Privacy Policy

1. Introduction

Anthropos exists to help people and organisations build brands from the inside out — through authentic promises, consistently kept. We hold ourselves to the same standard with your personal information.

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This policy explains, in plain language, what personal information we collect when you visit our website, get in touch, book a conversation, or subscribe to our updates; why we collect it; how we protect it; and the rights you have over it under South African law — principally the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 (POPIA).

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This policy is written for the people who read it, not just the regulators who require it. If any part is unclear, contact our Information Officer (details in section 15) and we will explain it properly.

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2. Who We Are

Anthropos [insert full registered legal entity name, e.g. "Anthropos (Pty) Ltd"], registration number [insert company registration number], with its principal place of business in Cape Town, South Africa, is the "responsible party" for your personal information under POPIA. This means we decide why and how your personal information is processed through this website and our related services.

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Our appointed Information Officer is Johnny Johnson (Founder), contactable at johnny@anthropos.co.za. See section 15 for full contact and complaints information.

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3. Who This Policy Covers

This policy applies to anyone who visits our website, submits an enquiry or booking form, subscribes to our communications, chats with us online, or otherwise interacts with our digital platform. It does not apply to third-party websites we link to — once you leave our site, that site's own privacy policy applies.

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4. The Personal Information We Collect

We only collect what we need to serve you well. Depending on how you interact with us, this may include:

• Contact and enquiry details — name, email address, phone number, company name, and the content of any message you send us through a form or the site chat.

• Booking details — name, contact details, appointment preferences, and any notes you provide ahead of a Strategy Conversation, collected through our online booking tool.

• Newsletter and marketing details — name and email address if you subscribe to updates, along with basic engagement data such as whether an email was opened or a link clicked.

• Payment details — billing name and address and transaction records, where you purchase a service or programme online. Full card details are handled directly by our payment provider; we do not store them.

• Website usage data — device and browser type, pages visited, time on site, referral source, and general (city-level) location, collected automatically through analytics tools.

• Chat and AI conversation data — messages you send through our website's live chat or AI-assisted chat feature, and any details you choose to share in that conversation.

• Cookies and similar tracking technologies — see section 8 for full detail.

 

5. How We Collect It

Most of what we hold, you give us directly — by completing a form, booking a conversation, subscribing to updates, messaging our chat, or emailing us. Some information is collected automatically as you browse, through cookies and analytics tools. Occasionally we receive limited information from a third party acting on our behalf, such as payment confirmation from our payment provider.

 

6. Why We Process Your Information

We process personal information only for clear, specific purposes, and only on a lawful basis recognised by POPIA:​

Purpose and Lawful basis:

• Responding to enquiries and scheudling strategy conversations, 

  • Necessary to take steps at your request, ahead of a possible agreement. ​

• Delivering services or programmes you've purchased. 

  • Performance of a contract with you. ​

• Process payments. 

  • Performance of a contract with you; legal obligation (Financial Recordkeeping). ​

• Sending newsletters or marketing communciations. 

  • Your consent, given when you subscribe (and always withdrable). ​

• Understanding and improving how the website is used. 

  • Our legitimate interest in running an effective, useful webiste, balanced against your privacy. ​

• Operating website chat / AI- assisted obligations. 

  • Your consent, given by choosing to start a chat. ​

• Meeting our legal, tax and accounting obligations. 

  • Legal obligation. ​

• Preventing fraud, abuse or mises of our website. 

  • Out legitimate interest in keeping our platform safe. ​

 

​7. AI Tools and Automated Processing

Modern websites increasingly use AI-enabled tools, and ours may too — for example, an AI-assisted chat feature that helps answer common questions quickly. We think you deserve a straight answer about how that works:

• No decision that significantly affects you — such as whether we take you on as a client — is ever made solely by an automated or AI system without a human being involved, in line with your rights under POPIA section 71.

• We do not use the personal information you share with us to train third-party AI models, and we require our AI-enabled tools to be used only to generate a response to you, not to build external datasets. 

• If you interact with an AI-assisted chat feature on our site, this will be made clear to you — you won't be left wondering whether you're speaking to a person.

• AI-generated text, wherever it appears on our site, is reviewed by our team for accuracy. If any AI-generated summary of our privacy practices ever conflicts with this policy, this policy is the accurate and governing statement.

• As we develop AI-enabled products — including the Anthropos Brand Navigator™ — we will update this policy before those products go live, and will ask for your specific, informed consent for any new use of your information that isn't already covered here.

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8. Cookies and Website Analytics

Our website uses cookies and similar technologies — small files stored on your device — to make the site work properly, understand how it's used, and (where you've allowed it) improve your experience.

• Essential cookies — required for the website to function (for example, keeping a booking form working as you complete it). These can't be switched off.

• Analytics cookies — help us understand which pages are useful and where visitors run into friction, via Google Analytics and Google Search Console. Where possible, this data is aggregated and not used to identify you personally.

• Marketing cookies — used only if you've engaged with a specific campaign or opted into related tracking.

You'll be asked to confirm your cookie preferences when you first visit our site, and you can change them at any time through the cookie settings link in our website footer, or by adjusting your browser settings. Turning off non-essential cookies won't stop you using the site, but may limit some features.

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9. Direct Marketing and Communications

South African law requires opt-in consent before we send you direct marketing by email, SMS or similar electronic means — we can't infer consent from silence. If you subscribe to our updates, you're giving us that consent, and you can withdraw it at any time by using the unsubscribe link in any email or by contacting us directly. If you're an existing client, we may occasionally tell you about closely related services under the limited exception POPIA allows for existing relationships — every such message will still include a clear way to opt out.

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10. Sharing Your Information

We do not sell your personal information, ever. We share it only where necessary, with service providers ("operators" under POPIA) who are contractually required to protect it and use it only on our instructions:

• Wix.com Ltd — website hosting, CRM, forms, booking system, cookie management and any AI-assisted chat feature.

• Google LLC — website analytics and search performance (Google Analytics, Google Search Console).

• Yoco and /or PayFast and /or Stripe and /or PayPal] — processing online payments.

• Mailchimp and /or Wix Email Marketing — sending newsletters and opted-in marketing communications.

Some of these providers process information on servers located outside South Africa. Where that happens, we only work with providers who maintain internationally recognised data protection safeguards (such as standard contractual clauses) or who are subject to laws that give your information a level of protection comparable to POPIA, as required by section 72 of the Act. We recommend our Information Officer confirm and keep on file the specific data processing terms of each provider named above.

We may also disclose personal information where required by law, to protect our legal rights, or in connection with a genuine business transaction such as a merger — always subject to the same standard of protection described in this policy.

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11. How Long We Keep Your Information

We keep personal information only for as long as it's needed for the purpose we collected it, or as long as the law requires:

• Enquiry and CRM records — kept while our relationship is active, and for a reasonable period afterwards in case you get back in touch, before being archived or deleted.

• Financial and payment records — retained for the period required by South African tax and financial recordkeeping law (typically five years).

• Marketing and newsletter data — kept until you unsubscribe or request deletion.

• Website analytics data — retained according to our analytics provider's standard retention settings, and reviewed periodically.

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12. How We Protect Your Information

We rely on Wix's secure, SSL-encrypted hosting infrastructure, restrict access to personal information to team members who need it, use password-protected administrative access, and review our security practices periodically. No system is completely without risk, so if a security compromise occurs that's likely to put you at risk, we will notify the Information Regulator and affected individuals as soon as reasonably possible, as POPIA requires.

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13. Your Rights Under POPIA

You have the right to:

• know what personal information we hold about you, and why;

• request access to a copy of it;

• ask us to correct or update information that's inaccurate, incomplete or outdated;

• ask us to delete or destroy information we're no longer authorised to keep;

• object to our processing of your information, including direct marketing, without needing to give a reason;

• withdraw consent at any time, without affecting the lawfulness of processing that already happened; and

• lodge a complaint with South Africa's Information Regulator if you believe we've mishandled your information.

 

To exercise any of these rights, contact our Information Officer using the details in section 15. We'll respond within a reasonable time, and free of charge unless your request is manifestly excessive.

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14. Children's Information

Our website and services are intended for adults making decisions on behalf of a business or organisation. We don't knowingly collect personal information from children without the consent of a parent or legal guardian, as required by POPIA. If you believe a child has provided us with personal information, please contact us so we can remove it.

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15. Contact Us and How to Complain

Questions, requests or concerns about how we handle your personal information:

• Information Officer: Johnny Johnson — johnny@anthropos.co.za

• General enquiries: magda@anthropos.co.za

 

If you're not satisfied with our response, you can lodge a complaint with South Africa's Information Regulator:

• General enquiries: enquiries@inforegulator.org.za | Toll-free: 0800 017 160 | Tel: 010 023 5200

• PAIA-related complaints: PAIAComplaints@inforegulator.org.za

• Complaints portal and current postal address: www.inforegulator.org.za

 

16. Changes to This Policy

We may update this policy as our website, services or the law changes. The "last updated" date at the top always reflects the current version. Where a change materially affects how we use your information, we'll highlight it clearly on this page and, where appropriate, notify you directly.

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