Privacy Policy

Overview

CareerMap is a career exploration platform helping people navigate transitions, close skill gaps, and find their next role. This Privacy Policy explains what personal information we collect, why we collect it, and how we use and protect it.

We've written this in plain English. If you have questions that aren't answered here, email us at privacy@careermap.africa — we're happy to help.

What information we collect

Account information (when you register)

• Name (first and last)
• Email address
• Password — hashed before storage; we cannot see your password in plain text
• Current role (optional) — used to personalise your experience

Information you provide while using CareerMap

• CV content — your name, email, work experience, skills, and references. Stored locally in your browser by default and only sent to our servers when you use AI enhancement.
• Skills assessment responses and scores
• Roles you save to your roadmap
• Course completion status
• Mentor requests and connections

Information collected automatically

• Browser type and version
• Pages visited and time spent
• Referring URL
• General location (country/city level only, derived from IP address)

We use automatically collected data only to improve the platform. We do not use it to build profiles about you or target you with advertising.

How we use your information

• Personalising your career exploration experience
• Showing you relevant job listings via the Adzuna API
• Generating AI-powered CV enhancements via the Anthropic API (only when you explicitly trigger this)
• Matching you with relevant mentors
• Sending weekly career guide emails (only if you subscribe)
• Improving the platform based on aggregated usage patterns
• Responding to support requests
• Detecting and preventing fraud and abuse

How we share your information

Third-party services we use

What we never do

• Never sell your personal data to third parties
• Never share your CV content with employers without your explicit consent
• Never use your data to train AI models
• Never show you advertising of any kind

Legal requirements

We may disclose your information if required by law, court order, or regulation. Where legally permitted, we will notify you before doing so.

Data storage and security

• CV drafts, roadmap entries, and assessment results are stored in your browser's localStorage — they stay on your device and are never transmitted to our servers unless you explicitly use AI enhancement.
• Account data (name, email, roadmap synced to your account) is stored on secure Supabase servers.
• Passwords are hashed before storage — we cannot see your password.
• All data in transit is protected with HTTPS encryption.
• We conduct regular security reviews of our dependencies and infrastructure.

Your rights

Right to access

You can request a copy of all personal data we hold about you. Email us at privacy@careermap.africa with the subject “Data Access Request”. We aim to respond within 5 business days (maximum 30 days).

Right to correction

You can update your name, email, and profile details at any time from your account Settings.

Right to deletion

You can delete your account and all associated data from Settings → Danger zone → Clear all my data. Browser-stored data (CV drafts, roadmap) is deleted immediately. Server-side account data is removed within 30 days.

Right to portability

You can export your data as JSON from Settings → Export my data.

Right to object

You can opt out of analytics at any time by contacting us. We use privacy-first analytics and will remove your data from aggregate reports on request.

Right to restrict processing

Contact us at privacy@careermap.africa to restrict how we use your data without deleting your account.

GDPR note for EU users

If you are in the EU, you have additional rights under GDPR. Our legal basis for processing is: consent (for optional features such as AI enhancement and newsletters), contract performance (for core features like account management and job search), and legitimate interests (for security monitoring and fraud prevention).

Cookies

We use a minimal number of cookies:

• Session cookie — keeps you logged in. Essential for the service to function.
• Preference cookie — remembers your settings. Functional only.
• Analytics — we use privacy-first analytics with no cross-site tracking and no personal identifiers.

We use no advertising cookies and no third-party tracking pixels. For full details, see our Cookie Policy.

Children's privacy

CareerMap is not intended for users under the age of 16. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children. If you believe a child has provided us with personal information, please contact us immediately at privacy@careermap.africa and we will take prompt action to delete that information.

Changes to this policy

We will notify registered users by email of any significant changes to this Privacy Policy. Minor updates will be reflected in a revised “last updated” date at the top of this page. Your continued use of CareerMap after changes are posted constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

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