Privacy Policy

ScholarWay is an education technology platform that connects students, parents and guardians with verified school transport providers and related educational services in South Africa.

ScholarWay respects the privacy of users and is committed to protecting the personal information of everyone who uses the platform.

This Privacy Policy applies to students, parents, guardians, education providers, tutors, schools, organisations and any other users of ScholarWay. By using ScholarWay, you acknowledge that your personal information may be processed as described in this policy.

ScholarWay only processes personal information that is reasonably necessary for the platform to function, and does not collect unnecessary personal information. Depending on how you use the platform, we may collect:

• Full name
• Email address
• Phone number
• Date of birth where necessary
• Student / learner information
• Parent / guardian information
• School or educational information
• Provider / business information
• Location information where voluntarily provided or necessary for platform functionality
• Account login information
• Documents submitted for provider verification
• Profile information
• Communications between users and ScholarWay
• Technical information such as IP address, browser / device information and usage data
• Any other information voluntarily submitted by the user

Because ScholarWay may be used by students who are minors, we take additional precautions when processing information relating to children.

• Where legally required, appropriate consent from a parent, guardian or other authorised person will be obtained before a child’s personal information is processed.
• ScholarWay will only process children’s information for legitimate and clearly defined purposes connected to the platform’s services.
• Children’s information will not knowingly be sold or used for unrelated advertising purposes.
• Access to sensitive student information is restricted to authorised users.

ScholarWay processes personal information to:

• Create and manage user accounts
• Connect students / parents with relevant education providers
• Facilitate communication between users and providers
• Verify providers and listings
• Improve ScholarWay's services
• Provide customer support
• Prevent fraud, abuse and misuse
• Maintain platform security
• Send important account / service notifications
• Comply with applicable legal obligations
• Provide relevant platform recommendations and services

Education providers may be required to submit information or documents for verification before their listing is published.

• Verification is necessary to assess the legitimacy and safety of a provider and to help users make informed decisions.
• Verification documents will only be accessed by authorised personnel or service providers where necessary for the verification process.
• ScholarWay will take reasonable security measures to protect submitted documents.
• Verification does not guarantee the quality, conduct or ongoing reliability of a provider, and users should still exercise their own judgement.

ScholarWay does not sell users’ personal information.

Information is only shared where reasonably necessary, including with:

• Other users where required for the platform’s functionality
• Verified / registered providers when a user chooses to interact with them
• Technology and service providers supporting ScholarWay
• Payment providers where applicable
• Legal, regulatory or law-enforcement authorities where legally required
• Professional advisers where necessary and lawful

ScholarWay does not give third parties unrestricted access to user information.

• Partner businesses may be displayed or recommended on the platform.
• ScholarWay may receive commercial compensation from certain partnerships.
• Personal information is not sold to advertisers.
• Recommendations and promotions are presented in a way that users can distinguish them from ordinary ScholarWay functionality.

ScholarWay uses cookies and similar essential technologies for:

• Keeping the platform functioning correctly (essential technologies);
• Understanding how the platform is used (analytics);
• Monitoring performance and security.

Where legally required, users are provided with appropriate choices regarding non-essential cookies. You can usually control cookies through your browser settings, but disabling essential cookies may affect how the platform works.

ScholarWay uses reasonable technical and organisational safeguards to protect personal information against unauthorised access, loss, misuse, disclosure, alteration and destruction.

No system is completely secure. While we take appropriate measures to protect your information, we cannot guarantee absolute data security.

ScholarWay retains personal information only for as long as reasonably necessary for the purpose for which it was collected, taking into account legitimate business requirements, dispute resolution, platform security and applicable legal obligations.

As a data subject, you may have the right to:

• Access their personal information
• Request correction or updating of inaccurate information
• Request deletion where legally applicable
• Object to certain processing
• Withdraw consent where processing is based on consent
• Request information about how their personal information is processed
• Lodge a complaint regarding the handling of their personal information

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us using the details on this page. You may email us at info@scholarway.co.za. If you are not satisfied with our response, you may lodge a complaint with the South African Information Regulator.

ScholarWay will respond appropriately to suspected or confirmed security incidents affecting personal information and will make any notifications required by applicable law.

ScholarWay may use third-party services such as:

• Hosting providers
• Authentication services
• Payment providers
• Analytics providers
• Communication services
• Cloud storage providers

These providers may process information on ScholarWay’s behalf and are expected to apply appropriate safeguards to protect that information.

Some third-party technology providers may process personal information outside South Africa. Where this occurs, ScholarWay will take reasonable steps to ensure that such transfers comply with applicable legal requirements under POPIA.

Information submitted through contact forms, provider enquiries, messaging, support requests and other communication features may be stored and processed to provide the requested service, maintain platform safety and keep a record of interactions between users.

ScholarWay may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. The effective date and last updated date shown on this page reflect the current version. We encourage you to review this policy periodically.

ScholarWay is initially launching as a minimum viable product (MVP). Certain features or services described in this Privacy Policy may be introduced as ScholarWay expands. Where a feature is not currently available, the relevant provisions will apply when that feature is introduced.