How we handle your family’s information

We collect the minimum information needed to deliver tutoring, process payments, and keep families and tutors safe. We do not sell, rent, or trade personal information to third parties. We honor parent and student rights to access, correct, and delete records.

This policy explains what we collect, why, and how parents can exercise their rights. We follow the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), including the updates that took effect in April 2026, and the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) where it applies.

From parents when you book or contact us:

• Name, email, and phone number.
• Billing information processed through PayPal (we do not store full payment details).
• Messages you send us through forms or email.

About your enrolled student, with your consent:

• First name and current grade level.
• Academic focus and any context you share (IEP / 504 / ML needs, recent test scores).
• Session notes captured by the tutor to plan future sessions.

From your visit to the site: standard server logs (IP address, browser type, pages visited) used solely to keep the site working and detect abuse. We do not run third-party advertising trackers.

• To match families with tutors and schedule sessions.
• To prepare student-specific teaching guides.
• To send confirmations, invoices, receipts, and policy updates.
• To moderate reviews and applications before publishing.
• To keep records required for tax, accounting, and dispute resolution.
• To improve our service through internal review of session quality.

We share only the information necessary for each service to do its job. Each provider has its own privacy and security commitments.

• PayPal: invoicing, payment collection, and receipts.
• Google Workspace (Gmail, Google Meet): session delivery and scheduling.
• MongoDB Atlas: encrypted database hosting for application data.
• Our deployment infrastructure (currently the Emergent platform) to host the website and backend.

We do not sell or rent personal information. We may disclose information when required by law, to enforce these policies, or to protect the safety of a student or third party.

We work with students of all ages, including children under 13. Under COPPA, we collect information about students under 13 only with verifiable parental consent, which you provide when you book a session or submit an application on a student’s behalf.

We collect only what is reasonably necessary for the service. We do not condition participation on a child providing more information than required, and we never request a child’s personal information directly online without a parent in the loop.

As of April 2026, COPPA also requires separate consent before disclosing a child’s information to third parties beyond what is integral to the service. We obtain that separate consent in writing before any such disclosure.

When we work directly with a school or district, FERPA may govern the engagement. In those cases, the school provides the consent and retains ownership of student records. We treat such records as confidential, use them only for the educational purpose authorized, and return or delete them when the engagement ends.

• All site traffic is served over HTTPS (TLS encryption in transit).
• Application data is stored in encrypted databases hosted by MongoDB Atlas.
• Access to the admin dashboard is protected by a private passcode and rotated token.
• Tutors access only the information needed for their assigned students.
• We notify affected families promptly in the event of a confirmed data breach involving their information.

We keep family and student records only as long as needed:

• Active engagements: for the duration of the engagement.
• After an engagement ends: up to 24 months, to support continuity if the family returns, tax records, and dispute resolution.
• Tax and accounting records: for the period required by federal and District of Columbia law (typically 7 years).
• On verified parent request, we will delete student personal information earlier (subject to legal record-keeping obligations).

You may, at any time:

• Request a copy of the personal information we hold about you or your student.
• Ask us to correct any inaccurate information.
• Withdraw consent and request deletion of your student’s information.
• Decline further collection (note: this may end the engagement, since some information is required to deliver the service).

Send requests through the booking form contact field, and we will respond within a reasonable period (target: 14 days).

The site uses only the minimum cookies needed to keep the admin login session active and to remember your preferences during a visit. We do not use third-party advertising cookies, cross-site trackers, or analytics that profile individuals.

If we add an analytics tool in the future, we will use a privacy-preserving option (such as Plausible or self-hosted analytics that does not use cookies) and update this policy first.

We may update this policy from time to time. Material changes will be posted on this page with a new effective date and, where practical, communicated to active families by email. Continued use of the service after an update means you accept the updated policy.

Questions about this policy, requests about your data, or concerns about how we handled something? Reach out through the booking form and tell us it’s about privacy. We will respond personally.