Security & Data Protection

1. Every school is kept apart

Each school’s information is separated from every other school’s. This is built into the database itself, not only into the screens, and an automatic test tries every part of the system with another school’s login every time we change it. Nothing is allowed to leak between schools.

2. People see only what their job needs

Owner, principal, coordinator, accountant, receptionist, teacher and parent each get different rights. The owner can switch any right on or off for each role, in plain words. A teacher sees only the classes and subjects they are given, and a parent sees only their own children.

Some things are extra private: salaries, fee approvals, and question papers (which only the teacher who wrote them, the approvers and the school leaders can open).

3. Signing in

Passwords are stored in a scrambled form that we cannot turn back into the password. Too many wrong tries lock the door for a while. The sign-in cookie cannot be read by page scripts.

Connections to the website and the service are encrypted (HTTPS).

4. Everything leaves a trail

Important changes (who changed what, and when) are recorded. Business records such as fees and attendance are kept with their history rather than erased, so mistakes can be traced and corrected.

5. Money records

Money is stored as exact amounts, and fee movements are written to a ledger that the database itself protects from being edited or deleted. Balances are worked out from the ledger.

6. Files and pictures

Pictures and files that people upload (school logo, pictures in question papers, payment proofs, and scanned documents such as B-forms and ID cards) are stored safely on Amazon S3 bucket servers, in a private space for each school, and are shown only to the people allowed to see them. Sensitive documents can be opened only by people the school chooses, and each time one is opened it is recorded.

7. Devices

The gate tablet and class attendance keep records on the device until the internet returns. The gate tablet uses a private link and a PIN for each employee. Please keep those devices in safe hands.

8. What schools can do

• use a strong password and never share it;
• give each person only the role they need;
• mark staff who leave as left (this turns off their access to your school);
• print parent logins only for the parent, and reset them if a phone is lost;
• keep your own copy of important lists by exporting them to Excel now and then.

9. Report a problem

If you find a security problem or think someone else can see information they should not, please tell us straight away and do not share it publicly: use the contact page of BrightCodeX (https://brightcodex.com/). We will look into it quickly and tell you what we find.