This privacy policy applies to the use of our Platforms, including our website, mobile site, mobile applications, emails or any other technology or service you use to access our products and services. “We”, “us” or “our” in this privacy policy refers to EDUPSTAIRS, its Holding Company and its subsidiaries. The terms “personal information”, “special personal information” and “process/ing” when used in this document shall bear the meanings as set out in the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013.
It is important that you read this privacy policy together with other terms and conditions, privacy notices or policies we may provide on specific occasions when we collect or use your personal information. This privacy policy supplements these notices and policies, and is not intended to override them.
We respect your privacy and take the protection of personal information very seriously. This privacy policy describes how we handle the personal information we collect about you and/or receive from you. By using our Platforms you agree to our collection and use of your information as set out in this privacy policy. If you are below the age of 18 years, you must always get permission from your parent or guardian before you use our Platforms or give us your information.
Information we collect and receive
We collect personal information that is necessary for us to provide you with our services as advertised. We only collect and use the minimum personal information we need in order to provide and improve our services.
Examples of personal information which we may collect and process include your name; email and/or physical address; fixed or mobile phone number; location information and in some circumstances (provided you have explicitly consented to us collecting and processing this personal information) your race or ethnic origin; gender; age; religious or philosophical beliefs; financial, health or biometric information; culture; language; education or employment history.
We collect and receive information about you in the following ways:
- Information you give us
- We collect your personal information through direct interactions with you and when you:
- Complete forms, sign up for an account, or subscribe or register to access or use our services.
- Enter promotional competitions or complete surveys.
- Post comments or content on our Platforms.
- Contact us.
- Information we automatically collect or receive when you use our Platforms and services
We may automatically collect information about the equipment you use to access or use our Platforms, your browsing actions and patterns. We do this through the use of cookies, web beacons and other technologies.
A cookie is a small text file that our server sends to your hard drive when you visit our Platforms. These cookies hold modest amounts of data specific to you and our Platforms. They allow our system to recognise you when you visit our Platforms again. If you prefer that we not use cookies when you use our Platforms, you can change your browser settings to disable the use of cookies. Please note however that if you disable the use of cookies, you may not be able to enjoy all the features and functionalities of our Platforms. View our Cookie Policy.
A web beacon is a small image file that we place on our Platforms or in an email. We use it to track how many times a web page is accessed, the time it was accessed and the location of users who accessed it.
Depending on how you access and use our Platforms, we may receive:
Log information, including information on how, when and for how long you use our Platforms and other services, the content you view and search queries you submit.
Information about the equipment you use to access or use our Platforms, including the type of device you are using, how you access our Platforms, your browser or operating system and your Internet Protocol (IP) address.
The geographic location from which you accessed our Platforms, including your device’s GPS signal and information about nearby Wi-Fi networks and cell towers. We get this information when you use location-enabled services.
Information from third-party sources
We may receive other information about you from third parties (where you have consented to such third party sharing your information with us) and combine it with the information we have collected about or received from you in other ways. We may also receive information about you when you log into our Platforms using your social networking log-in details.
Third-party disclosure
We do not sell, trade, or otherwise transfer your Personal Information to outside parties unless we provide users with advance notice. This does not include website hosting partners and other parties who assist us in operating our website, conducting our business, or serving our users, so long as those parties agree to keep this information confidential. We may also release information when it’s release is appropriate to comply with the law, enforce our site policies, or protect ours or others’ rights, property or safety.
However, non-personally identifiable visitor information may be provided to other parties for marketing, advertising, or other uses.
Third-party links
Occasionally, at our discretion, we may include or offer third-party products or services on our website. These third-party sites have separate and independent privacy policies. We therefore have no responsibility or liability for the content and activities of these linked sites. Nonetheless, we seek to protect the integrity of our site and welcome any feedback about these sites.
Google’s advertising requirements can be summed up by Google’s Advertising Principles. They are put in place to provide a positive experience for users. https://support.google.com/adwordspolicy/answer/1316548?hl=en
We use Google AdSense Advertising on our website.
Google, as a third-party vendor, uses cookies to serve ads on our site. Google’s use of the DART cookie enables it to serve ads to our users based on previous visits to our site and other sites on the Internet. Users may opt-out of the use of the DART cookie by visiting the Google Ad and Content Network privacy policy.
We, along with third-party vendors such as Google use first-party cookies (such as the Google Analytics cookies) and third-party cookies (such as the DoubleClick cookie) or other third-party identifiers together to compile data regarding user interactions with ad impressions and other ad service functions as they relate to our website.
Opting out:
Users can set preferences for how Google advertises to you using the Google Ad Settings page.
We use Google Analytics to track social shares made at our website. Google automatically collect and store certain information in their server logs which includes device event information such as crashes, system activity, hardware settings, browser type, browser language, the date and time of your request and referral URL, cookies that may uniquely identify your browser or your Google Account, in accordance with their data privacy policy: https://policies.google.com/privacy
Social Sharing
We embed a Facebook widget to allow you to see number of likes/shares/recommends and “like/share/recommend” our webpages. This widget may collect your IP address, your web browser User Agent, store and retrieve cookies on your browser, embed additional tracking, and monitor your interaction with the widget, including correlating your Facebook account with whatever action you take within the widget (such as “liking/sharing/recommending” our webpage), if you are logged in to Facebook. For more information about how this data may be used, please see Facebook’s data privacy policy: https://www.facebook.com/about/privacy/update
We use a Twitter Tweet widget at our website. As a result, our website makes requests to Twitter’s servers for you to be able to tweet our webpages using your Twitter account. These requests make your IP address visible to Twitter, who may use it in accordance with their data privacy policy: https://twitter.com/en/privacy#update
We use a Linkedin Share widget at our website to allow you to share our webpages on Linkedin. These requests may track your IP address in accordance with their data privacy policy: https://www.linkedin.com/legal/privacy-policy
What we do with your personal information
- We use the personal information we collect and receive to:
- Identify you, verify your identity, create a user account for you and enter into a contract with you.
- Provide you with information, products or services you request from us.
- Comply with any contractual obligations we have in respect of the provision of information, products or services to you.
- Communicate with you regarding our Platforms and provide you with information, products or services.
- Notify you about changes to our Platforms, services and products, terms and conditions, privacy policy or notices, and any other changes that impact our Platforms, services and products.
- Send you information about competitions, products or services that may interest you.
- Make our Platforms more user friendly.
- Market our Platforms, products and services to you, subject to your right to refuse to receive direct marketing communications.
- Personalise your interactions with our Platforms, tailor our services and Platforms to your interests and needs, and ensure they work on your device.
- Provide advertising that is relevant to you, limit the number of times you see the same advertisement and measure the effectiveness of the advertisements on our Platforms based on your online activities such as the websites and apps you use or content you view, and information we have about you.
- Get feedback from you which we need to develop our products and services and grow our business.
- Protect our legitimate business interests such as keeping our records up to date and studying our customer or user products or services.
- Comply with any legal or regulatory obligations.
We also use your personal information for research and statistical purposes. The research and statistics we get from this process do not include your personal information and cannot be linked to you, nor can you be identified from these statistics.
On some of our Platforms, we may collect and process special personal information. We will only collect and process this information if you have explicitly consented to us collecting and processing this personal information and for the purpose for which you consented.
We will not use your personal information for any other purpose without your permission.
We keep your information for as long as we need it to provide our Platforms, products or services to you, and are required or allowed by law or the contract between you and us, or you have agreed to us keeping your information.
Disclosing your personal information
We do not sell your personal information to third parties for their marketing or any other purposes.
We may provide or make your personal information available to:
Other companies in the ECS group of companies to learn more about our customers and create a more relevant, engaging customer experience.
Companies that provide services to us or on our behalf, or enable us to provide services to you or operate the Platforms.
Other parties where we are required to provide your personal information to comply with the law or protect our Platforms.
Prospective and actual buyers, in the event that we sell, transfer or merge any part of our businesses or assets, or prospective or actual sellers, in the event that we choose to buy or merge with any other business.
Third parties if you have agreed to us sharing your personal information with them, such as where you enter into a competition sponsored by a third party and where the provision of your information is a condition for entry to the competition, or where you express your interest in a product or service about which you would like more information.
Other parties that provide content, advertising services or functionality on our Platforms. These third parties include i) advertising service providers which help us and our advertising customers provide advertisements that are tailored to users’ interests, ii) audience-measurement companies which help us measure the overall usage of our Platforms and compare that usage with other online services, and iii) social networking services such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram that you may select to use to register for and log into some of our services and share things you find on our Platforms with your social network. We do not control the privacy practices of these or any other third-party services and recommend you read the privacy policies of these services before connecting to them. These third parties may collect or receive information about your use of our Platforms, including through the use of cookies, web beacons and other technologies, and this information may be collected over time and combined with information collected on various websites and online services.
We may also share our research and statistical information with various third parties. However, this information does not include your personal information, cannot be linked to you and you cannot be identified from these statistics.
We embed a Facebook widget to allow you to see number of likes/shares/recommends and “like/share/recommend” our webpages. This widget may collect your IP address, your web browser User Agent, store and retrieve cookies on your browser, embed additional tracking, and monitor your interaction with the widget, including correlating your Facebook account with whatever action you take within the widget (such as “liking/sharing/recommending” our webpage), if you are logged in to Facebook. For more information about how this data may be used, please see Facebook’s data privacy policy: https://www.facebook.com/about/privacy/update
Please note, some of the people or companies who have access to your personal information are located outside South Africa. We will not share your personal information with these parties unless they are bound by privacy laws and corporate rules or agreements with us that protect the privacy of your personal information and limit their ability to share your personal information with other parties. We will get your permission before we share your information with any third party.
Your rights
You have the right to ask us not to contact you for marketing purposes, and you can do this at any time by using any of the various “opt out” options that we always provide you with when we send you marketing communications.
We manage several separate marketing distribution lists across the various business units and opting out of one distribution list does not automatically remove you from all the other lists.
You also have the right to request access to the information we have collected about you and request that we correct or update any incorrect or incomplete information. Such request can be submitted by sending an email to [email protected].
You may at any time lodge an objection with us regarding our collection and use of your personal information at the email address listed below.
Our commitment to security
We have put in place administrative, technical and physical safeguards to protect your personal information and prevent loss, damage or unauthorised access to or disclosure of your information. These security safeguards are based on generally accepted information security practices and procedures which apply to the Platforms, products and services we provide. We regularly check that these safeguards are correctly implemented and continually updated in response to new risks or any identified deficiencies.
Any information you submit to us through the internet is at your own risk. Once we receive your personal information, our security safeguards apply.
If we outsource any services to a third party that require the collection or use of your personal information, we put in place contracts that require these companies or people to respect the security of your personal information, treat it in accordance with the law, and collect and use it only for the purposes authorised by us.
Links to other websites
Our Platforms contain links to and from websites, mobile applications and/or services of third parties, advertisers and/or affiliates. Clicking on these links or enabling these connections may allow third parties to collect or share information about you. Please note, we have not evaluated nor control these third parties and are not responsible for the privacy practices of such other parties when you leave our Platforms. We recommend you read the privacy statements of every website you visit which collects personal information.
International users
EDUPSTAIRS is based in South Africa and, regardless of where you use or access our Platforms, products or services, your information may be transferred to and maintained on servers located in South Africa or elsewhere in the world.
Any of the information that we collect about you or receive from you is stored in line with South African privacy laws, regulations and standards, which may not be equivalent to the laws in your country of residence.
Changes to this Privacy Policy
This version of the privacy policy was last updated on 03 August 2021 and replaces any preceding privacy policies.
We may occasionally update this privacy policy. Any changes we make will be posted on this page and we will notify you of the update in the appropriate manner. When you use our Platforms the version of the privacy policy posted on this page applies to you. We encourage you to review this privacy policy whenever you access our Platforms.