Privacy Policy & POPIA Notice

1. Introduction

FPT Academy (Pty) Ltd ("FPT Academy", "we", "us", or "our") is an accredited skills development provider based in South Africa. We are committed to protecting the privacy and personal information of every learner, employer, employee, supplier, and website visitor who interacts with us.

This Privacy Policy explains what personal information we collect, how and why we use it, who we share it with, and the rights you have in relation to that information. It should be read together with our POPIA Compliance Notice below, which describes how we give effect to the Protection of Personal Information Act, 4 of 2013 ("POPIA").

2. Responsible Party & Information Officer

For the purposes of POPIA, FPT Academy (Pty) Ltd is the "Responsible Party" that determines why and how your personal information is processed. We have appointed an Information Officer who is accountable for our compliance with POPIA and who you may contact about any privacy-related matter.

3. Information We Collect

We collect personal information that is necessary to deliver accredited training, manage learnerships, meet our regulatory obligations, and operate our business. Depending on your relationship with us, this may include:

Learners & applicants

• Identity details — full name, ID or passport number, date of birth, gender, race, and nationality (where required for SETA, QCTO, and B-BBEE reporting)
• Contact details — postal and physical address, email address, and telephone numbers
• Education and employment history, qualifications, and prior learning records
• Enrolment, assessment, attendance, competence, and certification records
• Banking or stipend details where a learnership involves a payment to you
• Disability or medical information where reasonable accommodation is requested

Employers & corporate clients

• Company name, registration number, and contact details of representatives
• Skills development, SDL, and B-BBEE information relevant to learnerships and programmes

Website visitors

• Information you submit through enquiry, contact, or portal forms
• Technical data such as IP address, browser type, and pages visited (see Cookies below)

4. Why We Process Your Information

We only process personal information for lawful, specific, and clearly defined purposes, including to:

• Register, enrol, assess, and certify learners on accredited programmes
• Administer learnerships, skills programmes, and workplace-based learning
• Report to and meet the requirements of SETAs, the QCTO, SAQA, and other regulators
• Respond to enquiries and provide information you request
• Manage contracts, invoicing, stipends, and payments
• Comply with legal, accreditation, tax, and B-BBEE obligations
• Improve our programmes, services, and website

5. Lawful Basis for Processing

We process personal information only where POPIA permits it — namely with your consent, because it is necessary to conclude or perform a contract with you, to comply with a legal obligation, to protect a legitimate interest, or where processing is necessary for the proper performance of a public-law duty by a competent body. Where we rely on consent, you may withdraw it at any time, although this may affect our ability to provide certain services to you.

6. Sharing & Disclosure

We do not sell your personal information. We may share it only where necessary and on a lawful basis, including with:

• SETAs, the QCTO, SAQA, and other education and training authorities for registration, certification, and reporting
• Employers and Skills Development Facilitators in respect of learners they sponsor
• Assessors, moderators, and accredited partners involved in delivering your programme
• Service providers (operators) who process information on our behalf under written confidentiality and security obligations
• Government bodies, regulators, or law enforcement where we are legally required to do so

7. Cross-Border Transfers

We primarily store and process personal information within South Africa. Where information is transferred to or stored by service providers outside the Republic (for example, cloud hosting), we take reasonable steps to ensure the recipient is subject to laws, binding agreements, or rules that provide an adequate level of protection comparable to POPIA.

8. Security Safeguards

We maintain appropriate, reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect personal information against loss, damage, unauthorised access, and unlawful processing. These include access controls, secure storage, staff confidentiality obligations, and ongoing review of our security practices. In the event of a security compromise affecting your personal information, we will notify you and the Information Regulator as required by POPIA.

9. Retention of Information

We retain personal information only for as long as is necessary to fulfil the purposes for which it was collected, or for as long as required by accreditation bodies, SETAs, the QCTO, and applicable law. Learner and certification records are typically retained for the periods prescribed by the relevant regulator. When information is no longer required, we securely destroy, delete, or de-identify it.

10. POPIA Compliance Notice

FPT Academy is committed to processing personal information in line with the eight conditions for lawful processing set out in POPIA. In practice, this means:

• Accountability — our Information Officer ensures we comply with POPIA's conditions.
• Processing limitation — we process information lawfully, minimally, and with your consent or another lawful basis.
• Purpose specification — we collect information for specific, explicitly defined purposes only.
• Further processing limitation — any further use is compatible with the original purpose.
• Information quality — we take reasonable steps to keep your information accurate, complete, and up to date.
• Openness — we are transparent about what we collect and why, through this notice.
• Security safeguards — we secure your information with reasonable measures and address any compromises.
• Data subject participation — you may access and correct your information and exercise the rights below.

11. Your Rights

As a data subject under POPIA, you have the right to:

• Be notified that your personal information is being collected or has been compromised
• Request access to the personal information we hold about you
• Request the correction, updating, or deletion of inaccurate or outdated information
• Object, on reasonable grounds, to the processing of your information
• Withdraw consent where processing is based on consent
• Lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator

To exercise any of these rights, please contact our Information Officer using the details in the Contact section below.

12. Cookies & Website Analytics

Our website may use cookies and similar technologies to operate essential functions, remember your preferences, and understand how the site is used so we can improve it. You can control or disable cookies through your browser settings, although some parts of the site may not function correctly if you do.

13. Complaints to the Information Regulator

If you believe we have not handled your personal information lawfully and we are unable to resolve your concern directly, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator of South Africa:

14. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy and POPIA Notice from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or legal requirements. The latest version will always be published on this page with an updated "Last updated" date. We encourage you to review it periodically.

15. Contact Us

If you have any questions about this policy, or wish to exercise your rights, please contact our Information Officer: