Privacy Policy

Last updated: 1 April 2026  ·  Effective date: 1 April 2026  ·  Compliant with POPIA (Act 4 of 2013)

Who We Are

MatricAce SA is an educational technology platform built specifically for South African Grade 10, 11 and 12 learners preparing for the National Senior Certificate (NSC) examinations. The platform is operated by MatricAce SA, a sole-proprietor business based in Johannesburg, South Africa.

For the purposes of the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 (POPIA), MatricAce SA is the Responsible Party in respect of all personal information processed through this platform.

• Email: support@matricace.co.za
• Website: www.matricace.co.za

What Information We Collect

2.1 Information You Provide

• Name and surname — used to personalise your experience
• Email address — used for account login and important notifications
• School name and grade — used to assign you to the correct class and curriculum
• School code or student number — used for school-based onboarding
• Password — stored as a secure hash; we never store your plain-text password

2.2 Information Automatically Collected

• Study activity data — quiz results, flashcard scores, mock exam marks, subjects studied, time spent
• Login dates — used for attendance tracking (for school accounts) and streak counting
• Device type and browser — used to fix bugs and improve compatibility
• Approximate location (province/city) — used for school-level reporting; we do not track precise GPS location

2.3 Information We Do NOT Collect

• Government ID numbers or ID documents
• Financial information (payment is handled by third-party processors)
• Biometric data
• Precise GPS location
• Private messages outside the platform

How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect for the following purposes:

• To create and manage your user account
• To deliver personalised study content, quizzes and flashcards
• To track your academic progress and display it to you and your teacher (school accounts only)
• To generate attendance records and class reports for school administrators
• To send important account notifications (e.g. password resets)
• To improve the platform based on aggregated, anonymised usage patterns
• To comply with our legal obligations under South African law

We will never use your information for automated profiling that produces legal or significant effects without your knowledge.

Children & Minors (Under 18)

• We do not display targeted advertising to users identified as students
• We do not share student data with advertising networks
• School accounts require a teacher or administrator to create student accounts — students cannot self-register without a school code
• Parents or guardians may request access to, correction of, or deletion of their child's personal information by contacting us at support@matricace.co.za
• We encourage schools to inform parents of the platform via the school's standard communication channels

Sharing Your Information

We do not sell, rent or trade your personal information. We only share information in the following limited circumstances:

5.1 With Your School (School Accounts)

If you access MatricAce through a school subscription, your teacher and school administrator will have access to your name, login activity, quiz scores and mock exam results. This is the core purpose of the school product.

5.2 With Service Providers (Operators)

We use trusted third-party services to operate the platform. These providers process data strictly on our instruction:

• Supabase (database hosting) — servers in AWS Frankfurt, EU. Data is encrypted at rest and in transit.
• Anthropic / Claude AI — AI tutor responses. Only your question text is sent; no personal identifiers are included in AI requests.
• Flutterwave (payment processing, Premium subscriptions only) — we do not store card details; all payment data is handled by Flutterwave.

5.3 Legal Requirements

We may disclose personal information if required to do so by South African law, a court order, or to protect the safety of our users.

Data Storage & Security

• All data is stored in Supabase's secured cloud database with encryption at rest (AES-256) and in transit (TLS 1.3)
• Passwords are hashed using bcrypt before storage — we cannot see your password
• Access to the database is restricted to authorised personnel only
• The app uses Row Level Security (RLS) policies to ensure each user can only access their own data
• We conduct regular reviews of our security practices

Despite our best efforts, no system is 100% secure. If you discover a security vulnerability, please report it responsibly to support@matricace.co.za.

Cookies & Analytics

MatricAce uses minimal cookies and browser storage:

• localStorage — used to remember your login session and save study preferences locally on your device. This data never leaves your device unless synced to our database.
• Google AdSense — our website (matricace.co.za) uses Google AdSense to display ads to non-student visitors. AdSense may use cookies for ad personalisation. Students using the app are not shown AdSense ads.
• We do not use third-party analytics services that track individual users across the web.

Your POPIA Rights

Under the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013, you have the following rights:

• Right of access — request a copy of the personal information we hold about you
• Right to correction — request that inaccurate information be corrected
• Right to deletion — request that your personal information be deleted (subject to legal retention requirements)
• Right to object — object to the processing of your personal information for specific purposes
• Right to complain — lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator of South Africa

To exercise any of these rights, email us at support@matricace.co.za with the subject line "POPIA Request". We will respond within 10 business days.

You can also contact the Information Regulator:

• Website: inforegulator.org.za
• Email: inforeg@justice.gov.za

Data Retention

• Active accounts — data is retained for as long as your account is active
• Deleted accounts — personal data is deleted within 30 days of account deletion request
• School accounts — student data may be retained for up to 12 months after a school contract ends to allow for grade transition reports, then deleted
• Anonymised data — aggregated, anonymised study statistics may be retained indefinitely for platform improvement

Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we do, we will update the "Last updated" date at the top of this page. For significant changes, we will notify registered users by email or via an in-app notice.

Continued use of MatricAce after a policy update constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

Minimum Age & COPPA Compliance

MatricAce is intended for users who are 13 years of age or older. The app is designed for South African high school students in Grades 10–12, the majority of whom are 15–18 years old.

We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under the age of 13. If you are under 13, please do not use MatricAce or provide any personal information. If a parent or guardian believes their child under 13 has provided us with personal information, please contact us at support@matricace.co.za and we will promptly delete that information.

For users aged 13–17 (minors under South African law): we recommend that a parent or guardian review this Privacy Policy and our Terms of Service. By allowing a minor to use MatricAce, the parent or guardian is consenting to the practices described in this policy on the minor's behalf.

MatricAce complies with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) by:

• Not directing targeted interest-based advertising at users we know to be under 13
• Not collecting more personal information than is reasonably necessary to provide the educational service
• Giving parents and guardians the ability to review or delete their child's personal information on request
• Never conditioning a child's participation in our service on the collection of more personal information than is necessary

Our Google AdSense integration on the public website (matricace.co.za) is tagged as child-directed in our AdSense settings. This means personalised/interest-based advertising is disabled for users on pages where we have reason to believe the audience may include users under 13.

Advertising Disclosure

We use Google AdSense to display advertisements on the MatricAce public website (matricace.co.za). This helps us keep the app free for students who cannot afford a paid subscription.

How Google AdSense works with your data:

• Google AdSense uses cookies to serve ads based on prior visits to our and other websites
• Google's use of advertising cookies enables it and its partners to serve ads based on your visit to our site and other sites on the internet
• You may opt out of personalised advertising by visiting Google's Ads Settings
• You may also opt out through the Network Advertising Initiative opt-out page at networkadvertising.org

Important limitations on ad targeting for student users:

• We do not pass any personally identifiable student information (name, email, grades, school) to Google or any advertising partner
• We do not use student activity data (quiz scores, subjects studied, progress) to target or personalise ads
• Student users logged into the MatricAce app are shown ads only through our own ad system — not Google AdSense
• We do not engage in remarketing to student users

Our Google AdSense Publisher ID is pub-9072098748131636. Our authorized seller declaration is available at matricace.co.za/ads.txt in compliance with Google's authorized inventory requirements.

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