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Student Privacy Policy

Effective Date: 16 June 2026

Overview

BrightSprout ("we," "us," or "our") is committed to protecting the privacy of children who interact with our platform. This Student Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, and protect information from students, including children under 13, when educators use our online solving features.

This policy supplements our general Privacy Policy. Where this policy and the general Privacy Policy conflict regarding student data, this policy controls.

1. Scope

This policy applies to student data collected through the online solving features available on BrightSprout crosswords and word searches. It does not apply to our printable materials (crosswords, word searches, bingo cards, worksheets, and flashcards), which do not collect any user data from students.

The vast majority of BrightSprout usage involves educators creating and printing materials for classroom use. Online solving is an optional feature available only for crosswords and word searches.

2. What We Collect from Students

Information Configured by the Educator

When an educator sets up a crossword or word search for online solving, they choose what information to request from solvers before submission. This may include fields such as a student's name, student ID, class period, or school-issued email address. BrightSprout does not determine what fields are collected — the educator does.

We strongly encourage educators to request only non-personally-identifiable information (such as a student ID or class period) rather than a student's full name or personal email address, particularly when solvers may be under the age of 13.

Information We Collect Automatically

When any visitor — including a student — accesses our site, we automatically collect:

  • IP address
  • Browser type and version
  • Device information
  • Pages visited and time spent
  • Cookies and similar tracking technologies

We use Google Analytics and Microsoft Clarity on all pages of our site, including solver pages. These services collect persistent identifiers and usage data. Microsoft Clarity may record session replays (anonymized recordings of how users interact with a page). For more detail on these services, see our general Privacy Policy.

3. How We Use Student Data

We use student data solely to:

  • Deliver online solving functionality (accepting and recording puzzle submissions)
  • Provide submission data to the educator who created the puzzle
  • Operate and improve our platform through analytics

We do not use student data to:

  • Serve advertisements of any kind (BrightSprout is and will remain ad-free)
  • Build marketing profiles of students
  • Sell or rent student data to any third party
  • Target communications to students

4. What Educators See

The educator who created the puzzle can view:

  • The form field responses the student provided (as configured by that educator)
  • The time the submission was made

Educators cannot see a student's IP address, browser information, or analytics data.

5. Third-Party Services

Student data may be processed by the following categories of third-party service providers:

  • Hosting infrastructure — to serve the platform and store submission data
  • Google Analytics — for site usage analytics
  • Microsoft Clarity — for session analytics and replay

We do not sell student data. We do not share individually identifiable student data with any third party for their own commercial purposes.

6. COPPA Compliance

The Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) applies to the online collection of personal information from children under 13. Because BrightSprout's online solving features may be used by children under 13 at the direction of their educators, we rely on the following:

School Consent Under COPPA

When an educator directs students to complete a puzzle online, the educator acts as the student's agent and is responsible for providing or obtaining appropriate consent for any personal information collected. Under FTC guidance, schools may consent to the collection of student personal information on behalf of parents when the information is used solely for an educational purpose.

Educators who use online solving with students under 13 are responsible for:

  • Ensuring that consent has been obtained, either directly from parents or through the school or district acting on parents' behalf
  • Configuring form fields appropriately (we recommend collecting only non-personally-identifiable information such as student IDs)
  • Informing parents that BrightSprout will collect information as described in this policy

Our Commitments Under COPPA

  • We collect only the information necessary to provide the online solving service
  • We do not condition a student's participation on the disclosure of more information than is reasonably necessary
  • We do not serve advertising to students
  • We provide parents and schools the ability to review and request deletion of student data

7. FERPA Compliance

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) protects student education records maintained by schools. When a school or educator uses BrightSprout and student submission data constitutes an education record, we act as a "school official" with a legitimate educational interest under FERPA.

We use student education records only for the purpose of providing the educational service the school or educator has engaged. We do not use education records for any other purpose and do not share them except as directed by the educator or as required by law.

8. Data Retention

Student submission data (form field responses and submission timestamps) is retained indefinitely unless deletion is requested. We are evaluating automatic data retention limits and will update this policy if and when they are implemented.

Educators may request deletion of submission data associated with their puzzles at any time.

9. Data Deletion Requests

Parents, educators, and schools have the right to:

  • Review any student data we have collected
  • Request deletion of any student data we hold

To make a request, contact us at [email protected]. We will respond to deletion requests within 30 days.

10. Student Accounts

BrightSprout does not require students to create an account to complete an online puzzle. However, any visitor may create a BrightSprout account using an email address and password. We do not currently use an age gate during account registration.

If we become aware that a child under 13 has created an account without parental consent, we will delete the account and associated data promptly.

11. No Advertising

BrightSprout does not display advertisements anywhere on our platform. We will never serve ads to students or use student data for advertising purposes.

12. Security

We implement reasonable administrative, technical, and physical safeguards to protect student data. However, no system is 100% secure. The safest approach when working with young students is to collect the minimum information necessary — we recommend educators use student IDs or class periods rather than full names when configuring solver fields.

13. Changes to This Policy

We may update this policy from time to time. If we make material changes to how we handle student data, we will post a notice on our site and update the effective date above.

14. Contact Us

If you have questions about this policy or want to make a data request, contact us at: [email protected]