Root LabRoot Lab

Privacy Policy & Cookie Notice

Effective Date: 24 March 2026 | Website: https://root-labs.net/

Part 1 — Privacy Policy

1. Who We Are

Root Labs ("we", "us", or "our") is a technology and educational platform operated from Ireland. We are committed to protecting and respecting your privacy in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Irish Data Protection Act 2018.

Data Controller Contact:

2. What Personal Data We Collect

a) Contact Form

When you use our contact form, we collect:

  • Your name
  • Your email address
  • The content of your message

b) User Accounts & Comments

When you register or comment on the platform, we collect:

  • Username and display name
  • Email address
  • Password (stored in encrypted/hashed form — never in plain text)
  • Profile information you choose to provide
  • Your posted comments and interactions
  • Account activity logs (login times, IP addresses for security)

c) Technical Data

We may automatically collect:

  • IP address
  • Browser type and version
  • Operating system
  • Referring URLs and pages visited

d) Student Age & Parental Consent Data

When a student creates an account, we collect:

  • Date of birth — used solely to determine the appropriate level of parental involvement required by law
  • Parent or guardian email address — collected only when required by the student's country's digital age of consent, and used only to request the guardian's approval before the account becomes active

See Section 10 below for full details on how this data is handled.

3. How We Use Your Data

We use your personal data only for the following purposes:

  • To respond to your enquiries submitted via the contact form
  • To create and manage your user account
  • To enable you to post comments and interact with the platform
  • To improve the security and functionality of the website
  • To comply with legal obligations

We do not use your data for automated decision-making or profiling. We do not sell your data to third parties.

4. Legal Basis for Processing

Under GDPR, we process your personal data based on the following lawful grounds:

  • Consent — for optional communications and non-essential cookies
  • Contractual necessity — to provide account and platform services you have signed up for
  • Legitimate interests — for security monitoring and platform improvement
  • Legal obligation — where required by Irish or EU law

5. Data Retention

We retain your personal data only for as long as necessary:

  • Contact form enquiries: up to 12 months, unless an ongoing relationship develops
  • User account data: for the duration of your account, plus up to 12 months after deletion
  • Comment content: retained for the life of the platform, unless you request removal
  • Security and access logs: up to 90 days

6. Data Sharing

We do not sell or rent your personal data. We may share data with trusted third-party service providers solely to operate this website (e.g., hosting providers, email delivery services). All third parties are contractually required to handle your data in compliance with GDPR.

We may also disclose data if required by law or to protect the rights and safety of Root Labs or its users.

7. Your Rights Under GDPR

As a data subject, you have the following rights:

  • Right of access — to request a copy of the data we hold about you
  • Right to rectification — to correct inaccurate data
  • Right to erasure — to request deletion of your data ("right to be forgotten")
  • Right to restriction — to limit how we use your data
  • Right to data portability — to receive your data in a machine-readable format
  • Right to object — to object to processing based on legitimate interests
  • Right to withdraw consent — at any time where consent was the lawful basis

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at: rootlabs@root-labs.net

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC) at www.dataprotection.ie.

8. Data Security

We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data against unauthorised access, loss, or disclosure. Passwords are stored using industry-standard hashing. Access to user data is restricted to authorised personnel only.

9. International Transfers

We aim to keep all data processing within the EEA. If any third-party service provider is located outside the EEA, we ensure appropriate safeguards are in place (e.g., Standard Contractual Clauses) before any transfer occurs.

10. Children's Privacy & Parental Consent

Root Labs is an educational platform designed for students of all ages. We take the privacy of young learners seriously and comply with GDPR Article 8, the Irish Data Protection Act 2018, and equivalent digital-age-of-consent rules in other countries.

Date of Birth

When a student registers for an account, we ask for their date of birth. This is used solely to determine the level of parental involvement required by the laws of their country (often called the "digital age of consent"). We do not use date of birth for marketing, profiling, or any other purpose.

Parent or Guardian Email Address

If a student is under their country's digital age of consent (for example, under 16 in Ireland and most EU countries), we also collect a parent or guardian email address. This is used for one purpose only: to send the guardian a consent request before the student's account is activated.

  • The student's account remains locked until the parent or guardian approves it.
  • The guardian email is not used for marketing, newsletters, or any communication unrelated to account approval.
  • Once consent is granted (or refused), the guardian email is retained only as a record of consent, in line with our data retention policy.

No Advertising or Data Selling

Age and parental consent data is never sold, shared with advertisers, or used for profiling. It exists solely to ensure age-appropriate access to the platform and to meet our legal obligations to protect younger users.

11. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we do, we will revise the effective date at the top of this page. We encourage you to review this policy periodically.

For questions about this Privacy Policy or Cookie Notice, contact us at: rootlabs@root-labs.net

© 2026 Root Labs. All rights reserved.