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Privacy Policy

Last updated: 19 October 2026

This Privacy Policy explains what information PyDynamics (operated by Peniel Mogowane trading as PyDynamics Platform; "we," "us," "our") collects when you use the pydynamics.co.za platform, how we use it, and the choices you have. As the Responsible Party under the South African Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA), we are committed to processing your data securely and transparently.

1. Information We Collect

  • Account information: When you sign up, we collect your name, email address, date of birth, education status (post-matric or high school track and grade), and (optionally) an avatar image and bio.
  • Guardian/school consent (minors): For users registering under 18 via the High School track, we record a timestamped log confirming that parent, legal guardian, or school consent was granted at registration.
  • Learning activity: We store your lesson progress, quiz attempts and scores, exercise and project submissions and code, badges earned, and AI-tutor interactions to track progress and unlock content.
  • Phase 2 / GitHub data: If you progress to Phase 2, we process information related to your connected GitHub repository (e.g., repository name, URL, commit activity) to review your capstone project.
  • Forum content: Threads and replies you post are public. Chosen forum handles and vote totals are public, while individual votes, account names, emails, and student numbers remain private. Mention alerts are stored in a recipient-only inbox.
  • Technical information: We use essential cookies and local storage to maintain your session and preferences. We do not use third-party advertising cookies.

2. How We Use Your Information

  • Age Verification & Eligibility: We collect your Date of Birth strictly to verify that you meet our target platform eligibility criteria (ages 18–35) and to enforce statutory protection restrictions for minors.
  • Authentication: Your email address is collected strictly to verify account authenticity, prevent duplicate or dummy accounts, send security OTPs, and provide essential system notifications.
  • Platform Operations: To track learning progress, grade submissions, award badges, review Phase 2 capstone GitHub activity, and operate the community forum.
  • AI Tutor Provisioning: To generate contextual responses via our AI integrations based on your queries and code snippets.

Ownership of your original work is separate from processing personal information. Submitting code does not transfer your intellectual property. The software and learning content terms describe the limited service permissions. They do not provide unrestricted permission to sell your work, publish private submissions for marketing or train independent AI models. Public sharing and other additional uses need their own lawful basis and any required permission. Deletion and lawful retention follow this policy.

3. AI Tutor & Third-Party AI Processing

Our AI tutor and automated review features send relevant parts of your questions, submitted code, and associated lesson context to a third-party AI provider to generate a response. Do not submit sensitive personal information (e.g., ID numbers, financial details) in your questions to the AI tutor or in forum posts, as this content is processed beyond your local session.

4. Where Your Data Lives & Cross-Border Transfers

Account data, learning progress, and forum content are stored in our cloud database, hosted via Supabase infrastructure. Row-level security (RLS) policies restrict database access; for example, only you can view your quiz-attempt history or edit your own forum posts.

Some of our service providers (including Supabase, GitHub, and our third-party AI model providers) operate servers located outside of South Africa. By using the Platform, you consent to the transfer and processing of your personal information on international servers, subject to security standards and contractual protections that comply with Section 72 of POPIA.

5. Sharing Your Information

We do not sell your personal information. We only share limited information:

  • With infrastructure service providers who host or process data on our behalf (e.g., Supabase, AI providers, and transactional email deliverers) under strict confidentiality obligations.
  • With GitHub, when you explicitly connect a repository for Phase 2 (subject to GitHub's own terms and privacy policy).
  • If required by law, legal process, or to protect the rights, safety, or property of PyDynamics, our users, or the public.

6. Your Choices & Rights

If you are in South Africa, you have rights under POPIA, including the right to request access to, correct, update, or delete your personal data, and the right to object to processing.

  • You can update your profile information or delete forum posts directly within the platform.
  • To exercise your data rights, contact our Information Officer at info@pydynamics.co.za.
  • You also have the right to lodge a complaint regarding the processing of your personal information with the South African Information Regulator. Complaints must be submitted using the prescribed POPIA Form 5 to POPIAComplaints@inforegulator.org.za. Further details and forms can be found on their website at inforegulator.org.za.

7. Data Retention

We retain account and learning data for as long as your account is active. If you choose to delete your account, we will permanently remove or anonymize your personal information within 30 days, except where we are statutorily required to retain specific transaction or consent records for legitimate business or legal reasons.

8. Children's Privacy

PyDynamics is available from age 13 through our High School track only, which strictly requires the involvement and logged consent of a parent, legal guardian, or school as part of the registration flow. Our general Phase 1 and Phase 2 programs are intended for users 18 and older. We do not knowingly permit registration by anyone under 13. If you believe a child under 13 has registered, please contact us immediately to investigate and purge the account.

9. Security

We use robust technical and organizational measures—including secure authentication protocols and database row-level security (RLS)—to protect your information. While no system is completely impenetrable, we actively monitor our infrastructure to prevent unauthorized access.

10. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy periodically to reflect operational or regulatory changes. We will update the "Last updated" date at the top of this document and notify active users of material changes via their verified email addresses.

11. Contact Us & Information Officer

Questions, concerns, or formal data requests regarding this Privacy Policy should be directed to the Information Officer:

Peniel Mogowane
trading as PyDynamics
Email: info@pydynamics.co.za
Website: https://pydynamics.co.za