Privacy Policy

BestSchool.ae

Last updated: 2 November 2026

1. Who we are

BestSchool.ae (the "Website") is published and operated by VBTech Limited, a company registered in Hong Kong, with its registered office at Room 747, 7/F, Star House, 3 Salisbury Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong ("VBTech", "we", "us", "our").

VBTech is the controller (data user) of the personal data described in this Privacy Policy. It explains what we collect when you use the Website, its AI assistant and our services for schools, why we collect it, who we share it with, how long we keep it, and the choices and rights you have.

Questions or requests about your personal data: [email protected].

2. Information about schools

The Website is a directory of schools in the United Arab Emirates. School profiles are compiled from public sources: inspection reports and data published by education regulators (such as KHDA, ADEK and SPEA), the schools' own websites and public social media accounts (YouTube, Instagram), public directories, and information supplied by schools themselves.

School profiles may contain the names and roles of school leaders (for example a principal or head of school) when the school or a regulator has published them. We do not publish the names of pupils. If you appear on a school profile and want information about you corrected or removed, write to [email protected].

3. Information we collect about you

3.1 Information you give us

  • Account: your email address, and your name and profile picture if you sign in with Google. Sign-in uses one-time codes or links sent by email.
  • Reviews: the ratings and text you submit about a school, with the name you choose to display.
  • Questions to the AI assistant: the messages you type, the assistant's answers, the page you asked from, and your conversation history if you are signed in.
  • Newsletter: your email address.
  • School claims and enquiries: when you claim a school profile or ask about our services, your name, role, work email, phone number, the school concerned, your goals, budget range, message, and whether you agreed to receive marketing.
  • Messages to us: what you write to us by email or through a form.

3.2 Information collected automatically

  • Technical data: IP address, browser and device type, pages requested, date and time, referring page. Our servers and our content delivery network log these to deliver and protect the Website.
  • Usage and audience measurement: how you use the Website (pages viewed, clicks, scrolling, time on page), through cookies and similar technologies. See section 6.
  • Rate limiting: the AI assistant counts requests per IP address or per account to prevent abuse.

4. How we use your information, and on what basis

  • To provide the Website and your account (sign-in, reviews, conversation history, newsletter): to perform our agreement with you.
  • To answer your questions through the AI assistant, which searches our school data to reply: to perform our agreement with you. Your messages are processed by third-party AI model providers to generate the answer (section 5).
  • To moderate reviews and keep the directory accurate and fair: our legitimate interest in publishing reliable information.
  • To verify school claims and offer our services to schools: steps taken at the school's request before a contract, and our legitimate interest. Marketing messages are sent only with consent, which you can withdraw at any time.
  • To measure and improve the Website (audience statistics, which pages help parents most, the quality of the assistant's answers): our legitimate interest, and your consent where the law requires it for cookies.
  • To show advertising (section 6.3): our legitimate interest in funding a free service, and your consent where required.
  • To secure the Website, prevent fraud, spam and abuse, and comply with legal obligations: legitimate interest and legal obligation.

We do not sell your personal data. Schools cannot buy a position, a rating or a review on the Website.

5. Who we share it with

We use service providers who process data on our behalf and under our instructions:

  • Hosting: our servers are hosted by Wistee (France).
  • Content delivery and security: Cloudflare, which also provides privacy-friendly Web Analytics.
  • Accounts and sign-in: Google Firebase.
  • Email delivery: Mailjet and other transactional email providers.
  • AI assistant: third-party AI model providers, which receive the conversation needed to generate an answer.
  • Audience measurement: Google Analytics and Microsoft Clarity.
  • Advertising: Google AdSense.

Reviews you publish, with your display name, are visible to everyone. We may also disclose information when the law requires it, to protect our rights or the safety of others, or as part of a merger, sale or reorganisation of our business, in which case this Policy continues to apply.

6. Cookies and similar technologies

6.1 Necessary

Used to keep you signed in, remember your preferences and protect the Website (for example against bots). The Website does not work properly without them.

6.2 Audience measurement

Google Analytics and Cloudflare Web Analytics count visits and pages viewed. Microsoft Clarity records how pages are used (clicks, scrolling, mouse movements) to help us find what is confusing or broken; text you type into forms is masked. Learn more in Google's Privacy Policy and the Microsoft Privacy Statement.

6.3 Advertising

We show advertising served by Google AdSense. Third-party vendors, including Google, use cookies to serve ads based on your prior visits to this Website or other websites. Google's use of advertising cookies enables it and its partners to serve ads to you based on your visits to this and other sites on the internet.

You may opt out of personalised advertising in Google Ads Settings, or opt out of a third-party vendor's use of cookies for personalised advertising at www.aboutads.info. How Google uses information from sites that use its services is explained at policies.google.com/technologies/partner-sites.

Visitors from the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom and Switzerland are asked for consent before personalised ads are shown. Advertising never affects the information or the order of schools on the Website.

6.4 Your choices

You can block or delete cookies in your browser settings. Blocking necessary cookies may stop sign-in or other features from working.

7. International transfers

VBTech is based in Hong Kong, our servers are in France, and several providers (including Google, Microsoft, Cloudflare and AI model providers) process data in the United States and other countries. Your data may therefore be transferred outside the United Arab Emirates and outside your own country. Where the law requires it, we rely on safeguards such as the providers' standard contractual clauses and data protection agreements.

8. How long we keep it

  • Account, reviews and conversation history: as long as your account is open. You can delete conversations yourself; we delete or anonymise the rest within 90 days of an account deletion request, except published reviews, which we may keep in anonymised form.
  • Questions to the AI assistant without an account: kept to improve the quality of answers and to prevent abuse, for up to 24 months, then deleted or anonymised.
  • School claims and enquiries: for the duration of our relationship with the school, then up to 3 years for our records.
  • Newsletter: until you unsubscribe.
  • Technical logs: a few weeks, except where needed to investigate a security incident.
  • Invoices and payment records: as long as tax and accounting law requires.

9. Your rights

Depending on where you live, and in particular under the UAE Personal Data Protection Law (Federal Decree-Law No. 45 of 2021), the Hong Kong Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance (Cap. 486) and, for visitors in the European Economic Area and the United Kingdom, the GDPR, you may have the right to:

  • access the personal data we hold about you and receive a copy;
  • have inaccurate data corrected;
  • have your data deleted;
  • object to, or ask us to restrict, certain processing, including direct marketing at any time;
  • receive the data you gave us in a portable format;
  • withdraw your consent at any time, without affecting processing already carried out;
  • lodge a complaint with a data protection authority.

To exercise these rights, write to [email protected] from the email address linked to your account or request. We may ask you to confirm your identity, and we reply within one month.

10. Security

We protect your data with encryption in transit (HTTPS), access controls limited to the people who need it, and reputable providers. No system is completely secure; if a breach affects your data and the law requires it, we will notify you and the competent authority.

11. Children

The Website is intended for parents, guardians and education professionals. It is not directed to children under 18, and we do not knowingly collect their personal data. If you believe a child has given us personal data, contact us and we will delete it.

12. Links to other websites

The Website links to school websites, regulators and other third-party sites. Their own privacy policies apply; we are not responsible for their practices.

13. Changes to this Policy

We may update this Policy. The date at the top shows the latest version. If a change significantly affects how we use your data, we will tell you on the Website or by email before it takes effect.

14. Contact

VBTech Limited, Room 747, 7/F, Star House, 3 Salisbury Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong
Email: [email protected]
Website: https://bestschool.ae

Our Terms and Conditions also apply to your use of the Website.