Privacy policy

1. Who we are

RootedLearn ("RootedLearn", "we", "us", "our") provides an online tutoring platform that connects families and learners with tutors for live online lessons. For the purposes of applicable data-protection law, RootedLearn is the controller of the personal data described here. You can reach us at hello@rootedlearn.com or by post at 254 Chapman Rd, Ste 208 #27251, Newark, DE 19702, USA. For privacy-specific requests, please put "Privacy" in the subject line.

2. Scope and key terms

This policy covers guardians (adults who book and manage lessons for children), learners (including independent adult learners and child learners whose accounts are managed by a guardian), tutors, and website visitors. "Personal data" means information that identifies or relates to an identifiable person. "Processing" means anything we do with personal data, such as collecting, storing, using, sharing, or deleting it.

3. Information we collect

Information you give us

• Account & contact details — name, email, phone number, country, role (guardian, learner, or tutor), password (stored only in hashed form), and profile settings.
• Guardian & learner profile — learner name, age or class level, education level, subjects, learning goals, schedule, tutor preferences, and lesson needs.
• Tutor profile — photo, intro video, bio, subjects and levels, availability, qualifications and certifications, employment history, supporting documents you provide, assessment results, and payout details.
• Bookings & communications — lesson requests and packages, support messages, dispute details, reviews, and notifications.
• Lead enquiries — details you submit through our "request a call" or contact forms so we can respond.

Information we collect automatically

• Technical & usage data — IP address, approximate location derived from it, device and browser type, pages viewed, referring pages, and interactions, collected via cookies and similar technologies (see section 6).
• Security data — signals used by our bot-protection provider to tell humans from automated traffic on our forms.

Information from others

A guardian may provide information about a child learner; a learner or tutor may be referred by another user; and our payment and verification providers may return transaction references or verification results to us.

4. Children's and learners' data

Many learners are children. Child accounts are set up and managed by a guardian, who is responsible for providing consent and supervising the child's use of the platform. We ask for only the child information needed to arrange and deliver tutoring — such as first name, class or age level, subjects, and schedule — and we do not knowingly collect more than necessary. We do not use children's data for marketing or for automated profiling beyond matching a suitable tutor. If you believe a child has given us personal data without the appropriate guardian involvement, contact us and we will review and, where appropriate, delete it. Our safeguarding approach is described in our Safeguarding Policy.

5. How and why we use data (and our legal bases)

Where data-protection law requires a legal basis, we rely on the following:

6. Cookies and analytics

We use cookies and similar technologies to run the site securely, remember your preferences, and — with your consent — understand usage through Google Analytics 4 (via Google Tag Manager). Analytics and other non-essential cookies stay off until you accept them, and you can change your choice any time from the Cookie settings link in the footer. Full detail, including a table of specific cookies and durations, is in our Cookie Policy.

7. Payments

Payments are handled by third-party payment providers. We do not store full card numbers on our website; the provider processes card details directly. We keep payment references, amounts, statuses, invoices, and refund-related records to deliver the service, support you, and meet accounting obligations.

8. Online classroom and learning records

Lessons take place in an online classroom. We keep lesson details, attendance status, schedule changes, no-show reports, tutor reports, assignments, shared materials, and reviews so that learners, guardians, tutors, and our support team can manage learning. If a lesson is ever recorded, we will make that clear in the classroom and use the recording only for the stated purpose (such as quality, safety, or letting a learner revisit a lesson).

9. How we share information

We share personal data only as needed to run the service, and never sell it. We may share it with:

• the relevant guardian, learner, or tutor involved in a booking or lesson;
• our service providers (section 10), acting on our instructions;
• payment and verification providers to complete transactions and checks;
• our support and admin team to resolve issues, review quality, or handle disputes;
• authorities or advisors where we must comply with the law, enforce our terms, or protect people from harm.

10. Service providers we rely on

We use trusted providers who process data on our behalf under appropriate agreements:

• Amazon Web Services — cloud hosting and storage (EU (London) region).
• Google — website analytics and tag management (only after consent).
• Cloudflare — form bot-protection and security.
• Mailtrap — sending transactional emails (such as confirmations and notifications).
• Our online classroom infrastructure — delivering live video lessons.
• Payment providers — processing payments and refunds.

11. International data transfers

RootedLearn operates across borders — our team, users, and providers may be in different countries, including Nigeria, the United States, the United Kingdom, and the European Union. Where personal data is transferred internationally, we take steps to protect it, such as relying on providers that offer recognised safeguards (for example, standard contractual clauses or equivalent protections). By using the platform, you understand that your data may be processed in these locations.

12. How long we keep data

We keep personal data only as long as needed for the purposes above. In practice that means: account and profile data for as long as your account is active; booking, payment, and lesson records for as long as needed for support, disputes, and accounting or legal requirements; and analytics data for a limited period set in our analytics tools. When data is no longer needed, we delete or anonymise it. Some records may be kept longer where required for safety, legal, or accounting reasons.

13. How we protect data

We use administrative, technical, and organisational safeguards appropriate to the risk — including encryption in transit, access controls, hashed passwords, activity logging, and restricting access to those who need it. No online system is completely risk-free, so please keep your login details secure and report anything suspicious to us promptly.

14. Your rights

Depending on where you live and the applicable law (including the Nigeria Data Protection Act, the EU GDPR, and the UK GDPR), you may have the right to:

• access the personal data we hold about you;
• correct inaccurate or incomplete data;
• request deletion of your data where the law allows;
• restrict or object to certain processing;
• receive your data in a portable format;
• withdraw consent at any time (without affecting prior lawful processing);
• lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority.

To exercise any of these, email hello@rootedlearn.com. We may need to verify your identity first. Some data may need to be retained where it relates to bookings, payments, disputes, safety, or legal obligations.

15. Marketing communications

We only send marketing messages where you have agreed to receive them, and you can opt out at any time using the unsubscribe link in an email or by contacting us. Service messages you need — such as booking confirmations, lesson reminders, and account or security notices — are not marketing and are sent as part of providing the service.

16. Automated matching and decisions

We use logic to recommend suitable tutors based on subject, level, availability, and fair distribution across tutors. This helps you choose, but the final tutor choice is made by you, and these recommendations do not produce legal or similarly significant effects without human involvement. We do not use children's data for automated profiling beyond this matching.

17. Third-party links

Our site may link to third-party websites or services we don't control. This policy doesn't cover them; please review their own privacy policies.

18. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy as our service or legal obligations change. We'll revise the "Last updated" date above and, where changes are significant, take reasonable steps to let you know.

19. Contact and complaints

For any privacy question or to exercise your rights, contact RootedLearn at hello@rootedlearn.com or 254 Chapman Rd, Ste 208 #27251, Newark, DE 19702, USA. If you are in Nigeria and are not satisfied with our response, you may contact the Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC). If you are in the UK or EU, you may contact your local data-protection authority (for example, the UK Information Commissioner's Office).