EduConnectio Privacy Policy

Effective Date: 01 August 2025

Last Updated: [Current Date]

1. Introduction and Scope

Welcome to EduConnectio, a learning-oriented social media platform operated by ConnectioTech ("EduConnectio," "we," "us," or "our"). This Privacy Policy describes how we collect, use, process, and disclose your information, including personal data, in connection with your access to and use of the EduConnectio platform, website, mobile application, services, and associated content (collectively, the "Services").

At EduConnectio, we are committed to protecting your privacy and ensuring the security of your personal information. We understand the importance of transparency regarding our data practices. This Privacy Policy is designed to provide you with a clear understanding of the types of information we collect, why we collect it, how we use it, how we share it, and the measures we take to protect it.

IMPORTANT NOTICE: EduConnectio is fundamentally a social media platform designed to facilitate connections, learning, and growth among Learners, Educators, and Professionals. It is NOT a substitute for formal education, schools, colleges, universities, or accredited educational institutions. While the platform offers features that support learning (such as courses, mentorship, and AI-powered assistance), any content, courses, or advice provided by users on EduConnectio are not accredited by EduConnectio itself, nor do they confer official qualifications or certifications unless explicitly stated and independently verified by the content creator. We strongly advise users to exercise due diligence and critically evaluate all information and credentials presented by other users. Your engagement with educational content or advice on EduConnectio is at your own discretion and risk.

By accessing or using our Services, you signify that you have read, understood, and agree to the collection, storage, use, and disclosure of your personal information as described in this Privacy Policy and our Terms of Service. If you do not agree with any part of this Privacy Policy, please do not use our Services.

2. Information We Collect

To provide and improve the EduConnectio Services, we collect various types of information from and about you. This information can be broadly categorized as follows:

2.1. Information You Provide to Us Directly:

Account Registration Information: When you create an account, we collect personal details such as your full name, email address, date of birth, and chosen password. Depending on your user type (Learner, Educator, Professional), we may also request specific information relevant to your role, such as educational level (for Learners), academic qualifications and teaching experience (for Educators), or professional background and industry (for Professionals).
Profile Information: Once registered, you may choose to provide additional information for your public profile, including a profile picture, biography/summary, interests, skills, achievements, projects, academic history, professional experience, links to external portfolios or websites, and other details that help others understand your background and goals on the platform. Providing this information is voluntary but enhances your experience and visibility on EduConnectio.
Verification Data (Instructors/Professionals): If you apply to be a verified Instructor or Professional, we may collect additional documents, such as copies of professional certifications, IDs, or links to professional profiles, to verify your identity and qualifications.
Content You Create and Share: We collect the content you create, upload, post, send, receive, and share on the Services. This includes text, images, videos, audio, documents, and portfolio data. This also includes your interactions with our AI-powered EduBuddy feature.
Communications with Us: When you communicate with EduConnectio directly, such as through customer support inquiries, feedback forms, surveys, or bug reports, we collect the content of those communications and your contact information.
Payment Information: If you subscribe to paid features or plans, our third-party payment processor (e.g., Payfast, Stripe) will collect your payment card details or other financial information. EduConnectio itself does not directly store sensitive payment card information; we receive only a tokenized version of your payment details from the processor to manage your subscription.
Participation Data: Information related to your participation in features like EduStream, EduBuddy interactions, courses you enroll in or teach, mentorship programs, and events.

2.2. Information We Collect Automatically (Usage Data):

Device Information: We collect information about the device you use to access EduConnectio, including hardware model, operating system version, unique device identifiers, mobile network information, and browser type and version.
Log Data: Our servers automatically record information that your browser or device sends whenever you use our Services. This "log data" may include your IP address, browser type and settings, date and time of your request, how you used the Services, referral URLs, and cookie data.
Usage Information (Behavioral Data): We collect information about your interactions with the Services, such as features used, time spent, clickstream data, search queries, interaction patterns (e.g., scroll depth, clicks on links), and the specific courses or mentors you view. This helps us understand what content is most engaging.
Location Information: With your consent, we may collect precise or approximate location information from your mobile device to enable certain features (e.g., connecting with local study groups or mentors). You can enable or disable location services through your device settings.
Cookies and Tracking Technologies: We use cookies, web beacons, pixels, and similar technologies to collect information, store your preferences, enhance your navigation, analyze trends, and personalize content and advertising. More details are provided in Section 10.

2.3. Information We Collect from Third Parties:

Third-Party Integrations: If you link, connect, or log in to your EduConnectio account with a third-party service (e.g., Google, social media platforms, single sign-on services), we may receive information from that service, such as your registration or profile information, in accordance with the authorization procedures determined by that service.
Payment Processors: Our payment processor provides us with transaction details (excluding full payment card information) to confirm payment, manage subscriptions, and address billing inquiries.
Analytics Providers: We may receive aggregated or anonymized data from analytics service providers about user behavior on our platform to help us improve our Services.

3. How We Use Your Information (Legal Basis for Processing)

We use the information we collect for various purposes, primarily to provide, maintain, protect, and improve our Services, as well as to develop new ones. Our legal bases for processing your data include:

Performance of a Contract: To fulfill our obligations to you under the Terms of Service.
Legitimate Interests: To operate our business, prevent fraud, secure our systems, and improve our Services.
Your Consent: Where we request and obtain your explicit consent for specific purposes (e.g., direct marketing).
Legal Obligation: To comply with applicable laws and regulations.

Specific uses include:

To Provide and Maintain the Services: Account management, core functionality, personalization (e.g., displaying relevant courses or mentors), communication, and customer support.
To Personalize and Improve the Services (AI/AR/ML): We use collected data (especially usage and content data) to train and improve our machine learning models, including the EduBuddy AI assistant and algorithms that recommend content or career paths. This enhances the user experience and the accuracy of our features.
To Facilitate the Creator Economy: Processing payments, tracking course enrollments, calculating and distributing revenue shares to Instructors, and providing analytics on content performance.
For Safety and Security: Platform security, compliance with our Prohibited Conduct policy, monitoring for fraud and unauthorized use, and fulfilling legal obligations.
For Communication and Marketing: Sending Service-related and administrative messages (mandatory), and (with your consent) sending promotional content, personalized advertisements, and conducting feedback surveys.
For Aggregated and Anonymized Data: We may aggregate and anonymize information for research, public trend analysis, marketing, and business intelligence, which may be shared with partners without identifying you personally.

4. How We Share Your Information

We share your information in the following circumstances and with the following categories of recipients:

With Other Users on the Platform (Public Sharing):
- Public Profile: Your name, username, profile picture, biography, skills, content creation history, and verification status are visible to all users.
- User-Generated Content: Content you post (videos, courses, posts, comments) is publicly visible.
- Interactions: Your connections, follow lists, course enrollment status, and participation in public groups are visible to others based on your privacy settings.
With Our Service Providers: We share necessary data with third-party vendors and service providers that perform services on our behalf, such as cloud hosting (e.g., AWS, Azure), payment processing, analytics, customer support, email delivery, and security services. These providers are obligated to protect your data and only use it for the purposes we define.
Payment Processors: Transaction data is shared with our payment partners to process payments and facilitate the Creator Economy payouts.
For Business Transfers: In the event of a merger, acquisition, restructuring, sale of assets, or similar transaction, your information may be transferred to the acquiring entity, subject to their compliance with this policy.
For Legal Reasons and Law Enforcement: We may disclose your information if required to do so by law or in the good faith belief that such action is necessary to (a) comply with a legal obligation, (b) protect and defend the rights or property of ConnectioTech, (c) act in urgent circumstances to protect the personal safety of users or the public, or (d) protect against legal liability.
With Your Consent: For any other purpose with your explicit consent.

5. International Data Transfers

ConnectioTech is an innovation company based in the Republic of South Africa. However, our service providers may be located outside of South Africa, meaning your information may be transferred to, stored, and processed in countries outside of your own, including the United States and countries in Europe. We take measures to ensure that any international transfers of personal information are governed by legally binding mechanisms (such as Standard Contractual Clauses or equivalent agreements) to ensure a level of protection equivalent to that required under South African law (e.g., POPIA) and relevant international standards.

6. Data Security

We employ industry-standard and commercially reasonable safeguards to protect your personal information against unauthorized access, use, alteration, or destruction. Our security measures include:

Encryption: Using TLS/SSL encryption to secure data transmission.
Access Control: Implementing strict internal access controls based on the principle of least privilege.
Regular Audits: Performing regular security audits and vulnerability assessments.
Anonymization: Utilizing anonymization and pseudonymization techniques for data used in analytics and AI model training where feasible.
Firewalls and Monitoring: Employing network security tools and continuous monitoring for threats.

While we strive for robust security, no method of transmission over the Internet or electronic storage is 100% secure. Therefore, we cannot guarantee its absolute security. In the unlikely event of a data breach, we will notify affected users and take necessary measures in compliance with applicable laws (e.g., POPIA in South Africa).

7. Data Retention

We retain your personal information as long as necessary to provide the Services, maintain your account, and fulfill the purposes outlined in this policy. This includes the period necessary to comply with our legal, accounting, and reporting obligations (e.g., transactional data for tax purposes). When your account is deactivated or terminated, we will delete, anonymize, or aggregate your data unless a longer retention period is required or permitted by law.

8. Your Data Protection Rights

Depending on your location and applicable law (such as South Africa's Protection of Personal Information Act - POPIA), you may have the following rights regarding your personal data:

Right of Access: The right to request a copy of the personal information we hold about you.
Right to Correction/Rectification: The right to request that we correct any inaccurate or incomplete personal information.
Right to Deletion (Erasure): The right to request that we delete your personal information, subject to certain legal exceptions (e.g., legal hold).
Right to Restriction of Processing: The right to request that we temporarily halt the processing of your data under specific conditions.
Right to Object to Processing: The right to object to our processing of your personal information, particularly where it is based on legitimate interests or for direct marketing purposes.
Right to Data Portability: The right to request a copy of your personal information in a structured, commonly used, and machine-readable format.
Right to Withdraw Consent: Where we rely on your consent to process your data, you have the right to withdraw that consent at any time.
Right to Lodge a Complaint: The right to lodge a complaint with the relevant data protection supervisory authority (e.g., the Information Regulator in South Africa).

To exercise any of these rights, please contact our Privacy Team at support@connectiotech.co.za. We will respond to your request within the timeframe required by law.

9. Children's Privacy

EduConnectio is designed for school learners, but is not intended for children under 13 without verifiable parental consent. If we become aware that we have collected personal information from a child under 13 without verifiable parental consent, we will take reasonable steps to delete it as quickly as possible. We encourage parents/guardians to supervise their children's online activities. Parents/guardians can review, update, or request the deletion of their child's information by contacting us.

10. Cookies and Similar Technologies

We use cookies and similar technologies (web beacons, pixels, etc.) for four main categories:

Strictly Necessary Cookies: Essential for the functioning of the Services (e.g., enabling login, security features).
Performance and Analytics Cookies: Used to analyze how users interact with the Services, measure performance, and improve our platform.
Functionality Cookies: Used to remember your preferences (e.g., language, theme settings).
Advertising and Targeting Cookies: Used to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant EduConnectio-related ads on other sites.

You can manage your cookie preferences through your browser or device settings. Please note that disabling essential cookies may affect the functionality of the Services.

11. Advertising and Your Choices

We may display personalized advertisements to support our services. These ads may be based on your activity within the Services, content you view, and information gathered from cookies and third-party partners. You have the following choices regarding advertising:

Platform Preferences: You can adjust certain ad personalization settings within your EduConnectio account profile.
Device Settings: You can control interest-based advertising on your mobile device by changing the privacy settings (e.g., "Limit Ad Tracking" on iOS or "Opt-out of Interest-Based Ads" on Android).
Industry Opt-Out: You may opt-out of many third-party advertising networks by visiting the relevant consumer choice pages provided by organizations such as the Digital Advertising Alliance (DAA) or the Network Advertising Initiative (NAI).

12. Third-Party Websites and Services

Our Services may contain links to websites or services operated by third parties, including courses or content hosted externally. We are not responsible for the privacy practices, content, or security of these external sites or services. We encourage you to review their privacy policies before interacting with them.

13. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this policy periodically to reflect changes in our practices, technology, legal requirements, or business structure. We will notify you of any material changes by posting the updated policy on this page, and, if appropriate, through email notification or a prominent notice on the platform. Your continued use of the Services after the Effective Date of the revised policy constitutes your acceptance of the changes.

14. Contact Us

If you have any questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy, our data practices, or if you wish to exercise your rights, please contact our Privacy Team and Information Officer at:

ConnectioTech
Attention: Privacy Team/Information Officer
Email: support@connectiotech.co.za
Address: [ConnectioTech Physical Address in South Africa - For legal notices only]