Terms of Service

User Roles

Within our Platform, School-Provisioned Account users may hold one of the following roles:

• Teacher: Standard access to create and manage classes, assessments, and grades.
• Teacher Administrator: Additional permissions to manage other teachers within assigned areas.
• School Administrator: Full administrative access to manage all school users, settings, and integrations.

Account Security

You must maintain the confidentiality of your login credentials. We offer Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) for enhanced security and recommend enabling it. You must verify your email address before accessing the Platform.

3.1 Free Trial

• Duration: We offer a 14-day free trial upon registration.
• No Payment Required: You do not need to provide payment details to start your trial. Your trial begins automatically when you create an account.
• Trial Access: During your trial, you have full access to all Platform features.
• Trial Expiry: When your trial ends, you will need to subscribe to continue using the Platform. You will not be charged automatically.

3.2 Subscription

• Payment Details: You only need to provide payment details when you choose to subscribe after your trial (or at any time during your trial).
• Currency: All payments are processed in GBP (£) for UK customers.
• Auto-Renewal: Once subscribed, your subscription will automatically renew at the end of each billing period unless cancelled.
• Billing Transparency: We will notify you before any renewal charge is processed.

3.3 Cancellation

• Easy Exit: You can cancel your subscription at any time via the "Billing" portal in your account settings.
• Cooling-Off Period: If you subscribe and cancel within 14 days of your first payment, you are entitled to a full refund under the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013, provided the service has not been substantially used.
• Effect of Cancellation: Upon cancellation, you retain access until the end of your current billing period. After that, your account reverts to an inactive state.

3.4 School Accounts

If your access is provisioned by a School, subscription terms are governed by the Master Agreement between Mark Mate and your institution. School-provisioned accounts do not require individual subscriptions.

4.1 AI Provider & Data Processing

• Provider: We use OpenAI's current language models to power our AI features.
• Data Transfers: Data is transmitted to OpenAI's servers, which are located in the United States. To ensure compliance with UK GDPR, we operate under OpenAI's Data Processing Addendum (DPA), which incorporates the UK International Data Transfer Addendum (to the Standard Contractual Clauses), providing a lawful basis for international data transfers.
• Data Retention: OpenAI does not use data submitted through our API to train their models. While data is not used for training, OpenAI retains API inputs/outputs for up to 30 days solely for the purpose of abuse and safety monitoring, after which it is permanently deleted.

4.2 AI Features

Our Platform provides the following AI-assisted features:

• AutoMark: Analyses uploaded student work against learning objectives to generate draft feedback and suggested grades. This operates as a three-step process: (1) observation and analysis, (2) feedback generation, and (3) quality review.
• Feedback Transformation: Adjusts the tone, length, or reading level of existing feedback at your request.
• Natter Processing: Converts spoken teacher notes into structured written feedback.

4.3 Human-in-the-Loop Requirement

• All AI outputs are "Guides" or "Drafts." You (the Teacher) MUST review, edit, and approve all AI-generated feedback before sharing it with students.
• The final decision on grades and feedback content rests solely with you as the professional educator.
• You are responsible for ensuring the accuracy and appropriateness of any feedback shared with students.

4.4 AI Limitations & Disclaimer

• No Professional Liability: We are not liable for pedagogical errors, grading inaccuracies, or student/parent disputes resulting from AI-generated drafts.
• AI Accuracy: AI systems may produce errors, hallucinations, or inappropriate content. Always review outputs carefully.
• Educational Standards: AI feedback follows Department for Education (DfE) guidelines and the "Three M" principles (Meaningful, Manageable, Motivating), but human professional judgment remains essential.

5.1 Prohibited Activities

You shall not:

• Circumvent Security Controls: Attempt to bypass, probe, or breach any security or authentication measures, including rate-limiting protocols and encryption standards.
• Interfere with Performance: Engage in any activity that imposes an unreasonable load on our infrastructure, or otherwise disrupts the integrity or performance of the Platform.
• Reverse Engineering: Decompile, reverse-engineer, or otherwise attempt to derive the source code or underlying algorithms of our AI-assisted grading logic or Platform architecture.
• Automated Access: Utilise any manual or automated software, devices (such as "spiders," "crawlers," or "scrapers"), or other processes to extract data or content from the Platform without our express written permission.
• Input Integrity: Submit content that contains malicious logic, unauthorised scripts, or data that violates the rights of any third party.
• Misuse of AI: Use AI features to generate content that is harmful, discriminatory, or inappropriate for educational settings.

5.2 Our Security Measures

Mark Mate employs industry-standard safeguards, including:

• Industry-standard password hashing (bcrypt/argon2)
• CSRF protection on all forms
• Session-based throttling on authentication endpoints
• Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) option
• Email verification requirement
• Encrypted data transmission (HTTPS/TLS)
• Encrypted storage of sensitive credentials (OAuth tokens)

5.3 Enforcement

We reserve the right to monitor usage patterns to detect anomalies and may suspend or terminate access to any account that threatens the security posture of the Platform without prior notice.

6.1 Hosting & Data Location

• Primary Hosting: All primary databases are hosted in the United Kingdom.
• Backups: We perform daily rolling backups with a 7-day retention period.
• AI Processing: When using AI features, data is transmitted to OpenAI servers (which may be located in the USA) for processing only. Data is transmitted to OpenAI servers for processing and is subject to the 30-day safety retention period described in Section 4.1.

6.2 Third-Party Processors (Sub-Processors)

By using Mark Mate, you acknowledge that we share data with the following processors as necessary to provide the service:

6.3 Data Controller Responsibilities

• For Individual Users: Mark Mate acts as Data Controller for your account data and any student data you input.
• For School-Provisioned Users: The School acts as Data Controller for student data. Mark Mate acts as Data Processor under the DPA with your School.
• For Wonde Integration: Schools authorise data sync through Wonde. Mark Mate processes this data as instructed by the School.

7.5 Product Improvement & De-identified Data

To enhance the pedagogical accuracy and performance of Mark Mate, you agree that we may use de-identified or aggregated data derived from your use of the Platform.

• This data is stripped of all Personal Data (such as names, school identifiers, and locations) so that it can no longer be associated with an individual.
• We may use this anonymous data to train, tune, and improve our proprietary internal models and features.
• Note: This does not apply to our third-party providers (e.g., OpenAI), who remain strictly prohibited from using your data to train their models under our current DPA.

Exclusions

We are not liable for:

• Indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages
• Loss of profits, data, or business opportunities
• Pedagogical outcomes or educational results
• AI-generated content that you choose to use without adequate review
• Service interruptions caused by third-party failures (e.g., hosting providers, OpenAI, Stripe, Wonde)