Privacy Policy

1. Who We Are

Teachy is a community-focused initiative operated by VALERA MINDLAB LIMITED, designed to support early years educators and childcare providers ("creches") in Ireland.

VALERA MINDLAB LIMITED is registered in Ireland under company number 767789, with its registered office at 40 Bayside Boulevard North, Dublin, D13 K0H3, Ireland. You can contact us at adrianvalrom@gmail.com.

For the purposes of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), VALERA MINDLAB LIMITED is the Data Controller of your personal data.

2. What Data We Collect

We collect and process different categories of data depending on how you use the Platform.

2.1 Teachers

• Name and contact information (email, phone if provided)
• Profile details (photo, qualifications, education, experience, location preferences)
• Employment history and CV data
• Reviews and ratings submitted about creches, and account links or claim credentials used to establish authorship
• Terms acceptance version, server-recorded date and context; anonymous review acceptance is linked to the review without requiring a name, email or IP address
• Complaints, supporting information and restricted moderation records, including original comments and decisions

2.2 Creches

• Institution name and contact details
• Staff contact persons (name, position, email)

2.3 Technical and Usage Data

• IP address, browser type, device information
• Login timestamps and session logs
• Cookies and analytics data (e.g. pages visited, interaction patterns)

3. How We Use Your Data

We use your personal data to:

• Create and manage your user account
• Display public profiles and reviews
• Improve the functionality, security, and performance of the Platform
• Send administrative messages (e.g. updates, account notices)
• Comply with legal and regulatory requirements

We do not sell or share your data with third parties for marketing purposes without your explicit consent.

4. Legal Basis for Processing (GDPR)

We process your data under the following legal bases:

• Consent: where you specifically opt in to optional processing, such as marketing messages. Creating an account or posting a review does not by itself constitute consent to all processing.
• Contractual necessity: to provide requested account, profile and publication services and record acceptance of the applicable Terms.
• Legitimate interest: for fraud prevention, proportionate moderation and security, handling complaints and legal claims, and service improvement where our interests are not overridden by your rights. Where tracking requires consent, legitimate interests do not replace that requirement.
• Legal obligation: to comply with data protection, tax, or employment regulations when applicable.

You may withdraw your consent at any time by contacting us.

5. Data Sharing

We only share your data in the following circumstances:

• With trusted service providers (hosting, cloud storage, email delivery, analytics) who process data on our behalf for the relevant service purposes and subject to applicable data protection obligations.
• When required by law or regulation (e.g. in response to a valid legal request).
• When necessary to protect our rights, property, or safety, or that of our users.

We do not share personal data with third parties for advertising or unrelated commercial purposes.

6. Data Retention

We retain personal data only for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes described in this policy, or as required by law.

Retention depends on the purpose, whether an account or contribution remains active, unresolved complaints, applicable legal requirements and the need to establish, exercise or defend legal claims. We review that need and delete or anonymise records when it ends; we do not retain moderation records indefinitely simply because a complaint occurred.

Public removal does not necessarily immediately erase private moderation evidence or copies in restricted backups. Original moderated comments, relevant review fields retained as evidence, and the action history may remain privately after a review, crèche or account is deleted, where necessary for the purposes above. They are not automatically republished. Backup copies remain restricted until their normal replacement or deletion, subject to justified legal preservation.

To request account closure or removal, email adrianvalrom@gmail.com. We verify identity or authorship proportionately, explain what can be removed and any justified retention, and handle requests within applicable legal deadlines.

7. Your Rights (Under GDPR)

As an individual based in the European Union, you have the following rights:

• Access – Request a copy of your personal data.
• Rectification – Correct inaccurate or incomplete data.
• Erasure ("Right to be Forgotten") – Request deletion of your data.
• Restriction of Processing – Limit how your data is used.
• Data Portability – Receive your data in a machine-readable format.
• Objection – Object to processing based on legitimate interest.
• Withdraw Consent – Revoke consent at any time.

To exercise any of these rights, contact us at adrianvalrom@gmail.com. We normally respond within one month. Where a lawful extension is necessary, we explain the reason and extension within that first month.

If you believe your rights have been violated, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Data Protection Commission (DPC) in Ireland: www.dataprotection.ie

9. Security

We implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your data, including:

• Encrypted connections to our hosted services
• Access controls and secure authentication
• Restricted access to private moderation and acceptance records

While we take strong precautions, no system is completely secure. Users are encouraged to use strong passwords and keep their login credentials confidential.

10. Changes to this Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect legal, technical, or operational changes. If significant updates occur, we will notify users through the Platform or by email. The date of the most recent update is shown at the top of this document.

11. Contact Information

If you have any questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy or how we handle your data, please contact us: