Terms of use

These terms govern a teacher’s use of the Ofoq service, through which the teacher creates their teaching platform and runs it. The teacher accepts these terms by creating a platform on Ofoq or by using one. The Content policy (in Arabic) forms part of these terms, as does the “Student data processing terms” section at the end. The Privacy policy explains the data that Ofoq handles.

1. Definitions

• Ofoq: the brand under which the service is provided through ofoq.co, and the team that runs it.
• Platform: the teacher’s platform on Ofoq. It includes the dashboard from which the teacher runs it and the student site from which students follow the teacher’s content.
• Teacher: the owner of the platform, meaning the person who holds the Owner account in the dashboard, whether they use it in their own name or in the name of an organization they represent.
• Team: the people for whom the teacher adds dashboard accounts, with the permissions the teacher sets for each of them.
• Students: the people who sign up on the teacher’s platform to follow the teacher’s content.

2. Who provides the service

This service is provided under the brand Ofoq through ofoq.co. Ofoq hosts and runs teachers’ platforms, but it does not prepare the content published on them and does not endorse it.

3. Who may use the service

To use the service:

• The teacher must be at least 18 years old.
• The teacher must use it to offer educational or training content, in their own name or in the name of an organization they are entitled to represent.
• The information the teacher provides when creating the platform must be accurate.

The teacher is responsible for their team’s compliance with these terms. Students are not a party to these terms: their relationship with the teacher is governed by the terms the teacher agrees with them, provided those terms do not conflict with these terms.

4. The account and its security

• The teacher is responsible for keeping their password and their team’s passwords confidential, and for everything done through those accounts. The teacher should choose a strong password that they do not use anywhere else, and should not share it with anyone.
• The Ofoq team does not ask anyone for a password: not the teacher, not their team and not their students, whether in a message, in a call or during an identity check. Any message that asks for a password in Ofoq’s name is not from Ofoq.
• Passwords are stored in a way that does not let anyone read them, not even the Ofoq team. So an old password cannot be retrieved; a new password is set instead.
• The account is not linked to an email address, so a password is not reset by email, and Ofoq does not send verification codes.
• The teacher changes their own password from the dashboard, and no member of their team can change it.
• If the teacher loses their password, Ofoq sets a new one for them only by hand, after verifying their identity in a conversation on the WhatsApp number registered to their account. After verification, Ofoq gives them a temporary password, which they must change as soon as they sign in. Ofoq may refuse if verification is not possible, including when the account has no registered number.
• The teacher, and any team member the teacher gives the permission to, change team members’ and students’ passwords from the dashboard. Ofoq does not do this on the teacher’s behalf.

5. The free core service

5.1 What the core service includes

The core service includes what Ofoq makes available to every teacher:

• A platform on a subdomain of Ofoq’s domain.
• An Arabic dashboard for running the platform.
• Adding levels, courses, lectures and offers.
• Student sign-up on the platform, managing students, and activating their subscriptions by hand.
• Adding team members and setting each member’s permissions.
• The student site, from which students follow the content.
• Fixes for faults in Ofoq’s software, and updates to everything above, as section 6 describes.

5.2 Ofoq’s commitment

Ofoq commits to keeping the core service free for the teacher: with no subscription, no charge based on the number of students or the number of courses, and no limit on the number of students. This is subject to the fair use rules in section 7, which concern abuse and storage, not the number of students. This commitment does not extend to anything not listed in section 5.1.

5.3 Stability of this commitment

Ofoq’s right to change these terms (section 15) does not apply to section 5, except to add something that extends the core service. So Ofoq will not impose on the teacher a subscription, or a charge based on the number of their students or courses, and will not take any part of the core service out of it or make that part paid, without the teacher’s consent. This does not prevent Ofoq from shutting down the whole service under section 13.

6. Fixes and updates

• Ofoq commits to fixing the faults it finds in its software, meaning the dashboard, the student site and the systems that run them, at no cost to the teacher and without committing to a specific time for the fix.
• This commitment does not cover the content the teacher adds, the settings of their platform, or services and systems that Ofoq does not run.
• Updates to the core service reach every platform automatically, with no upgrade charge and without the teacher installing anything.
• Ofoq may change how parts of the service work without reducing the core service. Ofoq does not promise any particular feature, or a date for any feature.

7. Fair use

Ofoq sets no limit on the number of students, but it may set reasonable technical limits that protect the service for all teachers, such as a maximum size for a single file, and it may take action if a platform’s use harms the stability or security of the service.

The teacher and their team may not:

• Use the platform for anything other than offering educational or training content, such as storing files unrelated to that content or turning the platform into a general file store.
• Create empty or multiple platforms to reserve names and links.
• Try to access another platform’s data or accounts they have no permission for, or get around security measures or usage limits.
• Send heavy automated requests, or do anything that disrupts or overloads the service.
• Copy, reverse-engineer or sell Ofoq’s software, or make it available to others, outside these terms.

8. The teacher’s content and rights

• The content the teacher adds remains the property of the teacher or of its rights holders, and Ofoq acquires no ownership of it.
• The teacher grants Ofoq a limited permission to host, copy, process and display this content to their platform’s visitors and students according to the teacher’s settings, only as far as needed to run their platform. This permission ends when the platform is permanently deleted, subject to section 12.
• The teacher confirms that they hold all the rights needed for what they add, or that they have permission from the rights holders. They may not upload books, study notes, courses, recordings or images that belong to others without permission from their rights holders.
• Ofoq does not use the teacher’s name or content in advertising without the teacher’s permission.
• Ofoq’s software, name and logo belong to Ofoq, and the teacher gains no right in them other than the right to use the service under these terms.

9. Prohibited content and its removal

The teacher and their team must follow the Content policy (in Arabic). If Ofoq confirms a breach of it, Ofoq may remove the content in breach, or suspend or delete the platform, as described in that policy and in section 11.

10. The teacher’s obligations to their students

• The teacher is the one who provides content to their students and sells it to them, and Ofoq is not a party to that relationship.
• The teacher sets their prices and shows them clearly, receives their students’ payments themselves, and then activates their subscriptions from the dashboard.
• The teacher sets a clear policy for refunds, cancellations and how long content stays available, tells their students about it before they pay, and keeps to what they announced.
• The teacher complies with the laws that apply to their activity, including consumer protection and personal data protection laws.
• The teacher obtains the consent of the guardians of their students who are minors, as the “Student data processing terms” section explains.
• The teacher receives their students’ questions and complaints and answers them, including requests to change a password or to reset devices.

11. Suspending and deleting a platform

Ofoq may suspend a platform or delete it permanently in the following cases:

• If the teacher or their team breaches these terms or the content policy.
• If the platform poses a risk to the security of the service or to its users.
• If a competent authority requires it under the law.
• If the abandoned-platform rule in this section applies to it.

When a platform is suspended, its student site stops being shown, and the sign-in sessions of all its accounts end. Its data stays stored until the suspension is lifted or the platform is permanently deleted, except for its uploaded files, which Ofoq may delete when it suspends the platform for a breach.

Ofoq informs the teacher of the action and its reason under section 16, and if the notice reached the teacher by message, they may object by replying to it. In serious cases, such as phishing, impersonating others or spreading malware, Ofoq acts immediately and informs the teacher afterwards. Ofoq may delete a platform permanently in serious or repeated cases.

Abandoned platforms: if 30 days pass after a platform is created and the teacher has not signed in to the dashboard even once, and no course, lecture, offer, student or bill has been added to it, Ofoq may delete it permanently without prior notice and make its link available to another platform.

The teacher can stop using the service at any time.

12. Data when a platform ends

• When a platform is permanently deleted for any reason set out in these terms, Ofoq deletes the platform’s data from its systems, including its students’ data and its uploaded files, within 90 days.
• Copies of this data may remain in the hosting providers’ backups, if any, until they are deleted in their usual cycle. Ofoq keeps what the law requires it to keep, and anything that documents an action it took because of a breach.
• The teacher can delete their students’ accounts from the dashboard at any time. Ofoq does not currently offer a way for the teacher to request the deletion of their whole platform.
• Ofoq does not promise a tool for exporting the platform’s data, so the teacher is advised to keep their own copy of their files and content.

13. Shutting down the service permanently

If Ofoq decides to shut down the whole service, it will announce this at least 30 days before the shutdown date, under section 16. Platforms keep working during this period, unless a cause beyond Ofoq’s control prevents it, and their data is then deleted under section 12.

14. Limits of liability

The core service is provided free of charge and as available, and Ofoq gives no warranties other than those stated expressly in these terms. Ofoq does not guarantee that the service will always work without errors: it may stop temporarily for maintenance or for reasons beyond Ofoq’s control.

To the extent the law allows, Ofoq is not liable for:

• The content added by the teacher, their team or their students, and the consequences of publishing it.
• The teacher’s relationship with their students, including payments, refunds and disputes between them.
• A student copying or republishing content, including sharing the direct link to an uploaded file, since anyone who has that link can open the file.
• What results from the teacher or their team disclosing a password, or from misuse of their accounts.
• Indirect losses, such as lost profit, lost students or harm to reputation.

This section does not limit any liability that cannot be excluded by law, such as liability for fraud or gross negligence. The teacher is responsible for any third-party claim that arises from their content or from their breach of these terms.

15. Changes to these terms

• Ofoq may change these terms, and it publishes the changed text on this page with its effective date.
• A material change takes effect at least 14 days after it is published, and Ofoq announces it under section 16. A change in the teacher’s favor, a change the law requires, or a change needed to address a security risk takes effect on the date it is published.
• If the teacher does not agree to a change, they can stop using the service before it takes effect. Continuing to use the service after it takes effect means accepting the change.
• This right to change the terms does not apply to section 5, except to add something that extends the core service, as section 5.3 explains.

16. Notices

• Ofoq sends the teacher the notices that concern their platform, such as its suspension, by message to the WhatsApp number registered to their account, if there is one.
• Ofoq publishes on ofoq.co the notices that concern teachers in general, such as changes to these terms or the shutdown of the service, and every security incident that affects platforms’ data, without naming the platforms affected, and it may also send them by message.
• Ofoq does not use the WhatsApp number registered to the account for marketing messages.

17. Governing law and jurisdiction

These terms are governed by the laws of the Arab Republic of Egypt and are interpreted under them, and the Egyptian courts have jurisdiction over any dispute that arises from them. If any provision of these terms is invalid or cannot be enforced, the remaining provisions stay in effect.

Student data processing terms

This section completes the Terms of use and governs how Ofoq handles the data of the students who sign up on a teacher’s platform.

A. Each party’s role

The teacher is the controller of their students’ data, because the teacher decides to collect it and what it is for. Ofoq is the processor: it processes this data on the teacher’s behalf and only to run their platform. This data includes what a student enters when signing up, such as their name, phone number, guardian’s phone number, governorate and school level; what they send through the platform’s pages after signing in; and what the teacher and their team record about them, such as subscriptions, bills, follow-up calls and notes. It also includes a code for each device the student signs in from, used to apply the device limit, and the browser type at each sign-in.

B. The teacher’s instructions

Ofoq processes students’ data according to the teacher’s instructions, and the settings of the teacher’s platform and what the teacher and their team do in the dashboard count as the teacher’s instructions. Ofoq does not use this data for any other purpose: it does not sell it, does not use it for advertising and does not message students for marketing purposes. The Ofoq team looks at this data only as far as needed to run the service, fix a fault or check for misuse, or as far as the law requires.

C. Security

Ofoq takes reasonable measures to protect the data, including:

• Each platform’s data is kept separate from every other platform’s, and every data request is limited to its own platform.
• Students’ passwords are stored in a way that does not let anyone read them, not even the Ofoq team.
• Sign-in sessions are protected, and repeated sign-in attempts are limited.
• Each student has a limit on the number of their devices, and one active sign-in session at a time.

No system is entirely free of risk, and Ofoq does not claim otherwise.

D. Service providers

Ofoq uses providers to host and run the service, such as providers of servers, databases, file storage and page delivery, and the data is stored with them outside Egypt, where they process it on Ofoq’s behalf and only to run the service. By accepting these terms, the teacher authorizes Ofoq to use them.

E. Security incidents

If Ofoq learns of a security incident affecting the data of a platform’s students, it informs the teacher without undue delay under section 16, with what it knows about the incident and what it has done to contain it. Ofoq helps the teacher with the information it has, so that the teacher can meet their legal obligations toward their students and the competent authorities.

F. Deletion

The teacher can edit any student’s data or delete their account from the dashboard. When a student’s account is deleted, their sign-up data, their device codes and what they sent through the platform are deleted, and their sign-in sessions end, while the subscriptions, bills, follow-up calls and notes recorded about them remain in the platform’s records. When the platform is permanently deleted, its students’ data is deleted under section 12.

G. The teacher’s obligations

The teacher:

• Obtains their students’ consent to the collection and processing of their data, and the consent of the guardians of those who are minors, as the law requires.
• Tells their students that the teacher is responsible for their data, and what the teacher collects and why.
• Collects only what they need for teaching, and does not put sensitive data that is not needed, such as health data, in notes.
• Does not publish their students’ names, photos or data on their platform’s site without the students’ consent, and the consent of the guardians of those who are minors.
• Receives requests from students and their guardians about their data and responds to them, using the dashboard’s tools.