Privacy policy

Who we are

MOTHERLAND is a living encyclopedia of Africa operated as a private company. We are not a charity. If you have any question about your information, or you want a copy of it or want it deleted, write to us through the help and support page and we will respond.

What we collect

• Account details — your email address, display name and, if you choose to add one, an avatar and heritage profile.
• Learning activity — the entries you read, games you play, scores and streaks. This is what powers your progress, passport and recommendations.
• Things you send us — stories, contributions, ideas, reviews and support messages.
• Payment records — if you subscribe or make a contribution, our payment provider handles your card details. We never see or store card numbers; we keep only the plan, amount, date and status.
• Technical information — basic, standard web request information needed to serve and secure the site.

Why we use it

To give you an account, show your progress, keep the platform working and secure, answer your messages, take payment for plans you have chosen, and — if you have allowed it — to show adverts that help keep the free tier free. We do not sell your personal information.

Cookies and advertising

Essential cookies keep you signed in and remember your settings; the site cannot work without them. With your permission we also allow advertising cookies. Adverts on MOTHERLAND are served by Google AdSense. Google and its partners may use cookies to show adverts based on your visits to this and other sites. You can refuse advertising cookies here, and you can opt out of personalised Google advertising at google.com/settings/ads or aboutads.info. Members on any paid plan never see adverts at all.

Children, families and schools

Child learner profiles created by a parent or a school are managed by that adult. They are not public, are never used to build advertising profiles, and no adverts are shown in the family, classroom or school areas of the platform. A parent, teacher or school administrator can export or delete a learner's records at any time.

Who we share it with

Only the services needed to run MOTHERLAND: our hosting and database provider, our payment provider, and our advertising provider where you have allowed advertising cookies. Each handles data on our instructions, and we share the minimum required.

Your rights

You can see, correct, export or delete your information. Your settings page lets you download your learning data and delete your learning history directly. You can close your account at any time, and you can complain to your national data protection authority — in the UK, the Information Commissioner's Office.

Keeping it

We keep your account and learning records while your account is open, and remove them after it is closed, except where we must keep payment records for accounting and legal reasons. The data controller for the purposes described above is AVIMIS GROUP LTD (company no. 17300701), registered in England and Wales, trading as MOTHERLAND.