POPIA Privacy Notice

1. Who we are

TeachersPet ("we", "us") provides an AI-assisted marking and reporting service for teachers. For the personal information described below we act as the responsible party (data controller) under the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 ("POPIA"). Where you upload learner scripts and results, you (or your school) remain the responsible party for that learner information and we process it as your operator (processor), on your instructions.

2. Information we collect and why

• Account details — name, email address, password credentials and your ID or passport number. Used to create and secure your account and to verify that the seven-day free trial is claimed only once per teacher.
• Teaching content — subjects, classes, terms, assessments, memoranda and uploaded scripts. Used to provide marking, tracking and reporting.
• Learner information — learner names, class names, answers, marks and results you enter or upload. Used solely to mark, track and report on those learners for you.
• Support messages — used to answer your questions.
• Usage, device and log data — including IP address and technical telemetry. Used for security, fraud prevention, troubleshooting and improving the product.
• Subscription records — plan, status and renewal dates. Used to give you access to the features you pay for. Card and payment details are collected and processed by Yoco, our payment provider, not by us.

3. Lawful basis for processing

We process personal information because it is necessary to perform our contract with you (providing the service and managing your subscription), to pursue our legitimate interests (security, fraud prevention, product improvement), to comply with legal obligations (tax and accounting), and, where required, with your consent (for example optional marketing). You may withdraw consent at any time.

Learner information is processed only on your instructions. You must ensure you have the necessary authority — and, where learners are children, the consent of a competent person as required by section 35 of POPIA — before uploading their information.

4. Who we share information with

• Service providers (operators) — cloud hosting, database and storage, email delivery and AI model providers used to read handwriting and suggest marks. They act on our instructions under confidentiality obligations.
• Yoco — our South African payment provider, for processing card payments securely. We never see or store your card details.
• Professional advisers — legal and accounting advisers where needed.
• Authorities — where required by law or to protect our legal rights.

We do not sell your personal information.

5. Cross-border transfers

Some of our providers process information outside South Africa. Where this happens we rely on section 72 of POPIA and ensure the recipient is bound by agreements or laws that provide an adequate level of protection comparable to POPIA.

6. Retention

We keep your account and teaching data for as long as your account is active. After closure, data is retained for up to 30 days so you can export it, and is then deleted or anonymised, except where we must keep records longer for tax, accounting or legal purposes. You can delete individual scripts, classes and assessments at any time.

7. Your rights under POPIA

You have the right to:

• be told what personal information we hold about you and request access to it;
• request correction, deletion or destruction of inaccurate or excessive information;
• object to processing based on legitimate interests, on reasonable grounds;
• withdraw consent where processing is based on consent;
• opt out of direct marketing at any time;
• lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator (South Africa) at complaints.IR@justice.gov.za.

To exercise any of these rights, email privacy@teacherspet.prblmslvr.xyz. We aim to respond within 30 days.

8. Security

We apply appropriate technical and organisational measures, including encryption in transit, access controls, row-level security so teachers can only reach their own data, and private storage for uploaded scripts. If a security compromise affects your personal information, we will notify you and the Information Regulator as required by section 22 of POPIA.

9. Cookies and similar technologies

We use essential cookies and local storage to keep you signed in and to keep the service secure. We do not use advertising cookies. You can clear or block cookies in your browser, but the service may not work correctly without the essential ones.

10. Changes and contact

We may update this notice and will post the updated version here. Questions? Email privacy@teacherspet.prblmslvr.xyz. See also our Terms of Service.