Privacy policy

Summary

Student data belongs to the school. We use it only to provide Pondra to that school.
We never sell personal information, never show ads and never use student data to train AI models.
For students under 13, the school gives consent for school use, and parents can review or delete their child’s information through the school.
Our website uses no cookies, analytics or ad trackers.
We keep data only as long as we need it and delete it on a schedule.

Who this covers

This policy covers the pondra.ai website and the Pondra assistant. When a school uses Pondra, we process student information on the school’s behalf and under its instructions. The school’s agreement with us, including our Student Data Privacy Addendum, also applies and controls if it conflicts with this policy.

What we collect

From website visitors

Demo requests. The email address you enter, plus the country your request came from and your browser type, to spot spam.
Server logs. Our hosting provider records IP addresses, browser details and pages requested to keep the site secure and working.
Emails you send us. Whatever you choose to include.

We don’t use cookies, analytics, tracking pixels or advertising tools on this website.

From schools

Names, school email addresses and roles of the administrators and teachers who use Pondra, and contact and billing details for the school.

From students, through their school

Account details from the school’s sign-in system: name, school email or student ID, school and grade.
Conversations: what students type to Pondra and Pondra’s replies.
Usage information such as when Pondra was used and which subjects, so schools get reports.
Technical information such as browser type and IP address, used only for security and troubleshooting.

We don’t ask students for home addresses, phone numbers, photos, precise location or biometric data, and we don’t require students to share more than they need to use Pondra.

How we use it

To provide Pondra: answering students with hints and questions, applying the school’s safety settings and producing reports for the school.
To support schools, staff and students when they ask for help.
To keep Pondra secure, prevent misuse and fix problems.
To improve Pondra using only aggregate, de-identified statistics that can’t identify a student or school.
To respond to demo requests and talk with schools about Pondra.
To meet legal obligations.

What we never do

Sell or rent personal information, or share it for cross-context behavioral advertising.
Show ads to students or use student data to target ads anywhere.
Build profiles of students for any purpose other than the school’s.
Use student data, even de-identified, to train AI models, ours or anyone else’s.
Try to re-identify de-identified data.

The school. Staff the school authorizes can see reports and, where the school allows, conversations.
Service providers. Companies that host Pondra, provide AI models, store data or deliver email, under written contracts that limit them to providing their service to us, require them to protect the data and forbid them from training AI on it. We list them on our trust page.
When the law requires it, or to protect someone’s health or safety in an emergency. Where the law allows, we tell the school first.
If Pondra is acquired or merged, only to a successor that keeps the promises in this policy. We would tell schools in advance and let them delete their data first.

We don’t disclose children’s personal information to third parties for any purpose that isn’t part of providing Pondra.

Children and COPPA

Pondra is used by students of all ages, including children under 13, and we follow the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) and the FTC’s COPPA Rule.

School consent. Students use Pondra only through a school. As the FTC allows, the school consents on parents’ behalf to our collection of children’s information, for school use only and for no commercial purpose. Before students start, we give the school a notice of what Pondra collects, how we use it and who we share it with, so it can make that decision and tell families.
What we collect and why. The student information listed above, used only to provide Pondra to the school as described in this policy.
Parents’ rights. Parents can ask to review their child’s information, have it deleted or stop further collection. The easiest way is through the school, which controls the account. You can also email privacy@pondra.ai; we’ll work with the school and respond within 10 business days.
Technical identifiers. We use IP addresses and browser details only to keep Pondra secure and working, never to track students or show ads.
Sharing. Children’s information goes only to the service providers that help us run Pondra, as described above.
Retention. We keep children’s information only as long as needed to provide Pondra to the school, on the schedule below, and then delete it securely. We never keep it indefinitely.
Security. We keep a written information security program to protect children’s information.

Our website is meant for adults at schools. If we learn that a child sent us information through the website without school involvement, we delete it.

Schools and FERPA

When Pondra receives education records, we act as a “school official” under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA): the school stays in control, we use the records only for the purposes the school authorizes, and we don’t redisclose them except as FERPA allows. Parents and eligible students can exercise their FERPA rights to inspect and correct records through their school, and we help the school respond within 10 business days.

State laws, including California’s SOPIPA, New York Education Law 2-d and Illinois SOPPA, add protections. We meet them, and where a state gives students more protection, we follow that state’s law. Our Student Data Privacy Addendum has the details.

How long we keep it

Information	Why we keep it	How long
Demo requests (email, country, browser)	To reply and set up a demo	Up to 24 months, then deleted automatically
Website server logs (IP address, browser, pages requested)	Security and troubleshooting	A few days
School staff accounts	Sign-in, reports and support	While the school is a customer, then deleted within 60 days
Student account details from school sign-in	Sign-in and reports for the school	While the school is a customer, then deleted within 60 days
Student chat history	So students can pick up where they left off and schools can review use	12 months by default, or a shorter period the school chooses
Backups	Recovery after an outage or error	Overwritten within 90 days

A school can ask us to delete its data at any time, and we do so within 30 days. When a school’s agreement ends, we offer an export and then delete its data within 60 days. We certify deletion in writing on request.

Security

We encrypt data in transit and at rest, store it in the United States, require multi-factor authentication and limit access to the people who need it. If a security incident affects student data, we notify the school within 72 hours of confirming it, never more than 7 days after discovering it, and we help it notify families. Read more on our trust page, and report security issues to security@pondra.ai.

Your rights

Students and parents: contact your school, which controls student accounts, or email us and we’ll work with your school.
Everyone else: you can ask to see, correct or delete the personal information we hold about you by emailing privacy@pondra.ai. We offer these rights to everyone, wherever you live, and won’t treat you differently for using them. We may need to confirm your identity first.
Do Not Track and Global Privacy Control: we don’t track you across websites or sell or share personal information, so there is nothing to opt out of.

Pondra is offered in the United States, and we store data there.

Changes

We’ll post any change here and update the date at the top. Before a material change to how we handle student data, we’ll give schools at least 30 days’ notice, and we won’t apply it to student data we already hold without the school’s agreement.

Contact

Email privacy@pondra.ai with any question about privacy or this policy.