Privacy Policy

1. Who we are

LearnWise is an AI-powered tutoring service for South African school learners, operated by [YOUR FULL NAME], trading as LearnWise ([BUSINESS REGISTRATION NUMBER — or "sole proprietor" if unregistered]), based in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Contact us at any time: [YOUR EMAIL]

We are the "responsible party" under the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 (POPIA). This means we decide why and how your personal information is used, and we are accountable for protecting it.

2. What personal information we collect

When you register and use LearnWise, we collect:

• Parent / guardian: name, email address, password (stored encrypted — we never see it in plain text)
• Child learner: first name, grade, school curriculum (CAPS or IEB), preferred language, learning style notes
• Session data: the full text of tutoring conversations between your child and our AI tutor
• Progress data: scores, topics covered, session summaries, areas of strength and difficulty
• Technical data: browser type, device type, and access logs (standard web server logs). We do not use advertising trackers.

We do not collect South African ID numbers, financial details, home addresses, or phone numbers. We do not ask children directly for any personal information — all account registration is done by a parent or guardian.

3. Why we collect it

We use your information only for the following purposes:

• To provide the tutoring service (the AI tutor needs to know the child's grade and subject to give relevant help)
• To personalise learning over time (the tutor remembers what topics the child found difficult and adjusts accordingly)
• To allow parents to monitor their child's progress and review session transcripts
• To keep your account secure and prevent misuse
• To send important service updates (not marketing — we will ask your permission separately before any promotional emails)

We do not sell your data. We do not use your data for advertising. We do not share it with third parties except as described in Section 5.

4. Children's personal information (POPIA Section 35)

South African law gives special protection to the personal information of children (persons under 18). We take this seriously.

• Parental consent is required. By creating a child's profile on LearnWise, the parent or legal guardian confirms they have the authority to consent on the child's behalf and that they consent to the collection and use of the child's information as described in this policy.
• Children do not register themselves. Only a parent or guardian may create an account. Children use the service under their parent's account.
• Session monitoring. All tutoring conversations are stored and visible to the registered parent. This is intentional — it allows parents to review what their child has discussed and to check that the service is being used appropriately.
• Safety monitoring. Our AI system is designed to detect if a child appears to be in distress or discloses something concerning (such as references to being unsafe or unhappy). If this happens, the session is flagged and the parent is notified. The AI is instructed to respond with care and to encourage the child to speak to a trusted adult.
• No data profiling or advertising. We never use a child's information to build advertising profiles or to target them with marketing.

5. Our AI tutor — how it works

LearnWise uses an AI language model (Claude, made by Anthropic) to power the tutoring conversations. Here is what you need to know:

• Your child is talking to an AI, not a human tutor. The AI is designed to be helpful, patient, and encouraging, but it is software. It does not have human judgement.
• AI can make mistakes. While we have designed the system carefully and aligned it with the South African CAPS curriculum, the AI may occasionally give an incorrect or incomplete answer. Parents are encouraged to review session transcripts. If you spot an error, please use the "Flag this" button in the app to report it.
• Conversation data is sent to Anthropic. To generate a tutor response, the child's message is processed by Anthropic's servers. Anthropic's privacy policy governs that processing. We have configured the system to minimise data sharing — only what is needed to generate the tutoring response is sent.
• We are not a substitute for professional educational support. LearnWise is a homework and revision aid. It does not replace a qualified teacher, tutor, or educational psychologist. If your child has significant learning difficulties, please also seek professional support.

6. Who we share your data with

We share personal information only with:

• Supabase (database and authentication): Our database is hosted by Supabase, which stores account data and session transcripts. Data is encrypted at rest and in transit. Supabase servers are hosted in a secure cloud environment.
• Anthropic (AI processing): Tutoring messages are processed by Anthropic to generate AI responses. We do not send your name, email, or account details to Anthropic — only the content of tutoring conversations.
• Vercel (website hosting): Our website is hosted by Vercel. Standard access logs may be retained by Vercel.

We do not sell, rent, or share your personal information with any other third party, advertiser, or data broker.

7. How long we keep your data

• Account information: kept for as long as your account is active
• Session transcripts: kept for 12 months, then automatically deleted
• Progress summaries: kept for as long as your account is active
• If you close your account: all personal data is deleted within 30 days of your request

8. Your rights under POPIA

As a South African resident, you have the right to:

• Access the personal information we hold about you or your child
• Correct any information that is wrong or out of date
• Delete your account and all associated personal information
• Object to how we are using your information
• Complain to the Information Regulator of South Africa if you believe we have misused your information

To exercise any of these rights, email us at [YOUR EMAIL]. We will respond within 10 business days.

Information Regulator (South Africa): inforegulator.org.za · Tel: 010 023 5207

9. Security

We take reasonable technical and organisational steps to protect your personal information, including encrypted data storage, secure HTTPS connections, and access controls. No system is 100% secure. If we become aware of a data breach that affects your personal information, we will notify you and the Information Regulator as required by law.

10. Cookies

LearnWise uses only essential cookies required to keep you logged in. We do not use advertising cookies or third-party tracking cookies.

11. Changes to this policy

If we make significant changes to this policy, we will notify you by email before the changes take effect. The date at the top of this page always shows when it was last updated.

12. Contact us

Questions about this policy or your data? Contact us at: [YOUR EMAIL]

[YOUR FULL NAME / BUSINESS NAME] · Johannesburg, South Africa