Your privacy matters
Cognality Learning is built on trust. We're transparent about how we collect, use, and protect student data. Your data is never sold, shared, or used for commercial purposes.
Compliance & certifications
FERPA
We operate as a "school official" under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act. Your school retains full custodianship of all student records. We handle data with the same protections as your school.
COPPA
Under the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, we operate via the school authorization model. Schools obtain parental consent; we never collect data directly from students under 13.
PPRA
We comply with the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment. We do not administer surveys collecting sensitive information (political beliefs, mental health, religious views, sexual behavior).
kidSAFE (Planned)
We are pursuing +EDU CERTIFIED (FERPA) and +COPPA CERTIFIED seals from kidSAFE, an FTC-approved Safe Harbor program for independent third-party verification.
👥 No data sales
We never sell, rent, or trade student data to third parties. Period.
🔒 End-to-end encryption
TLS 1.2+ in transit. AES-256 at rest. Teaching sessions and performance data are encrypted.
🧠 Learning-only use
Data used solely for educational purposes. Never for advertising, behavioral profiling, or targeting.
🗑️ Automatic purge
Session data auto-deletes after 1 year of inactivity. Schools can request deletion anytime.
📊 Transparency reports
We respond to all data requests within 5 business days. Detailed access logs maintained.
🛡️ School stays in control
Under FERPA, your school is the data custodian. We're a service provider acting on your behalf.
What we collect and why
Our data practices
Minimal, essential data only. Under the FERPA School Official Exception, schools handle student enrollment and parental consent. We receive no personally identifiable information (PII) directly from students under 13 (COPPA compliance).
Exclusively for personalized learning and assessment. Never for advertising, profiling, or commercial purposes. Aligned with FERPA's legitimate educational purpose requirement and COPPA's restrictions on data use.
Encrypted PostgreSQL database on secure AWS infrastructure (AES-256 at rest, TLS 1.2+ in transit). Access restricted to authorized personnel only. Schools retain custodianship under FERPA.
Kept while actively in use. Schools can request deletion anytime. Auto-deleted after 1 year of inactivity. Compliant with FERPA record retention requirements and COPPA's minimization principles.
Notify affected schools within 72 hours per FERPA requirements. Maintain detailed incident logs. Schools are responsible for notifying parents/guardians under state law and COPPA where applicable.
No data sharing with third parties. Schools remain the data custodian. We do not engage in behavioral advertising, data sales, or commercial profiling—prohibited under FERPA, COPPA, and PPRA.
Legal framework
Cognality Learning operates under established U.S. education privacy laws:
- FERPA (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act): We operate as a "school official" under the School Official Exception. Your school retains full custodianship of student records. Learn more at studentprivacy.ed.gov
- COPPA (Children's Online Privacy Protection Act): We comply via the school exception model—schools obtain parental consent; we don't collect data directly from students under 13. FTC COPPA Rule
- PPRA (Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment): We do not conduct surveys collecting sensitive information about students' political beliefs, mental health, or other protected topics. Learn more at studentprivacy.ed.gov
- State Data Breach Laws: We comply with state requirements to notify schools of any data breaches within required timeframes.