Privacy Policy

GradePadi ("GradePadi", "we", "us") is a learning platform run by FAI Group of Companies, Cameroon. It connects learners, parents, tutors and contributors through the website gradepadi.com and the GradePadi mobile app. This policy explains what personal data we collect, why, who we share it with and the choices you have. It applies to the website and the app.

We process personal data in line with the laws of Cameroon, including Law No. 2010/012 of 21 December 2010 on cybersecurity and cybercrime and Law No. 2010/013 of 21 December 2010 on electronic communications, and with the rules of the app stores we publish on.

1. Who is responsible

FAI Group of Companies is responsible for your personal data on GradePadi. Contact us at [email protected] or +237694095361.

2. What we collect

Information you give us

• Account: name, email address and/or phone number, password (stored only in scrambled, hashed form), language and the role you choose (learner, parent, tutor or contributor).
• Profile: profile photo, town, learning goal, a short description about you, and your school, class or programme.
• Tutor and contributor details: subjects, qualifications, certificates, availability, prices and teaching information you add.
• Identity verification: before tutoring, running classes, uploading material or withdrawing money we ask you to verify your identity. You photograph an ID card or passport and take a short live selfie, either on the secure page of our partner Didit or by uploading the photos for our team to check. This includes your name, date of birth, document number and a photo of your face.
• Payments: the Mobile Money number you pay from or are paid to, amounts, and payment references. We never see or store your Mobile Money PIN.
• Content: messages, lesson notes, homework, reviews, support requests and the study material you upload.
• Family links: when a parent and a learner link their accounts, the link and what each one chooses to share.

Information collected automatically

• Usage: pages visited, features used, approximate country and city (from your network), device and browser type. We count visits for our own statistics; we do not sell this information or use it for advertising.
• Device: a notification token if you allow notifications in the app, and the names of the devices you are signed in on.
• Cookies: only the cookies the website needs to keep you signed in, remember your language and protect forms. We do not use advertising cookies.
• Security logs: sign-in times, IP addresses and important account changes, to protect accounts and investigate abuse.

3. Why we use it

• To create and run your account and show your profile to the people you learn or work with.
• To book, run and follow up lessons, classes and the study library.
• To take payments, hold lesson payments until lessons happen, pay tutors and contributors, and handle refunds and disputes.
• To verify identities and keep the platform safe for learners, especially young learners.
• To check uploaded study material for quality and copyright, sometimes with the help of automated tools.
• To send messages about your account, lessons and payments (email, SMS and app notifications). You can choose which reminders you receive in notification settings.
• To answer support requests, prevent fraud and meet our legal and accounting obligations.
• To understand how GradePadi is used and improve it, using counts rather than individual profiles.

We use your data because it is needed to provide the service you asked for, because you agreed to it (for example identity verification), because the law requires it (for example payment records), or for our legitimate interest in keeping GradePadi safe and working.

4. Who we share it with

We do not sell your personal data. We share it only as needed:

• Other users: your name, photo, role and public profile are visible to other users. Tutors see what they need to teach their learners; linked parents see what the learner agreed to share.
• Didit (identity verification): your ID photos and selfie, to confirm your identity.
• Fapshi and Mobile Money operators (MTN, Orange): payment numbers, amounts and references, to process payments and payouts.
• Anthropic (Claude AI): the text of study material and answers, to help check quality, copyright and grading. It is not used to train their models.
• Service providers who host our servers, protect the website (Cloudflare), send emails and SMS, deliver app notifications (Google Firebase) and run live video classes. They may only use the data to provide their service to us.
• Authorities: when the law requires it, or to protect the safety of a person.

Some of these providers process data outside Cameroon. We choose providers that protect data and share only what each needs.

5. How long we keep it

• Account and profile data: while your account is open. When you delete your account, your personal details are erased 30 days later.
• Payment and accounting records: as long as the law requires (usually up to 10 years), without your name once your account is deleted.
• Identity documents: while needed to keep your account verified; their files are deleted when your account is erased.
• Visit statistics: about 13 months.
• Study material you published: it may stay available under the licence you gave when uploading it (see the Terms of Use), shown without your name after deletion.

6. Children

GradePadi is used by secondary school and university learners. Learners under 18 should use GradePadi with the permission of a parent or guardian, who can link their account to follow lessons and payments. Tutors are verified before they can teach. Payments and withdrawals are for adults or managed by a parent. If you believe a child has given us data without permission, contact us and we will act quickly.

7. Security

We protect data with encrypted connections (HTTPS), hashed passwords, restricted staff access based on roles, audit logs of sensitive actions, and private storage for identity documents. No system is perfectly secure; if a breach affects you, we will tell you and the authorities as the law requires.

8. Your rights and choices

• See and correct: view and edit your details on your account page. Some details (such as a verified name) change through support.
• Delete: delete your account at any time. See how to delete your account.
• Notifications: choose which messages you receive in notification settings.
• Withdraw consent: for example for identity verification, by contacting us. This may limit what you can do on GradePadi.
• Ask or complain: write to [email protected]. You may also contact the competent Cameroonian authority.

9. Changes

We may update this policy. When the change is important we will tell you on the website or in the app before it applies. The date at the top shows the latest version.