Privacy Policy

1. Who we are

Practice Online is an educational platform for learners and other authorised users. This policy applies to personal information processed through Practice Online and related services.

2. Information we collect

Depending on how you use the platform, we may collect:

• Account information: first name, surname, username, email address, account type and profile details.
• Learner information: grade, curriculum, school name, current mark range and learner or practice number.
• Contact and location information: cellphone number, guardian cellphone number, province and district.
• Profile information: gender, profile photo, headline and other details you choose to provide.
• Learning activity: assessments opened, answers submitted, scores, percentages, attempts, time taken, topics, question-level performance, progress and related learning data.
• Subscription and payment information: subscription status, payment references and payment-related records. Card or banking details may be handled directly by a payment provider rather than Practice Online.
• Technical information: IP address, browser or device information, security logs and information necessary to maintain sessions, detect abuse and protect the service.
• Communications: support requests, messages, feedback and other information you send to us.

3. Learners and children

Practice Online may be used by school-age learners, including users under 18. We take this seriously and aim to collect only information reasonably needed to operate the platform, provide learning services, protect accounts and communicate with users or guardians where appropriate.

Parents or guardians should assist younger users in understanding this policy and should contact us if they have questions about a learner's information.

4. How we use information

We may use personal information to:

• create, verify and manage accounts;
• provide quizzes, assessments, marking, results, progress tracking and learning content;
• analyse learning performance to identify patterns such as topics that appear easier or harder to grasp, common mistakes, strengths and areas where learners may need more practice;
• produce aggregated or de-identified educational insights to improve questions, topics, learning materials and the overall platform;
• personalise content by grade, curriculum, account type or other relevant profile information;
• process subscriptions, trials and payments;
• send verification, security, service and support communications;
• send assessment or platform notifications where enabled;
• respond to support requests and resolve technical problems;
• detect misuse, fraud, unauthorised access and security incidents;
• improve reliability, usability, content quality and platform performance;
• comply with legal and regulatory obligations.

5. Our reasons for processing information

Depending on the context, we process personal information because it is necessary to provide the service you requested, because you or a guardian gave consent, because we have a legitimate operational or security reason, or because the law requires or permits us to do so.

We aim to process personal information in accordance with applicable South African privacy law, including the Protection of Personal Information Act, 2013 (POPIA), where it applies.

6. When information may be shared

We do not sell personal information. We may share limited information with service providers that help us operate Practice Online, such as hosting providers, email delivery services, authentication providers, payment processors, cloud services and technical support providers.

Information may also be disclosed where required by law, to protect users or the platform, to investigate suspected fraud or security issues, or as part of a lawful business restructuring.

7. Google and Microsoft sign-in

If you choose to sign in with Google or Microsoft, we may receive basic account information from that provider, such as your name, email address, profile identifier and profile photo where available. We use this information to authenticate you, create or link your Practice Online account and complete account setup.

Google and Microsoft process information under their own privacy policies. We do not receive your Google or Microsoft password.

8. Payments

Paid services may use a third-party payment provider. Practice Online may receive payment status, transaction references and related billing information, while sensitive card or banking details may be processed directly by the payment provider.

9. Cookies and local storage

Practice Online may use browser storage, cookies or similar technologies for essential functions such as keeping you signed in, storing session information, remembering preferences, protecting accounts and supporting platform operation.

You can control some browser storage through your browser settings, but disabling essential storage may prevent parts of the platform from working correctly.

10. Learner performance analysis

Practice Online may use assessment results, question-level responses, scores, time taken, attempts, grade, curriculum and topic information to produce learning insights. For example, we may analyse which topics learners generally perform well in, which topics appear more difficult, where mistakes occur frequently and how performance changes over time.

These insights may be used to give learners more useful progress information, improve assessments and solutions, identify content that may need clarification, and understand broader learning trends.

Practice Online may publish or share educational insights with the public, schools, educators, researchers, partners or other audiences where the information is aggregated, statistical or de-identified so that an individual learner is not reasonably identifiable. Public insights may include, for example, which topics are generally easier or harder for learners, common error patterns, broad grade-level performance trends, participation trends and changes in performance over time.

We do not intend to publish a learner's name, contact details, account information, individual answers, individual assessment history or other directly identifying personal information as part of public performance insights without an appropriate lawful basis and, where required, consent.

Where practical, broader platform-level analysis will use aggregated or de-identified information rather than directly identifying individual learners. We do not use these analytics as an official school mark or as the sole basis for a high-stakes decision about a learner.

11. Security

We use reasonable technical and organisational safeguards intended to protect personal information against loss, misuse, unauthorised access, disclosure or alteration. No internet-based system can guarantee absolute security.

12. Retention

We keep personal information only for as long as reasonably necessary for the purposes described in this policy, including account management, learning records, payment records, security, dispute resolution and legal obligations.

Retention periods may differ depending on the type of information and the reason it is held.

13. Your privacy rights

Subject to applicable law, you may have rights to request access to personal information we hold about you, ask for inaccurate information to be corrected, object to certain processing, request deletion where appropriate, or withdraw consent where processing is based on consent.

Some information may need to be retained where required by law, for security, fraud prevention, financial records, disputes or other legitimate purposes.

14. International processing

Some service providers used by Practice Online may process or store information outside South Africa. Where this occurs, we aim to use providers and safeguards appropriate to the nature of the information and applicable legal requirements.

15. Third-party links

Practice Online may contain links to external websites or services. Their privacy practices are governed by their own policies, and Practice Online is not responsible for how those third parties process information.

16. Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. The latest version will be published on this page with an updated effective date.

17. Contact us