Who we are
The 8 Steps Academy is an online school based on the book 8 Steps to Maths Success, run by Craig Cameron in Cape Town, South Africa. Craig Cameron is our Information Officer and the person responsible for how your information is handled.
What we collect
- Account details: name, email address or username, grade, school and the role you sign up as (learner, parent or teacher).
- Information about children: details a parent, guardian or teacher adds when creating or linking a learner profile.
- Learning activity: course progress, quiz results, badges, goals and the reflections you write in the courses.
- Messages: notes sent between linked parents, teachers and learners, and anything you send us when you get in touch.
- Payments: what you bought and when. Card and bank details are handled by our payment provider; we never see or store them.
- Website use: basic, anonymous information about how the site is used, collected with cookies.
Children’s information
Many of our learners are under 18. We only process a child’s personal information with the consent of a parent or guardian, or through a school that has that consent. Parents and guardians can see their child’s progress, and can ask us at any time to correct or delete their child’s information.
Why we use it
- To give you access to the courses you bought, save your progress and issue certificates.
- To show progress to the parents and teachers linked to a learner’s account.
- To answer questions and provide support.
- To send news and tips, but only if you have said yes. You can unsubscribe at any time.
- To keep accurate financial records and meet our legal obligations.
- To improve our courses, using information that doesn’t identify you.
Who we share it with
We never sell your personal information. We only share it:
- with the parent, guardian or teacher accounts linked to a learner;
- with service providers who help us run the Academy (website hosting, email and payment processing), who must keep it confidential and secure;
- when the law requires us to.
Some of these providers store information outside South Africa. When this happens, we make sure the information is protected to a standard similar to POPIA.
How long we keep it
We keep your information while your account is active. If you close your account, we delete or anonymise your personal information within 90 days, except for records we must keep by law, such as financial records, which are kept for at least five years.
Keeping it safe
We use reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect your information, including secure connections and access controls. If a security breach affects your personal information, we will tell you and the Information Regulator as POPIA requires.
Your rights
You have the right to:
- ask what personal information we hold about you and get a copy;
- ask us to correct or delete it;
- object to us using it, or withdraw your consent;
- opt out of marketing messages at any time.
To use any of these rights, contact us using the details below. If you’re unhappy with how we’ve handled your information, you can complain to the Information Regulator of South Africa at inforegulator.org.za.
Cookies
We use a small number of cookies to keep you signed in and to understand how the website is used. You can block cookies in your browser settings, but some features, such as staying signed in, may not work.
Changes to this policy
If we change this policy, we will update the date at the top of this page and, for important changes, let account holders know by email.