Privacy policy

1. Who we are

Quantum is a product of QSM (“QSM”, “we”, “us”). QSM is the responsible party for the personal information described here, as defined in the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 (POPIA). Questions, requests and complaints about privacy can be sent to sales@qsm.co.za.

2. What we collect

When you visit this website

We do not use advertising trackers or third-party analytics on this site. Our web server keeps standard technical logs (IP address, time, page requested, browser type) for security and troubleshooting. If you use the contact form, the details you type (name, email, company, message) are sent to our sales mailbox.

When you register for the free trial

• Account details: your email address and a password. The password is stored only as a salted one-way hash; we cannot read it.
• Your choices: whether you opted in to marketing emails and to trial reminders, with the date and policy version you agreed to.
• Company and setup information you enter during setup: company name, registration and VAT numbers, address, phone, website, industry, what you make or sell, units of measurement, team size, timeline, the problems you want solved, and your answers to the setup questions.
• Your logo, if you upload one. It is re-encoded and stored with your trial account.
• Business data you create in the trial (customers, suppliers, items, formulations, quotes, invoices, projects and so on) and any sample data we loaded for you. This is stored on our servers, not only in your browser, so it is there when you come back.
• Colleagues you invite (up to two): their email address, the choices they make when they join, and what they do in the trial.
• Usage information: which screens you open and which actions you take (for example creating a formulation or issuing an invoice), when, and how often. We do not record keystrokes or screens.
• Technical information: a session cookie, and security logs such as sign-in attempts.

3. How we use it

• To run your trial: create your account, set up Quantum for your industry, keep your trial data, send account emails (email verification, password reset, colleague invitations).
• To record you as a sales lead. Your email address and profile are loaded into our internal sales system as a prospect so that our team can follow up with you about Quantum. This is a legitimate interest of ours and the reason you registered.
• To prepare your trial review. At the end of the 21 days we compile a report from your usage: which features you used most, and how fully each part was set up and used (scored 1 to 10). We use it to understand your needs, recommend a suitable package and decide what to build or configure for you. The score reflects how far you got with a feature during the trial. It is not a judgement of you or your business. We can share your review with you on request.
• To improve Quantum: usage patterns across trials, combined so they do not identify individuals, guide what we build next.
• Marketing emails, only if you opted in. Tips and product news during and after the trial. You can switch this off at any time in Settings or with the unsubscribe link in every such email.
• Trial reminders, only if you opted in: for example “7 days left”. These are separate from marketing and you can switch them off separately.
• Security and legal: to protect the service, prevent abuse, and meet legal obligations.

We do not sell your personal information and we do not use it to make automated decisions that have legal effect on you. Your business data is not used to advertise to you or anyone else, and we do not share it with other trial users.

4. Who can see it

• You and the colleagues you invite see the shared trial data. The owner of the trial can remove a colleague at any time.
• QSM staff who run the trial and the sales follow-up, on a need-to-know basis.
• Service providers acting on our instructions, limited to what they need: our email delivery provider (to send you the emails above) and our hosting and backup arrangements. Where a provider processes data outside South Africa we require appropriate safeguards, as POPIA section 72 provides.
• Authorities where the law requires it.

5. How long we keep it

Trial accounts and their data are kept while the trial runs and for up to 30 days after it ends, so you can convert to a paid plan without losing your work. After that the trial data is deleted. Our sales record (your contact details, what you told us during setup and your trial review) is kept for as long as it is useful for following up with you, and is deleted when you ask us to or when it is no longer needed. Security logs are kept for a limited period. If you become a customer, our customer terms apply to your data from then on.

6. Cookies and local storage

The trial uses one cookie, a session cookie that keeps you signed in. It is marked HttpOnly and Secure, is used only by the trial and is not used for tracking or advertising. Trial data is stored on our servers, not in your browser’s local storage. This marketing site sets no tracking cookies.

7. Your rights

Under POPIA you may ask us to confirm what we hold about you, to see it, to correct it, to delete it, to restrict or object to how we use it, and to withdraw consent. You can:

• change your marketing and reminder choices at any time in Settings in the trial, or use the unsubscribe link in any email;
• download your data from the trial at any time;
• delete your trial account yourself in Settings. Tick the erase option and we will also remove your details from our sales records;
• email sales@qsm.co.za for anything else. We aim to respond within 30 days.

If you are unhappy with how we handle your information you may complain to the Information Regulator (South Africa) at complaints.IR@justice.gov.za. We would appreciate the chance to resolve it with you first.

8. How we protect it

Passwords are hashed. Connections to the trial and this site use HTTPS. Sessions expire, sign-in attempts are rate-limited, and each trial company’s data is separated from every other’s. Access to our servers and sales system is restricted and logged. No system is perfectly secure. If a breach affecting your information occurs we will notify you and the Information Regulator as POPIA requires.

9. Demo data and what to put in the trial

The trial is for evaluating Quantum. Please do not enter sensitive personal information such as ID numbers, health records or payment card numbers. Sample data we load for you is fictional and you can remove it with one click.

10. Children

Quantum is for businesses and is not intended for anyone under 18.

11. Changes

If we change this policy in a way that matters we will update the date and version above and, for trial users, tell you in the app or by email. The version you agreed to is recorded against your account.