Privacy Policy

SQO Consulting ("we", "us", "our") respects your privacy and is committed to protecting your personal information. This policy explains what information we collect, why we collect it, how we use and store it, who we share it with, and the rights you have. We comply with the Protection of Personal Information Act, 2013 (POPIA) of South Africa and, where applicable, the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

1. Who we are

SQO Consulting is a human resources consulting practice based in Westville, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, operated by Ozzy Jacobs. For the purposes of POPIA, SQO Consulting is the Responsible Party. For the purposes of the GDPR, we act as a data controller in respect of the information we collect through this website.

2. Information we collect

We collect information you give us directly, including when you:

• complete the contact form or email us;
• book a discovery call through our scheduling provider;
• subscribe to our mailing list or download a resource;
• engage us for consulting work, training, or related services.

This typically includes your name, email address, telephone number, company name, role, and the content of your message or enquiry. Where we are engaged for consulting work, we may also process information about your business, its employees, and its HR records, strictly for the purpose of delivering the services agreed in writing.

We also collect limited technical data automatically when you visit the site, such as IP address, browser type, device type, pages visited, and referring URLs. This is used to keep the site secure and to understand aggregate usage.

3. How we use your information

• To respond to your enquiry and provide the services you have requested.
• To send insights, articles, or updates where you have consented to receive them.
• To meet legal, accounting, regulatory and contractual obligations.
• To keep the site secure, prevent abuse, and improve our content.
• To carry out engagements under a written consulting agreement with you or your organisation.

4. Lawful basis for processing

We process personal information on one or more of the following grounds:

• your consent, which you may withdraw at any time;
• the performance of a contract with you or steps taken at your request before entering into a contract;
• compliance with a legal obligation; and
• our legitimate interest in operating and improving our consulting practice, balanced against your rights.

5. Sharing your information

We do not sell your personal information. We share it only with trusted service providers that help us run the site and our practice, including hosting providers, email and form delivery services, scheduling tools (such as Calendly), and accounting providers. Each provider is bound by confidentiality and data-protection obligations and may only use the information to perform services for us.

We may also disclose information where required by law, by a court order, or to protect our rights, property, or safety, or those of our clients.

6. International transfers

Some of our service providers are located outside South Africa or the European Economic Area. Where we transfer personal information across borders, we take reasonable steps to ensure it is protected by comparable standards, including appropriate contractual safeguards.

7. Retention

We retain personal information only for as long as needed to fulfil the purpose for which it was collected, or for any longer period required by law (for example, tax or accounting obligations). When information is no longer required, it is securely deleted or anonymised.

8. Your rights

You may, subject to applicable law:

• request access to the personal information we hold about you;
• request correction of inaccurate or incomplete information;
• request deletion of your information, where there is no overriding legal reason for us to keep it;
• object to or restrict certain processing;
• withdraw consent where processing is based on consent;
• lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator (South Africa) or your local supervisory authority.

To exercise any of these rights, email ozzyj@sqoconsulting.com. We will respond within the timeframes required by applicable law.

9. Security

We apply reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect your personal information against unauthorised access, alteration, disclosure, loss or destruction. While no system is completely secure, we review our safeguards on an ongoing basis.

10. Children

This site is intended for business users. We do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 18. If you believe a child has provided us with personal information, please contact us so we can remove it.

11. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practice, our service providers, or the law. The "last updated" date above will reflect any changes.

12. Contact

Questions, requests or complaints about this policy can be sent to ozzyj@sqoconsulting.com .