Privacy policy

Who is responsible for what

Each school decides what it enters into ShuleOS about its students, parents, guardians and staff, and why. For that information the school is responsible, and ShuleOS runs the system on the school's behalf and only for the school's purposes. For the details of visitors to this website, people who ask for a demo, and the people who register a school, ShuleOS is responsible.

What is kept

• What a school enters: students' names, admission numbers, photos, classes, attendance, exam marks and report cards; parents' and guardians' names, phone numbers and email addresses; staff records, leave and payroll; fees, invoices and payments; and the messages the school sends.
• Accounts: the name, email address and a scrambled form of the password of everyone who signs in. Passwords are never stored in readable form.
• Security records: when people sign in, which device and address they used, and an activity log of important changes (who changed what, and when).
• This website: what you type into the demo and registration forms, and a session cookie that keeps you signed in.

Why it is used

To run the school's records and reports, to show each person only what their role allows, to send the messages the school chooses to send, to keep accounts secure, to bill schools for the service, and to answer support requests. We do not sell information and we do not use it for advertising.

Who can see it

• People at the school, each limited by the role the school gives them. Teachers see their own classes; parents see only their own children.
• One school can never see another school's information.
• A small number of ShuleOS staff, only when needed to give support or keep the system working. When we sign in to help a school, it is recorded in the activity log.
• Service providers that carry out part of the work, and only the part they need: the company that delivers text messages (SMS) when a school sends them, the school's own mail server for email, WhatsApp (Meta) if the school switches that on, Expo with Apple and Google to deliver notifications to the mobile app, and the hosting provider that stores the system.
• Authorities, when the law requires it.

How it is protected

• Every school's information is kept apart from every other school's.
• People sign in with a password, and can add a second step (a code by text message, email or an authenticator app). The platform owner's console requires it.
• Roles decide who can see and change what, and important changes are written to an activity log.
• The system is backed up every night, and the backups are checked.
• Sign-in attempts, downloads and public links are rate limited.

No system is perfectly safe. If we learn that information has been put at risk, we will tell the school affected.

How long it is kept

A school's information is kept while it uses ShuleOS, so that past years, results and report cards stay available. A school can ask for a copy of its information at any time, and can ask for it to be deleted when it stops using the service. Backups are kept for a limited time and then removed.

Children's information

Most of what ShuleOS holds is about children. It is entered by their school, shown only to the school's staff and to the child's own parents or guardians, and used only to run the school. Parents who have a question about their child's information should ask the school first.

The ShuleOS mobile app

Parents, pupils and teachers can use the ShuleOS app for Android and iPhone with the login their school gave them. The app shows the same information as the website, under the same rules: each person sees only what their role allows. In addition:

• On your phone: the app keeps the key that keeps you signed in, in the phone's secure storage, along with your language and appearance choices. For teachers, it also keeps any register or marks that have not been sent yet. Signing out or removing the app removes them.
• Signed-in phones: when you sign in, we keep the phone's name, the app version, whether it is Android or iPhone, and when it was last used. This lets you see the phones you are signed in on and sign them out.
• Notifications: if you allow notifications, the app gives us the phone's notification address. Notifications are delivered through Expo's push service and Apple or Google, and carry a short notice such as a new message, a result or a fee reminder. You can turn each kind off in the app or in the phone's settings. Signing out stops notifications to that phone.
• Camera: used only when a teacher scans the QR code on a pupil's ID card for attendance, or when you take a profile picture. Nothing is recorded, and the microphone is never used.
• Photos: only the picture you choose for your profile (or a teacher's signature picture) is uploaded. The app does not read the rest of your photos.
• Not collected: the app does not collect your location, contacts or browsing, has no advertising, and does not track you across other apps or websites.

To have your login and what it holds deleted, see Deleting your account. For help with the app, see Support.

Your rights

You can ask to see the information held about you or your child, to have mistakes corrected, and to have information deleted where the law allows. For information a school entered, please ask the school; we will help the school to answer. For anything held by ShuleOS itself, contact us. To delete your login, see Deleting your account. This policy is meant to follow the data protection laws of Tanzania, including the Personal Data Protection Act, 2022.

Cookies

ShuleOS uses only the cookies it needs to work: one that keeps you signed in and one that protects forms from misuse. It does not use advertising or tracking cookies.

Changes and contact

If this policy changes, the date at the top changes too. Questions about it can be sent to ShuleOS. See also our Terms and conditions.