How we handle your information.

Last updated 21 October 2026. This notice explains what we collect through our contact form, why, and what your rights are under the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA).

Who we are

Forward Thinking Systems (Pty) Ltd, trading as FTSAI (registration 2025/383484/07), Cape Town, South Africa. We are the responsible party for the information described here. Our Information Officer is Yovesh Naidoo, reachable at info@forwardthinkingsystems.co.za.

What we collect

When you use the contact form or the free assessment we collect:

• your name and email address;
• your phone number, if you choose to give it;
• the topic you select and the message you write (contact form);
• your company name, size band and sector (assessment);
• your answers about your company's AI skill level, the AI tools it uses, the kind of data that goes into them, its AI policy and governance, and its goals, timing and budget band, and the snapshot calculated from them (assessment);
• your role and your part in the buying decision, on the long assessment;
• any short written answer you type, such as what prompted your enquiry (assessment);
• the date and version of the notice you agreed to;
• a one-way scrambled (hashed) version of your IP address, and a score from Google reCAPTCHA that tells us whether the request looked automated.

The assessment is about your company. Please do not enter the names of staff or clients. Your snapshot is for guidance only and is based on your own answers; it is not a measurement or an audit. We do not store your actual IP address. We also keep a short log of form attempts (hashed IP address, time and result) to stop spam and abuse. These log entries are deleted after 7 days.

Why we collect it

We use your information to read and reply to your enquiry and, if you ask for one, to prepare a quote. For the assessment, we use your answers to work out and show your snapshot (skills view, biggest risk and suggested starting point), to prepare a quote if you ask for one, and we use your contact details to follow up about it. We do not use it for marketing, we do not add you to a mailing list, and we do not sell or rent it. If we ever want to send you anything beyond a reply to your enquiry, we will ask for your separate consent first.

The form is voluntary, but we cannot reply to you without your name and email address. We rely on your consent, which you give by ticking the box on the form.

Who can see it

Only our Information Officer can see enquiries and assessment answers. Any other person may be given access only with the written consent of all the directors of Forward Thinking Systems (Pty) Ltd.

Companies that help us

• Hostinger hosts our website and database and delivers the email alert we receive when you send a message.
• Google reCAPTCHA protects the form from bots. It runs in your browser, may use cookies and collects information about your device and how you interact with the page, which Google handles under its own Privacy Policy and Terms of Service.

These providers may process information on servers outside South Africa. We only use providers that apply protections comparable to POPIA.

Apart from reCAPTCHA, this website does not use analytics, advertising or tracking cookies.

How long we keep it

We keep an enquiry for 12 months after our last contact with you, then delete it. We delete it sooner if you ask us to, unless the law requires us to keep it.

How we protect it

The form is sent over an encrypted connection and stored in a protected database, kept separate from the public website files. Access is restricted as described above. If personal information is ever compromised, we will tell the Information Regulator and the people affected, as the law requires.

Your rights

You may at any time ask us to:

• tell you what personal information we hold about you and give you a copy;
• correct information that is wrong or out of date;
• delete your information;
• stop using your information, or withdraw your consent.

Email info@forwardthinkingsystems.co.za and use the same email address you used on the form, so that we can find your enquiry. We aim to respond within 30 days.

Complaints

If you are unhappy with how we handle your information, please contact us first. You also have the right to complain to the Information Regulator (South Africa) at inforegulator.org.za, or by email to complaints.IR@justice.gov.za.

Changes to this notice

If we change this notice, we will update the date at the top. The version you agreed to when you sent your message is stored with your enquiry.