Echoo Education System Privacy Policy
Effective date: 1 January 2027
1. About this Policy
This Privacy Policy explains how personal information is handled through the Echoo Education website, mobile applications, portals and related services.
Echoo Education is operated by Hi Tech Xperts Proprietary Limited, trading as Echoo Education, registered in Botswana under registration number BW00002568917.
This Policy applies to school administrators, teachers, staff, students, parents, guardians and people who contact us or visit our website.
2. Our role and your school’s role
When a school uses Echoo Education to manage its records, the school generally determines why that information is collected and how it is used. Echoo Education processes those records on the school’s behalf to provide the agreed services.
We separately determine how information is used for our own business activities, including customer enquiries, subscription administration, billing, support and platform security.
Your school’s privacy notice also applies to its use of your information. Questions about school records should normally be directed to the school first.
3. Information processed through the platform
The information processed depends on your role, the features enabled by your school and the information you or your school provide. It may include:
- Identity and contact information: names, contact details, dates of birth, photographs and parent or guardian relationships.
- Account information: school codes, user identifiers, roles, permissions and authentication information.
- Student records: admission details, classes, attendance, assignments, assessment results and teacher comments.
- Staff records: employment details, qualifications, attendance and payroll information where relevant modules are used.
- Financial records: school fee charges, balances, payment references, receipts and subscription billing details.
- Communication: announcements, messages, enquiries and support correspondence.
- Transport records: assigned vehicles, routes, pickup points and related personnel information where transport features are enabled.
- Technical information: IP addresses, device and browser information, access times, error records and service activity logs where collected.
Schools should only upload information necessary for legitimate educational or administrative purposes. Sensitive information requires additional care and an appropriate lawful basis.
4. Where information comes from
We may receive information:
- Directly from you when you register, complete forms, upload content or contact us.
- From your school and its authorised staff.
- From a parent or guardian authorised to provide it.
- From authorised integrations used by your school.
- Through technical processes necessary to operate and secure the service.
5. How information is used
Personal information may be used to:
- Create accounts and authenticate users.
- Apply school and user access permissions.
- Deliver enabled school management features.
- Display authorised academic and administrative records.
- Send school notices and essential service messages.
- Respond to enquiries and provide technical support.
- Manage subscriptions, invoices and payment records.
- Investigate errors, misuse and security incidents.
- Maintain and improve the service.
- Meet applicable legal obligations.
School records are processed according to lawful school instructions and the applicable service agreement.
6. Grounds for processing
Depending on the activity and applicable law, processing may be necessary to provide contracted services, meet legal obligations, pursue legitimate interests with appropriate safeguards, or fulfil another lawful purpose identified by the school.
Where consent is required, it must be obtained for the relevant activity. Accepting general Terms & Conditions does not replace that consent.
Where processing relies on consent, you may withdraw it through the relevant school or by contacting us. Withdrawal does not affect processing lawfully carried out before withdrawal.
7. Children’s information
Echoo Education supports schools that serve children. Student accounts and access should be arranged through the school and, where required, an authorised parent or guardian.
Schools are responsible for establishing an appropriate lawful basis for processing children’s information and providing understandable privacy information to families.
Children’s information must only be accessed by authorised people for appropriate purposes. It must not be treated as publicly available simply because it is stored on the platform.
Parents and guardians seeking access to a child’s records may need to verify their identity and authority. Requests will be considered with regard to the child’s rights and applicable law.
8. Who may access information
Depending on permissions and lawful authority, information may be accessible to:
- School administrators and relevant staff.
- The student concerned.
- Authorised parents or guardians.
- Echoo Education personnel who need access for support, operation or security.
- Service providers performing agreed functions on our behalf.
- Authorities or other recipients where disclosure is legally required or otherwise lawful.
A school’s use of the platform does not authorise it to access another school’s private records.
Support access should be limited to what is necessary for the relevant task.
9. Service providers and integrations
The platform may use external providers for hosting, file storage, email delivery, push notifications, payment services, maps or other enabled functions.
These providers may process information necessary to perform their services. Appropriate contractual and security arrangements must govern processing carried out on our behalf.
Some integrations may operate under the provider’s own privacy policy. Where relevant, users should receive information about those providers before the integration collects their information.
You may contact us for details of the providers relevant to your school’s service.
10. International processing
Hosting and other service providers may process information outside Botswana.
Where information is transferred internationally, we will use safeguards and transfer arrangements required by applicable law. Schools must also consider their responsibilities when instructing or authorising such processing.
Information about relevant processing locations and safeguards may be requested using the contact details below.
11. Device permissions
Depending on the functions used, an application may request permission to access device features such as:
- The camera for taking photographs or scanning supported codes.
- Photos or files for authorised uploads.
- Notifications for school and service updates.
- Location for a clearly identified location-based feature, where available.
A permission request does not mean that the feature is enabled for every user. You can manage permissions through your device settings, although refusing a permission may prevent the related feature from working.
Any background or ongoing location collection must be explained separately when the relevant feature is offered.
12. Cookies and similar technologies
The website and portals may use cookies or similar technologies to maintain sessions, support login functions, remember settings and protect the service.
If optional analytics or advertising technologies are used, we will identify them and provide any choices or consent controls required by law before they operate.
You can manage cookies through your browser. Disabling essential cookies may affect login or other core functions.
13. School notifications and marketing
Schools may send educational and administrative communications through the platform. Contact your school about the content and recipients of those messages.
Echoo Education may send essential account, billing, security and service notices. These are separate from promotional communications.
Where we send marketing messages, we will provide an appropriate way to opt out. Opting out of marketing does not necessarily stop essential service communications.
14. Security
We use reasonable technical and organisational measures appropriate to the information and risks involved.
Schools and users also play a role in protecting information by securing accounts and devices, assigning appropriate permissions and reporting suspected incidents promptly.
No system can be guaranteed completely secure. If a personal information breach occurs, we will investigate, take appropriate action and notify affected schools, individuals or authorities where required by law.
15. How long information is retained
Information is retained only for as long as reasonably necessary for its stated purpose, contractual requirements and applicable legal obligations.
Retention depends on the type of record:
- School records are handled according to lawful school instructions, agreed retention arrangements and legal requirements.
- Subscription and financial records may be retained for accounting and legal purposes.
- Support and security records are retained for relevant operational, investigation and legal needs.
- Backup copies may remain until their scheduled replacement or deletion, subject to appropriate restrictions.
Closing an account does not automatically require deletion of every associated record. We will explain relevant retention reasons when responding to a deletion request.
16. Your privacy rights
Depending on applicable law and the circumstances, you may have rights to:
- Request access to your personal information.
- Ask for inaccurate information to be corrected.
- Request deletion or restriction of processing.
- Object to certain processing.
- Withdraw consent where processing relies on it.
- Request a portable copy of information where applicable.
- Raise a complaint about how your information is handled.
These rights may be subject to lawful limitations.
For school-controlled records, contact the school first. You may also contact us, and we will assist or refer the request to the appropriate school.
We may request proportionate evidence of identity or authority before releasing or changing information. Requests will be handled within applicable legal time limits.
17. Account closure and deletion requests
Students, parents and staff should normally contact their school administrator to request changes to school-managed accounts.
Schools wishing to close their service should arrange any required record export before termination.
You may send privacy or deletion requests to notifications@echoo.co.bw. Account closure and deletion will be assessed separately from any obligation to retain particular records.
18. External links
Our website or applications may contain links to external websites. Their operators are responsible for their own information-handling practices.
Review the relevant privacy policy before providing information to an external service.
19. Changes to this Policy
We may update this Policy to reflect changes in our services or legal requirements.
The revised version will show its effective date. Material changes will be communicated through an appropriate channel, and additional consent will be requested where required.
20. Contact and complaints
For questions, privacy requests or complaints, contact:
Echoo Education
Operated by Hi Tech Xperts Proprietary Limited
Registration number: BW00002568917
Email: notifications@echoo.co.bw
Website: https://echooedu.cloud/
If your concern is not resolved, you may raise it with the competent data protection authority or seek another remedy available under applicable law.