Privacy Policy.

1. Who we are

The Quantum Institute Ltd ("TQI", "we", "us") is registered in the Republic of South Africa (Reg. No. 2025/012641/07) and is the data controller for personal information collected through theq.institute. This policy is written to meet the requirements of South Africa's Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA) and reflects general practice under comparable international frameworks such as the GDPR.

2. What we collect

We collect only what is needed to deliver a report, respond to an enquiry, or process a purchase:

• Briefing and contact requests: name, email address, organisation, and any message you submit via our contact or briefing-request forms.
• Report and licence purchases: full name, email address, and the SKU and tier purchased, used to generate and deliver your report and to keep a record of the transaction.
• Payment information: we do not collect or store card numbers or banking details ourselves. Payments are processed directly by our payment gateway, PayFast (a division of Network International), which collects and handles payment card data under its own PCI-compliant systems. We receive only confirmation of payment, the amount, and a transaction reference.

3. How we use it

Personal information is used only to:

• Generate and deliver the report or licence you purchased, by email.
• Respond to briefing requests and enquiries submitted through the site.
• Keep internal records of sales and correspondence for accounting and audit purposes.
• Where you have opted into Monthly Intelligence Updates, send those updates until you cancel.

We do not sell, rent, or trade personal information to third parties, and we do not use it for advertising or profiling.

4. Who we share it with

Limited personal information is shared only with the service providers that make delivery and payment possible, each acting as a processor on our instructions:

• PayFast — processes payment card and transaction data to complete your purchase.
• Netlify — hosts the site and the order-processing functions, and briefly stores pending-order records (name, email, SKU) until a purchase is fulfilled or cancelled.
• Postmark — sends the transactional emails that deliver your report and confirm your order.

None of these providers is permitted to use your information for their own purposes. We do not share personal information with any other third party except where required by law.

5. Retention

Pending-order records are deleted automatically once a report has been successfully delivered. Correspondence and transaction records are retained for as long as reasonably necessary for accounting, tax, and audit obligations under South African law, after which they are deleted.

6. Cookies

theq.institute does not use advertising or tracking cookies, and does not run third-party analytics or marketing pixels. Any cookies set are strictly functional, for example to support form submission, and do not identify you personally.

7. Your rights

Under POPIA (and equivalent rights under other applicable data protection law), you may request access to, correction of, or deletion of your personal information held by us, or object to a particular use of it. To exercise any of these rights, email info@theq.institute with your request and we will respond within a reasonable time, and in any event within the periods required by applicable law.

8. Security

We rely on the security controls of our hosting and payment providers, including encryption in transit, and restrict access to stored personal information to those who need it to fulfil orders or respond to enquiries. No system is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security of information transmitted over the internet.

9. Contact and complaints

Questions about this policy, or requests relating to your personal information, can be sent to info@theq.institute. If you believe your information has been handled improperly, you also have the right to lodge a complaint with South Africa's Information Regulator.

10. Related policy

This policy forms part of, and should be read together with, our Terms & Conditions and our Delivery & Refund Policy.