Privacy & Children's Privacy Notice
Effective: 15 September 2026 · RuthNel Kids Tech Academy · Contact: info@ruthnel.co.za · South Africa
Information we collect
For the adult account we collect information needed to create, secure and bill the account, such as the adult's name, email address, country/region, account identifiers, subscription status and payment references. We may also record a basic acquisition source (for example, a campaign or referral source) so we can understand how families discover RuthNel. Payment card details are handled by PayFast and are not stored by RuthNel.
For a child learning profile we intentionally minimise information. We collect a first name or nickname, chosen avatar, a securely protected PIN credential, course progress, quiz/assessment results, achievements and certificates. We do not ask the child for a date of birth, home address, school name, phone number, photographs or precise location to use the Academy.
Why we use it
We use this information only to provide and secure the Academy, maintain the child's learning progress and achievements, give the parent access to the family dashboard, provide support, administer subscriptions and protect the service.
AI Learning Assistant
The Academy includes an AI Learning Assistant. A learner's question, together with limited course/lesson context, is sent through RuthNel's secure server-side function to our AI service provider, Anthropic, to generate the answer. RuthNel does not intentionally send the child's profile name, PIN, family code, email, school, address or payment information in the AI request.
Children should never type private information into the AI tutor. Do not enter a full name, address, phone number, school name, passwords, family code, PIN, photographs, payment information or other secrets. The AI tutor is for learning help, not emergencies or private counselling.
Service providers
We use service providers necessary to operate the Academy, including Supabase for authentication/database services, Netlify for website/serverless hosting, PayFast for payments, and Anthropic for AI-generated learning assistance. We do not sell children's personal information and do not use children's information for behavioural advertising.
Parent consent and control
The adult account holder must confirm that they are the parent/guardian or authorised adult and consent to creation and use of the child's learning profile before adding a child. Paid subscriptions also use an adult payment flow. Parents may ask us to provide access to, correct, stop further collection of, or delete their child's personal information, subject to information we must retain for legal, fraud-prevention or accounting purposes.
Free course access
The free Understanding AI course only asks for a parent or guardian email address so RuthNel can send a secure sign-in link, record that the free course was started/completed, and prevent anonymous child access. A full family profile, child profile, Family Code and payment setup are not required to try the free course. Those are created only when a parent chooses to subscribe and set up the family Academy.
Global child-safety defaults
RuthNel uses conservative safety-by-design defaults for families in different countries: adult-controlled family accounts, private child profiles, data minimisation, no public child directory, no learner-to-learner messaging, no behavioural advertising to children, no precise-location feature, Teen Track access for active family subscribers, with parent guidance for age-appropriate choices, server-side subscription/permission checks, and trusted-adult escalation for serious safety concerns. Platform age rules and local legal requirements differ by country, so parents remain responsible for choosing age-appropriate services and complying with local requirements.
Retention
We keep child learning information only while it is reasonably needed to provide the Academy and preserve the learning record requested by the family. When an account is deleted or the information is no longer needed, we will delete or de-identify it within a reasonable period, except where retention is legally required. We periodically review retained child data rather than keeping it indefinitely.
Security and privacy defaults
Child profiles are private by default. PINs are stored as secure hashes rather than readable PINs. Family data is access-controlled. There is no public child directory, public profile, child-to-child messaging, targeted advertising or location tracking feature in the Academy.
International families
RuthNel is operated from South Africa and may serve families in other countries. Information may therefore be processed by service providers in other jurisdictions. We apply a privacy-first approach to all child users and will update this notice as our services or legal obligations change.
Questions or requests
A parent or guardian can contact info@ruthnel.co.za with the parent account email and child's first name/nickname to request access, correction or deletion. We may need to verify that the requester controls the parent account before releasing or deleting child information.
This notice describes RuthNel's current product practices. It is not a representation that every jurisdiction has identical legal requirements.