Privacy Policy

At Mary J Fourie and The Cosmos, I am committed to delivering high-quality, transformational experiences. Please read this policy carefully before making a purchase, as well as make sure to read any individual Coaching, Immersion or other Agreement sent to you for signature before commencement of your programme.

Introduction

Mary J Fourie, trading as The Cosmos, is committed to protecting your personal information. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store and protect your personal information in accordance with the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 (POPIA) and, where applicable, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

By using this website or engaging with any of our services, you acknowledge that you have read and understood this Privacy Policy.

Who We Are

Responsible Party / Data Controller: MJF Coaching (Pty) Ltd t/a Mary J Fourie in Cape Town, South Africa Email: admin@maryjfourie.com WhatsApp: +27 82 455 5919

Under POPIA, Mary J Fourie is the Responsible Party for all personal information collected through this website and associated services.

What Personal Information We Collect

We may collect the following categories of personal information:

Identity Information - Full name, date of birth, gender identity and pronouns where voluntarily provided.
Contact Information - Email address, phone number, physical address and social media handles where provided.
Financial Information - Payment details processed securely through our payment providers. We do not store card details on our systems. Banking details provided for refund purposes where applicable.
Professional Information - Occupation, business name, industry and professional background where relevant to our coaching or financial planning services.
Health and Wellbeing Information - Physical, mental or emotional health information shared voluntarily in the context of coaching, somatic work or event participation. This is considered special personal information under POPIA and is handled with the highest level of care and confidentiality.
Behavioural and Usage Information - Website usage data, pages visited, time spent on site, device type and browser information collected through cookies and analytics tools.
Communications Records - of email correspondence, enquiries, feedback and community interactions.

How We Collect Your Personal Information

We collect personal information in the following ways:

Directly from you when you complete a contact form, booking, purchase or registration.
When you subscribe to our newsletter or Soul Sparks content using WIX Forms / via MailChimp.
When you create a member account on this website.
When you attend an event, programme or coaching session online eg. MS Teams or Zoom, or in-person.
When you participate in online communities or groups.
Automatically through cookies and website analytics when you visit our site.
Through our payment providers when you make a purchase eg. Payfast, PayStack, Peach Payments, PayJustNow or XERO.
Through third party platforms such as Wix where you interact with our services.

Why We Collect Your Personal Information

We collect and process your personal information for the following purposes:

Service Delivery - To provide coaching, financial planning, events, online courses and membership services you have purchased or enquired about.
Communication - To respond to your enquiries, send booking confirmations, programme updates and important service communications.
Marketing and Content - To send newsletters, Soul Sparks content and information about our offerings where you have consented to receive these.
Payment Processing - To process payments and manage refunds securely through our payment providers.
Legal and Regulatory Compliance - To comply with our obligations under FAIS, FICA, POPIA and other applicable legislation, including record-keeping requirements for financial services.
Community Management - To manage membership accounts and online community participation.
Website Improvement - To understand how our website is used and improve the user experience.

Legal Basis for Processing

Under POPIA and GDPR we process your personal information on the following lawful grounds:

Consent — where you have given clear consent, such as subscribing to our newsletter
Contract — where processing is necessary to deliver services you have purchased
Legal obligation — where we are required to process information to comply with applicable law
Legitimate interests — where processing is necessary for our legitimate business interests and does not override your rights

Special Personal Information

Certain categories of personal information require additional protection under POPIA. These include health information, religious or philosophical beliefs, sexual orientation and biometric data.

Where you voluntarily share such information in the context of coaching, somatic or sacred work, we treat this with the utmost confidentiality. We will only process special personal information with your explicit consent or where permitted by law.

AI Notetaking and Session Recording

Mary J Fourie may use AI-assisted notetaking tools during coaching sessions, consultations or meetings conducted via video call or in person.

What this means for you:

Where AI notetaking is used, it may involve the automatic transcription and summarisation of your session. This generates a written record of the conversation which may include personal information you share during the session.

Your consent:

We will always inform you before any session where AI notetaking is in use and request your explicit consent before activating any such tool. You have the right to decline AI notetaking at any time. Where you decline, alternative manual notetaking methods will be used or no notes will be taken, according to your preference.

How AI session notes are used:

Notes generated through AI notetaking tools are used solely for the purpose of supporting your coaching or financial planning engagement — to maintain accurate session records, track progress and inform future sessions.

AI session notes are never used for marketing purposes, shared with third parties or used to train AI models without your explicit consent.

Storage and retention:

AI generated session notes are stored securely with the same protections applied to all personal information described in this policy. Notes are retained for the duration of your engagement with Mary J Fourie and for a reasonable period thereafter, or as required by applicable law.

Third party AI tools:

Where third party AI notetaking platforms are used — such as Fireflies or similar — those platforms have their own privacy policies and terms of service. We will inform you of any specific tool in use and provide you with the relevant privacy information upon request.

You have the right to request access to, correction of or deletion of any AI generated notes pertaining to your sessions in accordance with your rights under POPIA as described in this policy.

How We Store and Protect Your Information

We take reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect your personal information against unauthorised access, loss, destruction or damage. These measures include:

Secure password-protected systems.
Encrypted payment processing through PCI DSS compliant providers.
Limited access to personal information on a need-to-know basis.
Secure cloud-based storage through reputable providers.

While we take every reasonable precaution, no system is entirely secure. You share information with us at your own risk and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

Personal information is retained for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes for which it was collected, or as required by law. Financial records are retained for a minimum of five years in accordance with FICA requirements.

Sharing Your Personal Information

We do not sell your personal information to third parties.

We may share your personal information with:

Service Providers Third party platforms that assist us in delivering our services, including Wix, Paystack, Peach Payments, Xero, Microsoft Teams, Zoom and email marketing providers. These parties are required to handle your information securely and only for the purposes we specify.
Regulatory & Professional Bodies Where required by law, including The International Coaching Federation (ICF), Financial Planning Institute (FPI), Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA), and the South African Revenue Service (SARS).
Professional Advisors Our accountants, legal advisors or auditors where necessary.
Law Enforcement Where required by a court order or applicable law.

We will notify you where possible if we are required to share your information beyond what is described in this policy.

Cookies and Tracking

Our website uses cookies and similar tracking technologies to improve your experience and understand how our site is used.

Types of cookies we use:

Essential cookies — necessary for the website to function
Analytics cookies — to understand website usage and improve performance
Marketing cookies — to deliver relevant content where you have consented

You can manage your cookie preferences through your browser settings. Disabling certain cookies may affect the functionality of our website.

Your Rights Under POPIA

As a data subject under POPIA you have the following rights:

Right to Access You may request a record of the personal information we hold about you.
Right to Correction You may request that we correct inaccurate or incomplete personal information.
Right to Deletion You may request that we delete your personal information where there is no lawful reason for us to continue processing it.
Right to Object You may object to the processing of your personal information for direct marketing purposes at any time.
Right to Withdraw Consent Where processing is based on consent you may withdraw it at any time. Withdrawal does not affect the lawfulness of processing prior to withdrawal.
Right to Complain You have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator of South Africa if you believe your rights under POPIA have been violated.

Additional Rights for International Clients

If you are located in the European Economic Area or United Kingdom, you have additional rights under GDPR including the right to data portability and the right not to be subject to automated decision-making. Please contact us to exercise any of these rights.

PAIA Manual

In accordance with the Promotion of Access to Information Act 2 of 2000 (PAIA), we maintain a PAIA Manual which sets out the categories of records held by us and the procedure for requesting access to those records.

To request access to records or a copy of our PAIA Manual, please contact:

Information Officer: Mary J Fourie Email: admin@maryjfourie.com WhatsApp: +27 82 455 5919 Cape Town, South Africa

Requests will be processed in accordance with the prescribed fees and timeframes under PAIA. You have the right to appeal any decision to refuse access to records.

Information Regulator

You have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator of South Africa:

The Information Regulator (South Africa) Email: inforeg@justice.gov.za Website: www.justice.gov.za/inforeg

Direct Marketing

We will only contact you for direct marketing purposes where you have given your consent. You may opt out of marketing communications at any time by clicking the unsubscribe link in any email or contacting us directly at admin@maryjfourie.com.

Opting out of marketing communications does not affect service-related communications necessary for the delivery of purchased services.

Children's Privacy

Our services are intended for adults aged 18 and over. We do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under the age of 18. If you believe a minor has provided us with personal information please contact us immediately and we will delete it.

Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or applicable law. The most current version will always be published on this website with the effective date updated. We will notify you of material changes where possible.

To exercise your rights, ask questions about this policy or raise a privacy concern please contact:

Mary J Fourie — Information Officer Email: admin@maryjfourie.com WhatsApp: +27 82 455 5919 Cape Town, South Africa

We will respond to all privacy requests within a reasonable timeframe and no later than 30 days of receipt.