Privacy Policy

1. Who we are

MAD Design Studios ("MAD", "we", "us") operates this digital consultation and project enquiry platform. We are based in South Africa, with studios in Durban and Johannesburg, and act as the responsible party for personal information collected via this platform under the Protection of Personal Information Act, 4 of 2013 ("POPIA").

2. Information we collect

• Contact details: name, email address, phone number.
• Project details: service of interest, scope, budget range, location, timeline and preferred contact method.
• Uploaded reference files (e.g. inspiration images, briefs, plans) where you choose to provide them.
• Consultation scheduling information when you book a session (date, time and selected meeting type) via our scheduling partner Calendly.
• Basic technical information such as IP address and browser metadata, used for security and abuse prevention.

3. How we use your information

We use personal information to:

• Respond to your enquiry and arrange a consultation.
• Prepare a scope assessment and quotation if you wish to proceed.
• Send transactional emails (e.g. enquiry confirmation, consultation reminders).
• Maintain internal records of leads and project history.
• Comply with our legal obligations.

We do not use your information for automated decision-making and we do not sell your information.

4. Legal basis

We process your personal information on the basis of your consent (provided when you submit the enquiry form) and our legitimate interest in responding to prospective clients and operating our studio.

5. Sharing and service providers

We share information only with trusted service providers ("operators" under POPIA) that help us run this platform:

• Our cloud backend and database provider (used to store enquiries and uploads).
• Calendly, for consultation scheduling.
• Our transactional email provider, to send confirmations and reminders.

These providers may host data outside South Africa. We require them to apply appropriate safeguards. We do not sell or rent your personal information.

6. Retention

We retain enquiry information for as long as needed to follow up on your project and meet our record-keeping obligations. You may request deletion at any time — see section 8.

7. Security

We apply reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect your information, including transport-layer encryption, access controls and role-based authorisation on our backend.

8. Your rights

Under POPIA you may, at any time:

• Request a copy of the personal information we hold about you.
• Ask us to correct or update it.
• Ask us to delete it, subject to any legal retention obligations.
• Withdraw your consent and object to direct marketing.
• Lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator of South Africa.

To exercise any of these rights, email studio@madesignstudios.co.za.

9. Cookies

This site uses only essential cookies and local storage required to operate the platform (e.g. session and form state). We do not run third-party advertising trackers.

10. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy as the platform evolves. Material changes will be reflected on this page along with an updated revision date.

11. Contact

MAD Design Studios — South Africa (Durban & Johannesburg)
Email: studio@madesignstudios.co.za
Website: www.madesignstudios.co.za