Privacy policy

Who is responsible

SQAQ (Pty) Ltd, company registration number 2018/248258/07, is responsible for the personal information processed through this website and its customer services. Write to the Information Officer at info@sqaq.co.za, call 082 890 1424, or contact us at 32B Pres Steyn Avenue, Westdene, Bloemfontein, 9300, South Africa.

Information we collect

• Contact and account details, such as your name, business, email address, phone number and account credentials.
• Billing and delivery details, purchased products or services, invoices, payment status and subscription records.
• Your briefs, uploaded artwork, submitted work, approvals, revision requests and project or support messages.
• Consultation requests, selected dates and the information you supply in enquiry forms.
• Inputs and results for the free tools and website assistant, including a public website address supplied for an audit.
• Technical records needed to operate and protect the website, such as IP address, browser information, session identifiers and error or security logs.

We usually collect information from you, your authorised business representative, your use of the website, or the service providers involved in your transaction. We do not need identity documents or full card details in a design brief or support message.

Why we use it

We use relevant information to create and verify your account, answer an enquiry, arrange a consultation, fulfil an order, calculate delivery, issue invoices, manage subscriptions, prepare work, record approvals and provide support. We also process information to prevent fraud or misuse, protect accounts, meet legal obligations and resolve disputes.

Processing is based on the applicable POPIA ground, such as performing your contract, complying with law, a legitimate interest that is reasonably balanced against your rights, or your consent where required. Account creation does not automatically subscribe you to promotional messages.

Required and optional information

Information needed to deliver an order or operate an account is identified in the relevant form. Without an email address, for example, we cannot verify an account or send its essential notices. Without a valid delivery address, we cannot quote or deliver a parcel.

Marketing choices and information unrelated to a required service are optional. If you give us someone else’s details for delivery or project approval, make sure you are authorised and tell them how those details will be used.

Who receives relevant information

Access is limited to staff and assigned service providers who need information for their work. Relevant providers include Xneelo for website hosting or email; Owlytic for assigned development, digital services or hosting operations; Payfast for payments; Bob Go and the selected courier for delivery; production suppliers such as Amrod or Barron where needed to fulfil an order; and OpenAI when you request an AI-assisted tool or answer.

A provider receives only the information relevant to its role. We may also disclose information when lawfully required, to professional advisers under appropriate duties, or to investigate a valid security or legal issue. We do not sell your customer information.

Optional review invitations and review widgets

At checkout you may choose to receive a business-review invitation through Trustpilot. If you opt in, SQAQ shares your first name, email address and an internal order reference with Trustpilot after a paid order is completed. Trustpilot sends the invitation after the configured delay, normally seven days. We do not include your delivery address, artwork, invoice or payment details in this invitation trigger.

This choice is optional and does not affect your purchase or support. Historical orders and subscription renewals are excluded from this flow. Reviews are not filtered by the rating we expect, and no reward is offered for a review. To withdraw this choice before an invitation is submitted, contact info@sqaq.co.za. You may also use the invitation provider’s email preferences.

Some pages display Google or Trustpilot review widgets. Loading a third-party widget may disclose technical information such as your IP address and browser details to its provider. Following a review link takes you to that provider’s website and privacy choices. The cross-border processing information in this policy also applies to these providers.

Optional newsletter and welcome guide

If you choose to subscribe, we use your email address and optional name for SQAQ's ten-week welcome guide and the categories of news and offers shown in the sign-up form. We send a confirmation email first; marketing begins only after you confirm. We record the consent wording, its version and the request and confirmation times. Newsletter details are held in SQAQ's website and sent through its configured email delivery service; they are not added to an external marketing list by this feature.

Every marketing email includes an unsubscribe link. You can stop these emails without signing in, or contact info@sqaq.co.za. Necessary order, account and service notifications are separate. We retain a suppression/consent record to respect an unsubscribe and demonstrate the subscription choice. Contact us about access, correction or deletion of your details. A short-lived hashed rate-limit key helps prevent abuse of the sign-up form; this feature does not store your full IP address. The popup stores only a dismissal preference in your browser for fourteen days and does not track browsing history.

Payments and AI tools

Payment details are handled through the payment provider’s process. SQAQ records the order, payment status and, where applicable, a payment reference or subscription token. Do not send full card numbers, banking passwords or authentication codes through this website’s messages.

For an AI tool, the relevant business description, prompt, supplied material or public page information is sent to the AI provider to prepare the result. Avoid confidential or sensitive personal information. AI output can contain mistakes and requires review.

Processing outside South Africa

Some providers may process or store relevant information outside South Africa. Where a cross-border transfer is required, SQAQ must use a lawful POPIA transfer basis and appropriate contractual or other protection. A service-provider name does not mean that all of your account information is sent to that provider.

How long we retain it

We retain information for its purpose and the period required by law, rather than promising immediate deletion of every record. Accounting records may need to cover the current financial year and the previous seven completed financial years; tax records can have a separate period measured from submission of the relevant return. A dispute or legal hold can require longer retention.

Project files, messages, tool results and technical records are retained only while reasonably needed for the service, support, security or a lawful record-keeping purpose. Ask us about deleting an unused account or unnecessary artwork. We assess the request and explain any record that must be kept.

Your choices and rights

Subject to POPIA and other applicable law, you may ask what information we hold, request access or correction, object to qualifying processing, withdraw consent, request deletion of information no longer lawfully needed, and object to direct marketing. We may reasonably verify your identity before releasing or changing personal information.

Email the Information Officer at info@sqaq.co.za with the request. Withdrawing a marketing choice does not stop essential order, approval, account-security or billing messages. See Cookies & website storage for browser choices.

Complaints and changes

You can contact SQAQ about a privacy concern or lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator South Africa through inforegulator.org.za or its published complaints process. The regulator’s general contact number is 010 023 5200.

We review this notice when the website’s processing changes. The date shown identifies this version. A material new use of information needs the appropriate notice and lawful basis; it is not authorised merely by editing this page.

Optional Google and Facebook sign-in

If you choose an available Google or Facebook sign-in button, that provider authenticates you and shares your basic name, email address and account identifier with SQAQ. We use these details to create or connect your customer account. Your provider password is not shared with SQAQ. Social sign-in does not grant SQAQ access to your contacts, posts or private messages.

Google or Facebook receives your sign-in request and handles information according to its own privacy rules. Social sign-in is optional: you can use SQAQ’s email and password registration instead. Your SQAQ email verification, existing orders, designs and free-tool allowance still apply. Choosing social sign-in does not subscribe you to marketing emails or grant optional Analytics or marketing-cookie permission.

After signing in, eligible customers can manage connected sign-in accounts in Account details. Disconnecting a provider does not delete your SQAQ customer account, past orders or records we must retain. For help with your personal information or account access, email info@sqaq.co.za.