Version 1.4. Effective date: 19 October 2026. Page address: fcdspars.com/privacy/
Who we are
FCD Spars is a product brand of Fused Composite Design (Pty) Ltd, a company registered in South Africa (registration number 2019/169328/07). In this notice, "we" and "us" mean Fused Composite Design (Pty) Ltd.
We decide how and why personal information collected through fcdspars.com is used. That makes us the responsible party under South Africa's Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA) and, where the EU or UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) applies to our dealings with you, the controller under it.
Address | Unit 5, 21 Marconi Road, Montague Gardens, Cape Town, 7441, South Africa |
info@fcdspars.com | |
Telephone | +27 82 077 2531 |
Information Officer | Daniël Wilhelm Botha, Chief Executive Officer |
What this notice covers
This notice covers the website fcdspars.com, the enquiry forms on it, and the emails and calls that follow an enquiry. It does not cover supply contracts, which carry their own terms, or our employment records.
What we collect and why
Information | Why we use it | Legal ground |
|---|---|---|
Enquiry details. Your name, email address, company, country, your role (for example boatyard, naval architect, owner) and your message. | To reply to you, understand your project and decide whether and how we can help. | Steps taken at your request before a possible contract, and our legitimate interest in answering business enquiries. |
Project specifications and files. Vessel details, rig geometry, sail plan, dimensions, and any drawings, CAD files or documents you upload. | To assess the engineering requirement and prepare a proposal or quotation. | As above. |
Correspondence. Emails, call notes and meeting notes after your enquiry. | To continue the conversation and keep a record of what was agreed. | As above, and legal obligations to keep business records where a project follows. |
Analytics data. Public pages viewed, referring websites, successful enquiry counts, clicks on phone, email and contact-page links, approximate location (country or city), device and browser type, and cookie identifiers set by Google Analytics. Form entries, enquiry references, uploaded filenames and private download links are not sent to Analytics. Referring URLs are limited to the website address; their paths, queries and fragments are removed. With the same consent, Vercel Speed Insights receives public page addresses without queries or fragments, loading and interaction timings, browser and device information, network type and country. It does not receive form entries, uploaded files or private download links. | To understand how the site is used and to improve it. | Your consent. Google Analytics and Vercel Speed Insights only run if you select Accept analytics. See our Cookie Policy. |
Technical and security data. IP address, request logs, browser and device information used by automated bot checks, temporary browser identifiers, and records of request times, counts and upload sizes used to prevent abuse. We also keep a protected browser-ownership value with enquiry and cookie-choice records to prevent another browser from claiming them. | To deliver the site, keep it secure and prevent abuse of the forms. | Our legitimate interest in running a secure website. |
Your name and email address are required. Without them we cannot reply. Everything else is voluntary, although the more you tell us about a project, the more useful our answer will be.
We collect this information from you directly. Occasionally a boatyard, designer or project team introduces you to us and passes on your contact details.
We do not ask for sensitive information such as health, religious or biometric information, or information about children, and we ask you not to send any. The site is not directed at children.
We use automated checks to detect bots and prevent misuse of the enquiry form. We do not sell personal information.
Do Not Track and tracking across sites. Our site does not automatically change its Analytics settings in response to a browser Do Not Track signal. It follows the choice you make in our cookie banner or Cookie settings, and Analytics stays off until you accept. We do not use advertising pixels, social media tracking or Google Signals to track you across other websites. If you accept Analytics, Google receives information about your use of this site as described above and in its privacy policy at https://policies.google.com/privacy. Other websites you visit have their own tracking practices and controls.
Global Privacy Control. If your browser sends this signal, we keep Google Analytics and Vercel Speed Insights off even if you previously accepted analytics cookies. This applies to that browser. Your saved cookie choice is unchanged; if you turn Global Privacy Control off, that choice applies again until it expires or you change it. Essential security checks and the enquiry form continue to work.
People who appear on this site
Team members, clients and people who have given us a reference appear on this site with their permission. Published information can include names, roles, work experience, biographies, photographs, videos and quotations. If you appear here and would like this information changed or removed, contact us and we will do so.
Marketing messages
We do not run a newsletter or mailing list. If that changes, we will only add you if you have actively opted in, and every message will carry an unsubscribe link. Sending us an enquiry does not sign you up to anything.
Who we share information with
We use a small number of service providers to run the site and our business. Where providers process personal information on our behalf, we use appropriate data-processing terms. Providers may also act as independent controllers for their own account, billing and security information. Healthchecks.io handles its monitoring account and service data under its own privacy policy; we do not send it enquiry details or uploaded files.
Provider | What they do for us | Where they process |
|---|---|---|
Vercel Inc. | Hosts and delivers the website, stores enquiry and delivery records and uploaded files, provides automated bot protection, and measures page performance through Speed Insights if you consent. | Website processing and private file and enquiry storage are configured in Cape Town, South Africa. Content delivery, security services and provider operations may also process data globally, including in the United States. |
Resend | Sends the enquiry notification to us and the confirmation email to you. | United States |
Google (Workspace, Analytics and Search Console) | Our email and file storage, website analytics if you consent, and reports about the site in Google Search. Search Console uses domain verification and adds no tracking script or cookie to this site. | Global, including the United States and the European Union |
Afrihost | Domain registration and DNS. | South Africa |
On a Digital Note | Website development, maintenance and troubleshooting. During initial operation, On a Digital Note also receives a copy of enquiry notifications, including submitted details and private file links, to monitor delivery and investigate problems. | Technical support access from New Zealand. Monitoring copies are received in On a Digital Note’s business email account. |
Healthchecks.io | Monitors whether scheduled file cleanup runs successfully. It receives a monitor identifier, our server IP address and request times, not enquiry details or uploaded files. Operational alerts go to our website support provider. | Monitoring data is processed and stored in Germany by a provider registered in Latvia. |
We may also share information with our professional advisers, with project partners where a project requires it and you know about it, and with authorities where the law requires us to.
Transfers across borders
We are based in South Africa, so information you send us is received and used here. Some of our providers process information in the United States and other countries. Data protection laws in these countries may differ from those where you live.
We rely on binding agreements with our providers that require them to protect your information to a standard substantially similar to POPIA, and on standard contractual clauses where the GDPR requires them. Where you send us an enquiry, the transfer is also necessary for us to act on your request. You can ask us for more detail on these safeguards.
How long we keep it
Information | Retention |
|---|---|
Enquiries that do not lead to a project | 24 months after our last contact with you, then deleted. |
Enquiries that lead to a project | Kept as part of the project record for the life of the project and 7 years after it ends. |
Files uploaded through the website | Download access expires 7 days after upload. Scheduled cleanup then removes the file from website storage; failed cleanup is retried. This also applies to uploads without a completed enquiry. Copies we save in our own systems follow the two rows above. |
Copies of enquiry submissions and email delivery records held by the website | 12 calendar months from creation or the latest update, followed by scheduled deletion. Records still needed for active processing or unexpired file access are retained until that processing or access ends. These website copies help us investigate delivery problems and follow up enquiries; our separate business records follow the periods above. |
Email delivery records held by Resend | 30 days. |
Analytics data | User-level and event-level Google Analytics data: 14 months, without extending that period when you return. Aggregated standard reports may be kept longer by Google. Vercel holds anonymous performance measurements under its Speed Insights service retention settings. |
Technical and security logs | Short periods set by our hosting provider. |
How we protect it
The site uses an encrypted connection and private storage for enquiries and uploaded files. Access is limited to authorised staff and service providers who need it to respond to enquiries or operate and support the website. File download links expire and should not be forwarded to others. Uploaded files are not listed publicly. The website checks upload permissions, file type and size; it does not scan files for viruses. Recipients should scan downloaded files before opening them.
No system is completely secure. If a security compromise affects your personal information, we will tell you and the relevant regulator as the law requires.
Your rights
Wherever you live, you can ask us to:
- confirm whether we hold information about you and give you a copy;
- correct information that is inaccurate or out of date;
- delete information we no longer have a lawful reason to keep;
- stop using your information on the basis of our legitimate interests, where you object on reasonable grounds;
- stop sending you direct marketing, at any time;
- withdraw consent you have given, such as consent to analytics cookies. This does not affect what was done before you withdrew it.
If the GDPR applies to you, you can also ask us to restrict how we use your information and to give you information you provided in a portable format.
These requests are free of charge. You can make them by email, post, hand delivery or telephone using the contact details above. We keep a record of requests made by telephone. The Information Regulator's Form 1 (objection) and Form 2 (correction or deletion) are available from us on request, and we will help you complete them. We may need to confirm your identity first. We will respond within 30 days.
Complaints
Please contact us first so that we can try to put things right. You also have the right to complain to a regulator.
- South Africa: the Information Regulator, Woodmead North Office Park, 54 Maxwell Drive, Woodmead, Johannesburg, 2191. Telephone 010 023 5200. Email enquiries@inforegulator.org.za, or POPIAComplaints@inforegulator.org.za for complaints. Website inforegulator.org.za.
- European Union: the data protection authority in the country where you live or work.
- United Kingdom: the Information Commissioner's Office, ico.org.uk.
Links to other sites
This site links to our social media pages and to other organisations' websites. Those sites have their own privacy notices, and we are not responsible for how they handle your information.
Changes to this notice
We will update this notice when the site or the way we use information changes. The version number and date at the top show the current version.