Privacy Policy

Information you provide to us

When you submit personal information through our website or Services, the following principles apply:

• We collect personal information only for a purpose consistent with the reason it is required. The specific purpose will be clear from the context in which it is requested.
• We process personal information only to the extent that is adequate, relevant, and necessary for that purpose.
• Personal information will only be processed for a purpose compatible with that which it was collected, unless you have provided written consent or we are permitted to do so under the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 (POPIA) or applicable legislation.
• We will not disclose your personal information to any third party without your prior written consent, unless required to do so by law. In this regard, please see the Student Terms and Conditions.
• Personal information that is no longer required for its original purpose will be securely destroyed or deleted.
• Where permitted by POPIA, we may use personal information to compile statistical profiles. No information in these profiles will be attributable to any individual.

Information we collect automatically

When you access or use our Services, we automatically collect certain information, including:

• Log information: Browser type, access times, pages viewed, IP address, and the page visited before navigating to our Services.
• Device information: Device software and hardware details, unique device identifiers, mobile network information, and time zone.
• Usage information: How you interact with and navigate our Services including which applications you use, course progress, grades, achievements, and interactions with other learners.
• Cookie and tracking data: We use cookies and similar technologies to improve our Services and understand usage patterns. See the Cookies section under “Your Choices” below for more information.

Information we collect from other sources

We may receive information about you from third-party platforms (such as social media services) where you have authorised them to share data with us, and may combine this with information we hold about you.

We may use the information we collect to:

• Provide, maintain, and improve our Services;
• Develop new services and features;
• Deliver the products and services you have requested;
• Respond to your enquiries and provide learner support;
• Send administrative notices, updates, and security alerts;
• Communicate with you about products, services, offers, promotions; and events offered by us and third parties;
• Provide news and information we think is of interest to you;
• Personalise and improve our Services;
• Provide tailored advertisements, content, or features;
• Monitor and analyse usage trends and activity;
• Meet our legal and regulatory obligations;
• Use your information for any other purpose for which it was collected and disclosed to you at the time of collection.

By using our Services or otherwise providing information to us, you consent to the processing of your information in the Republic of South Africa.

We may share aggregated or de-identified information that cannot reasonably be used to identify you. We may do so as follows, or as otherwise described in this Privacy Policy:

• With vendors, consultants, and other service providers who require such information to carry out work on our behalf;
• With other participants in order to create syndicate groups;
• Where required by law, regulation, or legal process;
• Where necessary to protect the rights, property, or safety of MasterStart Institute, our learners, or others;
• In connection with a merger, acquisition, financing, or sale of all or part of our business;
• With your consent or at your direction.

Our Services may offer social sharing features and other integrated tools (such as the Facebook “Like” button), which let you share actions you take on our Services with other media, and vice versa.

Depending on the settings you establish with the relevant provider, this may enable sharing of your information with friends or the public. For more information, please visit the privacy policies of the entities that provide these features.

We may allow third parties to serve advertisements and provide analytics services in connection with our Services. These entities may use cookies, web beacons, and other tracking technologies to collect information about your use of our Services, including your IP address, MAC address, device identifiers, browser information, time zone, and usage data. This data may be used by MasterStart Institute and others to analyse trends, determine content popularity, deliver advertising and content targeted to your interests, and better understand your activity on our Services.

Third-party ad serving and analytics technologies are integrated into our Services, so if you do not want to be subject to these technologies, do not use or access our Services.

Our Services may also integrate third party Application Program Interfaces (APIs), which allow others to collect and process information about you, including your geo-location information, to provide you with tailored content and offers. You can control the collection and use of your geo-location information at any time through your device settings. MasterStart Institute will not allow third parties to access this information without your opt-in consent.

MasterStart takes reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect your personal information against loss, misuse, unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration, and destruction.

Personal information

You may request that we update, correct or delete your personal information at any time by contacting us at support@masterstart.com, but note, we may retain certain information as required by law or for legitimate business purposes. We may also retain cached or archived copies of information about you for a certain period.

Cookies

Most browsers accept cookies by default. You can set your browser to remove or reject cookies, though this may affect the functionality of certain features of our Services.

Cookies are small data files stored on your computer's hard drive or in device memory that help us improve our Services and your experience, and understand which areas and features of our Services are most used.

We may also collect information using web beacons (or “tracking pixels”). Web beacons are electronic images that may be used in our Services or emails to help deliver cookies, count visits, and understand usage and campaign effectiveness.

Push notifications

With your consent, we may send push notifications or alerts to your mobile device to provide programme related information, service updates, promotional communications and other related messages. You can deactivate these notifications by changing your notification settings on your device.

Promotional communications

You may opt out of receiving promotional communications from MasterStart Institute by following the unsubscribe instructions in those communications or by contacting us directly at support@masterstart.com.

If you opt out, we may still send you non-promotional communications relating to your enrolment or our ongoing business relationship.

Storage of information

We retain your information for as long as necessary to provide our Services and meet our legal obligations.

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, please contact us at support@masterstart.com.