Privacy Notice

1. Who we are

EduPulse ("we", "us", "our") provides a school management platform used by schools, principals, school administrators, teachers, learners, and parents or guardians. We are committed to protecting your personal information and processing it in accordance with applicable data protection laws, including the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 (POPIA) in South Africa. This Privacy Notice explains what personal information we collect, how we use it, who we share it with, how long we keep it, and what rights you have.

2. What personal information we collect

We collect personal information that you or your school provide and that is generated through use of the platform.

• Account and identity: Name, email address, phone number (where provided), password (stored in hashed form), role (e.g. admin, school admin, principal, teacher, learner, parent), and profile information such as profile picture or school logo where uploaded.
• School and organisational data: School name, address, contact details, and where applicable fee structures, academic terms, and configuration chosen by the school.
• Academic and learning data: Enrolment information, class and grade assignments, attendance records, grades, assignments, submissions, and feedback, where relevant to your role.
• Communication: Messages sent and received through the platform (e.g. between parents and teachers, school admins and app admin), including metadata such as timestamps and participants.
• Fee and billing (where applicable): Fee schedules, payment status, and related records where the platform is used for fee management.
• Parent–learner links: Information about which parents or guardians are linked to which learners (including across schools where a parent has children in more than one school).
• Technical and usage data: Log data (e.g. IP address, browser type, device information), login times, and general usage patterns necessary for security, troubleshooting, and improving the service. We may use cookies and similar technologies as described below.

We do not sell your personal information to third parties for marketing or other commercial purposes.

3. Why we use your personal information

We use your personal information for the following purposes:

• Providing the service: To operate the platform, authenticate users, manage roles and permissions, display relevant content (e.g. dashboards, classes, learners linked to a parent), and enable features such as messaging, attendance, grading, and reporting.
• Contract and legal basis: Where we have a contract with you or your school, processing is necessary for the performance of that contract. We also process where necessary for our legitimate interests (e.g. security, fraud prevention, improving the service) and where required by law.
• Consent: Where we rely on consent (e.g. for optional marketing or non-essential features), we will ask explicitly and you may withdraw consent at any time without affecting the lawfulness of processing based on consent before its withdrawal.
• Children and minors: Where the platform is used by or in relation to minors (e.g. learners), we process data as necessary to provide the service under the agreement with the school and, where applicable, with parental or guardian consent as arranged by the school.

4. How long we keep your personal information

We retain personal information for as long as necessary to provide the service, fulfil the purposes described in this notice, and comply with legal and contractual obligations. In particular:

• Account and profile data are retained while the account is active and for a defined period after termination to allow export and to meet legal, tax, or regulatory requirements.
• Academic, attendance, and communication data are retained in accordance with our agreements with schools and applicable retention policies (e.g. for education records).
• Backups and audit logs may be retained for a longer period for security and compliance; personal information in such systems is protected and deleted in line with our retention schedule where possible.

When retention periods expire, we securely delete or anonymise personal information unless we are required to retain it by law.

5. Who we share your personal information with

We share personal information only as follows:

• Within the platform: Data is visible to other users in accordance with their role and permissions (e.g. teachers see learners in their classes, parents see learners linked to them, school admins see data for their school).
• Service providers (operators/sub-processors): We may use third parties to host, maintain, or support the platform (e.g. cloud hosting, email delivery). We ensure such parties are bound by confidentiality and data protection obligations consistent with this notice and applicable law.
• Legal and regulatory: We may disclose personal information where required by law, court order, or regulatory authority, or where we believe in good faith that disclosure is necessary to protect our rights, your safety, or the safety of others.

We do not sell or rent your personal information to third parties.

6. International transfers

Your personal information may be processed in South Africa or in other countries where we or our service providers operate. Where we transfer data to a country that does not provide an adequate level of data protection, we implement appropriate safeguards (e.g. standard contractual clauses or other mechanisms recognised under applicable law) to protect your information.

7. Security

We implement technical and organisational measures to protect your personal information against unauthorised access, alteration, disclosure, or destruction. These include access controls, encryption (e.g. HTTPS, hashed passwords), secure development practices, and regular review of our security posture. Despite our efforts, no method of transmission or storage is completely secure; we encourage you to use strong passwords and to keep your login details confidential.

8. Cookies and similar technologies

We may use cookies and similar technologies (e.g. local storage) to maintain your session, remember preferences, and analyse how the platform is used. You can control cookies through your browser settings. Disabling certain cookies may affect the functionality of the platform.

9. Your rights

Under applicable data protection law (including POPIA), you may have the right to:

• Access: Request a copy of the personal information we hold about you.
• Correction: Request correction of inaccurate or incomplete personal information.
• Objection and restriction: Object to certain processing or request restriction of processing in specific circumstances.
• Deletion: Request deletion of your personal information where the law permits.
• Complaint: Lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority (in South Africa, the Information Regulator).

To exercise these rights, please contact us using the support or contact details provided in the app or on our website. We will respond within the timeframes required by applicable law.

10. Changes to this notice

We may update this Privacy Notice from time to time. We will post the updated notice on the platform or our website and indicate the date of the last update. Continued use of the service after changes constitutes acceptance of the updated notice. Where changes materially affect how we use your personal information, we may notify you or seek your consent where required by law.

11. Contact

For privacy-related requests, questions, or concerns, please contact us via the support or contact details provided within the EduPulse application or on our website. For POPIA-specific information, see our POPIA page.