This policy explains how Learning with Belle ("we", "us") collects, uses and protects personal information when you use LearningwithBelle.com and app.learningwithbelle.com. We follow the New Zealand Privacy Act 2020.
1. What we collect
- Account details: your name and email address, and your Google account identifier if you sign in with Google.
- Learning information: your goals and level, the teacher you are matched with, lesson times and attendance, homework, submissions and grades.
- Information teachers and staff write about you: feedback on your homework, reviews of your goals and notes on your progress.
- Messages: what you write in the chat with your teacher, and anything you send us through the contact form or by email.
- Payment information: what you bought, the amounts paid and refunded, and the payment method type. Card and Alipay details are collected and held by our payment providers, not by us.
- Teacher profiles: for teachers, the profile, photo and introduction video they publish, and the information needed to pay them.
- Technical information: sign-in times, and server logs that include your IP address, browser and device type and the pages of the app you request. We use these to run and secure the Service.
If you are a parent or guardian, the information you give us about your child is collected from you. We only ask for what we need to teach them. We do not ask for their school, school reports or date of birth.
Lessons happen by live video, so your image, voice and surroundings are seen and heard by your teacher during the lesson. We do not record lessons, and the video is not stored. We ask everyone not to record lessons themselves (see our Terms and Conditions).
2. How we use it
We use your information to create and run your account, match you with a teacher, schedule and hold lessons, take payments and make refunds, send you notices about your lessons and account, answer your questions, keep the Service secure, and meet our legal and accounting obligations. We do not sell your information and we do not use it for advertising.
The messages we send are about the Service: lesson and account notices in the app, emails about your account, payments and the questions you send us, and calendar invitations when a lesson is scheduled, moved or cancelled. You can turn the invitations off on your profile page. We do not send marketing emails, and we do not phone or text you. If we start a newsletter, it will be opt-in, and every issue will have a way to unsubscribe.
3. Who can see it
- Your teacher sees your name, goals, lessons, homework and your chat with them.
- Our staff see what they need to run the school, match learners and handle payments and support.
- Service providers listed below process information for us, only to provide their service.
- Authorities, if the law requires it, or where it is needed to prevent a serious threat to someone's safety.
- A new owner, if our business is sold or merged. Your information would stay protected by this policy, and we would tell you before it changed hands.
We may publish general statistics, such as the number of lessons taught. These never identify anyone.
If you create a calendar link on your profile page, anyone who has the link can see your lesson times, lesson titles and your teacher's or student's name. Keep it private. You can reset the link, which stops the old one working, or turn it off at any time.
4. Service providers and overseas storage
Our systems are hosted outside New Zealand, and some providers process information in other countries:
- Amazon Web Services (Singapore, with content delivery worldwide): hosting, database, file storage, sign-in, and email.
- Google: optional sign-in with Google, which gives us your name, email address and Google account identifier. Google's own privacy policy covers what Google itself records when you sign in.
- Agora: the in-app video room. Audio and video pass through Agora's network live and are not stored.
- Jitsi (meet.jit.si): an alternative meeting link for some lessons.
- Stripe and Airwallex: card and Alipay payments and refunds.
- Materials your teacher embeds from YouTube, Vimeo, Canva, Nearpod or Google Drive load from those services when you open them.
These countries may not have privacy laws that protect your information in the same way as New Zealand law. We choose established providers that have security safeguards and contractual commitments in place.
5. Cookies and local storage
The app uses a cookie it needs to keep you signed in. Our website remembers your chosen language in your browser. We do not use advertising or analytics cookies. Our payment providers may set their own cookies during checkout, to prevent fraud. Because we do not track you across websites, there is nothing for a browser's "Do Not Track" setting to turn off.
6. Links to other websites
The Service links to, and embeds materials from, websites we do not control (section 4). This policy does not cover them. Please read their privacy policies before you give them any information.
7. How long we keep it
We keep your information while your account is open. When you close your account, we cancel your future lessons, refund your unused credits and anonymise your account: your name, email and other personal details are removed. We keep anonymised lesson, payment and audit records, because we need them for accounting, tax and dispute purposes. New Zealand tax law requires us to keep business records for at least 7 years. The chat messages you sent are deleted, as are your in-app notifications. Server logs are kept for 30 days and then deleted.
8. Security
Information is encrypted when it is sent over the internet, uploaded files are encrypted where they are stored, access is limited to people who need it, and sign-in can be protected with two-factor authentication. No system is perfectly secure. If a privacy breach is likely to cause serious harm, we will tell you and the Privacy Commissioner as the law requires.
9. Children
Many of our learners are school-age. If a learner is under 18, we ask a parent or guardian to create the account or agree to its use. A parent or guardian can contact us to see, correct or delete their child's information.
10. Your rights
You can ask to see the personal information we hold about you and ask us to correct it. You can update most details yourself in your profile, and close your account at any time. To make a request, email our privacy officer at hello@learningwithbelle.com. A parent or guardian, or someone you have authorised, can also make a request for you. We will check the identity of whoever asks before we share or change anything, and we will reply within 20 working days. Requests are free.
If you are not happy with how we have handled your information, please tell us first. You can also complain to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner at privacy.org.nz.
11. Changes
We may update this policy. We will post the new version here with a new date, and tell you before any important change takes effect.
12. Contact
Privacy officer, Learning with Belle. Email: hello@learningwithbelle.com.