Privacy Policy

1. Types of User information we collect

We and our service providers collect information when Users visit our website or create an account to use the Services. The types of information we collect vary depending on the type of User who engages the Services, including:

• “Student Users” or “Students” (a child and/or student who uses the Services).
• “Teacher Users” or “Teachers” (a teacher, administrator, or other school official that opens a teacher account to use the Services, including those with the ability to add Student User accounts).

A Student User account can be linked to one or more Teacher Users in order to facilitate a continuous learning journey for that Student User both in and outside of the classroom. Any Teacher Users linked to that Student User account will have access to the information in that account, including activity recorded both in and outside of the classroom.

More information on each type of account can be found in our Terms of Use.

Information Collected from Users

We collect information from Users when they send it to us. For example, when you purchase are given an account and you log in, create a document, comment on another Student User's document, engage with an AI Writing Partner, or otherwise contact us with a question, or request, we may collect and use the information you provide.

If you submit any information relating to other people in connection with your use of the Services, you represent that you have the authority to do so and you permit Writing Partners to use and disclose the information in accordance with this Privacy Policy.

Student Users

We collect information about Student Users when the Student creates an account directly with us or when the Student User account is created by a Teacher. We are committed to collecting the minimum amount of information about Students as is needed to operate the Services.

When a Writing Partners Student User account is created, we collect the Student’s:

• First name
• Last name (which is blocked on any public-facing)
• Email address (optional) Students can also be given accounts using our "Managed Users" system that does not use emails.
• Password.

Students will be placed into groups with their Teacher. This means that Writing Partners will also obtain the name of the Student’s Teacher, school, and/or school district.

Students are assigned a unique username based on their first name, last initial, and an assigned number, which is used to log in but is not visible to other Users except for Managed User Students. A Teacher of Managed User Students assigns and has access to each of their Students usernames and passwords.

Teacher Users

Teacher Users, which includes other school officials such as school or district administrators, are asked to provide personal information when registering for a Writing Partners Account, such as first and last name, email address, telephone number, city, state/province, a password for their account, school, school district, grade level. Teacher Users will be Administrators of Student User groups and will have access to Analytic Reports that track their Students' activity on Writing Partners.

Information Collected from Devices and Use of the Services

Performance Data

As Students create documents, invite others to comment, make comments on their own and other Students' documents, and AI assistants, we collect information on the features they interact with and comment on (“Performance Data”). This information could include, but is not limited to, data on how often a Student opens a document and how many comments they make and time spent on that document. This data is provided for the Teacher to allow for monitoring of the Student’s progress and to customize the Student’s educational experience. We do not use the data ourselves.

Device Data and Information Collected by Technology (e.g., Cookies)

Writing Partners does not collect technical information from your computer or mobile device in any way. We do not use of “cookies.”

We and our third-party providers may use the information collected when Student Users and Teacher Users provide this data for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy, including delivering content, analyzing our Users’ experience on the Services, We do not allow third-party targeted advertising providers to collect information from the Student-directed portions of the Services.

Information from Third Parties

We may obtain information about you or your use of the Services from third parties and sources, such as our vendors, like single sign-on providers you can use to log into the Services, web hosting providers, analytics providers, or advertisers. In certain circumstances, you may give us permission to access your information from some of these services offered by third parties. The information we obtain from third-party services depends on your account/privacy settings with those third parties and the third parties’ privacy policies. You are responsible for reviewing the privacy policies of these third parties and adjusting your settings to meet your preferences. When you access the Services through third-party platforms, you are authorizing us to collect, store, and use such information and content in accordance with this Privacy Policy. Please keep in mind that any information provided to us by a third party may also be subject to that third party’s privacy policy.

2. How we use User information

How We Use Teacher User Information

We use the Teacher information we collect for the following purposes:

• To allow Teachers to register for and use the Services, such as when you securely log into your portal, to send a communication about a Student’s progress or account, or provide feedback to us. For confidentiality purposes, information about a Student is only provided to a Teacher linked to that Student’s account.
• To analyze and provide progress reports to Teachers on linked Student User accounts.
• To communicate with Teachers regarding your account, including providing information about changes to the Terms of Use, updates regarding our Services, security alerts, communication about your linked Student’s progress or account, or responses to customer support questions.
• To provide email notifications about Student comments on the site. Teachers can manage these notifications globally on Writing Partners or for individual documents.

How We Use Student User Information

We use the Student User information we collect for the following purposes:

• To measure a Student’s progress and performance and provide associated reports to Teacher Users.
• To adapt, personalize, and customize the Student User experience to the Student’s learning needs.

We do not have advertisements.

How We Use All User Information

We use all User information we collect for the following purposes:

• To monitor, maintain, analyze and improve the functionality of the Services.
• To assess and improve the Services and its educational content, and to improve the user experience.
• As we believe to be necessary and appropriate to comply with applicable laws and regulations; to comply with legal process; to respond to requests from governmental authorities; to detect violations of and enforce our Terms of Use; to protect the security of the Services; to protect the rights, privacy, property, or safety of Writing Partners, you, or others; and to allow us to pursue any available remedies or to limit damages that we may sustain.

De-Identified or Aggregated Information

From the information collected through the Services, Writing Partners may create de-identified or aggregated data. What this means is we remove certain identifiers and delineative features of the data collected that make it personally identifiable to a particular User so that it no longer allows a User to be directly or indirectly identified. We may use or disclose such de-identified or aggregated data for lawful and legitimate business purposes, including to analyze, build and improve the Services and promote our business. When we disclose such information, it will not be disclosed in a way that could be used to identify a User.

3. How we disclose User information

We only disclose information collected in limited circumstances. We do not disclose the personal information of Students to third parties for marketing or promotional purposes.

While Writing Partners permits Student Users to comment each other's documents, Student Users are unable to send personal information using this commenting function. Comments and Replies that Student Users are managed by their Teachers.

We disclose User information to third parties as follows:

• Where a Student User account is linked to a Teacher User, that Student User’s information will be disclosed to the Teacher User.
• To affiliates of Writing Partners for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy.
• To inform or support the consideration, negotiation, or completion of a possible merger, sale, financing, or transfer of all or a portion of our business to another entity. If some or all our assets are acquired or otherwise transferred or licensed, including in bankruptcy, Writing Partners shall take reasonable steps to subject such acquirer to the same commitments stated under this Privacy Policy.
• Where you have instructed us to, for example to support inquiries either at your direction or with your informed consent.
• As we believe to be necessary and appropriate to comply with applicable laws and regulations; to comply with legal process; to respond to requests from governmental authorities; to detect violations of and enforce our Terms of Use; to protect the security of the Services; to protect the rights, privacy, property, or safety of Writing Partners, you, or others; and to allow us to pursue any available remedies or to limit damages that we may sustain.

4. How we protect User information

The User information we collect is stored and processed in environments designed to allow only authorized individuals to access the infrastructure where this information is stored. Because we understand and respect the trust placed in us to properly protect your information, Writing Partners takes great care to maintain commercially reasonable standards of data security and protection, and continues to implement those measures for our infrastructure where User information is stored.

Writing Partners and its service providers maintain strict administrative, technical, and physical measures designed to safeguard the information we process. We use industry-standard SSL encryption when collecting or transferring your information. Other safeguards include but are not limited to data encryption, firewalls, multi-factor authentication for our personnel with access to your information, and physical-access controls.

You can protect against unauthorized account access by selecting and protecting passwords appropriately, including using unique, multi-character passwords, ensuring devices are only accessed by those authorized to use them, and taking care to sign out of online accounts (not just Writing Partners, but all online accounts) after you or your Student Users are finished using them. Access to information associated with User accounts is limited to those Writing Partner staff members who require such access to support our Services, who are designated and trained to maintain the security and confidentiality of User information.

Writing Partners also maintains policies and practices which are designed to protect your personal information, including internal policies and procedures that define the roles and responsibilities of our employees throughout the information life cycle, procedures for handling privacy-related inquiries and Users’ rights regarding their personal information, and a framework governing the retention and destruction of personal information.

5. Users’ rights regarding their information

Access, Correction, or Deletion of Information

Writing Partners gives the ability to Teacher Users to access, correct or delete their personal information maintained by Writing Partners and to withdraw their consent where provided, subject to legal or contractual restrictions. Personal information can be accessed and changed by contacting our customer support. You also can access and review certain account-related details by logging into your online account.

Teacher Users, as well as educational institutions represented by a Teacher User, also may contact our customer support at any time to request access to, deletion of, or correction of any personal information we have collected from or about Student Users associated with their account, including a request to us to cease collecting personal information from those Student Users. Please be aware a request to delete or cease collecting personal information or withdrawal of consent may lead to closing of the relevant User’s account or the inability to use the products or Services or certain portions of the products or Services.

When a correction, deletion or other change to Student User personal information is requested and validated, Writing Partners will effect the change as soon as reasonably practicable and in accordance with privacy laws.

When a Teacher User (or the educational institution represented by the Teacher) requests deletion of a Student User’s personal information, we will remove that Student’s link to the Teacher, and then take the following steps depending on whether the Student is linked to another Teacher, unless otherwise required by law:

• If the Student is linked to another Teacher, we will retain the link to the other Teacher to allow them to continue to oversee the Student’s use of that account.
• If the Student User is not linked to another Teacher, we will remove from the Student’s account all personally identifiable information, as defined under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). The Student will then be able to continue to use the Services without any associated personally identifiable information.

Opting Out of Email Communications

You can opt out of receiving notifications from Writing Partners by following the unsubscribe instructions indicated in the email and manage your communication preferences by contacting customer service. Writing Partners communication preferences can be managed through our preference center, available through a link on a User's profile page, through which Users can specify which types of communications they would like to receive.

California, Colorado, Connecticut, Utah, and Virginia Privacy Rights

The laws of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Utah, and Virginia also grant the residents of those states certain rights regarding the collection and use of their personal information. This section does not apply to Student personal information we process on behalf of an educational institution customer, either pursuant to contractual restrictions or through a Teacher Account, to process the information solely on behalf of the institution as an educational service provider.

Subject to certain limitations and differences between the states, residents of these states have the following rights:

• Right to know/access. Depending on your state of residence, you may have the right to know/confirm and/or access/receive in a portable format information about the categories and specific pieces of personal information we have collected about you, as well as the categories of sources from which such information is collected, the purpose for collecting such information, and the categories of third parties to whom we disclose such information. You also have the right to know if we have sold or disclosed your personal information.
• Right to delete. You have the right to request the deletion of your personal information, subject to certain exceptions.
• Right to correction. You have the right to request that we correct inaccuracies in the personal data that we process.
• Right to opt out. You have the right to opt out of any “sales” or “sharing” of your personal information or the use of your personal information for “targeted advertising,” as those terms are defined under applicable state law. Note that while Writing Partners does not monetize the personal information of any User of the Services by providing it to a third party in exchange for money (except in the context of a potential sale of the company), California law has a broader definition of the terms “sell” and “share” which includes making user information available to a third party for the purposes of targeted advertising. As described above, when we work with our advertising partners, we allow them to collect information about individuals who visit areas of the Services that are not directed to Student Users in a way that would be considered a “sale” or “sharing” under California law, or “targeted advertising” under other state laws. Writing Partners does not sell, lease, target advertisements based on, or otherwise trade for value any personal information of Student Users.
• Right to not be discriminated against. You have the right to be free from discrimination for exercising these rights. Please note that if the exercise of these rights limits our ability to process personal information we may no longer be able to provide you with our products and services.

If you are a resident of one of these states and would like to exercise any of these rights, please submit an email request to info@writingpartners.net with the subject line, “State Law Rights Request,” and indicate your state of residence. We may need to verify your identity before processing your request, which may require additional personal information from you, or that you log into your Writing Partners' account. In certain circumstances, we may decline or limit the scope of our compliance with your request, particularly where we are unable to verify your identity or locate your information, or as permitted by law. Depending on where you reside, you may also have the right to appeal our decision to decline or limit the scope of our compliance with your request by further contacting us at info@writingpartners.net and explaining the nature of your appeal.

Depending on where you reside, you may also be able to use an authorized agent to act on your behalf to submit requests to exercise your rights. If you are submitting a request through an authorized agent, the authorized agent must provide us with your signed written permission stating that the agent is authorized to make the request on your behalf. We may also request that any authorized agents verify their identity and may reach out to you directly to confirm that you have provided the agent with your permission to submit the request on your behalf.

Users in the European Economic Area (EEA), United Kingdom, and Switzerland

If you are a resident of the EEA, UK, or Switzerland, the following information applies with respect to personal information (or personal data) collected through your use of our Services. As noted above, Writing Parthers processes personal information consistent with our disclosures in this Privacy Policy.

We process personal information on the following legal bases:

• With your consent
• As necessary to Writing Partners to perform its obligations under any agreement for Services
• As necessary for our legitimate business interests to provide the Services where those interests do not override your fundamental rights and freedoms related to data privacy.

Note, the information we collect may be transferred, stored, and processed in Canada and the United States or any other country where we or our processors maintain offices. We will work to make transfers of personal information to a third country or an international organization subject to appropriate safeguards under applicable law.

You are entitled to the rights under Chapter III of the EU General Data Protection Regulation and the UK GDPR, or Section 2 of the Swiss Federal Act on Data Protection concerning the processing of your information, which includes rights to access, correct, delete, restrict or object to our use of, or receive a portable copy of your personal information. You also have a right to lodge a complaint with your local data protection regulator. To make a request or otherwise exercise your rights, please contact us at info@writingpartners.net. To honor such a request, we will need to verify your identity and residency, which may require additional supporting information.

6. Writing Partners' Work on Children’s Information Privacy

In our commitment to protect the privacy of children, Writing Partners does not ask for or require children to provide personal information beyond that which is reasonably necessary to support the operation of Writing Partner’s Services. Information collected from our Student Users is never disclosed for third-party advertising or any kind of behaviorally-targeted advertising.

In addition, Writing Partners has reasonable policies and practices surrounding the processing of personal information from children consistent with each of the following program guidelines:

• The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA)
• The Family Education Rights and Protection Act (FERPA)
• The Student Online Personal Information Protection Act
• California AB 1584 — Privacy of Pupil Records: 3rd-Party Digital Storage & Education Software (California Education Code section 49073.1).

7. Storage and Retention of User Information

Information collected through the Services may be transferred, stored, and processed in Canada and the United States or any other country where we, or affiliates, or our processors maintain offices, which may not provide the same level of protection for your personal information as your country, state, or province of residence, in which case it will be subject to and may be available to the government under the laws of that jurisdiction, including law enforcement, regulatory, and national security authorities.

We retain your personal information for as long as we have a relationship with you, although we retain the right to delete User accounts after a period of inactivity. After our relationship has ended, we also may retain your personal information for as long as required by law or to investigate or defend against potential legal claims.

8. Updates to this Policy

If we update this Privacy Policy, we will notify you by posting a new Privacy Policy on this page and updating the Last Modified date at the bottom of this Privacy Policy. If we make any changes that materially change the ways we process or protect your information going forward, we will provide additional notification of changes. If we make any revisions that materially change the ways in which we use or disclose the information previously collected from you through the Services, we will give you the opportunity to consent to such changes before applying them to that information.

9. How to contact us

If you have questions or concerns regarding the way in which your personal information has been used, please contact our privacy officer at allisonpr@gmail.com, send a ticket in to our info@writingpartners.net, contact us by mail at Paul Allison, 116 Pinehurst Avenue, K43, New York, NY 10033 or call us at 917-612-3006.

Last Modified Date: May 30, 2024