Privacy Policy (POPIA)

Last updated: 14 November 2026

1. Who we are

Forensic Document & Handwriting Institute (FDHI) | South Africa ("we", "us") is the name under which Col (ret'd) Marthinus T. du Toit and Col (ret'd) Marco C. van der Hammen provide forensic document and handwriting examination, training and related services. FDHI is not a registered company. Each examiner practises independently under the FDHI name and is the responsible party for the personal information in the matters that examiner handles.

Information Officers. Both examiners act as Information Officers for FDHI. You can contact them together at info@fdhi.co.za, or individually:

Col (ret'd) Marthinus T. du Toit: dutoitmar@fdhi.co.za
Col (ret'd) Marco C. van der Hammen: mchammen@fdhi.co.za

2. What we collect

Contact details you give us: name, organisation, email address, phone number and your role.
Enquiry details: the information you write in our contact or submission forms.
Documents you upload: scans of questioned documents and specimens. These may contain personal information of other people, including signatures, identity numbers and financial or medical details.
Technical data needed to run and protect the website, such as IP address and browser information used for security checks.

3. Why we use it

To respond to your enquiry and give you a quotation.
To assess and carry out the examination you instruct us to perform, and to prepare reports and testimony.
To arrange training you request.
To protect the website and our services against spam and abuse.
To comply with legal, professional and court obligations.

We process personal information with your consent, to take steps towards and perform an agreement with you, to protect legitimate interests, and where required to establish, exercise or defend legal rights.

4. Documents containing other people's information

By uploading documents you confirm that you are entitled to share them with us for the purpose of the matter, for example as the owner, a party to the matter, or the legal representative of a party. We use such documents only for the matter concerned.

5. Who we share it with

We do not sell personal information. We share it only where needed:

With the FDHI examiner(s) handling your matter, including for peer review.
With service providers that host our website, store uploaded files and deliver email on our behalf. They act on our instructions and are bound to keep the information secure.
With courts, tribunals or authorities where the law requires it or where it forms part of the matter you instructed us on.

Some of our service providers store data outside South Africa. Where this happens we rely on providers that are subject to laws, binding agreements or rules giving an adequate level of protection, as required by section 72 of POPIA.

6. How long we keep it

Files uploaded through the website are deleted automatically after 90 days, unless they become part of an instructed matter.
Records of instructed matters are kept for as long as needed for the matter and for legal, professional and evidential purposes.
Enquiries that do not lead to an instruction are deleted when no longer needed.

7. Security

Uploads are encrypted in transit (HTTPS) and at rest, stored in private storage that is not publicly accessible, and made available to our examiners only through expiring, signed links. Physical documents are handled under strict chain of custody.

8. Cookies

This website does not use advertising or tracking cookies. Our forms use Cloudflare Turnstile, a privacy-focused security check that helps block spam and automated abuse.

9. Your rights

You may ask to access the personal information we hold about you, ask us to correct or delete it, or object to its processing, subject to our legal obligations. Contact info@fdhi.co.za.

If you are not satisfied with how we handle your information, you may complain to the Information Regulator (South Africa): inforegulator.org.za.

10. Changes

We may update this policy from time to time. The latest version is always available on this page.

Privacy policy