Overview
SchoolSeek ("we", "us", "our") is committed to protecting your privacy in accordance with the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA) of South Africa. This privacy policy explains what information we collect, how we use it, and your rights regarding your personal data. SchoolSeek is a static website — we do not require user accounts, do not store personal data on our servers, and do not operate a database of user information.
Information We Collect
SchoolSeek collects minimal information. We use privacy-focused analytics (Umami) to understand how visitors use the site — this collects anonymised, aggregate data such as page views, referral sources, and device types. No cookies are used for tracking, and no personally identifiable information is collected through analytics. We also collect optional feedback via a scroll-triggered prompt ("Did you find what you needed?"). If submitted, your rating, any reason selected, and a timestamp are recorded. No account or personally identifiable information is required or stored. If you contact us via our contact page, you may voluntarily provide your name and email address. This information is used solely to respond to your enquiry and is not shared with third parties.
School Representative Data
When a school staff member sends us updates to their school's listing — via our contact form or in response to our outreach — we process only the personal information they choose to share (typically a name, role, and school email address), solely to verify the request is genuine and to update the listing. No account is created and no login or authentication data is collected. Submissions are transmitted through our form-processing service and workflow automation (see Third-Party Services below) and delivered to our email, where they are used only to respond and manage the update — never for marketing, and never shared beyond that processing pipeline. We retain the correspondence for as long as the resulting school-provided details remain published (it is our verification record for that content), or until you ask us to delete it. The lawful basis is your consent, given when you send us the information. You may request access, correction, or deletion at any time by contacting [email protected].
School Data
The school information displayed on SchoolSeek comes from the Department of Basic Education's publicly available EMIS dataset. This data relates to institutions, not individuals. We do not collect, store, or display personal information about learners, educators, or school staff, beyond what school representatives voluntarily provide when submitting an update to their listing (see School Representative Data above).
Data Accuracy & Disclaimer
SchoolSeek is an independent platform and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or operated by the South African Department of Basic Education, any provincial education department, or any government agency. While we take reasonable steps to ensure the accuracy of information on this site, all official statistics are sourced from publicly available government datasets and may contain errors, omissions, or outdated information. Some school profiles also include details supplied directly by the school (contact information, fees, curriculum, and similar) — we confirm these requests genuinely come from the school before publishing them, but we do not independently fact-check their content, and they are clearly marked "Provided by the school" wherever they appear. School profiles, statistics, and comparisons are provided for informational purposes only and should not be the sole basis for any decision regarding school selection. We recommend contacting schools directly to verify any information before making decisions. SchoolSeek accepts no liability for losses arising from reliance on information published on this site.
Cookies & Tracking
SchoolSeek does not use tracking cookies. Our analytics solution (Umami) is cookieless and compliant with POPIA, GDPR, and similar privacy regulations. We do not use third-party advertising trackers, social media pixels, or remarketing tools. Your browsing activity on SchoolSeek is not tracked across other websites.
Local Storage
Some features save information in your own browser's local storage so they work better on repeat visits: the address you type into the commute planner or map/compare tools (so you don't have to retype it on other school profiles), an in-progress draft of a school-update form (school details only — never your name, email, or role), and your school comparison list. This information never leaves your device — it is not transmitted to SchoolSeek or anyone else, and we cannot see it. Clearing your browser's site data for schoolseek.co.za removes it completely.
Your Rights Under POPIA
Under POPIA, you have the right to: request access to any personal information we hold about you; request correction or deletion of your personal information; object to the processing of your personal information; and lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator. Given that we collect virtually no personal information, these rights are unlikely to be exercised in practice — but we respect them fully. To exercise any of these rights, please contact us using the details on our contact page.
Third-Party Services
SchoolSeek is hosted on a Dokploy-managed Docker container, with Cloudflare acting as edge cache and Web Application Firewall (WAF) in front. Cloudflare may process certain technical data (such as IP addresses) as part of delivering the website. Map tiles are served by OpenStreetMap contributors. Contact and school-update form submissions are transmitted via our form-processing service (a Cloudflare Worker) and self-hosted workflow automation, then delivered to our email inbox (Google Workspace); these services process the submission content solely to deliver it to us. We recommend reviewing the privacy policies of Cloudflare, OpenStreetMap, and Google for details on their data handling practices.
Changes to This Policy
We may update this privacy policy from time to time. Any changes will be reflected on this page with an updated effective date. We encourage you to review this policy periodically.
Contact
If you have questions about this privacy policy or wish to exercise your POPIA rights, please contact us via our contact page.
Questions about your privacy?
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