Privacy Notice

1. Who we are

Aquaview Professional Development Institute ("APDI", "we") is responsible for the personal information described in this notice. We are based at Plot 61038, Block 8, Diamond Park, Gaborone, Botswana, and you can reach us at training@apdi.co.bw or +267 76 600 325 / 71 305 388.

2. What we collect

When you register and use the platform, we collect:

• Identity and contact details — your full name, email address, phone number, and for members, your Omang or passport number, gender, residential address and city.
• Education and employment background — your institution, country of study, year of graduation, current employer, position and a summary of your work experience.
• Documents you upload — academic transcripts, qualification certificates, a copy of your Omang or passport, CV, reference letters, employment letters and proof of payment.
• Your programme record — applications, logbook entries, the comments your mentor writes when reviewing them, competency sign-offs, CPD activity and attendance, and any certificates issued to you.
• Company details, if you register an engineering company or as an employer — company name, registration number, contact person, address and placement capacity.
• Technical records — your IP address, sign-in times and a log of significant actions taken on your account. We keep these to investigate misuse and to show who changed what.

3. Why we collect it

We use your information to assess and process your application, to verify that you are who you say you are, to run the IPD, CPD and WIL programmes including mentor supervision and logbook review, to track your progress towards professional registration with the Engineers Registration Board of Botswana, to issue certificates, to place you with host companies, to list you in the talent pool as described above, and to contact you about your account and your programme.

4. Who can see your information

• APDI staff and administrators, in order to run the programmes.
• Your assigned mentor, who can see your programme record and logbook entries in order to review them.
• Host companies, where you are placed for work-integrated learning, so they can see your placement and progress.
• Employers using the talent pool, who see only what your listing shows publicly — and your contact details only if you approve their request.
• Anyone verifying a certificate you have been issued, using its certificate number.

We do not sell your information, and we do not share it for advertising.

5. Where your information is stored

The platform runs on cloud infrastructure outside Botswana. Our database is hosted by Neon, the documents you upload are stored by Backblaze in the United States, and the application itself runs in Johannesburg, South Africa. This means your personal information, including copies of your identity documents, is transferred to and stored outside Botswana. We choose providers that keep this data in private, access-controlled storage, and the documents you upload are never publicly accessible — they are served only to you and to authorised APDI staff, through the platform.

6. How long we keep it

We keep your account and programme record for as long as you are a member, and afterwards for as long as we need it to evidence your professional development — a logbook and competency record is the proof behind a registration application, sometimes years later. Technical and audit records are kept for a shorter period. If you would like your information removed, contact us and we will tell you what we can delete and what we are required to retain.

7. Your rights

You can ask us to show you the information we hold about you, correct anything that is wrong, delete information we no longer need, or stop using it in a particular way. Much of it you can change yourself from Portal → Profile, and you can control your talent pool listing from Portal → My Listing.

Two honest limits. Once a document has been verified by an administrator, you cannot delete it yourself, because it is evidence supporting an assessment that has already been made — ask us instead. And we cannot erase logbook entries, competency sign-offs or CPD records that form part of a completed programme record, because doing so would destroy the evidence base for your own registration.

8. How we protect it

Passwords are stored hashed, never in readable form. Uploaded documents are held in private storage and released only through an authenticated request. Sign-in is rate limited and an account locks temporarily after repeated failed attempts. Administrative actions are recorded in an audit log. No system is perfectly secure, but if a breach affects your information we will tell you.

9. Cookies

We use a small number of strictly necessary cookies — one to keep you signed in, and one to protect forms against cross-site request forgery. We do not use advertising or tracking cookies, so there is nothing here for you to consent to or switch off.

10. Changes and complaints

If we change how we use your information we will update this page and change the date at the top. If you are unhappy with how we have handled your information, please contact us first at training@apdi.co.bw so we can put it right. You also have the right to complain to the data protection authority in Botswana.