Privacy Policy
K53 Ready is a study companion for the South African Learner's Licence test, with a few optional features that go beyond your own device. You can study, practise, and take mock tests offline without giving us any personal information. But some features — creating an account, cloud sync, the classroom "shared mock test", purchases, and the ads we show to non-subscribers — do involve personal information. This policy explains exactly what each one collects, who can see it, how long we keep it, and the rights you have to access and delete it.
1. Who we are
K53 Ready ("we", "us", "the app") is published by an independent developer based in South Africa. For any privacy question or request, contact us at support@k53ready.app.
2. Account data — email & password
Creating an account is optional. You only need one to use cloud sync or to host or join a classroom shared mock test. Everything else in the app works without signing in.
When you create an account, we use Google Firebase Authentication to store:
- the email address you sign up with;
- a securely hashed version of your password — Firebase handles password hashing and we never see or store your plaintext password;
- basic account metadata such as the date the account was created and a unique account identifier (your "uid").
We use this only to recognise you when you sign in and to link your synced data and classroom participation to your account.
3. Cloud sync (optional, for Pro subscribers)
If you have a Pro subscription and turn on cloud sync, your quiz and mock-test attempt history is backed up to Google Cloud Firestore under your account. This lets you keep your progress and pick up on another device. For each saved attempt this includes:
- your scores and per-section results, and whether the attempt passed;
- timestamps (when the attempt was taken and how long it took);
- per-question results (which questions you got right or wrong, and per-question response times).
This data is stored keyed to your account (under users/<your-uid>) and is
readable only by you. Cloud sync is opt-in — if you don't enable it, your attempt history stays
only on your device.
4. Classroom "shared mock test"
K53 Ready includes a classroom feature where an instructor can run a live, graded mock test and students join with a code. Because this feature is designed for other people to see results, it is the part of the app that shares the most information — please read it carefully.
If you host a class test
When you create a class session, we store a session record that carries the display name you choose for yourself as host, the test settings, and the join code. Students who join see your host display name.
If you join a class test as a student
When you join a session, we store and process:
- the display name you enter when joining;
- your answer choices for each question;
- your graded score and per-question correct/incorrect results.
This information is visible to the instructor (the session host). The host can see your display name, your score, and your per-question results, and your answers are combined with other students' to show the host answer distributions for the class.
A note for instructors and learners (this may involve minors)
Learners taking the K53 test can be as young as 16, so a classroom session may include minors. If you are an instructor hosting a session, you are responsible for obtaining any consent required (for example, from a learner or their parent or guardian) before collecting students' names and results through this feature, and for handling that information responsibly.
If you are a student, we encourage you to join using only a first name or your initials rather than your full name — your display name is shown to the instructor and used in the class results.
5. Purchases & subscriptions
K53 Ready offers an optional Pro subscription. Purchases are processed by the Apple App Store or Google Play, and we use RevenueCat to manage and verify your subscription and purchase status across devices. We do not receive or store your full payment card details — those are handled by the app store. Through RevenueCat we receive your purchase and entitlement status (for example, whether your Pro subscription is active) tied to your account identifier, so the app knows which features to unlock.
6. Advertising — Google AdMob
K53 Ready shows ads to users who do not have a Pro subscription — banner ads on some screens and an occasional full-screen ad. Pro subscribers see no ads. Ads are served by Google AdMob. To serve them, the AdMob SDK (Google) may use:
- a mobile advertising identifier (Apple's IDFA on iOS, Google's Advertising ID on Android);
- device and operating-system information (device model, OS version, language);
- approximate location derived from your IP address;
- limited interaction data with the ads themselves (impressions, clicks).
Google's use of this data is covered by its own privacy policy at policies.google.com/privacy, and its page on how partners use this data is at policies.google.com/technologies/partner-sites.
Your control over ads
- iOS: Settings → Privacy & Security → Tracking — toggle off "Allow Apps to Request to Track", or deny tracking when prompted.
- Android: Settings → Google → Ads — tap "Delete advertising ID" or "Opt out of ad personalisation".
- You can opt out of personalised advertising more broadly at adssettings.google.com.
- Subscribing to Pro removes ads entirely.
7. Driving-school directory
The app includes a directory of driving schools. It can show school contact details (such as a name, area, and contact information) so you can find a school near you. To help sort schools by distance and to power location search, the app may use your device's approximate location and a places search service (Google Places). Location is used only to find and order nearby schools; you can decline the location permission and still browse the directory. If you list your own school in the directory, the details you submit are stored so they can be shown to other users.
8. How long we keep your data
- Classroom session data (host and student display names, answers, and scores) is temporary. Each session has an automatic expiry of about 14 days, enforced by a Cloud Firestore time-to-live (TTL) policy. When a session expires it is deleted automatically, and a cascading cleanup removes the related sub-records (questions, members, answers, and results) so nothing is left behind.
- Account data and synced attempt history persist until you delete them. You can remove everything at any time using the in-app delete option described below, or by asking us.
9. Your rights — access & deletion (POPIA / GDPR)
You have the right to access your personal information and to ask us to correct or delete it.
- Delete everything in-app: open Settings → Delete account. This deletes your account and removes your synced attempt history (scores, timestamps, and per-question results) from the cloud.
- Classroom participation: the names, answers, and scores from a classroom session self-expire and are deleted automatically within about 14 days, as described above.
- Ads: data collected by Google AdMob is controlled through your device's advertising-identifier settings and your Google account, as described in Section 6.
For any access, correction, or deletion request — or any other privacy question — email us at support@k53ready.app and we will respond within a reasonable time.
10. Service providers
We rely on the following third parties to provide the features above. Each processes data on our behalf or in line with its own privacy policy:
- Google Firebase — Authentication, Cloud Firestore, Cloud Functions, and Hosting (firebase.google.com/support/privacy).
- RevenueCat — subscription and purchase management (revenuecat.com/privacy).
- Google AdMob — advertising shown to non-subscribers (policies.google.com/privacy).
- Apple App Store and Google Play — app distribution and payment processing for subscriptions.
11. Children
K53 Ready is aimed at learner drivers, the youngest of whom may be 16. The app is rated suitable for general audiences. The classroom feature may involve minors; where it does, instructors are responsible for any consent required (see Section 4). We do not knowingly collect personal data from children outside the limited, instructor-managed classroom context, and we encourage students to use a first name or initials only.
12. Source content & trademarks
The official road signs, vehicle diagrams, and rule summaries are derived from the South African Department of Transport's K53 Learner's Driver Manual (June 2012, Version 1.00), used here for educational purposes. "K53" refers to the South African learner's licence syllabus and is not a trademark of this app.
13. Commute reminders (optional)
The app has an optional reminder that suggests doing a quick test while you travel. It is off by default and only works after you turn it on in Settings. When enabled, the app schedules a couple of fixed-time local notifications at typical commute times, entirely on your device. It does not track your location, movement, or trips — nothing is collected, uploaded, or shared. The reminders are limited to at most twice a day and are written for passengers, since that is who most learners are while travelling. You can turn them off at any time in Settings.
14. Changes to this policy
We may update this policy as the app changes — for example, if we add or remove a feature or a third-party service. When we do, the "Last updated" date at the top of this page will change, and the new policy will be hosted at the same URL.