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Privacy Policy

StanceMarker Privacy Policy

Version 1.0 — July 2026

StanceMarker ("we", "us") is operated by The Skill Squad, of 469 Brummer Avenue, Val De Grace, Pretoria South Africa. This policy explains how we collect, use, store, and protect personal information when you use StanceMarker (stancemarker.co.za), in accordance with the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 ("POPIA").

Questions or requests: [privacy@stancemarker.co.za]

1. Who this policy covers

  • Teachers — the account holders who sign up and use StanceMarker to mark essays.
  • Learners — the students whose essays teachers upload for marking. Learners do not use StanceMarker directly and we have no relationship with them; their information reaches us only through their teacher or school.

2. Our role under POPIA

For teacher account information, we are the responsible party.

For learner information contained in uploaded essays, the teacher's school (or the teacher, where acting independently) is the responsible party, and StanceMarker acts as an operator: we process learner information solely on the teacher's instructions and solely to provide the marking service. The teacher/school is responsible for ensuring it has a lawful basis to submit learner work to StanceMarker.

3. What we collect

From teachers: full name, email address, school name, password (stored as a secure hash), subscription and payment status, and usage records (essays marked, credits used).

From uploaded essays: the student identifier the teacher enters (we recommend initials or a class code rather than full names — see section 8), the essay content (typed text, or photographs/scans of handwritten work and their transcriptions), and the marks, codes, and feedback generated during marking.

Automatically: basic technical logs (IP address, browser type, timestamps) for security and troubleshooting.

We do not collect learner contact details, identity numbers, dates of birth, or any special personal information as defined in POPIA, and teachers must not include such information in uploads.

4. Why we process it (purposes)

  • To provide the service: transcribing, analysing, and marking essays and generating feedback.
  • To operate teacher accounts, subscriptions, and credit balances.
  • To secure the platform, prevent abuse, and comply with legal obligations.
  • To improve the service using aggregated, de-identified information only (e.g. average essay length).

We do not use personal information for advertising, and we never sell, rent, or license personal information to anyone.

5. AI processing

Essay marking is performed using Anthropic's Claude API, a commercial AI service. Essay text is transmitted securely to Anthropic for processing and the marking analysis is returned to us. Under Anthropic's commercial terms, API data is not used to train Anthropic's AI models; inputs may be retained briefly by Anthropic for abuse monitoring and are then deleted. The teacher always remains the final marker: every AI-generated mark and comment can be reviewed, edited, or overridden by the teacher before any use.

6. Where data is stored and cross-border transfers

StanceMarker data is hosted on Supabase infrastructure in the European Union, and AI processing occurs on Anthropic infrastructure in the United States. These transfers outside South Africa are made under section 72 of POPIA on the basis that the recipients are subject to laws and binding agreements (including the EU General Data Protection Regulation and contractual data-protection commitments) that provide substantially similar protection to POPIA. A list of our operators (sub-processors) is available on request.

7. Security safeguards

  • Encryption in transit (TLS 1.2+) and at rest (AES-256).
  • Row-level access controls: each teacher can access only their own sessions, essays, and results.
  • Authentication on every request; API keys and secrets are never exposed to browsers.
  • Uploaded files are stored in private storage accessible only to the uploading teacher's account and our processing functions.

8. Data minimisation — our recommendation to schools

StanceMarker works fully with pseudonymised identifiers. We recommend teachers enter initials, class numbers, or internal student codes rather than full names. The marking quality is identical, and the school retains the key linking codes to learners.

9. Retention and deletion

  • Essays and results are retained while the teacher's account is active, so teachers can refer back to past marking.
  • Teachers can delete any essay at any time in the app; deletion removes the essay text, uploaded images, and analysis.
  • If an account is closed, associated data is deleted within [60] days, except aggregated de-identified data and records we must keep by law.
  • A school or parent may request deletion of a specific learner's data at any time via the teacher or directly at [privacy@stancemarker.co.za]; we action verified requests within 30 days.

10. Data subject rights

Under POPIA, data subjects (teachers, and learners through their parents/guardians or school) may request access to, correction of, or deletion of their personal information, or object to processing. Contact [privacy@stancemarker.co.za]. We respond within 30 days. Complaints may also be lodged with the Information Regulator of South Africa (inforeg.org.za).

11. Breach notification

If we become aware of unauthorised access to or loss of personal information, we will notify affected account holders and, where required, the Information Regulator, without undue delay and in any event within 72 hours of becoming aware, including the nature of the incident and the steps taken.

12. Payments

Subscription payments are processed by PayPal. We never see or store card numbers or banking details; we receive only confirmation of payment and a subscription reference.

13. Changes

We will notify account holders by email of material changes to this policy at least 14 days before they take effect.

Information Officer: Roy Marques, [privacy@stancemarker.co.za]