SpellingJoy Privacy Policy

SpellingJoy ("SPELLINGJOY", "we", "us", or "our") operates SpellingJoy.com. We are committed to protecting the privacy of all our users, especially children. SpellingJoy provides a spelling practice platform that can be used by teachers, parents, and students.

This Privacy Policy explains:

• What information SpellingJoy collects from you (and why we collect it).
• How we use and share that information.
• The choices you have, including how to access, update, and delete your information.
• This Policy applies to all services offered by SpellingJoy.
• This policy applies to SpellingJoy Users and Visitors as well as educators and schools who utilize the Service.

Summary for Quick Reference

• Purpose of processing: provide access to and use of SpellingJoy.com.
• Legal grounds: processing based on user consent, contract performance and legitimate interests.
• Recipients: SpellingJoy third-party service providers which help provide the Service.
• User rights: access, rectification, erasure, restriction, objection and data portability.
• Inquiries: for inquiries regarding this Privacy Policy please contact SpellingJoy at info@spellingjoy.com.

Personal information is any information you provide to us that personally identifies you, like your name or email address.

BY USING THE SERVICE, YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THAT YOU ACCEPT AND AGREE TO THIS PRIVACY POLICY.

SpellingJoy Privacy Principles

In collecting and processing your personal information, we will comply with data protection laws and ensure your personal information will be:

• Used lawfully, fairly and in a transparent way.
• Collected only for valid purposes that we have clearly explained to you.
• Relevant to the purposes we have told you about and limited only to those purposes.
• Accurate and kept up-to-date.
• Kept only as long as necessary for the purposes we have told you about.
• Kept securely.

Collection of Personal Information

SpellingJoy collects personal information from users in order to provide the Service. The personal information collected is used for the following purposes:

• To create the necessary accounts to use the Service.
• To assess the quality of the Service.
• To conduct product research and development.
• To secure and safeguard personal information.
• To access premium features, if applicable.
• To comply with applicable laws or respond to valid legal process.

Information You Provide to Us

There are categories of users on our Service: teachers, students, and visitors. We collect and store the following:

• Account Sign-up and Profile Information: To create a SpellingJoy teacher account, you provide your name, email address, school name (optional), country, state (if US), and grades taught.
• Student Information: Students access the Service via class codes. Students provide only their first name and an optional avatar selection. No email addresses or passwords are collected from students.
• Contact Information: When you choose to contact us, we collect your email and message content.

Information Collected Automatically

• Cookies and Similar Technologies: We use cookies for essential site functionality. You can manage cookies through your browser settings.
• Device Information: We collect device-specific information such as hardware model, operating system version, and browser type.
• Log Information: When you use our Service, we automatically collect details of how you used our service, IP Address, and device event information.

Schools and Student Use

This section supplements our Privacy Policy in connection with school use. SpellingJoy allows Schools to invite students to join classroom settings.

Our Commitment

Our collection and use of Student Personal Data is governed by our contracts with Schools, by our Privacy Policy, and by applicable privacy laws. For example:

• The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)
• The Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA)
• EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)
• UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR)
• California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA)
• State Student Privacy Laws (including California AB 1584, New York Ed. Law § 2-D)

Protecting the Privacy Rights of Children

SpellingJoy collects the minimal amount of information from users necessary to create accounts on our service.

SpellingJoy does not permit children under the age of 13 (a "Child" or "Children") to create an account without the involvement of an Educator or School.

When SpellingJoy is used by a School in an educational setting, we may rely on the School to provide the appropriate consent and authorization for a Child to use the Services in accordance with COPPA.

Information Regarding Children

• No student's profile is made available or visible to the public or to other students through SpellingJoy.
• SpellingJoy does not allow students to make their personal information publicly available.
• Student accounts are only accessible via class codes provided by teachers.
• We collect only the minimum necessary information: first name and avatar selection.

Parental Choices

Parents who want copies of their children's personal information that we may have stored can contact us at info@spellingjoy.com. We will respond within 30 days. Parents are also entitled to delete their child's data.

Use of Information by SpellingJoy

SpellingJoy does not sell or rent any personal information to third parties for any purpose.

We use the information we collect to:

• Provide and improve the Service, for example by developing new products and features.
• Respond to your requests for information or customer support.
• Customize the Service for you, and improve your experience with it.
• Send you information about new features and SpellingJoy products we believe you may be interested in (teachers only, with opt-out option).
• Protect our community by making sure the Service remains safe and secure.

Storage of Data

• Minimal information: SpellingJoy collects the minimal amount of information from users necessary to create accounts.
• Deleting inactive accounts: SpellingJoy will delete inactive accounts and data in compliance with applicable laws.

After deletion of the account or data, SpellingJoy may retain copies and/or backups of the mentioned information for a period of up to 90 days for disaster recovery purposes.

Security of Your Personal Information

SpellingJoy is committed to securing your personal information. Some of the ways in which we protect your personal information include:

• We encrypt your personal information when it is stored at rest.
• We protect your personal information with encryption during transmission over the public Internet (SSL/TLS).
• We use reasonable organizational and technical safeguards designed to help protect the privacy and security of your personal information.
• We ensure passwords are stored and transferred securely using encryption and salted hashing.
• We use best-effort practices to secure access to personal information through technical and physical safeguards.

Notification of Security Breaches

Although we make concerted good faith efforts to maintain the security of personal information, and we work hard to ensure the integrity and security of our systems, no security system can prevent all potential security breaches.

In the event of a security breach:

• Initial Notice: Upon discovery of a security breach that results in unauthorized release of personal data, we will send an initial communication to the email address of the affected users within 72 hours of discovery.
• Detailed Notification: Upon discovery of a breach, we will conduct an investigation and provide detailed notification including steps taken to secure the platform and recommendations for affected users.

SpellingJoy's Third-Party Service Providers

To provide our services, we work with the following service providers:

• Supabase for database hosting and authentication.
• Vercel for application hosting and deployment.
• OpenAI for text-to-speech functionality (voice synthesis only, no personal data shared).
• Google Analytics for website analytics (anonymized).
• Stripe as a payment processing service (for premium features).

This list may change over time, and we will work to keep it up-to-date. SpellingJoy reserves the right to periodically update this list with additional third parties who may help provide the Service.

Your Rights Regarding Personal Information

Your rights relating to your personal information include:

• To be informed about how SpellingJoy uses your personal information.
• To request access to personal information held by SpellingJoy, and to have any incorrect or incomplete data corrected.
• Where appropriate, to restrict processing concerning you or to object to processing.
• To have personal information erased where there is no compelling reason for its continued processing.
• Where applicable, to portability of personal data in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format.

Managing Your Information

• Accessing Your Information: To request access to the personal information we have about you, please contact us at info@spellingjoy.com.
• Updating Your Information: You may update or delete some of your profile information on your own or by contacting us.
• Account Deletion: If you wish to delete your account and all associated data, please contact us at info@spellingjoy.com. We will process your request within 30 days.

California Residents

California AB 1584

Regarding California AB 1584 (Buchanan) Privacy of Pupil Records:

• Student records obtained by SpellingJoy from an educational institution continue to be the property of and under the control of the educational institution.
• SpellingJoy users may retain possession and control of their own generated content.
• SpellingJoy will not use any information in a student record for any purpose other than those required or specifically permitted by contract.
• Parents, legal guardians, or eligible students may review personally identifiable information in the student's records and correct erroneous information.
• SpellingJoy is committed to maintaining the security and confidentiality of student records.
• In the event of an unauthorized disclosure of a student's records, SpellingJoy will promptly notify the educational agency.
• SpellingJoy will delete or de-identify personal information when it is no longer needed.
• SpellingJoy prohibits using personally identifiable information in student records to engage in targeted advertising.

New York Residents

New York Ed. Law § 2-D

In compliance with New York Education Law § 2-D, SpellingJoy shall:

• Limit internal access to education records to those individuals that are determined to have legitimate educational interests.
• Not use the education records for any purposes other than those explicitly authorized.
• Not disclose any personally identifiable information to any other party without prior written consent of the parent or eligible student.
• Maintain reasonable administrative, technical and physical safeguards to protect the security, confidentiality and integrity of personally identifiable student information.
• Use encryption technology to protect data while in motion or in its custody from unauthorized disclosure.
• Notify the educational agency in the most expedient way possible and without unreasonable delay of any breach of security.

European Residents (GDPR)

As part of a global organization, SpellingJoy operates both within and outside the European Economic Area (EEA). For users in the EEA, you have specific rights including:

• Right of access and portability: The right to obtain access to your personal information.
• Right to rectification: The right to obtain rectification of your personal information without undue delay.
• Right to erasure: The right to obtain erasure of your personal information without undue delay in certain circumstances.
• Right to restriction: The right to obtain restriction of processing undertaken by us on your personal information.
• Right to object: The right to object to the processing of your personal information.

According to article 8 of the GDPR, minors shall be entitled to use the SpellingJoy Service if the holder of their parental responsibilities gives consent. For users in the EU, teachers must ensure they have proper consent from parents before allowing children under 16 to use the Service.

International Data Transfers

SpellingJoy is hosted in the United States. If you use the Service from any other regions with laws governing data collection and use that differ from US law, please note that your personal information may be transferred to the United States and other countries. We ensure appropriate safeguards are in place for such transfers in accordance with applicable data protection laws.

Do Not Track

SpellingJoy does not track its users over time and across third-party websites to provide targeted advertising and therefore does not respond to Do Not Track (DNT) signals.

Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may occasionally update this Privacy Policy. You can see when the last update was by looking at the "Last Updated" date at the top of this page. We will notify affected users of any material changes by email or through a notice on our website.

Contact Us

If you have any questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy or our data practices, please contact us at:

• Email: info@spellingjoy.com
• Website: https://spellingjoy.com

We will take steps to remedy issues arising out of SpellingJoy's alleged failure to comply with these privacy principles. You may file a complaint concerning SpellingJoy's processing of your personal data by contacting us at info@spellingjoy.com.