Privacy Policy

IMPORTANT! AS WITH ALL CONTRACTS, IF YOU ARE NOT OF LEGAL AGE TO FORM A BINDING CONTRACT (IN MANY JURISDICTIONS, THIS AGE IS 18), YOU MUST HAVE YOUR PARENT OR GUARDIAN READ THE AGREEMENT BELOW AND AGREE TO IT FOR YOU. IF YOU DON’T GET YOUR PARENT OR GUARDIAN TO READ AND AGREE TO THIS, YOU DON’T HAVE PERMISSION TO USE ESPARK’S SITES, APPLICATIONS, OR SERVICES, OR TO DISCLOSE ANY INFORMATION TO US IN ANY MANNER. ALWAYS GET AN ADULT’S PERMISSION BEFORE GOING ONLINE.

This Privacy Notice was updated December 1, 2023.

Section 1: Introduction

At eSpark Learning, we are committed to protecting your privacy and handling your personal information with care and respect. This policy outlines our practices regarding the collection, use, and disclosure of personal information from students, teachers, and schools who use our services. This policy applies to users in the United States and globally, ensuring compliance with applicable privacy laws and regulations. This policy governs your access to and use of all eSpark operated and controlled websites including esparklearning.com and all other online services controlled or provided by eSpark (collectively, the “Services”).

Commitment to Privacy
eSpark Learning deeply values privacy, especially concerning children’s data. We assure you that:

We will never sell students’ personal information to third parties.

We will never ask students to provide any personal information directly to us. This information is provided by teachers or authorized school officials.

We will never send marketing messages to students and they will not receive any advertisements from eSpark while using our service.

Many of us here at eSpark are parents too
We take the security and confidentiality of your students’ personal information very seriously. We thought of the questions we would have as parents of students using eSpark and have answered them within this Policy. If, after reading our Privacy Notice, you have questions, comments, or suggestions about your student’s personal information, please contact us.

Legal agreement
By accessing or using eSpark Learning services, you agree to the terms outlined in this Privacy Policy and our Terms and Conditions. Please review these documents carefully to understand our data handling practices and your obligations as a user​​.

Section 2: Information Collected

Our mission is to provide a playfully personalized educational experience, which necessitates the collection and processing of certain personal information. This includes student names, school IDs, grade levels, teachers, and class enrollment. All personal information is used solely for educational purposes, adhering to strict confidentiality standards​​.

Students cannot create their own accounts in eSpark. Teachers do this either by manually adding students to their roster or by utilizing one of our rostering integrations. If a teacher rosters with our integrations, we will securely collect the minimum information needed to create student accounts from the authorized rostering service (Google Classroom, Clever Library, etc…), including student name, unique ID, and grade level.

Beyond the basic information needed for student accounts to be created in eSpark, we also collect a variety of educational placement and progress data, along with data about how a student interacts with the program. This information includes:

  • Usage time and activities started/completed in eSpark
  • Quiz and placement test scores
  • Student progress and standards mastery
  • Optional student reteaching video recordings at the end of every Quest to demonstrate mastery
  • Optional 3rd-party test scores, including NWEA Map Growth and Renaissance Star Assessments, when securely provided by an authorized school official for the purpose of placing students at the appropriate levels
  • Student choices and inputs that make up prompts for AI-enabled activities, such as our Choice Texts story builder and image generator
  • Student responses to mood check-ins
  • Student ratings for activities in which they participate
  • Open-ended feedback in response to periodic NPS surveys or within certain activities

None of this non-personal information can be used to individually identify your child, but it is still treated with the highest confidentiality. All of the data we collect is used for the benefit of the students using eSpark, specifically to enhance their experience and provide a truly personalized curriculum.

Section 3: FERPA Compliance

eSpark is fully compliant with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). Parents may request to review their child’s personal information. You may also request to correct, update, or delete your child’s personal information from our database. We are required by law to ensure anyone making such a request is a parent or legal guardian. You may be asked to provide some information, and it may take a few business days to process your request. To make such a request, please contact us using the information provided below. You may also work through your child’s teacher to determine whether any of the requested modifications can be made immediately via the teacher tools in our program.

Please note that the eSpark program is based upon providing individualized and customized content for its students. The information that we collect is necessary for your child to participate in our program. Should you request your child’s complete personal information be deleted and revoke your consent to allow eSpark to collect information about your child, then your child will not be able to participate in the eSpark program.

Requests to delete or remove your or your child’s information do not ensure complete or comprehensive removal of the content or information posted, and removed information may persist in backup copies indefinitely. Please note that if you choose to delete your information or opt-out of the collection and use of your information, you understand that certain features, including but not limited to access to the Services, may no longer be available to you.

Section 4: COPPA Compliance

eSpark Learning is committed to complying with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), which applies to the online collection of personal information from children under 13 years of age. We acknowledge that eSpark is used by students under this age group.

In alignment with Federal Trade Commission (FTC) guidelines, when a teacher or authorized school official rosters a student under 13 in eSpark, they are granting consent on behalf of parents. This process is essential for eSpark to legally provide its educational services to these students.

If eSpark becomes aware that a child under 13 is using our services or has provided us with personal information without appropriate school authorization, we will promptly delete that information. Our goal is to ensure that all data collection and processing strictly adheres to COPPA’s requirements.

We encourage communication regarding COPPA compliance. If you believe that we have inadvertently collected personal information from a student under 13 without proper consent through a school, please contact us immediately at privacy@esparklearning.com. We take these concerns seriously and will address them swiftly.

Section 5: State Privacy Laws

Our privacy practices are designed to be compliant with the latest U.S. privacy laws, including state-specific regulations. These laws outline requirements for businesses that handle personal data, ensuring that we maintain high standards of privacy and data protection across all states where we operate​​. This includes SOPPA, SOPIPA, CCPA/CPRA, Ed Law 2-d, and all other applicable legislation.

In keeping with the California Consumer Privacy Act’s emphasis on consumer rights, eSpark extends the same opportunity to non-student users to review, correct, update, or delete personal information. This process can be initiated through our support channels or by contacting privacy@esparklearning.com.

Section 6: Technology Partners

In the course of delivering our services, we may share personal information with authorized third parties, such as technology service providers, for necessary operational support. This sharing is done with utmost regard for privacy, and only as needed to enhance our educational services. We ensure that all third-party applications comply with our privacy standards and are audited regularly​​. The categories of third-party applications include:

Communications: eSpark may use 3rd-party tools to provide support and communications to you, including chatbots and email services.

Contact management: eSpark may use 3rd-party tools to provide directory services, including keeping your contact information, role, school affiliation, and email preferences up to date.

Analytics: eSpark may use 3rd-party tools to track the performance and usage of its website, product features, marketing campaigns, and sales outreach.

Content moderation: eSpark may use 3rd-party tools to provide real-time moderation of student inputs for the purpose of catching and preventing toxic or harmful content.

Hosting: All eSpark data is securely hosted with Amazon Web Services (AWS), with servers physically located within the United States.

Section 7: Sharing Exceptions

The information provided by a school district is owned by the school district or the student and not eSpark. eSpark has permission to use that information where necessary to provide its services. We will not share, sell, rent, or otherwise disclose your private personal information to third parties without your consent, except in the limited circumstances described in this policy.

Furthermore, eSpark will never use personal information it collects to send marketing messages to students. eSpark uses the personal information it collects to assess students’ learning needs and provide them personalized learning curricula.

There are limited circumstances in which we may share personal information with third parties:

  • We may share personal information with third parties when instructed and authorized to do so on behalf of a school or school district.
  • We may share information with technology companies to the extent necessary for them to provide us with necessary services such as web hosting and analytics services.
  • We may be required to share information with law enforcement or other third parties when compelled to do so by court order or other legal process, or to comply with statutes or regulation.
  • We may disclose information in the event we believe in good faith that disclosure is necessary to protect our rights or property or the personal safety of a student.
  • If we sell, divest or transfer the business or a portion of our business, we may transfer information, provided that the new provider has agreed to data privacy standards no less stringent than our own. We may also transfer personal information – under the same conditions – in the course of mergers, acquisitions, bankruptcies, dissolutions, reorganizations, liquidations, similar transactions or proceedings involving all or a portion of our business.
  • We may use and share non-personal information for any legally permissible purpose.

Section 8: Data Breach Notification

In the event that any information under our control is compromised as a result of a breach of security or other data security incident, eSpark will take reasonable steps to investigate the situation and, where necessary, notify those individuals whose information may have been compromised. Depending on the extent of the breach, eSpark will take additional steps in accordance with applicable laws and regulations. We are not responsible for the functionality, privacy, or security measures of any other organization.

Section 9: Use of Artificial Intelligence

eSpark incorporates advanced artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to enhance the learning experience. Our AI-driven features include generating personalized educational content, such as stories, questions, and images, tailored to each student’s interests and choices.

To enable this functionality, eSpark may process data related to students’ inputs, preferences, and interactions within the software. This data is used exclusively for the purpose of creating a customized and engaging educational experience. eSpark does not use AI to create a profile of any student and the choices students make do not persist beyond the specific activity within which they are contained. Student inputs are sent without any identifiable information and do not become a part of any AI or large language model training data.

eSpark is committed to ethical AI practices. We ensure that the use of AI in our software adheres to prevailing educational standards and privacy laws. Our AI prompts are designed to be fair, unbiased, and respectful of student privacy.

Section 10: Changes to this Privacy Notice

The Services that eSpark provides are always evolving and the form and nature of the Services may change without prior notice to you. eSpark may modify this Privacy Notice at any time. The most current version of our Privacy Notice will govern our use of your information and will be located at https://www.esparklearning.com/privacy/. Modifications to the Privacy Notice are effective upon the posting of an amended Notice to the Services. We will also notify you of changes to the Privacy Notice via one or more of the following channels: in-app popups, email, and/or other forms of communication, if we deem the changes to be material. By continuing to access or use the Services after changes become effective, you agree to be bound by the revised Privacy Notice.

Section 11: Contact Information

eSpark has designated John Jennings as the Compliance Officer to oversee and manage our data privacy and compliance obligations. He is responsible for ensuring that our data handling practices are in accordance with relevant privacy laws and regulations, and for addressing any inquiries or concerns related to data privacy and compliance.

For more information, contact us at:

Email: privacy@esparklearning.com
Mailing address: 2045 W Grand Ave Ste B #39739, Chicago, IL 60612
Phone number: (312) 894-3100

Conclusion

eSpark Learning is dedicated to maintaining a safe, secure, and private environment for all our users. We appreciate your trust in us to provide educational services and are committed to upholding these privacy principles in all our operations.