Last Updated: March 11, 2025
Under the U.S. Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), online service providers must provide parental notification and obtain verifiable parental consent, except in limited situations, before collecting personal information from children under the age of 13. While COPPA does not apply to nonprofit organizations like Gradient Learning (“Gradient Learning”) through which the Along (“Along”) platform (the “Services”) is offered, we have chosen to inform our practices with COPPA. At Along, we take privacy seriously as it pertains to students, including children under the age of 13 (collectively “Students”).
In cases where Educational Institutions contract with Along’s online service providers to offer programs solely for the benefit of Students and schools, COPPA allows for such institutions to act as a parent’s agent and to consent under COPPA to the collection of a Student’s personal information on the parent’s behalf. Pursuant to our User Agreement, Along will not collect personal information from a Student unless that Student's teacher, school, or school district (hereinafter collectively referred to as “Educational Institution”), acting as the parent’s agent, has provided the required consent.
In order for Along to rely on consent obtained from a Student’s Educational Institution instead of the parent under COPPA, Along must provide the Educational Institution with the same type of direct notice regarding its practices as to the collection, use, or disclosure of personal information from Students as it would otherwise be required to provide to the parent, as follows:
Along relies on Educational Institutions to consent under COPPA to the collection of a Student’s personal information on the parent’s behalf; including to collect the contact information needed to obtain parental consent; and to provide the means by which parental consent can be obtained regarding the collection, use, and disclosure of such personal information.
Along intends to collect personal information from Students but only to the extent that it is reasonably necessary to enable Students to utilize the Services. Along requires parental consent or school authorization for the collection, use, and/or disclosure of any Student’s personal information. Along will not collect, use, or disclose any personal information from a Student if parental consent or school authorization is not provided.
If such consent is provided, Along may collect the following personal information from the Student:
- Username or unique identifier;
- Email address (optional, if the Educational Institution so chooses);
- First and last name (optional, if the Educational Institution so chooses);
- Parent or guardian name and email address (optional, if the Educational Institution so chooses);
- Associated grade level, class names, and teacher names;
- Student in-app performance data and usage data;
- Student generated content including writing, and audio and video recordings;
- IP addresses for messages and comments;
- Device information and identifiers;
We may use the Students’ personal information to provide the Services as further outlined on our website. Along stores the following personal information that Educational Institutions and Students may choose to disclose within the school environment:
- Student name;
- Student email address;
- School and class information;
- Student generated content including writing, and audio and video recordings;
Upon written request from the Educational Institution, Along will provide a description of the types of personal information collected; an opportunity to review the Student’s personal information, the right to have the personal information deleted; and the opportunity to prevent further use or online collection of a Student’s personal information. For more information on our privacy practices, please see our Privacy Policy.
If personal information is collected by Along without parental consent or collected beyond the scope needed for the Along Services , and if we become aware that such personal information has been collected, we will promptly delete the personal information or if it is reasonably necessary for the Along Services, seek to obtain the appropriate consent. If you believe that personal information from a Student has been provided in violation of these terms, please contact us at privacy@along.org.
As a best practice, Along recommends that Educational Institutions make this notice available to parents so that they may review the personal information collected.
Please feel free to contact Along with any questions or concerns at privacy@along.org.