Child safety standards

ZedExams is a learning platform used by Zambian children, most of them between about 9 and 13 years old. This page sets out our standards for keeping them safe, how to report a concern, and who to contact. It applies to zedexams.com and our Android app.

1. Zero tolerance for child sexual abuse and exploitation

We prohibit child sexual abuse and exploitation (CSAE) on ZedExams absolutely. This includes any content that sexualises a child, any attempt to groom, solicit or arrange contact with a child, and any use of the platform to distribute or seek such material.

Any account found engaging in this is removed permanently and without notice, and we report to the Zambia Police Service and to the relevant child-protection authorities. We cooperate fully with lawful requests in such investigations.

2. How to report a concern

• In the app — open Settings → Help & support and tap Report a problem. Choose a reason and a person reviews it. A child does not need to explain why.
• By email — write to support@zedexams.com with "Child safety" in the subject line.
• On WhatsApp — +260 977 740 465.

Reports that indicate a child may be at risk are prioritised and reviewed the same day. Anyone may report — a learner, a parent, a teacher, or someone who does not use ZedExams at all.

If a child is in immediate danger, contact the police, or call Childline Zambia on 116 (free from any network).

3. Our point of contact

Child-safety matters are handled by the ZedExams support team, reachable at support@zedexams.com. This is the designated contact for law enforcement, child-protection organisations, and platform partners.

4. What we do to prevent harm

• A parent or guardian must approve a learner account. When someone under 18 signs up we ask for a parent or guardian's contact and send them a link. A parent can also approve by paying: a learner pays with a parent's mobile money number, and the parent confirming that payment on their own phone is recorded as the guardian's approval, together with the payment reference and the last four digits of the number. Until a guardian approves — by link or by payment — the account can only read lessons and past papers and cannot appear on a leaderboard. A learner can start a payment, but nothing is charged unless the parent approves the prompt on their phone, and a payment never overrides a guardian who has declined.
• A guardian sees what a child is working on, not what they typed. A linked parent or guardian sees subject progress, a streak, a weekly report and the topics their child finds hard. They do not see the child's password. If a learner says something suggesting they are being hurt, that message is not forwarded to a guardian — it is answered with the helpline below and reviewed by a person, because the adult a child is disclosing may be the adult who is linked.
• The child can see who is linked to them, and say no. Linking is never silent. A guardian who enters a family code is not connected until the learner confirms them by name on their own device, and the learner's Guardian screen always lists who is linked, exactly what they can see, and a way to report an adult they do not recognise. Childline Zambia is one tap away from that screen and needs no guardian's permission.
• There is no open messaging between users. ZedExams has no direct messaging, no friend requests, no public profiles, and no way for one learner to contact another privately.
• There is no chatbot a child can talk to. ZedExams removed its learner-facing AI assistant. The AI features that remain are teacher tools and automatic marking — neither is a conversation a child can enter, and neither takes free-form messages from a learner.
• Learner data is minimised. We never record a learner's screen, never estimate their location, never show them advertising, and never share their data for marketing. See our Privacy Policy, section 4.
• Shared questions are reviewed before they reach learners. Every question a teacher creates or imports into our shared question bank is checked automatically for quality and age-appropriateness, and is held for a human decision if anything is unclear. We remove any content that breaks these standards or the law.

5. For parents, guardians and schools

You can ask us at any time to show you, correct, or delete everything we hold about a child in your care — by email, on WhatsApp, or at zedexams.com/delete-account. You do not need an account to make that request.

If you received an approval request from us that you did not expect, the link in it lets you deactivate the account immediately.

6. Keeping this current

We review these standards at least once a year, and whenever we add a feature that changes how children use the platform. Meaningful changes update the date at the top of this page.