Privacy Policy

V-MAT is a maths learning programme for children aged 5 to 16. Children use it, so we keep their information to the minimum we need to teach them, we never sell it, and we never show advertising. This policy explains, in plain words, what we collect, why, who helps us, how long we keep it, and what you can do about it.

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1. Who we are

This website (vmat.uk) is run by V-MAT Academy, owned and run by Saji P R (Mr. Saji Raghav) as a sole proprietor in Bangalore, India. Under UK data protection law we are the data controller: we decide how your family's information is used and we are responsible for it.

2. Children come first

• A parent or guardian opens the family account and adds each child. Children never need an e-mail address of their own; they open their lessons from the family account.
• When you open the account you confirm that you are the child's parent or guardian and agree to this policy. We record that confirmation (who, when and the version of the wording).
• No advertising and no selling. We do not show adverts, we do not sell or rent anyone's information, and we do not build marketing profiles of children.
• Public places show only a first name and initial (for example "Ria R."), a country flag and a score — on leaderboards, the Hall of Fame and the Speed Challenge. Never a surname, photo, school or contact details. You can ask us to hide your child from any public board at any time.
• There is no open chat between children.

3. What we collect

About	What
The parent	Name, e-mail address, mobile / WhatsApp number, password (stored only in scrambled, "hashed" form), the country site you joined on, and messages you send us.
Each child	First name, age or school year, and — only if you add it — a birthday, so Vimo can say happy birthday.
Learning	Lessons and games finished, answers and scores, speed (questions per minute), practice time, V-GEMS, starting and final evaluations, worksheet pages scanned, live-class attendance and short teacher notes.
Worksheet photos	Optional. A child or parent may send a photo of a finished worksheet page. It is cleaned of location and camera details, kept private (only the child, the parent and the teacher can see it) and deleted after 30 days.
Payments	What was bought, the amount, the date and the payment reference. Card, UPI and bank details go straight to our payment provider (Razorpay) — we never see or store them.
Security	Each sign-in: date, time, type of device and browser, IP address and the approximate town and country worked out from it (never a street address). We use this only to keep accounts safe and to apply the device limit, and delete it after 90 days.
Speed Challenge (no account needed)	The first name typed in (shown as first name + initial), the chosen emoji, the score, the country (from the IP address) and an anonymous device key so each person gets one try and nobody can cheat. Challenge links stop working after 48 hours and the boards start fresh every month.
Free class requests	Parent's name, e-mail, phone and the child's age, so we can arrange the class.

4. Why we use it

• To run your child's lessons, games, worksheets, live classes and evaluations, and to open each module at the right time.
• To show you your child's progress and send the weekly progress report, class reminders and messages about your account and payments.
• To keep accounts safe: spotting shared or misused logins and applying the number of devices your plan allows.
• To make our lessons better, using totals and averages (for example, which lesson children find hardest).
• We send news or offers only if you have asked for them, and every such message lets you stop them.

5. Our lawful reasons (UK GDPR Article 6)

• Contract — to provide the lessons and classes you signed up for, and the free class you asked for.
• Legitimate interests — keeping the platform secure, preventing cheating and fraud, and improving our lessons. We have weighed these against your child's interests and keep them low-risk (no profiling, no advertising).
• Legal obligation — keeping payment records for tax.
• Consent — optional extras such as news e-mails and worksheet photos. You can withdraw consent at any time.

We follow the ICO's Age Appropriate Design Code: high privacy by default, the minimum data, no nudging children to share more, and no location tracking.

6. Who helps us (and sees only what they need)

Who	What they do
V-MAT partners and partner teachers	If a V-MAT partner introduced your family or teaches your child, that partner sees your contact details and your child's first name, course and progress — never payment details — and only under a written agreement that limits use to V-MAT.
Hostinger	Hosts the website, the database and our e-mail.
Razorpay (India)	Takes payments and refunds. Your card, UPI or bank details go to them directly, under their own security standard (PCI-DSS).
Zoom	Runs the live classes and the free class.
WhatsApp (Meta)	Only when you choose to message us on WhatsApp.
ipwho.is	Receives an IP address alone (no name or e-mail) and returns the approximate town and country, for the sign-in history and the Speed Challenge.
Google Fonts, cdnjs, YouTube (privacy-enhanced mode)	Supply the letters, page code and some videos your browser loads. Like any website your browser visits, they receive your IP address.

We do not use advertising networks or tracking tools such as Facebook Pixel. We would share information with the police or a court only if the law requires it.

7. Where your information is kept

Your information is stored on our hosting provider's servers and looked after by our small team in India. Because V-MAT is run from India, your information leaves the UK. We protect it the same way wherever it is: access only for the people who teach your child or run the platform, encrypted connections, and the rules in this policy. Where a service provider processes it outside the UK, we rely on that provider's data-transfer safeguards.

8. How long we keep things

• Your account and learning record: while your family uses V-MAT. If you ask us to delete a child or the whole family, the request waits 7 days (so you can change your mind), then the name, e-mail, password, sign-ins, practice time, evaluations and birthday are removed and the login is closed. What is left (for example "lesson 5 finished") belongs to no one we can identify.
• Sign-in history: 90 days. Worksheet photos: 30 days.
• Payment records: as long as tax and accounting law requires (normally up to 8 years).
• Free class requests from families who did not join: only while we may still need to follow up, and deleted whenever you ask.

Security

The whole site uses an encrypted connection (https). Passwords are stored only in hashed form. Worksheet photos and reports are private. Admin access is limited to the people who run V-MAT and protected by a password and a sign-in code. Accounts that look shared or misused are signed out. No system is perfect: if something ever went wrong that put your family's information at risk, we would tell you and the authorities as the law requires.

9. Your rights

On the family page, "Your family's data" lets you see and download everything we hold about your family, and delete a child or the whole family, at any time. You can also write to us. You have the right to:

• know what we hold and get a copy;
• have wrong information corrected;
• have information deleted;
• restrict or object to how we use it, and take it to another provider (data portability);
• withdraw any consent you gave.

We answer within one month, free of charge. We may ask you to prove who you are first, to protect your family.

10. Complaints

Please tell us first and we will put it right. You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF · 0303 123 1113 · ico.org.uk.

11. Cookies and this device

We use only the cookies the site needs to work: one that keeps you signed in, and small "remember me" notes on your device (for example your reading settings, sound on or off, and a device you have confirmed as a grown-up's). We use no advertising or tracking cookies, so there is nothing to switch off.

12. Changes to this policy

If we change this policy, we update the date at the top. If a change matters for your family, we tell you by e-mail before it applies.