Advertising, Children's Privacy & Data Deletion

We display advertisements on our Services through Google AdSense and may use other third-party advertising networks. By using our Services, you acknowledge and agree to the following.

How Google AdSense Works

Google AdSense uses cookies and similar tracking technologies to serve ads based on your prior visits to our website and other websites. Google's use of advertising cookies enables it and its partners to serve ads based on your visit to our site and other sites on the Internet.

• Google uses the DoubleClick cookie to serve interest-based ads across the web.
• You may opt out of personalized advertising by visiting Google Ads Settings or www.aboutads.info.
• For more information about how Google uses data when you use our site, visit google.com/policies/privacy/partners.

What Advertisers May Collect

Third-party vendors and ad networks, including Google, may use cookies, web beacons, and other tracking technologies to serve ads based on your interests and browsing history, measure ad performance, limit ad frequency, and understand aggregate usage patterns. We do not control the data collection practices of third-party advertisers. We encourage you to review the privacy policies of any third-party ad network whose ads appear on our Services.

Children and Advertising (COPPA)

Your Advertising Choices

• Opt out of Google personalized ads: myaccount.google.com/data-and-privacy
• Network Advertising Initiative opt-out: optout.networkadvertising.org
• Digital Advertising Alliance opt-out: www.aboutads.info/choices
• Browser controls: Most browsers allow you to block or delete cookies through their settings.

Active Accounts

We retain your personal information for as long as your account is active or as needed to provide our Services. Enrolled, paying students' data is retained for the duration of enrollment and a reasonable period thereafter for legal and administrative purposes.

Automatic Deletion After 90 Days of Inactivity

"Inactive" means no login activity and no payment activity for 90 consecutive days. Active paying students and administrator accounts are never subject to automatic deletion. You will not receive advance notice before automatic deletion of an inactive account.

To prevent deletion: log in at least once every 90 days, or maintain an active enrollment with a current payment status.

Requesting Manual Data Deletion

You may request deletion of your account and all associated data at any time by:

1. Emailing [email protected] with the subject line "Data Deletion Request"
2. Including the email address associated with your account
3. We will process your request within 30 days and confirm deletion by email

What We Retain After Deletion

After account deletion, we may retain enrollment records for legal and financial compliance (up to 7 years) and anonymized, aggregated analytics data that cannot be linked back to you.

Our CipherKids program is designed for children ages 3 and older. We take children's privacy seriously and comply with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).

What We Collect from Children

When a child registers (with parental consent), we collect:

• First name (for personalization within the platform)
• Age range (to assign the appropriate program track)
• Progress data (lesson completions, badges earned, project submissions)

We do not collect from children:

• Full legal name beyond first name
• Home address or phone number
• Social Security number or government ID
• Photos or videos without explicit parental consent
• Precise geolocation data

Parental Rights

Parents and guardians have the right to:

• Review the personal information we have collected from their child
• Request deletion of their child's personal information
• Refuse further collection of their child's information
• Withdraw consent at any time

To exercise these rights, contact us at [email protected]. We will respond within 30 days.

Parental Consent

We require verifiable parental consent before collecting personal information from children under 13. By completing the enrollment form on behalf of a child, the parent or guardian certifies they are the child's parent or legal guardian and consent to our collection and use of the child's information as described in this Privacy Notice and this Addendum.

Ellie, our AI coding coach, includes optional persistent memory and voice interaction features. This section explains exactly what is collected, how it is used, and how you can delete it.

Persistent Memory

After each tutoring session, Ellie may automatically extract and store a small number of facts about the student to personalize future sessions. Examples of what may be stored:

• Skills: programming languages or concepts the student has learned or is working on
• Preferences: how the student likes to learn (e.g., "prefers examples over explanations")
• Goals: projects or skills the student wants to build
• Achievements: milestones the student has reached
• Context: relevant background that helps Ellie give better help

Memory entries are stored in our secure database, associated with the student's account, and are never shared with other students or third parties. Memory is used solely to improve the quality and continuity of Ellie's tutoring for that individual student.

Voice Features (Speech-to-Text & Text-to-Speech)

Ellie supports optional voice interaction:

• Speech-to-text (microphone input): Converts the student's spoken words to text using the browser's built-in Web Speech API. Audio is processed entirely within the student's browser and device — no audio is transmitted to our servers.
• Text-to-speech (read aloud): Reads Ellie's responses aloud using the browser's built-in speech synthesis engine. No data is sent to our servers for this feature.

Voice features are opt-in and off by default. Students can enable or disable them at any time from the settings panel. Voice preferences (enabled/disabled, speed, pitch) are saved to the student's account so they persist across sessions. These preferences can be deleted along with all memory data using the "Delete all" option in the settings panel.

Children Under 13

Memory and voice features are available to students of all ages, including children under 13. For children under 13, parents and guardians may review and delete all stored memory entries and voice preferences by contacting us at [email protected] or by logging into the student's account and using the in-app deletion controls.

Data Retention

Memory entries and voice preferences are retained for as long as the student's account is active. They are automatically deleted when an account is deleted (manually or via the 90-day inactivity policy). Students may delete their memory at any time without deleting their account.

We maintain internal service accounts used for platform administration, content management, and technical operations. These accounts are operated by authorized personnel of Ellie's FutureMinds Academy / MediSyncD Technologies, LLC.

• Have elevated access privileges for administrative purposes
• Are not subject to the 90-day inactivity deletion policy
• Are protected by strong credential requirements and access controls
• Activity may be logged for security and audit purposes
• Are never used to access student data for purposes other than platform administration and support