Privacy Policy

Last Updated: September 8, 2025

Thank you for using ExploreLearning's Data Management System. Our Data Management System is designed to support educators and improve student learning outcomes, and protecting your privacy is fundamental to that mission.

This policy explains how we collect, use, and protect information when you use our educational platform. We're committed to transparency about our practices and compliance with all applicable privacy laws, including FERPA, COPPA, and state student privacy regulations. By using our system, you agree to the practices described here.

What Information We Collect and Why

When educators create accounts and use our system, we need certain information to make everything work properly. For teachers and school administrators, this includes basic contact information like your name, email address, and phone number, along with your school or district affiliation. We use this information to verify who you are, prevent unauthorized access to student data, and communicate with you about the service.

We also automatically collect some technical information when you use our platform, such as which features you're using and when you log in. This helps us understand how to improve the system and ensure it's working properly for everyone. Think of it like understanding which parts of a classroom are used most often so we can make sure they're well-maintained.

For students, we take a "minimum necessary" approach and only collect what's essential for educational purposes. This includes basic identifiers like first and last names, student ID numbers, and grade levels, along with class assignments so we can connect students with their teachers. We may also collect optional demographic information, but only when schools specifically choose to provide it for reporting purposes, and with appropriate consent.

The educational data we collect includes things like assessment results, progress tracking information, and learning analytics that help teachers understand how students are doing. All of this information is generated through normal use of our educational tools and helps create the personalized learning experiences and progress reports that make our system valuable.

How We Use Your Information

For educators, we use your information primarily to provide you with access to the system and ensure you can effectively support your students. This means verifying your identity when you log in, making sure you only see data for your own students or school, and sending you important updates about the service. We also use aggregated usage information to improve our products, but we always do this in ways that don't identify individual users.

When it comes to student information, we're very focused on legitimate educational purposes. We use this data to deliver personalized learning experiences, generate the progress reports and analytics that help teachers make informed instructional decisions, and provide recommendations for improving student outcomes. We also conduct educational research using aggregated, non-identifiable data to help improve learning for all students, but we never use personally identifiable student information for research without appropriate permissions.

It's important to note what we don't do with student information. We never use it for advertising or marketing to students or parents, and we don't sell or rent any personal information to third parties. Student data is used solely to support learning and instruction within your educational institution.

When and How We Share Information

We understand that sharing information, especially student data, requires careful consideration and clear boundaries. Within your school or district, we share information only with authorized personnel who have what FERPA calls a "legitimate educational interest." This means a teacher can see data for their own students, a principal can view information for their school, and district administrators can access data across their district, but always within the role-based permissions your institution establishes.

Sometimes we work with carefully vetted service providers who help us deliver our educational services. When this happens, these companies operate under strict confidentiality agreements and can only use the information to help us provide services to you. They're not allowed to use it for their own purposes or share it with others.

We may be required to share information in certain legal situations, such as responding to valid legal requests or protecting the rights and safety of our users. In the unlikely event that our company goes through a business change like a merger or acquisition, personal information would be transferred as part of that transaction, but it would continue to be protected under the same privacy commitments.

We don't sell, rent, or trade personal information to anyone. We don't share identifiable student information outside your educational institution unless you give us specific written authorization to do so. And we don't use student data to market products or services directly to students or their families.

Keeping Your Information Safe

Protecting your data is one of our highest priorities, and we use multiple layers of security to keep information safe. Our system uses role-based access controls, which means users only see the information they're authorized to access based on their position and responsibilities. All data is encrypted both when it's moving between your computer and our servers and when it's stored in our databases.

We regularly audit our security practices and conduct assessments to identify and address potential vulnerabilities. Our staff receives ongoing training on privacy and security best practices, and we maintain our infrastructure using industry-standard security measures including secure servers and network protection.

While we implement strong security measures, protecting data is a shared responsibility. We ask that you keep your login credentials confidential, use the system only for authorized educational purposes, and report any suspected security issues to us immediately. You're also responsible for ensuring that the student information you enter is accurate and up-to-date.

Cookies

We may use these technologies to collect information about the ways visitors use this Site - which pages they visit, which links they use, and how long they stay on each page. We also use these technologies to support certain features of this Site. For example, we use these technologies to personalize your experience when you use this Site and to save you the trouble of reentering information already in our database or to prompt the settings you established on previous visits.

The information we collect using cookies and similar technologies is not, in and of itself, personally identifiable, but we may link it to personal information that you provide. If you do not wish to receive cookies, you may set your browser to reject cookies or to alert you when a cookie is placed on your computer. Although you are not required to accept cookies when you visit this Site, you may be unable to use all of the functionality of this Site if your browser rejects our cookies.

Your Rights and How to Exercise Them

We believe you should have control over your personal information and understand your rights regarding the data we maintain. Educators can review and update their personal information at any time, and can request that we delete their data when it's no longer needed for legitimate business purposes.

For student data, we follow FERPA and other applicable privacy laws that give students and parents important rights. This includes the right to review educational records, request corrections to inaccurate information, and control how student information is shared in certain circumstances. If you're a parent or eligible student and want to exercise these rights, the best first step is usually to contact your school or district, since they control most decisions about student data.

If you have concerns about how we're handling your information, or if you want to exercise any of your privacy rights, we encourage you to reach out to us. We're committed to addressing your concerns promptly and fairly.

How Long We Keep Information

We don't keep personal information longer than necessary to fulfill the purposes for which it was collected. For active users, we maintain data while you're actively using our services and for reasonable periods afterward to provide continuity and support. Student data is typically retained at the direction of your school or district, and we'll delete it upon written request from the district.

If a district hasn't used any ExploreLearning products for two years, we proactively reach out to let them know that we'll be deleting their student data unless they request that we keep it. When we do delete information, we provide written verification that the deletion has been completed.

Compliance with Privacy Laws

We take compliance with privacy laws seriously and have designed our practices to meet the requirements of multiple regulations that protect student privacy. Under FERPA, we operate as a "school official" providing services under the direct control of educational institutions, which means we can only use student data for legitimate educational purposes authorized by the school.

For children under 13, we comply with COPPA by obtaining appropriate consent before collecting information and never using that information for commercial purposes. We also stay current with state-level student privacy laws, which vary by location but generally provide additional protection for student data.

Security Incidents

While we work hard to prevent security incidents, we know that no system is perfect. If we ever experience a data breach or other security incident that affects personal information, we have clear procedures to respond quickly and effectively.

Our first priority is always to contain the incident and investigate what happened. We then notify affected parties as quickly as possible and provide clear information about what occurred and what steps we're taking to address it. We also work closely with schools and districts to help them meet their own notification obligations.

Any notification would include the date and description of the incident, the types of information involved, the steps we're taking to address the breach, and contact information for questions. We believe in being transparent and helpful during what would undoubtedly be a stressful situation for everyone involved.

Special Notice for California Residents

If you're a California resident, the California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA) gives you additional rights regarding your personal information. You have the right to know what personal information we collect about you and how we use it, request that we delete your personal information (subject to certain exceptions), and request that we correct inaccurate personal information we maintain about you. You also have the right to opt out of the "sale" or "sharing" of your personal information, though we want to assure you that we don't sell personal information to third parties or share it for cross-context behavioral advertising purposes.

California residents can also request information about the categories of personal information we've collected, the sources of that information, our business purposes for collecting it, and the categories of third parties we share it with. You have the right to designate an authorized agent to make these requests on your behalf, and we won't discriminate against you for exercising these rights.

To exercise any of these California privacy rights, you can contact us using the information provided in the "Getting in Touch" section below. We'll verify your identity before responding to your request and will respond within the timeframes required by California law.

If you have concerns about how we're handling your information, or if you want to exercise any of your privacy rights, we encourage you to reach out to us. We're committed to addressing your concerns promptly and fairly.

Changes to This Policy

We may need to update this privacy policy from time to time as our services evolve or privacy laws change. When we do make significant changes, we'll make sure you know about them in advance through email notifications, prominent notices on our website, or direct communication with institutional contacts. We encourage you to review this policy periodically to stay informed about how we're protecting your information.

Getting in Touch

We want to make it easy for you to contact us with questions, concerns, or requests related to privacy. You can reach our support team at:

 Support@ExploreLearning.com or 866-882-4141 for general questions.

For specific privacy-related inquiries, you can email our privacy team directly at Privacy@ExploreLearning.com.

If you prefer to write to us, you can send mail to our

Privacy Officer at ExploreLearning,

17855 Dallas Parkway, Suite 400,

Dallas, TX 75287

If you believe your privacy rights have been violated or are unsatisfied with our response, you may file a complaint with the iKeepSafe Safe Harbor Program. Consumer complaints can be submitted via email to COPPAPrivacy@ikeepsafe.org.