Privacy Policy

❓ Questions about your privacy?

Email us at support@pickmypath.co.za (Monday–Friday, 9am–5pm SAST)

1. Overview

PickMyPath ("we," "us," or "our") operates the career guidance platform at pickmypath.co.za. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store, and protect your personal information when you use our service.

2. What Information We Collect

3. How We Use Your Information

We use your information for the following purposes:

• To deliver the service: Generate your personalized career report
• To authenticate your account: Log in, password recovery, email verification
• To process payments: Securely handle your transaction via PayFast
• To improve the platform: Analyze (anonymized) assessment patterns and report quality
• To contact you: Send verification emails, password reset links, or service notifications
• To comply with law: Respond to legal requests or fulfill regulatory obligations

4. Who We Share Your Data With

We do NOT sell, rent, or trade your personal information. However, we share data with the following trusted service providers:

• Supabase (PostgreSQL database): Stores your account, assessment data, and reports securely
• Anthropic (Claude AI): Your assessment responses are sent to generate your personalized report (see Section 5 below)
• PayFast (Payment processor): Handles payment transactions securely
• Vercel (Hosting provider): Hosts our platform
• Email provider (domains.co.za): Sends verification and transactional emails

All service providers are contractually bound to protect your data and use it only for the purposes we specify.

5. AI and Assessment Data Processing

When you submit your assessment, your responses are sent to Anthropic's Claude AI API to generate your personalized report. Please be aware:

• Your responses are transmitted securely (HTTPS encrypted)
• Anthropic processes your data according to their Privacy Policy (https://www.anthropic.com/privacy)
• Your assessment responses may be retained temporarily to generate your report
• Anthropic may use this data to improve their AI models (with appropriate safeguards)
• We do not control Anthropic's use of data beyond generating your report

6. Data Retention

We retain your information for as long as your account is active. When you delete your account:

• Your account and assessment data are deleted from our system
• Your generated reports are deleted
• Email records and transaction logs may be retained for compliance purposes (up to 7 years for financial records)
• Anonymized usage patterns may be retained for platform improvement

7. Security

We take the security of your data seriously:

• All data is transmitted using HTTPS encryption
• Passwords are hashed using bcryptjs (industry-standard)
• Authentication uses JWT tokens (secure, time-limited)
• Database access is restricted to authenticated API calls only
• We regularly monitor for security vulnerabilities

However, no system is 100% secure. If you suspect unauthorized access, please contact us immediately.

8. Your Rights

Depending on your location, you may have the following rights:

• Right to access: Request a copy of your personal data
• Right to rectify: Update or correct your information
• Right to delete: Request deletion of your account and data
• Right to data portability: Request your data in a portable format
• Right to object: Opt out of certain data processing (where applicable)

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at support@pickmypath.co.za.

9. Cookies & Tracking

We use:

• Authentication cookies: To keep you logged in (7-day expiry)
• Local storage: To save your assessment progress temporarily (in-browser only)
• Analytics: We use Google Analytics (via Google Tag Manager) to understand how users interact with our platform, track page views, and measure feature usage. This helps us improve the service and user experience. Google may set cookies and collect data subject to Google's privacy policy.

10. Third-Party Links

Our platform may link to external websites (universities, career resources, etc.). We are not responsible for their privacy practices. Always review their privacy policies before providing information.

11. Children & Minors

PickMyPath is designed for high school students (Grade 8–12, typically ages 13+). Parents or guardians must provide consent before their child's data is collected. We do not knowingly collect data from children under 13 without parental consent.

12. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of material changes by email or by posting a notice on our site. Your continued use of the service after changes constitutes your acceptance.

13. Contact Us

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or our data practices:

Email: support@pickmypath.co.za
Hours: Monday–Friday, 9am–5pm SAST

We are committed to protecting your privacy. If you believe we have not handled your data responsibly, please reach out so we can address your concerns.