Privacy policy

HKSchoolPal helps families in Hong Kong find and compare schools. The school finder is free to use. The Pathway Planner is a paid feature with a 3-day free trial, and we may introduce advertising in future.

We are based in Hong Kong and handle personal data in line with the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance, Cap. 486. This policy explains what we collect and what we do with it. It applies to our website and app.

Questions about this policy? Write to hello@hkschoolpal.com.

You can browse without an account and without giving us anything.

When you fill in a form, such as joining the beta user list, we collect what you enter: your email address and name, and optionally your role, the school stage you are interested in, your district, and any message you add. If you leave an email in the Pathway Planner beta to unlock an extra build, we use it for that and to tell you when the full planner is ready.

When you register or sign in we collect your account details. Signing in with Google or Apple gives us your name and email address, never your password. If you sign in with Apple and choose “Hide My Email”, Apple shares a private relay address instead of your real one, so we may not see your real email address.

When you post a review we collect the review, the school it concerns, and the account it came from.

When you post a comment we collect the comment, the guide it sits under, whether you asked to appear anonymously, the account it came from, and which version of the community guidelines you agreed to and when. That last part exists so that if we ever change the rules, we can still say which rules applied to a comment written before the change.

A comment is shown under a pseudonym generated from your account, or as “Anonymous parent” if you choose that. Your real name and your email address are never shown beside it. If you report somebody else’s comment, we record that you reported it so that one person cannot report the same comment repeatedly.

When you send beta feedback we collect your answers — whether the app helped, what worked, what you would change, optionally your role, and your email address only if you choose to give one so we can reply. Feedback is about the app, never about a named school. It is not a review, it is never published, and it is read only by Kanwal.

Automatically, we and our providers collect technical information: IP address, device and browser type, approximate location, and which pages you visit and when.

When you save a school: if you are signed out, your shortlist is stored by your browser on your own device and is not sent to us. If you are signed in, it is also saved to your account so it follows you between devices.

When you start a planner subscription we collect the email address on your account and the subscription facts the payment provider sends us: status, trial end, current period end, cancellation flag, and the provider’s customer and subscription identifiers. We never receive your card number, expiry or CVC.

On our website, Stripe collects the card on its own checkout page and processes it under its privacy policy. In the Apple app, Apple handles payment through In-App Purchase, and Apple’s privacy policy applies to that processing.

On the contributor board we show your pseudonym, how many reviews you have had published, and how many schools you have saved. We never show which schools you saved, and nobody but you can read that list. Other settings are stored by your browser and are not sent to us.

To provide and operate the service, and to respond when you contact us.

To send you emails you have asked for, such as invitations and updates. Every email has an unsubscribe link.

To understand how the service is used so we can improve it.

To keep the service secure, prevent abuse, and comply with the law.

We do not sell your personal data to anyone. Your email, name, saved schools, or reviews are not bought or sold to marketing companies, schools, recruiters, or any third party.

We do not share your personal data with third parties for their purposes. We only share it with companies that operate the service for us (hosting, database, analytics, email). They may see your data only to the extent needed to do that work.

We do not use your data to profile or target you beyond running and improving HKSchoolPal itself.

Your reviews are published under your chosen pseudonym, visible to everyone on the site. Everything else (your email, your real name, your saved schools, your profile) stays private to you.

Yes. We use cookies and similar technologies, including your browser’s storage. Some are necessary for the service to function. We may also use analytics to understand how the service is used, and advertising to promote HKSchoolPal, through providers such as Google Analytics and Google Ads, which may show you our ads on other sites. If we switch these on, we will say so on this page.

You can control cookies in your browser settings, and turn off personalised Google advertising at adssettings.google.com. Blocking some cookies may affect how the service works.

We do not sell or trade your personal data.

We share it with the providers who operate the service for us (hosting, database, email, analytics, advertising and payment processing) only so far as they need it to do that work. Stripe processes planner payments on our website; in the Apple app, Apple processes them through In-App Purchase. Some providers are located outside Hong Kong, so your data may be transferred and stored abroad.

We may also disclose information where the law requires it, or to protect our rights and the safety of others.

The service links to school websites and other sites we do not control, and loads maps and school photographs from third parties, including the Hong Kong Education Bureau. Those sites have their own privacy policies and we are not responsible for them. Visiting them lets them see your IP address, as any site you visit can.

The service is intended for adults. We do not knowingly collect personal data from anyone under 18. If you believe a child has provided us with personal data, contact us and we will delete it.

We keep personal data only as long as we need it for the purposes above, or as long as the law requires, and then delete it.

A comment you delete is deleted, not hidden, and nothing of it is kept. A comment a moderator removes is kept in the moderation record for a limited time, so we can deal with a repeat of the same problem and answer you if you ask what happened. Nobody else can see it.

You can delete your account yourself at any time in the app (Profile → Delete my account). This deletes your account, your saved schools, your profile, and the reviews and comments you have written.

Under the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance you may ask whether we hold personal data about you, request a copy, and ask us to correct it. You may also ask us to delete it or to stop sending you email.

You do not have to ask us to delete a comment. You can do it yourself, at any time, from the comment itself, and it goes immediately.

Contact hello@hkschoolpal.com. We respond within 40 days, as the Ordinance requires, at no charge.

We may update this policy. The date at the top shows when it last changed, and continuing to use the service means you accept the current version. If a change materially affects how we use your personal data, we will notify you.