Privacy Policy
This policy explains what personal information Map My Mind collects, why we collect it, who can see it, where it is kept, and what your rights are. We have written it in plain language. It applies to the Map My Mind website (www.mapmymind.co.za) and the Map My Mind app (app.mapmymind.co.za).
We follow the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 (POPIA).
Who Is Responsible for Your Information
Map My Mind is run by Verdant Edge Consulting (Pty) Ltd, registration number 2025/455134/07. In this policy, "we", "us" and "our" mean that company.
We are the "responsible party" under POPIA. Our Information Officer can be reached at info@mapmymind.co.za. Please mark your email "Attention: Information Officer".
Information We Collect
Your account. When you sign up, we receive your name and email address, and an identifier for your account. Sign-in is provided by Microsoft Entra External ID, so we never see or store your password.
Your study material. Everything you create in the app: subjects, chapters, notes, mind maps, tasks, calendar events, tests, your answers, and the scores and feedback you receive.
Your preferences. For example your language, your light or dark theme, and your mind map grid size.
Your agreement. The first time you sign in, we ask you to confirm that you are 18 or older, or that your parent or guardian has agreed for you. We keep your answer, the date, and which version of the Terms of Use and this policy you agreed to.
Technical information. Our servers keep logs of the requests made to them, such as the time, the type of request and any error details. We use these to keep the service running and secure.
What we do not collect. We do not collect payment card details, because the app is currently free. We do not use advertising or analytics trackers on our website or in our app, and we do not sell your information.
Why We Use Your Information
We use your information to:
- sign you in and keep your account and study material safe;
- store, show and export your notes, maps, tasks, events and tests;
- generate tests and mark written answers with AI, when you ask for it;
- help you if something goes wrong, and keep the service secure; and
- meet our legal obligations.
Under POPIA, we may process your information because it is needed to provide the service you asked for, because the law requires it, because we have a legitimate interest in keeping the service secure and working, and, for learners under 18, with the consent of a parent or guardian.
How the AI Features Work
When you generate a test, or submit a written answer to be marked, the relevant notes, question content and answer text are sent to an Azure OpenAI service that we operate in our own Microsoft Azure account. It is used only to write the questions or to produce the score and explanation.
Please note the following:
- We do not use your study material to train AI models.
- Microsoft states that prompts and responses in Azure OpenAI are not available to other customers or to OpenAI, and are not used to train or improve its models. You can read what Microsoft says at How Microsoft handles Azure OpenAI data.
- Microsoft runs automated checks for abuse, and a sample of prompts and responses may be reviewed by authorised Microsoft staff if abuse is suspected.
- Our AI service is set up in the Microsoft Azure West Europe region, but the models we use run on Microsoft's global infrastructure. This means the text you send for AI processing may be handled in other countries where Microsoft runs those models.
- AI feedback can be wrong. Use it for practice, not as an official assessment.
Where Your Information Is Kept
Your account and study material are stored in Microsoft Azure, in the West Europe region (the Netherlands). This means your information is transferred outside South Africa. We use a hosting provider that is contractually bound to protect your information.
Who Else Can See Your Information
Microsoft. Microsoft provides our hosting, our sign-in service and our AI service. It handles your information on our behalf and only as needed to provide those services.
Our staff. A small number of authorised people at Verdant Edge Consulting can view an account in order to fix a problem. This is read-only by default, and we only do it to help resolve an issue.
Where the law requires it. We may share information with a court, regulator or other authority if the law requires us to.
We do not sell your information, and we do not share it with advertisers.
Cookies and Browser Storage
We do not use advertising or analytics cookies.
To keep you signed in and to remember your choices, our app stores small pieces of information in your browser, such as your sign-in session, your language and theme, and the last page you viewed. Our public website remembers only your light or dark theme choice, and that stays in your browser. Microsoft's sign-in pages may set their own cookies, which are covered by Microsoft's privacy statement.
You can clear this information at any time in your browser settings. If you do, you will need to sign in again.
How Long We Keep Your Information
We keep your information for as long as you have an account.
When you delete a subject or chapter in the app, it moves to Deleted Items, where you can restore it.
You can ask us at any time to permanently delete your account and everything in it by emailing info@mapmymind.co.za. We will do this within 30 days. Backups kept by our hosting provider may hold deleted information for a short time before they expire.
Children and Learners Under 18
Map My Mind is made for learners, and many learners are under 18. Under POPIA, a person under 18 is a child, and we may only process a child's personal information with the consent of a parent or guardian, unless the law allows otherwise.
If you are under 18, please ask your parent or guardian to read this policy before you use Map My Mind. The first time you sign in, we ask you to confirm that your parent or guardian has read the Terms of Use and this policy and agrees to them for you. Their agreement is their consent to us processing your information as described here, and we keep a record of it.
We collect only what we need to run the account. We do not use children's information for marketing.
A parent or guardian may ask to see, correct or delete a child's information, or withdraw their consent, by emailing info@mapmymind.co.za.
Your Rights
Under POPIA you can:
- ask whether we hold information about you, and ask for a copy;
- ask us to correct information that is wrong or out of date;
- ask us to delete information we no longer need;
- object to us processing your information;
- withdraw a consent you have given; and
- complain if you think we have handled your information wrongly.
To use any of these rights, email info@mapmymind.co.za and mark it "Attention: Information Officer". We may need to check who you are before we act on a request, so that we do not give your information to someone else.
If you are not happy with our response, you may complain to the Information Regulator (South Africa) at inforegulator.org.za or by email to POPIAComplaints@inforegulator.org.za.
How We Protect Your Information
We use reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect your information. Traffic between your device and our service is encrypted, sign-in is handled by Microsoft, and our hosting provider encrypts stored data by default.
If a security breach puts your information at risk, we will tell you and the Information Regulator, as POPIA requires.
Changes to This Policy
We may update this policy from time to time. The date at the bottom of this page shows when it last changed. If we make an important change, we will tell you in the app or by email.
Contact Us
Verdant Edge Consulting (Pty) Ltd, registration number 2025/455134/07.
Email: info@mapmymind.co.za
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