Scope Ark (“we”, “our”, or “us”) is committed to protecting your personal data and respecting your privacy. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store, and protect your information when you use our website, our portal, and our services.
Scope Ark is the trading name of SCOPEARK PORTAL, a Sole Establishment licensed by the Department of Economy and Tourism in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (Trade Licence No. 1625379, Commercial Register No. 2864430), with a registered address at Oud Metha, Dubai, P.O. Box 1212, United Arab Emirates. Scope Ark is the controller responsible for the personal data described in this policy.
1. Scope of This Policy
This Privacy Policy applies to everyone whose data we handle, including Account Holders (the parents and guardians who register and pay), the students who receive lessons, teachers, and applicants for teaching work, regardless of location. It covers all personal data collected or processed in connection with:
- Educational services
- Account creation and management
- Engaging and onboarding independent teachers
- Payment processing and financial transactions
2. Information We Collect
We may collect the following types of personal data:
2.1 Identity Information
- Full name
- Phone number
- Email address
2.2 Account Information
- Google account sign-in details (name, email address, and Google account identifier). Scope Ark uses Google Sign-In for account access and does not create, receive, or store passwords.
2.3 Usage Data
- Activity within the portal
- Lesson schedules and attendance records
- Interactions with features and services
2.4 Financial Data
- Payment records for purchased lesson packages
- Bank details of teachers, used to pay them for completed lessons
2.5 Teacher Application Data
- Educational qualifications, shown to us during the interview
- Relevant teaching experience
- Contact details
- Bank account details, used solely to pay teachers for completed lessons
We do not request or hold national ID cards, passports, or other government identity documents.
2.6 Data We Do Not Collect
- No lesson recordings. Scope Ark does not record lessons. We do not capture, store, or retain any audio or video recording of a live session.
- No passwords. Sign-in is handled by Google, so no password is ever created, received, or stored by us.
- No card numbers. Card payments are handled by Stripe. We never see or store your card details.
- No advertising or tracking data. Our website carries no advertising cookies, no analytics, and no third-party tracking pixels.
3. Student Information
Accounts on Scope Ark are held by adults. Students do not register, sign in, or purchase services themselves; a parent or legal guardian opens the account and arranges the lessons. We nonetheless hold information about the student, given to us by the Account Holder, so that lessons can be delivered.
About a student we typically hold:
- First name, and age or school year
- Subjects being studied and current academic level
- Lesson schedule and attendance
- The teacher’s notes on progress
We use this information only to arrange and deliver lessons and to keep the Account Holder informed. We do not use it for marketing, we do not share it with anyone other than the teacher assigned to the student, and, as stated above, we do not record sessions.
The Account Holder may ask us at any time to see, correct, or delete the information we hold about their student, and may attend or observe any lesson. Teachers are bound in writing to keep student information confidential and to delete it when they stop teaching that student.
4. Why We Use Your Data, and Our Legal Basis
Under United Arab Emirates Federal Decree-Law No. 45 of 2021 on the Protection of Personal Data, we must have a lawful basis for each purpose. Ours are set out below.
- Creating and managing accounts; arranging, scheduling, and delivering lessons; tracking attendance; communicating with you about your lessons. Necessary to perform our contract with you.
- Taking payment and paying teachers. Necessary to perform our contract with you or with the teacher.
- Keeping invoices and payment records. Necessary to comply with our legal obligations under UAE tax and commercial law.
- Assessing applications from prospective teachers. Necessary to take steps before entering into a contract.
- Improving the service, resolving disputes, and protecting the platform and its users from fraud or misuse. Necessary for our legitimate interests, balanced against your rights.
- Anything else. Only with your consent, which you may withdraw at any time.
5. Cookies and Similar Technologies
Our website uses only what it needs in order to work. We do not use advertising cookies, analytics, or third-party tracking of any kind.
- Language preference. A cookie named NEXT_LOCALE remembers whether you are browsing the site in English, Arabic, or French, so that you are not returned to the wrong language on your next visit.
- Signing in. When you sign in to the portal, Google sets cookies to keep you signed in. These are governed by Google’s own privacy policy.
- Paying. When you make a payment, Stripe sets cookies on its payment page to process the transaction and detect fraud. These are governed by Stripe’s own privacy policy.
You can block or delete cookies in your browser settings. Doing so will not stop you using the site; it means the site will not remember your language, and you may need to sign in again.
6. Sharing Your Data
We share data in the following situations, and no others:
6.1 Service Providers
We share data with the following categories of service provider:
- Payment processing — Stripe, which handles card payments on our behalf. Scope Ark does not receive or store card numbers.
- Account sign-in — Google, which authenticates Account Holders through Google Sign-In.
- Cloud hosting and technical support providers
6.2 Teachers
We share a student’s first name, level, subject, and schedule with the teacher assigned to them, so that lessons can be delivered. Teachers are bound in writing to keep this confidential and to delete it when they stop teaching the student.
6.3 Legal Obligations
We may disclose data when required by law or by a valid request from a government authority.
6.4 Business Transfers
In the event of a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets, personal data may be transferred as part of that transaction. We will ensure continued protection of your data in accordance with this policy and applicable data protection laws, and we will notify users of any material changes.
6.5 Protection and Security
We may disclose data to protect the rights, safety, or security of Scope Ark, its users, or the public, or to prevent fraud or illegal activity.
6.6 Consent
We share your data for any other purpose only with your explicit consent.
We never sell your personal data, and we never share it with advertisers.
7. International Data Transfers
We may store or process your personal data in data centres located inside or outside your country of residence, for operational and technical reasons. Our service providers, including Stripe and Google, operate internationally, and data handled by them may be processed outside the United Arab Emirates. We take reasonable steps to ensure that your data is handled securely and in accordance with this Privacy Policy and applicable data protection laws, and we transfer data only to providers that offer an adequate level of protection.
8. Data Retention
We retain personal data only for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes for which it was collected, or for as long as applicable law requires us to keep it.
- Teacher records. When our engagement with a teacher ends, their contact details, qualifications, and profile information are permanently deleted.
- Student and Account Holder records. When an account is closed, the student’s learning records and the Account Holder’s profile information are permanently deleted.
- Financial records. Invoices, payment records, and payout records are retained for the period required by applicable tax, accounting, and commercial law in the United Arab Emirates, with access restricted to authorised staff. These records are kept even after an account is closed, because the law requires it.
9. Data Security
We implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data against unauthorised access, loss, misuse, or alteration. Because sign-in is handled by Google and card payments by Stripe, we hold no passwords and no card numbers, which removes two of the most sensitive categories of data from our systems entirely.
You can help protect your account by keeping secure the Google account you use to sign in.
10. If Something Goes Wrong
If a personal data breach occurs, we will notify the competent authority in the United Arab Emirates without undue delay, in accordance with applicable law. Where a breach is likely to put your rights or your privacy at serious risk, we will also tell you directly, explain what happened, and set out what we are doing about it and what you can do to protect yourself.
11. Your Rights
In relation to your personal data, you have the right to:
- Be informed about how your data is processed, and to obtain a copy of it
- Correct data that is inaccurate or incomplete
- Request deletion of your personal data
- Restrict processing of your data in certain circumstances
- Object to processing that is based on our legitimate interests
- Receive your data in a portable format, and ask us to transfer it to another provider where that is technically possible
- Withdraw consent at any time, where processing is based on consent
- Complain to the supervisory authority. If you are not satisfied with how we have handled your data or your request, you may lodge a complaint with the UAE Data Office, the authority responsible for personal data protection in the United Arab Emirates. You may do this whether or not you have complained to us first.
An Account Holder may exercise these rights on behalf of the student on their account.
Exercising any of these rights is free of charge.
12. How to Exercise Your Rights
You may submit a request by:
- Email to info@scopeark.com
- The contact section of our website
We may ask you to verify your identity before we act on a request, so that we do not disclose someone’s data to the wrong person.
Requests are answered within one calendar month of receipt. Where a request is complex, this period may be extended by up to two further months; if an extension is needed we will tell you within the first month and explain why.
Multiple or Overlapping Requests
If you send us more than one request and they appear to conflict, we will contact you to confirm which request you want us to act on before we do anything. A deletion request is never cancelled automatically; it stands until we have carried it out or you have told us in writing to withdraw it.
13. Automated Decisions
We do not make decisions about you by automated means alone. Matching a student with a teacher, reviewing a refund request, and assessing a teacher application are all decisions made by a person.
14. Changes to This Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. The date at the top of this page shows when it was last changed. Where a change materially affects how we handle your data, we will tell Account Holders directly rather than relying on this page alone.
15. Contact Us
For any question about this policy, or to exercise your rights, write to info@scopeark.com or use the contact section of our website. Our registered address is Oud Metha, Dubai, P.O. Box 1212, United Arab Emirates.
Final Note
By using Scope Ark, you acknowledge that you have read and understood this Privacy Policy.