Privacy policy

1. Introduction

Welcome to Beyond Divergent. Beyond Divergent ("we," "us," or "our") operates the website beyonddivergent.com (the "Service"). This policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard your information when you visit the site and engage our coaching services.

We aim to comply with the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 ("POPIA," South Africa), the General Data Protection Regulation ("GDPR," EU and UK), the California Consumer Privacy Act ("CCPA"), and other applicable data protection law, wherever you live.

If you do not agree with this policy, please do not use the Service. We may update it at any time and will signal changes by updating the effective date above. Continued use after an update means you accept the revised policy.

2. Information we collect

Personal data you provide

We may collect the following when you choose to share it with us:

• Full name
• Email address
• Phone number (optional, for scheduling and contact)
• Country and city (for time-zone and tax purposes)
• Payment information (processed by Paystack, see section 6)
• Intake responses, session notes, and any context you choose to share during coaching
• Session recordings and AI-generated notes, only where you have consented to recording

Automatically collected data

When you access the Service, our hosting and analytics providers may log standard technical data: your device's IP address, browser type and version, referring page, pages visited, and the time and date of your visit.

Cookies and tracking

We use cookies and similar technologies for essential site function, analytics, and remembering your preferences. See our Cookie Policy for details.

3. How we collect your information

• Directly from you, via contact forms, intake forms, scheduling tools, and email
• Automatically, via cookies, analytics, and server logs
• From our providers (for example, Paystack returns transaction outcomes; Kit handles email subscription state)
• From publicly available sources, only where you have made information public yourself

4. How we use your information

• To deliver coaching: schedule, prepare for, and follow up after sessions
• To process purchases of digital products and manage orders
• To communicate with you about your engagement, including service-related emails
• To send newsletters and marketing emails, only where you have actively opted in
• To improve and personalise the Service based on usage analytics
• To detect and prevent fraud, abuse, or unauthorised use
• To comply with legal obligations, including tax and professional record-keeping
• To support behind-the-scenes preparation and administration with AI tools (without information that identifies you), and, only with your consent, to generate session notes from a recording using Google Workspace Gemini

5. Lawful basis for processing (GDPR)

If you are in the European Economic Area or the UK, we process your personal data under the following lawful bases:

• Consent: for marketing emails, optional intake details, and non-essential cookies. You can withdraw consent at any time.
• Contract: to deliver the coaching services and digital products you have purchased.
• Legitimate interest: to operate the Service, prevent fraud, maintain security, and improve our offering, balanced against your rights.
• Legal obligation: to meet tax, accounting, and other regulatory requirements.

6. Third-party service providers

We share information only with the providers below, each governed by its own privacy policy. We do not sell your personal information.

• Paystack: payment processing. Card details are handled directly by Paystack and never stored on our systems.
• Supabase: secure database storage for payment and booking records.
• Upstash (Redis): short-lived booking holds and rate limiting, so a slot can be held for you while you check out.
• Postmark: delivery of transactional and contact-form emails.
• Kit (formerly ConvertKit): newsletter and marketing automation, only where you have opted in.
• Google Calendar: session scheduling. The format preference and context you share when booking are stored on the calendar event so we can prepare.
• Google Workspace (Gemini): where you consent to recording, used to generate your session notes. Your content stays within the Google environment and is not used to train AI models.
• Sanity: content management for the blog and resource pages.
• Vercel: website hosting and infrastructure.
• Google Analytics: anonymised traffic analysis, with IP anonymisation enabled where supported.

7. Your rights under POPIA (South Africa)

If you are a resident of South Africa, POPIA grants you the right:

• To be notified that your information is being collected, or that it has been accessed by an unauthorised person
• To access the personal information we hold about you
• To request correction of inaccurate or incomplete information
• To request deletion of your information in certain circumstances
• To object to the processing of your personal information
• Not to be subject to a decision based solely on automated processing
• Not to receive direct marketing by unsolicited electronic communication
• To complain to the Information Regulator at inforegulator.org.za

Information Officer

In terms of POPIA, our designated Information Officer is Dennis Liebenberg, hello@beyonddivergent.com, +27 82 487 1050, 4 Indigo Dr, Burgundy Estate, Cape Town, 7441.

8. Your rights under GDPR (EEA / UK)

If you are located in the EEA or UK, you have the right to:

• Access: request copies of your personal data
• Rectification: ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete data
• Erasure: request deletion under certain conditions ('right to be forgotten')
• Restriction: ask us to limit how we process your data
• Objection: object to processing based on legitimate interest, or for direct marketing
• Portability: receive your data in a portable format, or have it transferred to another controller
• Withdraw consent: at any time, where consent is the basis of processing
• Lodge a complaint: with your local supervisory authority

To exercise any of these, email hello@beyonddivergent.com. We respond within one month, in line with GDPR.

9. Your rights under CCPA (California)

If you are a California resident, the CCPA grants you the right to:

• Know what personal data is collected and how it is used
• Know whether your personal data is sold or disclosed (we do not sell it)
• Opt out of the sale of your personal data (not applicable, we do not sell)
• Request deletion of your personal data
• Not be discriminated against for exercising your privacy rights

10. Cookies and tracking technologies

We use cookies and similar technologies to operate the Service, remember your preferences, and analyse traffic. You can control cookies through your browser settings or our cookie consent banner. For details, see our Cookie Policy.

11. Data security

We use administrative, technical, and physical safeguards to protect your information, including HTTPS encryption in transit, access controls, and reputable third-party providers for hosting and payment. No system is perfectly secure; we cannot guarantee absolute security, but we will notify you of any breach affecting your data in line with applicable law.

12. Data retention

• Session notes and intake responses: 3 years from last contact, in line with professional record-keeping standards
• Newsletter subscriber data: until you unsubscribe
• Transaction records: 7 years, for tax and accounting compliance
• Website analytics: per the relevant tool's default retention (typically 14 to 26 months)

When data is no longer needed, we securely destroy or de-identify it.

13. International data transfers

Some of our providers store data outside South Africa, the EEA, or the UK. Where we transfer personal data internationally, we rely on the provider's Standard Contractual Clauses, adequacy decisions, or other safeguards required by GDPR and POPIA. By using the Service, you consent to such transfers where consent is the lawful basis.

14. Children's privacy

The Service is intended for adults (18+). We do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 18. If you believe we have collected data from a child, email hello@beyonddivergent.com and we will delete it.

15. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy to reflect changes in our practices, services, or the law. The effective date above shows when it was last updated. We encourage you to review it periodically.

Contact us

• Email: hello@beyonddivergent.com
• Website: beyonddivergent.com
• Phone: +27 82 487 1050
• Post: 4 Indigo Dr, Burgundy Estate, Cape Town, 7441

Have a question about your data? You don't need a formal request, just send a message and we'll help.