This policy explains how HorizonAI collects, uses, and protects your personal information in compliance with the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 (POPIA). We keep this plain and readable, no unnecessary legal jargon.
Who We Are
Zane Grobler t/a HorizonAI ("HorizonAI", "we", "us", "our") is a South African AI automation agency registered and operating in Mbombela, Mpumalanga, South Africa.
We build, deploy, and optimise custom AI automation systems, including workflow automation, lead generation pipelines, AI agents, and custom AI builds, for ambitious businesses across South Africa and beyond.
As a responsible operator, we act as the Responsible Party for the personal information we collect through our website (horizonai.co.za) and in the course of providing our services.
QuoteForge, our free quoting app, is a separate product with its own policies. If you sign up for QuoteForge, how your account and quote data is handled is governed by the QuoteForge Privacy Policy and Terms of Service — not this policy, which covers only horizonai.co.za.
Information We Collect
We only collect information that is necessary for us to communicate with you and deliver our services effectively.
Information you provide directly:
- Name, so we know who we're speaking with.
- Company name, to understand your business context.
- Email address, to respond to your enquiry or send project updates.
- Phone number, if provided, for WhatsApp or call communication.
- Message content, the details you share when contacting us via our contact form or email.
Information collected automatically:
- Usage data, pages visited, time spent, referring URL, and browser/device type, collected via analytics tools.
- Cookies and similar technologies, small files placed on your device to remember your preferences and improve site performance. See Section 8 for details.
- IP address, collected automatically by our hosting and analytics infrastructure.
We do not collect sensitive personal information (such as race, religion, health data, or financial account numbers) through our website.
How We Use Your Information
We use the personal information we collect for the following purposes:
- To respond to enquiries submitted through our contact form, email, or WhatsApp.
- To scope, propose, and deliver AI automation services to you as a client.
- To send project updates, invoices, and relevant service communications.
- To improve our website's performance, content, and user experience.
- To comply with our legal and regulatory obligations under South African law.
- To protect the security and integrity of our systems and services.
We will not use your personal information for unsolicited marketing without your explicit consent, and we will never sell your data to third parties.
Legal Basis for Processing
Under POPIA, we are required to have a lawful basis for processing your personal information. We rely on the following grounds:
- Contract performance, when processing is necessary to enter into or perform a contract with you (e.g. delivering our services).
- Legitimate interest, for purposes such as responding to enquiries, improving our website, and maintaining the security of our systems, where our interests do not override your privacy rights.
- Legal obligation, where we are required to process your information to comply with applicable South African laws.
- Consent, for any optional communications or marketing where we request your permission before processing.
Where we rely on legitimate interest, we have assessed that our interest in processing does not outweigh your fundamental right to privacy.
Sharing Your Information
We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal information. We may share it in the following limited circumstances:
- Service providers, trusted third-party tools that help us operate our website and deliver services (e.g. email providers, form processors, hosting platforms). These parties are bound by confidentiality obligations and may only process your data on our instructions.
- Legal requirement, if we are required by law, court order, or governmental authority to disclose your information.
- Business transfer, in the event of a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets, your information may be transferred as part of that transaction. We will notify you before your data becomes subject to a different privacy policy.
Any third party receiving your data is obligated to handle it in accordance with POPIA and applicable privacy laws.
Data Retention
We retain your personal information only for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes for which it was collected, or as required by law.
- Enquiry data (name, email, message), retained for up to 3 years from last contact, unless a client relationship is established.
- Client records, retained for a minimum of 5 years from project completion in line with South African business record-keeping requirements.
- Analytics and usage data, typically retained for 14 months before being anonymised or deleted.
- Cookies, session cookies expire when you close your browser; persistent cookies expire within 12 months unless cleared sooner.
Once retention periods have elapsed, we securely delete or anonymise your personal information.
Your Rights Under POPIA
The Protection of Personal Information Act grants you the following rights with respect to your personal information. You may exercise any of these rights by contacting us at zane@horizonai.co.za.
You may request confirmation of whether we hold personal information about you, and a copy of that information.
You may request that we correct or update any inaccurate or incomplete personal information we hold about you.
You may request that we delete your personal information where it is no longer necessary for the purpose it was collected, subject to any legal retention obligations.
You may object to the processing of your personal information where we rely on legitimate interest as our legal basis, on grounds relating to your particular situation.
Where we process your information based on consent, you may withdraw that consent at any time without affecting the lawfulness of prior processing.
If you believe we have not handled your personal information appropriately, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator of South Africa.
Information Regulator of South Africa
Website: www.inforeg.org.za
Email: inforeg@justice.gov.za
We encourage you to contact us first so we can attempt to resolve any concerns directly.
We will respond to requests within 30 days. In some cases, we may need to verify your identity before fulfilling a request.
Cookies
Our website uses cookies, small text files stored on your device, to enhance your browsing experience and understand how visitors use our site.
Types of cookies we use:
- Strictly necessary cookies, essential for the website to function correctly. These cannot be disabled.
- Analytics cookies, help us understand visitor behaviour so we can improve our site. We use privacy-respecting analytics that minimise personal data collection.
- Preference cookies, remember your settings and preferences for a better experience on return visits.
You can manage or disable cookies through your browser settings. Note that disabling certain cookies may affect how some parts of our website function. Instructions for managing cookies can be found in your browser's help documentation.
We do not use advertising or tracking cookies that follow you across other websites.
Third-Party Services
Our website integrates with a small number of trusted third-party services. Each has its own privacy policy governing how they handle data:
- Google Fonts, we load fonts from Google's CDN. When your browser requests these fonts, your IP address is transmitted to Google. Google's privacy policy applies: policies.google.com/privacy.
- WhatsApp (Meta), if you click our WhatsApp link, you will be directed to WhatsApp's platform. Any communication conducted via WhatsApp is subject to Meta's privacy policy.
- Formspree or similar form processors, if our contact form uses a third-party processor, your submission data (name, email, message) is transmitted to and stored by that processor on our behalf. We select processors that are GDPR and privacy-law compliant.
- Hosting provider, our website is hosted on a third-party platform that collects standard server logs, including IP addresses and request data.
We are not responsible for the privacy practices of third-party websites or services that we link to. We encourage you to review their privacy policies before providing them with any personal information.
Security
We take the security of your personal information seriously and implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect it against unauthorised access, loss, alteration, or destruction.
- Our website is served over HTTPS (SSL/TLS encryption) to protect data in transit.
- Access to personal data is restricted to authorised personnel who need it to perform their work.
- We use reputable, security-conscious third-party services for data processing and storage.
- We regularly review our security practices as our services and technology evolve.
Despite these measures, no method of internet transmission or electronic storage is 100% secure. While we strive to use commercially acceptable means to protect your personal information, we cannot guarantee absolute security.
If you believe a security incident has occurred involving your personal information, please contact us immediately at zane@horizonai.co.za. We will investigate and notify affected individuals and the Information Regulator as required by POPIA.
Children's Privacy
Our website and services are directed at businesses and professionals. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under the age of 18.
POPIA provides special protections for the personal information of children. If you believe we have inadvertently collected information from a minor, please contact us at zane@horizonai.co.za and we will promptly delete it.
Changes to This Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, technology, legal requirements, or other factors. When we make material changes, we will update the effective date at the top of this page.
We encourage you to review this policy periodically. Your continued use of our website after any changes constitutes your acceptance of the updated policy. If we make significant changes that affect your rights, we will take reasonable steps to notify you directly, for example, by email if you are an existing client or contact.
Contact & Information Regulator
If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, wish to exercise your rights, or want to raise a concern about how we handle your personal information, please get in touch with our Information Officer:
If you are not satisfied with our response, you have the right to escalate your complaint to the Information Regulator of South Africa: