Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains how Fluent Foxes collects, uses, stores, and protects personal information when students — and the parents or guardians who manage lessons on their behalf — use our website and student portal for online English lessons.

1. Who we are

Fluent Foxes provides online English lessons managed by Marisha Swart. Our website is:

https://fluentfoxes.org

For privacy questions or requests, contact:

Email: fluentfoxes.english@gmail.com

2. What information we collect

When you use the Fluent Foxes website or student portal, we may collect:

• Your name and email address — whether you sign in with Google or create an account with an email address and password.
• If you create an email-and-password account: your email, your name, and a securely hashed (one-way scrambled) version of your password. We never store your password in readable form, and we cannot see it.
• If you use Google Sign-In: the email address and name associated with your Google account.
• A sign-in (session) token kept in your browser’s local storage so you stay signed in between visits.
• Student names added to the account.
• Lesson bookings, lesson dates, lesson times, lesson duration, booking status, and cancellation/completion history.
• Lesson credit balances and credit history, including the free trial credit added on your first sign-in and any credits purchased.
• Teacher feedback, ratings, or lesson notes shown to you after a completed lesson.
• Messages you send to the teacher through the portal, and the teacher’s replies.
• Payment-related records such as package selected, amount, currency, PayPal order ID, and payment status.
• Basic technical information necessary for the portal to work, such as browser session information and security tokens.

We do not collect unnecessary sensitive personal information through the portal.

3. How we use your information

We use this information to:

• Create and manage student portal accounts (Google or email-and-password).
• Keep you signed in securely using a session token stored in your browser.
• Add a free 30-minute trial lesson credit to your account the first time you sign in.
• Let you add students and manage lesson bookings.
• Track lesson credits for 30-minute and 1-hour lessons.
• Process and record PayPal payments for lesson packages.
• Provide the Zoom link and details for upcoming lessons.
• Let you and the teacher exchange messages for questions and support.
• Send booking, payment, and message notifications to the teacher/admin.
• Add, update, or cancel lesson events on Marisha’s Google Calendar.
• Show you lesson history and teacher feedback.
• Protect the portal from unauthorised access.
• Communicate with you about lessons, bookings, payments, and support requests.

4. How you sign in (Google or email & password)

You can sign in to the portal in one of two ways:

• Google Sign-In. We use the Google ID token only to confirm who is signing in and to read your email address and name. We do not request access to your Gmail, Google Drive, Google Contacts, or private Google Calendar data. Google may process information according to Google’s own privacy policies when you use Google Sign-In.
• Email and password. If you do not have a Gmail address, you can create an account with any email address and a password. Your password is protected with a random per-account salt, a server-side secret, and many rounds of one-way hashing before it is stored — it is never saved or shown in readable form. When you log in, we issue a signed session token (not your password) that is stored in your browser to keep you signed in.

5. Payments through PayPal

When you pay for lesson packages, payment is processed by PayPal. Fluent Foxes does not store your full card details or PayPal password. We may store payment confirmation details such as the PayPal order ID, package type, amount, currency, payment status, and the account the credits were added to.

PayPal handles payment information according to PayPal’s own privacy statement and terms.

6. Lessons over Zoom

Lessons are held online using Zoom. The portal shows the Zoom meeting link, meeting ID, and passcode for your upcoming lessons. When you join a lesson, Zoom processes your information (such as your name, audio, and video during the call) according to Zoom’s own privacy policy. Fluent Foxes does not record lessons unless you are told beforehand and agree.

7. Messaging

The portal includes a messaging feature so you can contact the teacher for questions or support, and the teacher can reply. These messages are stored in our Google Sheets backend so the conversation is available to you and the teacher inside the portal. Please do not send sensitive personal information (such as card numbers or passwords) through the messaging feature.

8. Google Calendar

When a lesson is booked, the system may create a lesson event on Marisha’s Google Calendar. If a booking is cancelled or marked completed/no-show, the related calendar event may be updated or removed. This calendar sync is used only for teacher scheduling and lesson management.

9. Where information is stored

Portal information is stored using Google services, including Google Apps Script and Google Sheets. Website files are hosted through our web hosting provider. Payments are handled by PayPal, and live lessons are delivered through Zoom.

10. Sharing of information

We do not sell personal information.

We may share or process information only where needed to run the lesson portal and lessons, including with:

• Google services used for Sign-In, Sheets, Apps Script, Calendar, and notification emails.
• PayPal for payment processing.
• Zoom for delivering live online lessons.
• Website hosting providers used to host the website.
• Legal or regulatory authorities if required by law.

11. Children’s information

If a parent or guardian manages lessons on behalf of a child, they add the student’s name so lessons and bookings can be managed. Please only add information that is necessary for booking and learning purposes. If you want a student record removed, you can contact us.

12. Security

We use HTTPS, verified sign-in, and backend checks to help protect account access. Email-and-password accounts are protected by salted, one-way hashed passwords and signed, expiring session tokens. Access to admin functions is restricted to the teacher/admin account. No online system is completely risk-free, but we take reasonable steps to protect the information used in the portal.

13. How long we keep information

We keep information for as long as needed to manage lessons, bookings, credits, payment records, messages, communication, and reasonable business records. You may request deletion of your portal data, subject to any records we need to keep for legal, accounting, or dispute-resolution purposes.

14. Your choices and rights

You may contact us to request that we:

• Confirm what personal information we hold about you or your student.
• Correct inaccurate information.
• Delete information that is no longer needed, where legally possible.
• Remove a student from the portal, or close your account.
• Stop using your information for the portal, understanding this may limit your ability to book lessons online.

15. International services

Some services we use, including Google, PayPal, Zoom, and website hosting providers, may process information outside South Africa. By using the portal, you understand that these service providers may process information according to their own infrastructure, policies, and applicable laws.

16. Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time if our website, student portal, payment process, lesson management system, or the services we use change. The latest version will always be available on this page with an updated date.

17. Contact

For privacy questions, corrections, or deletion requests, contact:

Marisha Swart / Fluent Foxes
fluentfoxes.english@gmail.com