Privacy Policy

Overview

Studentify is an academic productivity platform operated by Studentify (Pty) Ltd in the Republic of South Africa. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store, and protect personal information when you use Studentify at https://studentify.co.za.

We process personal information in line with South African privacy principles, including the Protection of Personal Information Act, 2013 (POPIA), the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act, 2002 (ECTA), and the Consumer Protection Act where applicable.

Information we collect

Account and profile information

We collect account details such as your name, email address, authentication identifiers, and basic academic profile information, including university, study level, modules, and field of study. Authentication is handled through Clerk. Studentify does not store raw passwords.

Academic content

You may add modules, tasks, schedules, flashcards, research items, assignments, rubrics, notes, and supporting documents. Depending on the feature, Studentify may store the uploaded file, extracted text, metadata, generated notes, or links to stored content. Some features process files only to extract useful text and may keep the extracted study content rather than every raw source file.

File uploads and storage

You may upload academic files (lecture notes, research papers, textbooks, study materials) through the Uploads feature. Studentify stores uploaded files, processes them into markdown format for efficient reuse across features, and maintains these conversions in secure cloud storage. Your storage allocation depends on your plan:

• StudyFree: 250 MB total
• StudyPlus: 500 MB total
• StudyPro: 1 GB total

Storage usage is tracked in your account and displayed in Settings. You may delete uploaded files at any time; deleted files are removed from all linked features (notes, flashcards, research, assignments) within 24 hours. Studentify retains markdown conversions for a brief period to ensure content consistency before permanent deletion.

Usage and credit information

We record product usage such as generated flashcards, AI summaries, assignment analysis, schedule generation, study timer sessions, credits used, and subscription state. This helps us operate the credit system, improve reliability, and understand which features are useful.

Research and search queries

When you use the Research feature, Studentify may process your search queries, suggested keywords derived from your assignments or notes, and search results from academic sources and web searches. We track which sources you save, bookmark, or import into your materials so we can help you manage your research more effectively across multiple features.

Studentify Inbox and connected email

Studentify Inbox lets you manually forward academic emails to an address shown in Settings. Inbound messages are processed through Postmark so Studentify can detect academic dates, tasks, and suggestions for your review. We may store message metadata, excerpts, extracted suggestions, and processing logs needed to run the inbox feature; forwarded raw message content is not used for public content or sold.

Outlook / Microsoft 365 connection is optional and may be paused, limited, or marked coming soon while we test it. Where it is available and you explicitly connect it, Studentify requests read-only Microsoft Graph access, stores OAuth tokens needed for the connection, and lets you disconnect from Settings.

If Google Calendar sync is enabled and you connect it, Studentify stores the tokens and event sync metadata needed to export or update selected schedule items. You can disconnect the calendar integration from Settings.

Payment information

Payments are processed through PayFast. Studentify may store billing status, plan information, payment references, and subscription records, but we do not store your card number or banking credentials.

Technical information

We may process technical information such as IP address, browser, device, logs, error reports, analytics events, and security signals through services such as Vercel and our own application logs.

How we use information

We use personal information for practical platform purposes, including:

• Creating and securing your Studentify account.
• Providing dashboard, schedule, assignment, flashcard, research, analytics, and study timer features.
• Processing uploaded academic files and user-provided text for AI-assisted features.
• Managing credits, subscription plans, payment status, and fair-use limits.
• Detecting errors, abuse, suspicious activity, and service reliability issues.
• Sending important account, payment, or service-related messages.
• Meeting legal, accounting, tax, security, and operational obligations.

We do not use uploaded academic content to create public content. Your files and private study material remain associated with your account unless you choose to share or export them through a feature that clearly says so.

Uploads and cross-feature reuse

When you upload academic files, Studentify converts and caches them as markdown to reduce processing time and costs. These conversions are reused across features you access — for example, a markdown conversion of your lecture notes can be used to generate flashcards, create study packs, inform assignment guidance, or identify relevant research topics. This reuse is designed for your convenience and efficiency. You retain ownership of all uploaded content and may delete files or request permanent removal at any time.

AI-assisted processing

Studentify uses AI systems, including Anthropic Claude, to provide academic support features. When you choose to use an AI feature, relevant content such as assignment text, rubrics, research material, module context, or flashcard source content may be sent to the AI provider so the feature can work.

AI outputs are generated automatically and may be incomplete, inaccurate, or unsuitable for a particular academic requirement. You should review outputs, compare them with your course material, and use your own judgement before relying on them.

Service providers

Studentify relies on trusted service providers to operate the platform. They process information only for the relevant service purpose.

These providers may process information in jurisdictions outside South Africa. Where personal information is transferred internationally, we take reasonable steps to use reputable providers and appropriate contractual, technical, and organisational safeguards.

Cookies, local storage, and analytics

Studentify uses cookies and similar storage technologies for authentication, session security, remembering preferences such as theme, maintaining recent in-product actions, and measuring basic product usage.

We do not use these technologies to sell advertising profiles. Some cookies are necessary for the service to work, especially authentication cookies set by Clerk.

Retention and security

We retain personal information for as long as needed to provide Studentify, meet legal or accounting obligations, resolve disputes, maintain security, and support legitimate operational needs. Uploaded files and academic records generally remain available while your account is active unless deleted by you or through an account deletion request.

We use reasonable security measures, including HTTPS, access controls, server-side authorization, managed infrastructure, and database protections. No online system can be guaranteed to be perfectly secure, and you are responsible for keeping your login credentials safe.

Your POPIA rights

Subject to applicable law, you may request to:

• Access the personal information we hold about you.
• Correct inaccurate or incomplete personal information.
• Delete personal information where we no longer have a lawful reason to keep it.
• Object to certain processing activities.
• Ask how your personal information has been used or shared.
• Lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator of South Africa.

To make a privacy request, contact us at aj.venter@studentify.co.za. We may need to verify your identity before acting on a request.

Children and students

Studentify is intended for South African university and tertiary students. It is not designed for children under 18. If we become aware that we have collected personal information from a child without appropriate consent, we will take reasonable steps to delete it.

Changes and contact

We may update this Privacy Policy as Studentify grows, as our providers change, or as legal requirements develop. The latest version will be posted on this page with the updated date.

Questions can be sent to Studentify (Pty) Ltd at aj.venter@studentify.co.za. Our website is https://studentify.co.za.