The Reading Dr. ("we," "us," or "our") operates a K–3 literacy and reading intervention platform designed for use by educators, parents, and students. This Privacy Policy describes how we collect, use, disclose, and protect information — with particular attention to the protections required under the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), 15 U.S.C. §§ 6501–6506, and the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), 20 U.S.C. § 1232g.

By using our platform, you acknowledge that you have read and understood this policy. If you are a parent or educator using the platform on behalf of a child under 13, you are the "parent or guardian" referenced throughout this policy.

2.1 Student Educational Records (FERPA-Protected)

• Student name, grade level, and teacher/parent association
• Reading assessment results and placement data
• Game performance scores, skill mastery levels, and progress analytics
• Multilingual/ELL proficiency levels, native language, and language acquisition history
• Special education profiles, including diagnoses, IEP goals, and accommodations
• Learning insights generated by our adaptive algorithms

2.2 Personal Information from Children Under 13 (COPPA-Protected)

• Student first name and avatar preferences
• Age/grade level (used to determine appropriate content)
• Interaction data within educational games (responses, timing, engagement)
• Device identifiers for session continuity

2.3 Educator and Parent Information

• Name, email address, and school/district affiliation
• Role (teacher, administrator, parent) and associated class groups
• Communications sent through the platform's messaging tools

The Reading Dr. functions as a "school official" under FERPA when educational institutions direct us to collect, use, or maintain student education records on their behalf. In this capacity:

• We use student education records only for purposes authorized by the school or district and to provide the educational services for which we were engaged.
• We do not disclose personally identifiable information (PII) from education records to third parties without the school's authorization, except as permitted under FERPA's "school official" exception (34 CFR § 99.31(a)(1)).
• We use industry-standard physical, technical, and administrative safeguards to protect education records from unauthorized access, use, or disclosure.
• Upon the school's request, we will return or destroy education records when the contract ends, unless retention is required by law.

Parents and eligible students retain all rights under FERPA, including the right to inspect, review, and request amendments to education records. These requests should be directed to the student's school, which will coordinate with us.

The Reading Dr. is a platform designed for children under 13. We comply with COPPA and the FTC's implementing rule (16 CFR Part 312). Because our platform is used in educational contexts directed by schools, we follow the school-authorization pathway described in 16 CFR § 312.5(c).

4.1 Parental Consent via School Authorization

When a school or district provides students with access to The Reading Dr. for educational purposes, the school acts as the parent's authorized agent to provide consent on behalf of the student. We do not condition a student's participation in a school activity on the collection of additional personal information beyond what is needed for that activity.

4.2 Direct Parental Use

When a parent registers a child directly (not through a school), verified parental consent is required and enforced before any student profile can be created. The platform presents a mandatory, in-app parental consent acknowledgement at the point of student profile creation — a student profile cannot be created until the parent or legal guardian affirmatively provides this consent. We do not collect personal information from a child without this verified consent. Parents may review, update, or request deletion of their child's information at any time by contacting us at the email below.

4.3 Use of Children's Information

We use personal information collected from children solely to:

• Provide the educational services and adaptive learning experience
• Generate progress reports for parents and educators
• Improve the quality and effectiveness of our educational content
• Ensure technical functionality and security of the platform

We do not use children's personal information for targeted advertising, behavioral advertising, or any commercial purpose unrelated to the educational mission of the platform.

4.4 Disclosure to Third Parties

We do not disclose personal information collected from children to third parties for their own commercial purposes. Any third-party service providers we use (e.g., hosting, analytics) are bound by written agreements requiring them to protect the information and use it only as directed by us, consistent with COPPA requirements.

We implement industry-standard technical, physical, and administrative safeguards designed to protect student and user data, including:

• Encryption of data in transit using TLS/SSL
• Role-based access controls and row-level security to ensure users only access data they are authorized to view
• Regular security reviews and vulnerability assessments
• Restricted internal access to student PII on a need-to-know basis only

However, no method of transmission or electronic storage is 100% secure. If a data breach occurs that compromises student PII, we will notify affected schools and parents in accordance with applicable state and federal laws.

We share information only in the following limited circumstances:

• With schools and districts: Progress reports and analytics for students under their authorization
• With parents: Their own child's progress and assessment data
• Service providers: Hosting and infrastructure providers bound by confidentiality agreements
• Legal compliance: When required by law, court order, or to protect the rights, property, or safety of users

We do not sell student data. We do not use student data to create profiles for targeted advertising. We do not share student data with third-party data brokers.

7.1 Under FERPA

Parents and eligible students have the right to inspect and review education records, request amendments to inaccurate or misleading records, and consent to disclosures (with exceptions). These rights are exercised through the student's school.

7.2 Under COPPA

Parents have the right to:

• Review the personal information we have collected from their child
• Request that we delete the child's personal information
• Refuse to permit further collection of their child's personal information (which may end the child's use of the platform)

To exercise any of these rights, contact us using the information in Section 9 below.

We retain student educational records for as long as the school or parent actively uses the platform, or as otherwise required by the school's data retention policy or applicable law. When a student's account is no longer active, or upon a school's or parent's verified request, we will delete the student's personal information within 60 days, except where retention is required for legal compliance or as directed by the school.

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy, wish to exercise your rights under COPPA or FERPA, or need to report a concern about how your child's or student's data is handled, please contact us at:

We will respond to all verified parental and school requests within 30 days, as required by COPPA (16 CFR § 312.6).