Privacy & POPIA Notice
Last updated: 8 July 2026
This notice explains how BreakThrough Education collects, uses and protects personal information when you and your child use our service — a CAPS-aligned self-study programme for Afrikaans First Additional Language for Grade 8–12 learners in South Africa. We are committed to handling personal information responsibly and in line with the Protection of Personal Information Act, 2013 (POPIA).
1. Who we are & our Information Officer
BreakThrough Education provides the Afrikaans FAL self-study programme available at app.bteducation.co.za. We are the responsible party (data controller) for the personal information described in this notice.
If you have any questions about this notice or about how we handle personal information, please contact our Information Officer at info@bteducation.co.za.
2. What personal information we collect
We aim to collect only what we need to run the learning service. This includes:
- Parent / guardian details: the email address used to register and manage the account.
- Each child's profile details: first name or username, grade, and school.
- Learning data: progress through the curriculum, points, streaks, results and similar activity within the app.
- Tutor conversations: when a learner uses the built-in tutor, the text of the conversation is stored so that you, the parent, can read and manage it. If the parent has enabled voice, spoken questions are converted to text and the audio recording is immediately discarded — never stored.
- Payment records: subscription status and payment references. Card details are handled entirely by our payment processor (PayFast) and never touch our servers.
- Basic technical & usage data: information your device or browser sends automatically (such as approximate device or browser type) and basic usage needed to keep the service working and secure.
We do not ask for unnecessary personal details, and we do not require a child's full legal name to be displayed anywhere public. The tutor is designed never to ask a child for personal information.
3. Why we collect it
We use personal information to provide, run and improve the learning service. In particular, we use it to:
- Create and manage the parent account and each child's learning profile.
- Deliver the right Grade 8–12 content and track progress towards goals.
- Sync progress, points and streaks across the devices a learner uses.
- Power features such as the smart review system, daily goals, the tutor and per-school leaderboards.
- Give parents oversight of tutor conversations, voice consent and daily limits.
- Process subscriptions and send essential account emails (such as activation and password reset).
- Keep the service secure, prevent abuse, and respond to support requests.
4. Lawful basis & parental consent for children's data
Because our learners are children, POPIA gives their personal information special protection. A child's personal information may generally only be processed with the consent of a competent person — normally a parent or legal guardian.
For this reason, a parent or guardian registers the account and consents on the child's behalf. By registering and adding a child, you confirm that you are the parent or legal guardian (or are otherwise authorised to act for the child) and that you consent to us processing your child's personal information as described in this notice.
Voice is a separate, explicit consent: the tutor's microphone remains switched off for a child until their parent enables it in the parent dashboard, and can be switched off again at any time.
We rely on this parental consent, together with the need to perform our service to you, as the lawful basis for processing. You can withdraw consent at any time by contacting us (see Data retention & deletion below); doing so may mean we can no longer provide the service to that child.
5. How we protect it
We take reasonable technical and organisational steps to safeguard personal information, including:
- Hashed passwords: account passwords are hashed with bcrypt — we never store them in plain text.
- Encryption in transit: data is sent over HTTPS, so it is encrypted while travelling between your device and our service.
- Access controls: access to personal information is limited to what is needed to run and support the service. Sensitive parental controls (such as voice consent and deleting tutor conversations) additionally require the parent's password.
- Hashed, expiring tokens: account activation and password-reset tokens are stored hashed and expire after a short period.
- Audio never stored: spoken tutor questions are transcribed and the audio is immediately discarded.
No online service can promise perfect security, but we work to keep your family's information well protected.
6. The tutor and child wellbeing
The built-in tutor discusses schoolwork only and is designed never to request personal information from a child. If a child's message suggests they may be at risk — for example bullying or distress — the parent is notified by email and the exchange is flagged in the parent dashboard. The tutor responds gently and encourages the child to speak to a trusted adult; it does not counsel children.
7. Public leaderboards
Leaderboards are designed to be safe for children. Only a learner's username and avatar are ever shown to other learners at the same school — never a child's full legal name, email, or contact details. Rankings are based on progress, so they stay fair to learners who join later in the year.
8. Sharing & third parties
We do not sell personal information, and we do not share it for advertising. We share information only with the service providers we need to run BreakThrough Education, and only as far as necessary, such as:
- A payment processor (PayFast) to handle subscriptions — card details are entered on and processed by PayFast, not by us.
- An email delivery provider, to send account emails like activation and password-reset messages.
- A speech and language processing provider, used in the moment to transcribe spoken tutor questions and to generate the tutor's spoken replies; audio is not retained.
- A hosting provider, where the service and its data are securely stored and run.
These providers act on our instructions (as operators under POPIA) and are expected to keep personal information secure. We may also disclose information where the law requires it.
9. Data retention & deletion
We keep personal information for as long as the account is active and the service is in use, and for a reasonable period afterwards where we need to for legal or operational reasons. When it is no longer needed, we take steps to delete or de-identify it.
Managing tutor conversations
Parents can read every tutor conversation in the parent dashboard and can permanently delete any individual message or an entire day's conversation at any time.
Deleting your account yourself
A parent or guardian can permanently delete the account — including all learner profiles, progress, points, avatars and tutor conversations — at any time at app.bteducation.co.za/delete-account.html, or from the account menu inside the app. Deletion requires the parent's email and password and takes effect immediately.
Requesting access or deletion
A parent or guardian can also request access to, correction of, or deletion of their own and their child's personal information at any time. To make a request, email info@bteducation.co.za and we will assist. We may need to confirm your identity before acting on a request.
10. Your rights under POPIA
Subject to POPIA and any applicable limits, you have the right to:
- Ask what personal information we hold about you and your child, and request a copy.
- Ask us to correct or update information that is inaccurate or incomplete.
- Ask us to delete information that we no longer have a lawful reason to keep.
- Object to certain processing, and to withdraw consent for your child's data.
- Lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator (South Africa).
To exercise any of these rights, contact us at info@bteducation.co.za.
11. Changes to this notice
We may update this notice from time to time — for example, when we add features or improve how we protect information. When we do, we will revise the "Last updated" date above, and significant changes may be communicated to account holders.
12. Contact
Questions, requests or concerns about privacy and POPIA are welcome. Please contact our Information Officer:
- Email: info@bteducation.co.za