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Privacy Policy

Last updated: July 2026 · Effective date: March 2026

July 2026 change: we clarified how long forwarded email content is kept and how account deletion works, so this policy describes exactly how the service operates today.

Thank you for using Schoolio. We know you're busy — so we've written this policy in plain English.

We'll tell you exactly what data we collect, why we collect it, how we protect it, and what your rights are.

Schoolio is a trading name. The data controller responsible for your information is the company registered in England and Wales that operates Schoolio (contact details at Section 12 below).

We are registered with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) as required under UK data protection law. Our ICO registration number is ZC104307.

1. What Information We Collect

1.1 Account Information

When you sign up for Schoolio, we collect:

  • Your email address (used to create your account and receive service communications)
  • Your mobile phone number (used to send you WhatsApp digests via the WhatsApp Business API)

1.2 Child & School Information

To provide you with organised school communications, you provide us with:

  • Your child or children's first name(s)
  • The name of each child's school
  • Each child's class or year group

We do not collect children's surnames, dates of birth, addresses, or any other identifying information about children beyond the above.

This information is used solely to organise and label your school communication summaries. It is never shared with third parties for their own purposes.

1.3 Forwarded School Emails

The core of our service involves you or your schools forwarding school emails to your unique Schoolio email address.

These emails may contain:

  • School announcements, newsletters, trip letters, and event information
  • References to other children, teachers, or school staff (incidentally)
  • Payment requests or financial information relating to school activities

We process the content of these emails solely to extract events, deadlines, and actionable information for your digest. We do not store the raw email content beyond the period needed for processing (see Section 6 on retention).

Important: When you forward school emails to Schoolio, those emails may mention other people (other children, teachers, etc.) who have not directly consented to Schoolio processing their data. We only use this information to deliver your digest and do not build profiles on third parties mentioned in emails. Please only forward emails you have legitimately received.

1.4 Payment Information

When you subscribe to Schoolio, payments are processed by Stripe, Inc. We do not store your full card details on our systems. We receive only a payment confirmation token and your billing status from Stripe. For more information, see Stripe's privacy policy.

1.5 Usage Data

We automatically collect limited technical data to keep the service running reliably:

  • Log data (e.g. when your account was active, digest delivery status)
  • Device type and operating system (basic diagnostics only)
  • WhatsApp message open and delivery status (provided by WhatsApp Business API)

We do not use tracking pixels, behavioural advertising technology, or sell usage data to third parties.


2. Why We Use Your Information (Lawful Basis)

Under UK GDPR, we must have a lawful basis for processing your personal data. Here is our basis for each type of processing:

Contractual necessity (Article 6(1)(b))

Most of our processing is necessary to deliver the service you've signed up for. This includes:

  • Processing forwarded emails to extract events
  • Sending your daily WhatsApp digest
  • Managing your account, subscription, and billing
  • Storing your child and school information to organise your summaries

Legitimate interests (Article 6(1)(f))

We rely on legitimate interests for:

  • Fraud prevention and account security
  • Improving and debugging the service (using anonymised, aggregated data)
  • Sending service-related communications (e.g. important product updates)

We have assessed that our legitimate interests do not override your rights and freedoms. You can object to this processing at any time — see Section 8.

Consent (Article 6(1)(a))

We rely on your consent for:

  • Sending you marketing emails or promotional messages (separate from service digests)
  • Any use of your data beyond what is described in this policy

You can withdraw consent at any time by contacting us or using the unsubscribe link in any marketing email.


3. Children's Data

Schoolio is a service for parents and guardians. We do not knowingly collect data directly from children, and our service is not directed at children.

The children's first names, schools, and year groups you provide are classed as personal data and treated with the same care as your own. This data is:

  • Used only to organise and label your digest (e.g. Amelia — Year 3 — St John's)
  • Never shared with advertisers, data brokers, or other third parties for commercial purposes
  • Deleted along with your account data when you close your account (see Section 6)

School emails you forward may incidentally mention children other than your own. We process this content only to extract information relevant to you, and we do not build records about other children.

If you believe we have received data about a child in error, please contact us immediately at support@getschoolio.com and we will delete it promptly.


4. Third-Party Services We Use

To deliver Schoolio, we work with a small number of carefully selected third-party processors. Each is bound by a data processing agreement and required to handle your data in line with UK GDPR.

WhatsApp Business API Provider

We use a WhatsApp Business API provider (Twilio) to send your daily digest to your WhatsApp number. Your mobile number and digest message content are shared with this provider solely for message delivery.

AI Processing (Anthropic)

We use Anthropic's Claude API to process and summarise the content of your forwarded school emails. Email content is sent to Anthropic's API for processing under a data processing agreement. Anthropic does not use API inputs to train its models. Anthropic is a US company, so this processing may take place outside the UK — it is covered by the international-transfer safeguards described below. For more information, see Anthropic's privacy policy.

Stripe (Payments)

Stripe processes your subscription payments. Stripe is certified to PCI DSS Level 1. Your financial data is handled directly by Stripe and is not stored on Schoolio servers.

Email Infrastructure

We use a transactional email provider (Postmark) to receive forwarded school emails and send account-related messages. Email content is processed in transit and not retained by the provider beyond delivery.

Cloud Infrastructure & International Transfers

Our application and database are hosted with Railway, our websites with Vercel, and original school letters with Amazon Web Services (in the London region, eu-west-2). Where a provider processes data outside the UK — for example Anthropic's AI processing described above — we rely on the safeguards recognised under UK data protection law (data processing agreements incorporating the UK International Data Transfer Agreement or Standard Contractual Clauses with the UK addendum).


5. When We Share Your Data

We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal data. Full stop.

We share your data only in the following limited circumstances:

  • With the third-party processors listed in Section 4, strictly to deliver the service
  • If required by law, regulation, or a court order (e.g. a lawful request from a UK authority)
  • To protect the rights, property, or safety of Schoolio, our users, or the public
  • In the event of a business transfer (e.g. acquisition or merger) — you will be notified in advance and your rights under this policy will be maintained

We never share your data with advertisers, data brokers, or other third parties for their own marketing purposes.


6. How Long We Keep Your Data

We only keep your data for as long as necessary.

While your account is active

We retain all account data, child and school information, and digest history for the duration of your subscription.

After cancellation or account deletion

If you cancel your subscription, your account and its data stay in place so you can reactivate later (for example, after the summer holidays) and so we can resolve any outstanding billing queries.

If you ask us to delete your account (see Section 8), we permanently delete your personal data from our systems promptly, keeping only what we are legally required to retain (for example, billing records). Where a school-wide event was originally created from one of your emails, the event itself may remain for other parents at that school, but the link back to you and your family is removed.

Anonymised data

We may retain anonymised, aggregated data (e.g. average number of events extracted per digest) indefinitely for product improvement. This data cannot be used to identify you.

Forwarded email content

We keep the content of forwarded school emails (including attachments such as letters) while your account is active. This is so you can reopen the original letter from your dashboard at any time, and so we can review and correct anything our AI extracted. Forwarded email content is deleted when your account is deleted.


7. How We Protect Your Data

We take security seriously. Our measures include:

  • Encryption in transit (TLS 1.2+) for all data sent between your devices, our servers, and third parties
  • Data hosted with established managed cloud providers, protected by provider-level storage security and strict access controls
  • Access controls — only authorised team members can access production data, and only when necessary
  • Regular security reviews and dependency updates
  • Breach detection and incident response procedures

No system is 100% secure. In the unlikely event of a data breach that affects your rights and freedoms, we will notify you and the ICO within 72 hours as required by law.


8. Your Rights Under UK GDPR

You have the following rights regarding your personal data. To exercise any of them, contact us at support@getschoolio.com. We will respond within 30 days.

Right of access

You can request a copy of all personal data we hold about you.

Right to rectification

You can ask us to correct any inaccurate or incomplete data. You can also update most information directly in your Schoolio account settings.

Right to erasure (‘right to be forgotten’)

You can ask us to delete your personal data. We will do so promptly, subject to any legal obligations to retain certain records (for example, billing records) — see Section 6 for exactly what deletion covers.

Right to restrict processing

You can ask us to pause processing your data while a dispute is resolved, for example if you believe data is inaccurate.

Right to data portability

You can request your data in a structured, machine-readable format (e.g. JSON or CSV).

Right to object

You can object to processing based on legitimate interests at any time. We will stop unless we can demonstrate compelling legitimate grounds.

Right to withdraw consent

Where processing is based on consent (e.g. marketing emails), you can withdraw consent at any time without affecting the lawfulness of prior processing.

Right to complain

If you are unhappy with how we've handled your data, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO):


9. Cookies and Tracking

Our website (getschoolio.com) uses a small number of essential cookies to make the site work — for example, to keep you logged in.

We do not use:

  • Third-party advertising cookies
  • Cross-site tracking technology
  • Analytics tools that identify you personally

We may use anonymised, privacy-preserving analytics (such as aggregate page view counts) to understand how the site is used. This data cannot be linked back to you.

You can control cookies through your browser settings. Disabling essential cookies may affect how the service functions.


10. Marketing Communications

Your daily digest may occasionally include relevant product recommendations or partner offers (for example, school supplies for World Book Day). These are curated by Schoolio and clearly labelled. Clicking a link may result in Schoolio earning a small commission — this never affects the price you pay.

If we ever want to send you promotional content (e.g. referral programme offers, new features), we will ask for your explicit consent first. You can opt out of marketing at any time by:

Opting out of marketing will never affect your access to the Schoolio service.


11. Changes to This Policy

We may update this policy from time to time. If we make significant changes — particularly any that affect your rights or how we use your data — we will:

  • Email you at least 14 days before changes take effect
  • Display a clear notice in your Schoolio dashboard
  • Update the “Last updated” date at the top of this page

Continued use of Schoolio after changes take effect constitutes your acknowledgement of the updated policy. If you disagree with any changes, you can close your account at any time.


12. How to Contact Us

For any privacy-related questions, requests, or concerns, please contact us:

Email: privacy@getschoolio.com
Website: getschoolio.com

We aim to respond to all privacy requests within 30 days. For complex requests, we may extend this by a further two months — if so, we will let you know.

Schoolio is a trading name of RyderCo LTD, a company registered in England and Wales. Company registration number: 12409843. ICO registration number: ZC104307.

© 2026 Schoolio. All rights reserved.