies and similar tracking technologies (see Section 5)

From Third Parties

We may receive information from the service providers listed in Section 4, including payment confirmation, delivery tracking, marketing engagement data, and advertising performance data.

3. How We Use Your Information

We use personal information to:

  • Process and fulfil orders (retail and wholesale)
  • Set up and manage wholesale/trade accounts
  • Provide customer support and respond to enquiries
  • Send transactional communications (order confirmations, shipping updates)
  • Send you a birthday gift, discount, or offer, where you've provided your birthdate
  • Send marketing communications where you have opted in, and allow you to unsubscribe at any time
  • Administer our affiliate program, including tracking referrals and processing commission payments
  • Publish product reviews you submit (name and review content may be displayed publicly)
  • Run and measure advertising campaigns
  • Improve our website, products, and customer experience
  • Detect and prevent fraud and unlawful activity
  • Comply with legal and regulatory obligations

4. Who We Share Information With

We share personal information with trusted service providers who help us run our business. These include:

Provider

Purpose

Shopify

Website hosting, order processing, payment processing, and our wholesale (Shopify B2B) portal

Omnisend

Email and SMS marketing, list management, marketing automation

GoAffPro

Affiliate program management, referral tracking, commission payments

Judge.me

Collection and display of product reviews

Meta (Facebook/Instagram)

Advertising and ad performance measurement

Pinterest

Advertising and ad performance measurement

TikTok

Advertising and ad performance measurement

Google (Ads & Analytics)

Advertising, website analytics, and performance measurement

Stripe, PayPal, and Apple Pay

Secure processing of online payments

Delivery/logistics providers

Fulfilling and tracking orders

We do not sell your personal information to third parties.

We may also disclose personal information where required by law, to protect our legal rights, or as part of a business sale, merger, or restructure.

5. Overseas Disclosure

Several of our service providers are based overseas or store data on overseas servers, including in the United States and other jurisdictions where our platforms operate (for example, Shopify, Omnisend, GoAffPro, Judge.me, Meta, Pinterest, TikTok, Google, Stripe, PayPal, and Apple Pay). This means your personal information may be transferred to, and held on servers located in, countries outside Australia.

Where this occurs, we take reasonable steps to ensure these providers handle personal information in a manner consistent with the APPs, including relying on the providers' own privacy and security commitments. By providing your personal information to us, you acknowledge it may be handled overseas as described above.

6. Cookies & Tracking Technologies

Our website uses cookies and similar tracking technologies, including:

  • Shopify's built-in cookies for cart, checkout, and site functionality
  • Advertising pixels/tags from Meta, Pinterest, TikTok, and Google, used to measure ad performance and show you relevant ads on those platforms
  • Analytics cookies (e.g. Google Analytics) to help us understand site usage
  • Omnisend and Judge.me tracking used for marketing personalisation and review collection

Most browsers accept cookies by default. You can manage or block cookies through your browser settings, though this may affect site functionality. Where required, we will seek your consent before enabling non-essential cookies and provide a way to manage your preferences.

7. Marketing Communications

We only send marketing emails or SMS messages to customers who have actively opted in by ticking a consent checkbox at our Omnisend sign-up forms, checkout, or another point of collection — we do not pre-tick these boxes or add customers to marketing lists without their explicit action. This is in line with the Spam Act 2003 (Cth). Every marketing email includes an unsubscribe link, and you can opt out of SMS marketing at any time by following the instructions provided or contacting us directly. Opting out of marketing does not affect transactional communications related to your orders.

8. Wholesale & Affiliate Data

If you hold a wholesale account through our Shopify B2B portal, we collect and use your business and contact information to manage your account, process trade orders, and apply your agreed pricing and terms.

If you participate in our affiliate program via GoAffPro, we collect your contact and payment details to track referrals and pay commissions owed to you.

9. Product Reviews

If you submit a product review through Judge.me, your name and review content (and any photos you include) may be displayed publicly on our website and marketing channels. Please avoid including sensitive personal information in a review.

10. Data Security & Retention

We take reasonable technical and organisational steps to protect personal information from misuse, loss, and unauthorised access, including relying on the security measures of our platform providers (Shopify, Omnisend, GoAffPro, Judge.me). We retain personal information only for as long as necessary to provide our services, meet legal and accounting obligations, and resolve disputes, after which it is securely deleted or de-identified.

11. Your Rights

You may:

  • Request access to the personal information we hold about you
  • Request correction of inaccurate or outdated information
  • Request deletion of your information, subject to our legal and record-keeping obligations
  • Withdraw consent to marketing at any time
  • Lodge a complaint about how we've handled your information

We aim to respond to any request within 30 days. To exercise any of these rights, contact us using the details in Section 14.

12. Data Breaches

In the event of a data breach that is likely to result in serious harm, we will take prompt steps to assess and contain the breach, and notify affected individuals and, where required, the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC), consistent with the Notifiable Data Breaches scheme.

13. Children's Data

Our services are not directed at children under the age of 16, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe we've inadvertently collected a child's information, please contact us and we will take steps to delete it.

14. Complaints & Contact

If you have a concern about how we've handled your personal information, please contact us first so we can try to resolve it:

Vela Co Pty Ltd 329/98-100 Elizabeth Street, Melbourne VIC 3000, Australia velahairteam@gmail.com

If you're not satisfied with our response, you can lodge a complaint with the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) at www.oaic.gov.au.

15. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, the tools and platforms we use, or legal and regulatory requirements. Any changes will be posted on this page with an updated "Last updated" date.