Children’s Privacy Deserves Clear Answers

This notice focuses on children under 13 in the United States and the protections provided by the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, commonly known as COPPA.

Some states and countries define a child or minor differently. READTYCH will apply additional protections where required by the laws governing a participating institution or student.

Students who are 13 or older may still receive protections under education privacy laws, state student privacy laws, institutional agreements, and the READTYCH Student Data Privacy Notice.

Age should never determine how seriously we take a student’s privacy.

A school, district, educator, or another authorized educational institution may provide a child with access to READTYCH for a school-approved educational purpose.

In certain circumstances, COPPA allows a school to authorize the collection of a child’s personal information on behalf of a parent. The school can provide that authorization only when the information is being used for the benefit of the school and for an educational purpose.

School authorization does not give READTYCH permission to use a child’s information for unrelated advertising, commercial profiling, or another purpose outside the educational service.

Before relying on school authorization, READTYCH will provide the institution with information about:

• The personal information the service may collect.
• How that information will be used.
• Whether and why it may be shared.
• How long it may be kept.
• How the school or family can request access or deletion.

READTYCH remains responsible for the privacy obligations that apply to its technology. We do not place sole responsibility for READTYCH’s COPPA compliance on an individual teacher, school, or parent.

There may be situations in which READTYCH must obtain consent directly from a parent or legal guardian before collecting personal information from a child under 13.

Where direct parental consent is required, READTYCH will provide a notice explaining the proposed collection and use before asking for consent.

The method used to obtain consent will depend on the information involved, the service being provided, and applicable law.

A child will not be asked to provide more personal information than is reasonably necessary to participate in an authorized educational activity.

Parents can refuse consent where their consent is required. They may also withdraw that consent later, subject to any information READTYCH must retain for security, legal, or institutional reasons.

Withdrawing consent may mean that the child can no longer use features that require the information covered by that consent.

The information collected will depend on the school, the educational activity, the features enabled, and the stage of product or pilot development.

Not every child will provide every type of information described below.

READTYCH may use children’s information to provide the educational service authorized by a school or parent.

This may include using information to:

• Create and secure an account.
• Connect the child with the correct school, class, and educator.
• Provide assigned books and learning materials.
• Save notes, annotations, and student work.
• Deliver and receive assignments.
• Return educator feedback.
• Show the child their own progress and activity.
• Help educators review and respond to student work.
• Operate approved educational applications.
• Provide technical support.
• Protect the service from unauthorized access or misuse.
• Evaluate reliability and usability during an approved pilot.
• Improve the service where permitted by the institution, the parent, and applicable law.

Children’s information will not be collected simply because it might be useful one day. There should be a clear educational, technical, security, or legal reason for collecting it.

READTYCH will not use a child’s personal information to:

• Deliver behaviorally targeted advertising.
• Build an advertising profile about the child.
• Sell the child’s personal information for money.
• Market unrelated products based on the child’s learning activity.
• Make the child’s schoolwork publicly available.
• Make a final academic decision solely through artificial intelligence.
• Create an unrelated commercial profile from education records.
• Keep identifiable information indefinitely without a valid reason.

A child should not have to trade privacy for the ability to participate in learning.

READTYCH is developing AI-assisted features that may support handwriting recognition, feedback preparation, grading suggestions, learning pattern identification, or educational resource recommendations.

These features are intended to support educators and students. They are not intended to replace educators or make final academic decisions about children.

When AI-assisted features process children’s information, READTYCH intends to limit that use to authorized educational purposes and apply appropriate access controls.

READTYCH will not use a child’s personal information to train a general-purpose commercial AI model unless that use has been expressly authorized and is permitted by applicable law.

Where deidentified or aggregated information is used to improve technology, READTYCH will take steps designed to prevent it from being connected back to an identifiable child.

Our principle remains:

AI assists. Educators decide.

The READTYCH Digital Book is being developed to support handwritten notes, annotations, diagrams, calculations, and assignment responses.

Handwriting may be processed to save and organize a child’s work, allow an educator to review it, or convert written content into a more usable digital form.

READTYCH does not intend to use a child’s handwriting to verify identity through biometric recognition unless that use is separately explained, specifically authorized, and permitted by law.

A child’s handwriting is part of their learning. It should not become a hidden identity profile.

READTYCH may share a child’s information only when there is a valid reason connected with the educational service, security, or law.

READTYCH will keep identifiable information only for as long as it is reasonably needed to provide the authorized educational service, maintain security, meet an institutional agreement, resolve a support issue, or comply with law.

When the information is no longer needed, it will be deleted, returned to the institution, or deidentified according to the applicable agreement and legal requirements.

Information may remain temporarily in secure backups until those backups expire or are overwritten through the normal backup process.

Children’s information will not be retained indefinitely merely because storage is available.

No online service can promise that a security problem will never happen.

READTYCH can commit to treating children’s information as information worth protecting.

Safeguards may include:

• Role-based access controls.
• Authentication and account protections.
• Encryption where appropriate.
• Secure product development practices.
• Monitoring for suspicious activity.
• Vulnerability management.
• Service provider requirements.
• Backup and recovery planning.
• Incident response procedures.

Security measures will continue to develop alongside the Digital Book, education platform, institutional requirements, and the risks facing education technology.

Depending on the law and the way READTYCH is being used, a parent or legal guardian may have the right to:

• Ask what personal information has been collected from their child.
• Review that information.
• Request correction of inaccurate information.
• Request deletion of the child’s personal information.
• Refuse or withdraw consent where parental consent is required.
• Ask READTYCH to stop collecting or using the child’s information.
• Ask how the information has been shared.
• Raise a concern about the way the information has been handled.

When the child uses READTYCH through a school, the school may need to handle or approve the request.

This protects student records from being released, changed, or deleted without proper verification.

READTYCH will work with the institution to respond where appropriate.

A parent, guardian, or school can submit a request through the READTYCH Contact page.

Please include:

• The words “Children’s Privacy Request.”
• The child’s school or institution.
• A description of the information or action being requested.
• Contact information that allows READTYCH or the institution to respond.

Do not send copies of identity documents, student records, medical information, or other sensitive materials unless READTYCH specifically requests them through a secure process.

We may need to verify the identity and authority of the person making the request before providing, changing, or deleting a child’s information.

Submit a Children’s Privacy Request →

Your schoolwork can say a lot about you.

It can show what you are learning, what you find difficult, what you enjoy, and how your ideas are changing.

That is why it deserves to be protected.

READTYCH may need some information to give you your books, save your notes, send your assignments, return feedback, or keep your account secure.

We should not collect more information than the learning experience needs.

We should not use your schoolwork to show you targeted advertisements.

We should not let people see your information unless they have a valid reason and permission.

If something about your information worries you, speak with a parent, guardian, teacher, or another adult you trust. You can also ask them to contact READTYCH.

Privacy questions are worth asking.

READTYCH may update this notice as the Digital Book and platform develop or as privacy requirements change.

The date at the beginning will show when the notice was last revised.

If a change materially affects how children’s personal information is collected, used, or shared, READTYCH will provide additional notice and seek new authorization or consent where required.

We will not turn a narrow educational permission into a broader commercial permission through a quiet policy update.

Parents, guardians, schools, and other authorized representatives can contact READTYCH through our Contact page with questions about children’s privacy.

Please include “Children’s Privacy” in the subject or opening line of the message.

Contact READTYCH About Children’s Privacy →

You may also review:

• Student Data Privacy Notice
• Privacy Policy
• Cookie Policy
• Privacy and Student Data
• Trust Center

A child’s answer is not an advertising signal.

A reading difficulty is not a commercial opportunity.

A handwritten page is not a product waiting to be sold.

It is part of a young person learning who they are and what they may become.

READTYCH is being developed to support that journey.

Children’s information should serve their education, remain within clear boundaries, and receive the protection it deserves.