Privacy Policy
📅 Last updated: 1 May 2025
📋 Version 1.2
🌍 Applies to: Guinea & all users worldwide
We are committed to protecting your privacy. This policy explains clearly what data we collect, why we collect it, and how you can control it. Please read it carefully before using our website or enrolling at the academy.
1. Introduction
Ubuntu Education English Academy ("the Academy", "we", "us", or "our") is committed to protecting the privacy and security of personal information we collect from students, prospective students, parents, staff, website visitors, and any other individuals who interact with us.
This Privacy Policy applies to all personal data collected through our website at ubuntueducation.academy, our student and lecturer portals, our registration and admissions forms, and any other services we provide.
By using our website or enrolling at the Academy, you agree to the collection and use of your information in accordance with this policy.
2. Data We Collect
2.1 Information you provide directly
We collect personal information that you voluntarily provide to us when you:
- Complete an admission or registration form (name, email, phone, date of birth, nationality)
- Create a student or lecturer portal account (email address, password)
- Send us a message via our contact form
- Subscribe to our newsletter
- Participate in surveys, competitions, or events
2.2 Information we collect automatically
When you visit our website, we may automatically collect certain technical data including:
- IP address and approximate geographic location
- Browser type and version, operating system
- Pages visited, time spent on pages, referring URLs
- Device type (desktop, mobile, tablet)
- Cookie data (see Section 6)
2.3 Academic and operational data
For enrolled students and teaching staff, we additionally collect:
- Attendance records, assignment submissions, and grades
- CEFR level assessments and progress reports
- Course materials uploaded or accessed
- Communication records within the portal
3. How We Use Your Data
We use the personal information we collect for the following purposes:
- Enrolment and administration: To process your application, create your account, and manage your enrolment
- Education delivery: To provide teaching, track academic progress, record attendance, and issue certificates
- Communication: To send class announcements, assignment notifications, and important academy updates
- Customer support: To respond to your enquiries, complaints, or requests
- Legal compliance: To meet our obligations under applicable laws and regulations
- Improvement of services: To analyse usage patterns and improve our website and teaching programmes
- Marketing (with consent): To send newsletters and promotional materials about our programmes, events, and Saturday Hub activities
We will never sell your personal data to third parties for their own marketing purposes.
4. Legal Basis for Processing
We process your personal data on the following legal grounds:
- Contract performance: Processing necessary to fulfil our enrolment agreement with you
- Legitimate interests: Processing necessary for our legitimate educational and administrative interests
- Legal obligation: Processing required by law (e.g. record-keeping, safeguarding)
- Consent: Where you have given clear consent, such as for marketing emails (which you may withdraw at any time)
5. Sharing Your Data
We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal information. We may share your data with:
- Teaching staff: Lecturers have access to attendance, grades, and assignment data for students in their classes only
- Service providers: Trusted third-party companies that help us operate our website and services (e.g. hosting providers, email service providers), bound by confidentiality agreements
- Exam bodies: Where you have enrolled in an IELTS or TOEFL preparation programme and we need to share data with official exam providers for registration purposes
- Legal authorities: Where required by law, court order, or to protect the safety of our students and staff
Any third party we engage is required to handle your data securely and only for the specific purpose for which it was shared.
6. Cookies
Our website uses cookies — small text files placed on your device — to enhance your browsing experience. We use:
- Essential cookies: Required for the website and portal to function (session management, login state). Cannot be disabled.
- Analytics cookies: Help us understand how visitors use our website so we can improve it. We use anonymised data only.
- Preference cookies: Remember your settings and preferences for future visits.
You can control or disable non-essential cookies through your browser settings at any time. Disabling cookies may affect some functionality of our website.
7. Data Retention
We retain your personal data only for as long as necessary for the purposes outlined in this policy:
- Student records: Retained for 7 years after the end of your enrolment, for legal and certification purposes
- Staff records: Retained for 7 years after employment or contract ends
- Contact form messages: Retained for 2 years
- Website analytics data: Retained for 13 months in anonymised form
- Marketing consent records: Retained until you withdraw consent, plus 3 years
After these periods, data is securely deleted or anonymised.
8. Your Rights
Depending on applicable law, you may have the following rights regarding your personal data:
- Right of access: To request a copy of the personal data we hold about you
- Right to rectification: To request correction of inaccurate or incomplete data
- Right to erasure: To request deletion of your data in certain circumstances
- Right to restrict processing: To ask us to limit how we use your data
- Right to data portability: To receive your data in a structured, machine-readable format
- Right to object: To object to processing based on legitimate interests or direct marketing
- Right to withdraw consent: To withdraw marketing consent at any time without penalty
To exercise any of these rights, please contact us using the details in Section 12. We will respond within 30 days. We may need to verify your identity before processing your request.
9. Data Security
We implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data against unauthorised access, loss, destruction, or alteration. These measures include:
- Encrypted data transmission (HTTPS/TLS) across all web pages and portals
- Bcrypt password hashing — we never store plain-text passwords
- Role-based access controls — staff can only access data relevant to their role
- Regular security reviews and software updates
- Secure server infrastructure with regular backups
Despite our best efforts, no method of electronic transmission or storage is 100% secure. If you become aware of any security vulnerability, please notify us immediately at info@ubuntueducation.academy.
10. Children's Privacy
We offer programmes for learners including children aged 6 and above through our Saturday Hub. Where we collect personal data from children under the age of 16, we require verifiable parental or guardian consent before enrolment.
Parents and guardians may contact us at any time to review, update, or request deletion of their child's personal data. We do not knowingly market directly to children under 16.
11. Changes to This Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, technology, or legal requirements. When we make significant changes, we will:
- Post the updated policy on this page with a new "Last updated" date
- Notify enrolled students and registered portal users by email
- Display a notice on our website homepage for 30 days
We encourage you to review this policy periodically. Your continued use of our services after changes are posted constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.
If you have any questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or how we handle your personal data, please contact us:
