Privacy Policy - Start Here Tech

1. Introduction

This Privacy Policy explains how Start Here Tech (“Start Here Tech,” “we,” “us,” or “our“) collects, uses, shares, and protects personal data when you visit our website at https://startheretech.com or use our learning management and educational services (collectively, the “Services“).

Start Here Tech is an independent educational platform providing online courses, learning materials, quizzes, tutorials, and related educational resources.

We process personal data in accordance with the Nigeria Data Protection Act, 2023 (NDPA) and applicable guidance issued by the Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC).

This Privacy Policy should be read together with our Terms & Conditions and applies to personal data collected through the Services.

Last Updated: 18.08.2026

2. What Personal Data We Collect

Depending on how you use the Services, we may collect the following categories of personal data:

Account and registration data: Your name, email address, username, and other information you provide when creating or updating your account.
Course and learning data: Courses you enroll in, lessons completed, course progress, and related learning activity.
Assessment data: Quiz and assignment attempts, answers, scores, and related assessment records. For timed or monitored quizzes, we may also record technical integrity signals, such as when the quiz window loses focus or the browser tab is switched, the time of such events, and the number of events recorded during an attempt.
Communications: Messages, inquiries, and support correspondence you send to us.
Payment data: If paid courses are introduced, payments may be processed through Paystack or another payment processor. We do not receive or store your full card or bank account details, which are processed directly by the payment provider.
Technical data: Information such as IP address, browser type, device information, operating system, and standard server logs collected as part of operating and securing the Services.
Cookies and similar technologies: Information collected through cookies and similar technologies, as described in Section 4.
Comments: If commenting is enabled, we may collect the content of comments you submit and the name, email address, or website information you provide with the comment.

3. How We Use Your Data

We may use your personal data to:

create and manage your account and provide access to enrolled courses;
deliver, unlock, and track your progress through lessons and quizzes;
administer, score, and maintain records of quizzes and assignments;
provide assessment results to authorized instructors for grading and, where applicable, continuous assessment for a corresponding institutional course;
maintain the integrity of timed assessments, including detecting and recording relevant navigation or window-focus events during a quiz attempt;
respond to inquiries and provide user support;
process payments for paid courses through an authorized payment processor;
maintain the security, performance, and proper functioning of the Platform; and
comply with applicable legal and regulatory obligations.

We process personal data only where there is a lawful basis under the Nigeria Data Protection Act, 2023, including where processing is necessary to provide the services you request, comply with a legal obligation, protect legitimate interests where applicable, or where you have given consent where consent is required.

Where we rely on consent, you may withdraw that consent at any time, subject to any legal or other lawful basis that may permit us to continue processing the relevant data.

4. Cookies

We use cookies and similar technologies to operate, secure, and improve the Services. These may include:

Login and session cookies: Used to keep you logged in and maintain your session.
Preference cookies: Used to remember certain settings and preferences.
Quiz-session cookies or local storage: Used during timed assessments to support quiz timers and assessment-integrity features.
Comment cookies: If commenting is enabled, these may remember information you provide when submitting comments for your convenience on future visits.
Analytics cookies: If analytics services are enabled, these may be used to understand website traffic and how users interact with the Services.

You can control or disable cookies through your browser settings. However, disabling certain cookies may affect the functionality of features such as account login, course access, or timed assessments.

5. Embedded Content from Other Websites

Our courses and other content may include embedded or linked content from third-party websites, such as YouTube videos and other educational resources.

Embedded content may function as if you had visited the third-party website directly. These third parties may collect information about you, use cookies or similar technologies, and track your interaction with their content, particularly if you are logged into an account with that provider.

We do not control how third-party websites collect or use your personal data. Their data practices are governed by their own privacy policies and terms of use.

6. Who We Share Your Data With

We share personal data only where necessary to provide, secure, or administer the Services, or where required by law. This may include:

Instructors and Administrators: Authorized instructors and administrators may access relevant course progress, quiz attempts, scores, and, where applicable, assessment-integrity records for students enrolled in their courses. Students cannot access other students’ personal data through the Platform.
Payment processors: If paid courses are introduced, payment providers such as Paystack may process payment information. We may receive confirmation of payment but do not receive or store your full payment credentials, where these are handled directly by the payment provider.
Hosting and technical service providers: Our hosting provider and other service providers, such as email delivery or security providers, may process personal data on our behalf as necessary to operate and secure the Services.
Security and spam-prevention services: Where applicable, comments or other user-submitted content may be processed by automated security or spam-detection services.
Password-reset services: When you request a password reset, certain technical information, such as your IP address, may be included in the reset process for security purposes.
Legal and regulatory authorities: We may disclose personal data where required by applicable Nigerian law, a valid legal process, or a lawful request from a competent authority.

We do not sell your personal data.

7. International Data Transfers

Some of our service providers or third-party services may process personal data on servers located outside Nigeria. This may include hosting, email, analytics, payment, or embedded-content providers.

Where personal data is transferred or processed outside Nigeria, we will take reasonable steps to ensure that the transfer is carried out in accordance with applicable requirements of the Nigeria Data Protection Act, 2023, and applicable regulatory guidance.

Where required, appropriate safeguards will be used to protect your personal data during such transfers.

8. How Long We Retain Your Data

We retain personal data only for as long as reasonably necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, including providing the Services, maintaining academic and assessment records, resolving disputes, maintaining security, and complying with legal obligations.

Account and course data: Retained while your account remains active and for as long as reasonably necessary to maintain relevant course and learning records.
Quiz and assessment records: Retained for as long as necessary for grading, academic administration, assessment integrity, and the resolution of relevant disputes.
Comments: If commenting is enabled, comments may be retained for as long as reasonably necessary for the operation of the relevant website feature.
Deleted accounts: When you delete your account, we will delete or anonymize personal data within a reasonable period, except where retention is required or reasonably necessary for legal, academic, security, or other legitimate purposes.

When personal data is no longer required, we will take reasonable steps to securely delete or anonymize it.

9. Data Security

We take reasonable technical and organizational measures to protect personal data against unauthorized access, loss, misuse, alteration, or disclosure.

These measures may include role-based access controls, secure connections such as SSL/TLS encryption, password protection, and appropriate WordPress and hosting-level security measures.

Access to personal data is limited to authorized persons who need it to operate, administer, or support the Services.

However, no method of transmitting or storing data is completely secure. We therefore cannot guarantee the absolute security of personal data transmitted to or stored by the Services.

10. Children’s Privacy

Start Here Tech is generally intended for undergraduate and postgraduate students aged 16 and above, consistent with our Terms & Conditions.

We do not knowingly collect personal data from children below the applicable age without appropriate parental or guardian involvement required by law.

If we become aware that we have collected personal data from a child in circumstances where such collection is not permitted, we will take reasonable steps to address the situation, including deleting the data where appropriate.

If you believe that a child has provided personal data to us without the required consent or authorization, please contact us at support@startheretech.com.

11. Your Rights Under the Nigeria Data Protection Act, 2023

Subject to applicable law and any lawful limitations, you may have the right to:

Access the personal data we hold about you;
Correct inaccurate or incomplete personal data;
Request erasure of your personal data where there is no lawful reason for us to continue retaining it;
Object to or restrict certain processing of your personal data;
Data portability, where applicable, by requesting a copy of personal data you have provided to us in a suitable format;
Withdraw consent where processing is based on your consent, without affecting the lawfulness of processing carried out before withdrawal; and
Lodge a complaint with the Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC) if you believe your data-protection rights have been violated.

To exercise your rights, contact us at support@startheretech.com. We may need to verify your identity before responding to a request.

We will respond to valid requests within the period required by applicable data-protection law.

You may also contact the Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC) through its official website if you are not satisfied with how we handle your personal data or your request.

12. Data Breaches

We maintain reasonable technical and organizational measures to prevent and respond to personal data breaches.

If a personal data breach occurs, we will assess the nature and potential impact of the breach and take appropriate steps to contain, investigate, and mitigate it.

Where notification is required under the Nigeria Data Protection Act, 2023, or applicable regulatory guidance, we will notify the Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC) and affected data subjects within the applicable statutory timeframe.

We will also take reasonable steps to reduce the risk of further harm and implement appropriate measures to prevent similar incidents where practicable.

13. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our Services, data-processing practices, or applicable laws.

The updated Policy will be published on this page with a revised last updated date. Where changes are material, we will make reasonable efforts to notify registered users through email or an appropriate notice on the Platform.

Your continued use of the Services after the updated Policy takes effect constitutes acknowledgement of the revised Policy.

14. Contact Us

For questions about this Privacy Policy, requests relating to your personal data, or to exercise your data-protection rights, please contact:

Start Here Tech
Email: support@startheretech.com

If you are not satisfied with our response, you may contact the Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC) through its official website regarding your data-protection concerns.