This Privacy Policy explains how Tuteme ("we", "us", or "our") collects, uses, and protects your personal information when you use our services.

This includes when you: Visit our website (tuteme.online) or any page that links to this policy Use our mobile app or other related applications Interact with us through features, marketing, or events Questions or concerns? We want you to understand how your data is handled. If you do not agree with this policy, please do not use our services.

If you have any questions, contact us at: tuteme@gmail.com

Summary of Key Points

Here’s a quick overview of how we handle your data:

What we collect:

• Basic information like your name, email, and usage data
• Sensitive data: We do not collect sensitive personal information
• Third parties: We do not collect data from third parties
• How we use data: To provide, improve, and secure our services
• Sharing: We may share data with trusted services (e.g., payments) when necessary
• Security: We take reasonable steps to protect your data, but no system is 100% secure
• Your rights: You can request access, updates, or deletion of your data

1. WHAT INFORMATION DO WE COLLECT?

Personal information you disclose to us

In Short: We only collect personal information that you voluntarily provide to us when you register, express interest in our services, or contact us directly.

The personal information we collect depends on how you interact with our platform. This may include:

• Identity & Contact Data: Names, usernames, email addresses, phone numbers, and mailing addresses.
• Professional Data: Job titles.
• Credentials: Passwords and similar security information used for authentication.
• Payment & Billing: We collect data necessary to process your payments (such as payment instrument numbers and security codes). All payment data is securely handled by PayHere.
• Information from Third-Party Sources: If you choose to register using a social media account (like Facebook or X), we receive certain profile information from that provider. You can find more details in our "How we handle social logins" section.
• Application Data: If you use our mobile applications, we may request access or permission for:
• Geolocation: To provide location-based services.
• Device Features: Access to your device’s calendar, camera, reminders, or microphone.
• Push Notifications: To send you updates regarding your account or the app.
• Note: You can change these permissions at any time through your device's settings. We use this information primarily to maintain the security and operation of our services, and for internal analytics.

Information automatically collected

In Short: We automatically collect certain technical information (like your IP address and device type) when you visit our services to ensure security and improve performance.

When you navigate our platform, we collect information that doesn’t directly reveal your identity but provides insight into how our services are being used. This includes:

• Log and Usage Data: Our servers record diagnostic and performance info in log files. This includes your IP address, browser settings, time stamps of your activity, and "crash dumps" or error reports if something goes wrong.
• Device Data: We collect details about the hardware you use to access the platform, such as your operating system, device model, language preferences, and unique device identifiers.

Why we collect this: This data is essential for maintaining the security of your account, troubleshooting technical bugs, and performing internal analytics to see which features our users find most valuable.

2. HOW DO WE PROCESS YOUR INFORMATION?

In Short: We process your information to run our services, communicate with you, ensure security, and comply with legal obligations. We only process data for other reasons if we have your explicit consent.

We use your personal information for several key purposes:

• Account Management: To facilitate account creation, authentication, and general maintenance of your user profile.
• Service Communication: To contact you for feedback or provide updates regarding your use of our platform.
• Marketing & Promotions: To send you relevant marketing communications based on your preferences. You can opt out of these at any time.
• Security & Fraud Prevention: To keep our services safe, including continuous monitoring for suspicious activity.
• Platform Improvement: To analyze usage trends and better understand how our features are used so we can improve them.
• Vital Interests: To process information when necessary to prevent harm or protect the safety of an individual.

3. WHAT LEGAL BASES DO WE RELY ON?

In Short: We only process your personal information when we have a valid legal reason to do so, such as your explicit consent, to fulfill a contract, to comply with laws, or to protect our legitimate business interests.

For Users in the EU or UK

Under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), we rely on the following legal grounds:

• Consent: You have given us clear permission to use your data for a specific purpose. You can withdraw this at any time.
• Legitimate Interests: Processing is necessary for our business to improve our services, analyze usage, and prevent fraud—provided these interests don"t override your fundamental rights.
• Legal Obligations: We may process data to comply with law enforcement, regulatory bodies, or other legal requirements.
• Vital Interests: We may process data to protect the safety of our users or others in emergency situations.

For Users in Canada

We process your information based on the following:

• Explicit or Implied Consent: We use your data when you give us permission for a specific purpose.
• Exceptional Cases: There are rare times when the law allows us to use your data without asking first. This includes investigating fraud (like payment issues), responding to a legal order, or protecting someone’s safety in an emergency.

4. WHEN AND WITH WHOM DO WE SHARE YOUR DATA?

In Short: We share your data with trusted service providers who help us run our platform, such as video infrastructure partners and payment processors.

We may share your personal information in the following situations:

• Video & Communication Infrastructure: To facilitate live tutoring sessions, we use third-party video SDKs (such as VideoSDK.live, Dyte, or similar providers). These services process your audio and video streams to ensure high-quality connectivity.
• Payment Processing: We use PayHere to process all financial transactions. We do not store your full credit card details on our servers.
• Business Transfers: If we are involved in a merger, sale of assets, or financing, your information may be transferred as part of that business deal.
• Legal Obligations: We may disclose your information where we are legally required to do so to comply with applicable law, governmental requests, or judicial proceedings.

For a full list of our current sub-processors, please contact us at https://tuteme.online/contact.

5. HOW DO WE HANDLE YOUR SOCIAL LOGINS?

In Short: If you log in via social media, we receive basic profile info from that provider. We use this only for the purposes outlined in this policy.

If you choose to register or log in using a third-party account (like Google, Facebook, or X), we receive certain information about you:

• What we receive: This usually includes your name, email address, and profile picture.
• Our Responsibility: We only use this data to create and manage your account. We do not control, and are not responsible for, how your social media provider uses your data outside of our platform. We encourage you to review their individual privacy notices.

6. HOW LONG DO WE KEEP YOUR INFORMATION?

In Short: We keep your information for as long as you have an account with us, or as long as required by law for tax and accounting purposes.

We only retain your personal data for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes outlined in this policy. Specifically:

• Active Accounts: We keep your data while your account is active to provide you with access to our tutoring services and your "Sparks" balance.
• Legal Requirements: We may keep certain transaction records longer (typically 5–7 years) if required by financial or tax laws.
• Deletion: When we no longer have a legitimate business need for your data, we will either delete or anonymize it. If deletion isn't immediately possible (e.g., the data is in a secure backup archive), we will isolate it to prevent further use until deletion is possible.

7. HOW DO WE KEEP YOUR INFORMATION SAFE?

In Short: We use a combination of technical security (like encryption) and organizational rules to keep your data safe. While we do our best, no system is 100% secure, so we encourage you to use the platform in a safe environment.

We have implemented several layers of protection to guard your data:

• Encryption & Infrastructure: We use industry-standard encryption for data both in transit (while moving between your device and our servers) and at rest (while stored in our database).
• Proactive Monitoring: Our systems are designed to identify and block unauthorized access attempts.
• User Responsibility: While we protect the platform, you are responsible for keeping your login credentials confidential. Please ensure you are accessing your tutoring sessions from a secure, private internet connection.

Note: Despite our best efforts, no electronic transmission over the internet can be guaranteed to be 100% secure. If we ever become aware of a security breach that affects your data, we will notify you as required by law.

8. WHAT ARE YOUR PRIVACY RIGHTS?

In Short: Depending on your location (such as the EU, UK, or Canada), you have specific rights that give you more control over your personal data. You can review, change, or delete your account at any time.

Your Core Rights

Regardless of where you are, we support the following rights for all our users:

• Access & Portability: You can request a copy of the personal information we hold about you.
• Correction: You can update or fix any inaccurate information in your profile settings.
• Erasure (Right to be Forgotten): You can request that we delete your account and all associated personal data.
• Withdraw Consent: If we are processing your data based on your permission, you can withdraw that permission at any time.

How to Exercise Your Rights

The simplest way to manage your data is directly through your dashboard:

• Update Info: Log in to your Account Settings to change your bio, email, or profile details.
• Delete Account: You can deactivate or delete your account within your settings. Once requested, we will remove your data from our active databases, though some info may be retained in logs for fraud prevention or legal compliance.
• Contact Us: For any other data requests, email us at tuteme@gmail.com.

9. CONTROLS FOR DO-NOT-TRACK FEATURES

In Short: Most web browsers include a Do-Not-Track ("DNT") feature, but since there is no uniform industry standard for how to handle these signals, we do not currently respond to them.

Many web browsers and some mobile operating systems include a DNT setting you can activate to signal your privacy preference not to have your online activities monitored. At this stage, no uniform technology standard for recognizing these signals has been finalized. As such, we do not currently respond to DNT browser signals or any other mechanism that automatically communicates your choice not to be tracked online.

If a standard for online tracking is adopted in the future, we will update this Privacy Notice to reflect those changes.

10. DO UNITED STATES RESIDENTS HAVE SPECIFIC PRIVACY RIGHTS?

In Short: If you live in states like California, Colorado, or Virginia, you have specific rights regarding how we handle your "Personal Information." We collect only what is necessary to run our tutoring platform and we do not "sell" your data.

What We Collect & Why

In the past 12 months, we have collected the following categories of information to provide our services:

• Identifiers: Name, email, and contact details.
• Customer Records: Payment information (handled via PayHere) and educational background.
• Demographics: Age and gender (if provided for your profile).
• Commercial Info: Your "Sparks" purchase history and transaction records.
• Audio/Visual Data: Photos or videos you upload to your profile or record during sessions.
• Professional Info: Job titles and qualifications for tutors.

We do not collect sensitive data like biometric info, precise geolocation, or your browsing history outside of our platform.

Your Rights

As a US resident, you have the right to:

• Know what data we collect and how we use it.
• Delete your personal information from our systems.
• Correct any inaccurate information in your profile.
• Opt-out of the "sale" of your personal information (though we do not sell your data to third parties).

How to Exercise These Rights

You can manage your data directly through your Account Settings. If you need to make a specific request or appeal a decision, please contact us at tuteme@gmail.com. We will verify your identity before processing any major data requests to protect your security.

11. DO WE MAKE UPDATES TO THIS NOTICE?

In Short: Yes, we will update this notice as necessary to stay compliant with relevant laws.

We may update this Privacy Notice from time to time. The updated version will be indicated by a "Revised" date at the top of the notice. If we make significant changes, we may notify you by prominently posting a notice or by sending you a direct notification. We encourage you to review this notice frequently to stay informed about how we protect your information.

12. HOW CAN YOU CONTACT US ABOUT THIS NOTICE?

If you have questions or comments about this notice, you may email us at tuteme@gmail.com.

13. HOW CAN YOU REVIEW, UPDATE, OR DELETE THE DATA WE COLLECT FROM YOU?

Based on the applicable laws of your country, you have the right to request access to the personal information we collect from you, details about how we have processed it, correct inaccuracies, or delete your personal information. You may also have the right to withdraw your consent to our processing of your information.

To request to review, update, or delete your personal information, please submit a data subject access request.