Privacy Policy

Arooba is a study companion for Cambridge IGCSE students. It is operated by Arooba (Cairo, Arab Republic of Egypt) — “Arooba”, “we”, “us”, or “our” in this policy. This policy explains what personal data we collect, why, how we look after it, and the choices and rights you have.

We are the data controller for the information described here. If you have any question about it, contact us at hello@arooba.cc.

Arooba is built for IGCSE students, who are usually between 14 and 17 years old. We take that seriously.

We do not knowingly collect data from children under 13. We only ask for the information we genuinely need to run the learning experience — never more — and we never sell it or use it for advertising.

Account details

Your email address, and — if you choose “Sign in with Google” — the basic profile Google shares to confirm your identity. Passwords are handled by our authentication provider and stored only as a secure one-way hash; we never see or store your password.

Your profile and onboarding answers

• The name or nickname you choose to be called.
• Your exam sitting and target exam date, so we can plan your revision backwards from it.
• Your answers to the interest quiz and the strengths/careers profile it produces, which personalises the “where you’ll use this” (Become) side of the app.
• Learning preferences such as reduced motion, larger text, and notification settings.

Your learning activity

• Lessons you complete and when, your answers and attempts, and checkpoint (“boss”) results.
• The signals our engine computes from that work: mastery, your predicted grade and its working, spaced-repetition review schedules, and your streak.
• Your XP and coin balances and the ledger of how they were earned.

Technical data

Basic device and browser information, and an approximate region inferred from your IP address. Arooba is “local-first”: much of your progress is kept in your browser’s storage so it works smoothly, and synced to your account when you sign in.

What we do not collect

• No payment or financial data — Arooba does not take payments.
• No precise location, no biometric data, no third-party advertising trackers.
• No public leaderboards or social graph — v1 measures you only against your own past work.

We use the information above only to run and improve Arooba:

• To run the daily learning loop and show you the single best next thing to do.
• To compute your mastery and predicted grade, and to schedule your reviews.
• To personalise the Become (careers/universities) and Earn (XP, coins, rewards) experiences.
• To power the optional read-only progress views for a parent, teacher, or tutor — only when you or your guardian have linked and enabled that view.
• To keep the service secure, prevent abuse, and fix problems.
• To understand, in aggregate, what helps students learn — so we can make the product better.
• To send you essential service messages (for example, account and security emails).

Where data-protection law (such as the Egyptian Personal Data Protection Law, and the GDPR / UK GDPR for users in those regions) requires a legal basis, we rely on:

• Performing our agreement with you — to deliver the learning features you signed up for.
• Your consent (and, for under-18s, a parent’s or guardian’s consent) — which you can withdraw at any time.
• Our legitimate interests — keeping the service safe and improving it, in a way that does not override your rights.

We use a small number of essential cookies and browser-storage items — to keep you signed in and to hold your local-first progress. We do not use advertising or cross-site tracking cookies. Because these are strictly necessary to run the service, clearing them will sign you out and reset your local progress.

We do not sell your data. We share it only with the service providers that help us run Arooba, and only as needed:

• Our hosting and database providers — who store your account and progress and provide authentication, under contracts that require them to protect it.
• Google — only if you choose to sign in with Google, and only to authenticate you.
• A parent, teacher, or tutor — only the read-only progress you or your guardian have chosen to share with them.
• Reward providers (sponsors, a parent, or a school) — if you redeem a real-world reward, only the minimum information needed to fulfil it. Rewards are funded by sponsors, parents, or schools; we do not share your data with sponsors for advertising.

We may also disclose data if the law requires it, or to protect the rights and safety of our users.

Arooba is offered Egypt-first, then across the wider region. Some of our providers may process data in other countries. Where that happens, we take steps to ensure your data stays protected to the standard described in this policy.

We keep your data for as long as your account is active. If you delete your account, we delete or anonymise your personal data, except where we must keep a minimal record to meet a legal obligation or to resolve disputes. You can ask us to delete your data at any time.

You can, at any time:

• Access the personal data we hold about you and get a copy.
• Export your data — the account screen has a “Download my data” option.
• Correct anything that is wrong, or ask us to delete your account and data.
• Withdraw consent, or object to a particular use.
• Complain to your local data-protection authority.

To exercise any of these, email hello@arooba.cc. For under-18s, a parent or guardian may make these requests on your behalf.

We protect your data with encryption in transit, hashed passwords, access controls, and trusted infrastructure providers. No online service can promise perfect security, but we work to keep your information safe and to respond quickly if something goes wrong.

We may update this policy as Arooba grows. When we make a material change we will update the “last updated” date above and, where appropriate, let you know in the app.

Questions, requests, or concerns about your privacy? Email hello@arooba.cc, or write to us at Arooba, Cairo, Arab Republic of Egypt.