SHS Select

Welcome to SHS Select ("us", "we", or "our"). We are committed to protecting your privacy. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard your information when you visit our website shsselect.com (the "Site") and use our services (the "Services"). Please read this privacy policy carefully. If you do not agree with the terms of this privacy policy, please do not access the site. By using our Site and Services, you acknowledge that you have read, understood, and agree to the terms of this Privacy Policy and our Terms of Service. You are solely responsible for your choices and decisions made based on the information provided through our Services.

We reserve the right to make changes to this Privacy Policy at any time and for any reason. We will alert you about any changes by updating the "Last updated" date of this Privacy Policy. You are encouraged to periodically review this Privacy Policy to stay informed of updates.

1. Information We Collect

We may collect information about you in a variety of ways. The information we may collect on the Site and our Mobile Application (SHS List & Categories, Package ID: com.ghproductivity.ghshsdirectory) includes:

a. Personal Data

Authentication: We use your phone number for one-time verification to prevent bot abuse and ensure real user access. Phone numbers are sent to our API for verification but are not permanently stored for marketing or tracking purposes. We do not create persistent user profiles.

No Accounts: We do not maintain traditional user accounts with passwords. You can "Clear App Data" from the Settings page to remove your local session and sign out.

b. Location Data

Approximate Location: To show schools "Near Me" and display your current location on the map, we request location permissions. This data is processed locally on your device and sent directly to Google Maps for rendering. It is not stored on our servers or tracked by SHS Select.

c. Third-Party Services

We use the following third-party services which may collect data:

Google Maps Platform: Used to display school locations. May collect IP address and location data to serve map tiles, subject to Google's Privacy Policy.
Hive: Used for local data storage (preferences, themes, cache) on your device. No personal data from Hive is sent to our servers.
Url Launcher: Used to open external links (e.g., school websites).

d. Data Retention & Deletion

We do not store your personal data on our servers. Your location data is processed locally on your device to provide map services and is subject to Google's Privacy Policy. Authentication information is used solely for verification and Session management. You can delete all local data by using the "Clear App Data" feature in the app settings.

2. How We Use Your Information

Having accurate information permits us to provide you with a smooth, efficient, and customized experience. Specifically, we may use information collected about you via the Site to:

Provide, operate, and maintain our website and Services.
Improve, personalize, and expand our website and Services.
Understand and analyze how you use our website and Services.
Develop new products, services, features, and functionality.
Communicate with you, either directly or through one of our partners, including for customer service, to provide you with updates and other information relating to the website, and for informational purposes.
Process your transactions and manage your selections when using features like the selection form and payment.
Send you a PDF summary of your selections.
Find and prevent fraud.
For compliance purposes, including enforcing our Terms of Service, or other legal rights, or as may be required by applicable laws and regulations or requested by any judicial process or governmental agency.

3. Sharing Your Information

We do not sell, trade, rent or otherwise share your Personal Information for marketing purposes with third parties without your consent. We may share information we have collected about you in certain situations:

With Service Providers: We may share your information with third-party vendors, service providers, contractors or agents who perform services for us or on our behalf and require access to such information to do that work (e.g., payment processing, data analytics, email delivery, hosting services, customer service). These service providers are contractually obligated to protect your data and are restricted from using your personal data in any way other than to help us.
By Law or to Protect Rights: If we believe the release of information about you is necessary to respond to legal process, to investigate or remedy potential violations of our policies, or to protect the rights, property, and safety of others, we may share your information as permitted or required by any applicable law, rule, or regulation.
Aggregated or Anonymized Data: We may share aggregated or anonymized information that does not directly identify you with third parties for research, analysis, and other purposes.

4. Data Security

We use administrative, technical, and physical security measures to help protect your personal information. While we have taken reasonable steps to secure the personal information you provide to us, please be aware that despite our efforts, no security measures are perfect or impenetrable, and no method of data transmission can be guaranteed against any interception or other type of misuse. Any information disclosed online is vulnerable to interception and misuse by unauthorized parties.

5. Your Data Protection Rights

Depending on your location and applicable law (such as Ghana's Data Protection Act, 2012 (Act 843)), you may have certain rights regarding your personal information. These may include the right to:

Access the personal information we hold about you.
Request that we correct any inaccurate personal information.
Request that we delete your personal information.
Object to the processing of your personal information.
Request the restriction of processing your personal information.
Data portability.

If you wish to exercise any of these rights, please contact us using the contact information provided below. We will respond to your request in accordance with applicable data protection laws.

6. Cookies and Tracking Technologies

We use cookies and similar tracking technologies to track the activity on our Service and hold certain information. Cookies are files with a small amount of data which may include an anonymous unique identifier. Cookies are sent to your browser from a website and stored on your device.

You can instruct your browser to refuse all cookies or to indicate when a cookie is being sent. However, if you do not accept cookies, you may not be able to use some portions of our Service.

Examples of Cookies we may use:

Session Cookies: We use Session Cookies to operate our Service.
Preference Cookies: We use Preference Cookies to remember your preferences and various settings.
Security Cookies: We use Security Cookies for security purposes.
Analytics Cookies: We may use third-party Service Providers to monitor and analyze the use of our Service (e.g., Google Analytics).

7. Children's Privacy

Our Service is not primarily directed to children under the age of 13, although it may be used by students seeking Senior High School placements. We do not knowingly collect personally identifiable information from children under 13 without parental consent. If you are a parent or guardian and you are aware that your child has provided us with Personal Data without your consent, please contact us. If we become aware that we have collected Personal Data from children without verification of parental consent, we take steps to remove that information from our servers.

We encourage parents and guardians to observe, participate in, and/or monitor and guide their children's online activity.

8. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of any changes by posting the new Privacy Policy on this page and updating the "Last updated" date. You are advised to review this Privacy Policy periodically for any changes. Changes to this Privacy Policy are effective when they are posted on this page.

9. Contact Us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, please contact us at: [email protected]