Privacy Policy

1. Introduction

This Privacy Policy explains how Shule Focus (“the Company”, “we”, “us”) collects, uses, shares, and protects information through the ShuleFocus School Management Portal (“the Service”).

Two different data relationships exist on the Service:

• School Data (student profiles, academic records, attendance, exam results, fee records, hostel/library/transport records) — the school is the data controller, and the Company acts only as a data processor, processing this data on the school's instructions to provide the Service, consistent with the Tanzania Personal Data Protection Act, 2022.
• Parent Portal subscription & payment data (a parent/guardian's own name, phone number, payment method and reference, proof of payment, and billing history) — here the Company is the data controller, because the Company bills parents directly and reviews their payments to grant access to the Parent Portal.

2. Information We Collect

Account & contact information — name, email, phone number, role, and school affiliation for anyone with a login (school admins, teachers, accountants, parents, drivers, etc.).

School Data uploaded by your school — student profiles (name, date of birth, gender, address, passport photo), guardian/parent contact details, academic records, attendance, exam results, fee and payment records, hostel and transport assignments, library records, and communications sent through the platform.

Parent subscription & payment data — which child(ren) a subscription covers, the plan and billing cycle chosen, payer name and phone number, payment method (AzamPay, EVMAK, bank transfer, cash, or card), transaction/reference numbers, and, for manually reviewed payments, the proof-of-payment file you upload.

Technical & usage data — device/browser type, IP address, log data, and general usage patterns, collected automatically to keep the Service secure and reliable.

3. How We Use Information

• To provide, operate, and maintain the Service, including displaying a child's records to a parent only once a subscription for that child is active.
• To authenticate users and enforce role-based access control.
• To process Parent Portal subscription payments — confirming mobile-money payments automatically, or reviewing bank transfer/cash/card submissions — and to generate receipts and billing history.
• To process school fee payments and generate receipts/financial reports for schools.
• To provide customer support and respond to inquiries, including about a subscription or payment.
• To maintain security, detect fraud or abuse, and troubleshoot technical issues.
• To send service-related communications (e.g. subscription expiry reminders, maintenance notices, policy updates).
• To comply with legal obligations under Tanzanian law.

We do not sell personal data, and we do not use School Data or payment data to serve third-party advertising.

4. Data of Students & Other Minors

Much of the School Data processed through the Service belongs to students who are minors. This data is uploaded by schools (as data controller) under their own legal basis and, where applicable, parental/guardian consent obtained by the school. We process it strictly to provide the Service — including releasing it to a parent's Parent Portal view once that parent's subscription for that child is active — and do not use it for any other purpose, including marketing.

5. Sharing & Third Parties

We share information only as necessary to operate the Service, including with:

• Hosting & infrastructure providers who store and run the Service.
• AzamPay and EVMAK, our mobile-money payment gateways, which process Parent Portal subscription payments and notify us of the outcome.
• SMS, email, and WhatsApp gateways used to deliver notifications your school configures (e.g. fee reminders, attendance alerts) or that we send about a subscription.
• Professional advisers or authorities where required to comply with a legal obligation, court order, or to protect rights, safety, or property.

We require these providers to protect data under confidentiality and data-processing agreements. We do not otherwise sell or rent personal data to third parties.

6. Data Security

We apply technical and organizational measures to protect data, including encrypted connections (HTTPS), access controls tied to user roles, subscription checks before a child's detailed records are shown to a parent, and restricted internal access to production data. No system is completely secure — we encourage strong passwords and prompt deactivation of accounts for staff who leave.

7. Data Retention

We retain School Data for as long as a school's use of the Service continues, plus a reasonable period after termination to allow data export, unless earlier deletion is requested or later retention is required by Tanzanian law (e.g. financial record-keeping). Subscription and payment records are retained for as long as needed for billing history, dispute resolution, and legal/tax/audit purposes.

8. Your Rights

Under the Tanzania Personal Data Protection Act, 2022, individuals have the right to:

• Request access to personal data held about them.
• Request correction of inaccurate or incomplete data.
• Request deletion of data, subject to legal retention requirements.
• Object to certain processing, and withdraw consent where processing is based on consent.
• Lodge a complaint with the Personal Data Protection Commission of Tanzania.

For School Data (student/staff records), these requests should generally go to your school first, as the data controller. For Parent Portal subscription/payment data, contact us directly at info@shulefocus.co.tz — we control that data ourselves.

9. Cookies & Similar Technologies

We use essential cookies/local storage to keep you signed in and remember your preferences. We do not use third-party advertising or cross-site tracking cookies.

10. International Data Transfers

Where any service provider we use is located outside Tanzania, we take reasonable steps to ensure data receives an equivalent standard of protection, consistent with the cross-border transfer requirements of the Personal Data Protection Act, 2022.

11. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Material changes will be communicated to account holders by email or in-app notice, with an updated effective date shown above.

12. Contact Us

For privacy questions or requests, contact us at info@shulefocus.co.tz or by post to Shule Focus, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.