Product Privacy Policy

Last updated: October 5, 2021. You can see past versions of our Terms here on Github.

Thinking Cap Inc. (“Thinking Cap ”) takes the privacy of its users, including students, teachers, and parents, seriously. Thinking Cap is committed to protecting users’ privacy while providing a personalized and valuable learning experience through its education technology product (the “Product”).

Thinking Cap has taken the Student Privacy Pledge (2020 version) as a public commitment for the responsible collection and use of student data. Among other things, we have committed to the following:

• We only collect, store, process, or share student information that is needed for authorized education/school purposes, or as authorized by the parent/student.
• We do not sell student personal information.
• We do not use or disclose student information for behavioral targeting of advertisements to students.
• We do not retain student personal information beyond the time period required to support the authorized educational/school purposes.

The complete Student Privacy Pledge (2020 version) can be read here.

If users have any questions about our Privacy Policy, they may contact Thinking Cap at info@thinkingcap.co.

The School Environment

Collectively, the classroom, teachers, and school and district administration and employees/agents are referred to in this Privacy Policy as the “School Environment.”

As Thinking Cap is designed to be used in the classroom, much of the information collected is intended to be shared within the School Environment; Product-related or class-related activities, information, or communications may therefore be visible to anyone present in the classroom. Furthermore, some information will be available to other teachers and school or district administrators and/or employees (see “Thinking Cap User Access Privileges” below). The sharing of the above information is subject to this Privacy Policy and the privacy policies of the relevant educational institutions. If users have any questions about the sharing of this information under those policies, Thinking Cap recommends that users contact the relevant educational institutions.

Thinking Cap has implemented security measures to ensure that this data will not be shared outside the School Environment, except as outlined in this Privacy Policy.

Collected Information

1. Personal Information

   The specific information collected depends on the user type (i.e. teacher, district/school staff, parent, and student users). A list of the personal information collected for each user type of the Product, including the type of information collected, how the information is collected and used within the School Environment, whether other users can view the information, and whether the information is shared outside of the School Environment, is available here.

   Thinking Cap DOES NOT collect the following data:

   • Physiological biometric data;
   • Information on free or reduced lunch status;
   • User’s contact lists or friends lists;
   • Student or parent addresses.

2. Cookies

   Cookies are small data files that are commonly stored on your device when you use websites and online services. They are widely used to make websites work, or to work more efficiently, as well as to provide reporting information and assist with services or personalization. There are also other technologies that are similar to cookies, which may store small amounts of data on your device (“local storage”).

   Thinking Cap uses the following types of cookies and local storage (collectively called “Cookies” herein):

   • Performance and functionality Cookies: These Cookies are not essential, but help us to personalize and enhance your user experience. For example, they may help us to remember your preferences and prevent you from needing to re-enter information more than once, or to remember your id and password so that you do not have to enter them each time you use our services.

   The Thinking Cap Product does not use cookies for advertising purposes.

   If you wish to disable the use of Cookies, you may do so from the browser preferences menu of your browser software by either turning off Cookies or by using your browser’s privacy mode when using our services.

What Does Thinking Cap Do with the Collected Information?

Thinking Cap only collects and uses user information that is required to fulfill its duties and provide and improve its services. Specifically, collected information is used for the following purposes:

• To operate the Product;
• To enable users to login to the Product;
• To allow the teacher to manage and engage with the Product;
• To allow school employees or agents to assign behavior actions to students;
• To allow classmates to use the Product;
• To enable class related activities such as classroom content, assignments/tasks, and communications;
• To allow parents to use the Product with their child(ren);
• To allow teachers, students, and parents to compare individual student performance against aggregate results from within that student’s class;
• To provide analytic data to teachers and school administrators;
• For software and customer support purposes; and
• For sales, invoicing, and/or billing purposes.

Thinking Cap does not advertise or market to students or their parents. No personally identifiable student information will be used for marketing purposes.

Thinking Cap does not share personally identifiable information outside the School Environment, except for those purposes stated within this document, without first obtaining the express written consent of the individual.

Parents who login to the Product are not granted access to personally identifiable information of any student other than their child.

Collected information in aggregate form, whereby individual users are not identifiable (i.e. “de-identified data”), is used for the following purposes:

• To improve the Product;
• For research and statistical purposes;
• For marketing purposes related to the Thinking Cap Product; and
• For customer support purposes.

De-identified data will have all direct and indirect personal identifiers removed. This includes, but is not limited to, name, user ID, date of birth, and location information. Furthermore, Thinking Cap will not attempt to re-identify de-identified data or transfer de-identified data to any party unless that party agrees not to attempt reidentification

Thinking Cap User Data Access

All user access and/or interactions within the Thinking Cap Product occur in the School Environment among district/school administrators, district/school employees or agents, teachers (including paraprofessionals, aides, behavior specialists, or other school employees), students, and parents (“trusted users”) in the School Environment.

Teachers (including teachers, paraprofessionals, aides, substitute teachers, behavior specialists, or other school employees working with students in the classroom) are granted access to student data for the students in their classes and to parent data for the students in their classes. School/district administration officials may access teacher and student data to monitor in-app activities and student behavior/attendance. Other school employees or agents within the School Environment, such as hall and playground monitors, bus drivers, etc., may have basic in-app privileges (such as the ability to award points to students) that allow them to see student names and usernames.

Students are granted access to their personal data, their team play data, all content posted by their teacher in the classroom content system, comments of other students in the classroom content system, as well as any data that is displayed by the teacher in front of the whole class. By default, students can see Product events for other students in their class from within their account. However, the teacher can restrict the information visible to other students; on a per class basis, teachers can hide the reasons for gaining and losing points and also limit visibility to a student’s teammates only (for the purpose of being able to engage with the Product).

Parents are granted access to data related to their child and their child’s teacher, and to aggregate data for their child’s class.

Detailed information on user data access can be viewed here.

Student Records

Student records are the property of and under the control of the school and/or school district. Students can access their student records by logging in to their student account. Parents of students under the age of 18 can access their child’s information via the parent account by logging in using their child’s account, by contacting the teacher, or by contacting Thinking Cap at info@thinkingcap.co. Corrections of any erroneous information should first be brought to the attention of the teacher or the school administration. In the event that the teacher or school are unable to make the correction, parents should advise Thinking Cap at info@thinkingcap.co who will then work with the teacher or school to facilitate correction of any erroneous information.

Third parties are not granted access to personally identifiable information or educational records or other student records except as provided in this Privacy Policy, or after first obtaining the express written consent of the parent or student over 18 years of age.

Should there be any unauthorized disclosure of a student’s records, Thinking Cap will notify the school, teacher, parent and student via email within 3 days following discovery of the unauthorized disclosure.

No Marketing to Students and Parents

Thinking Cap does not share user data with third parties for marketing purposes. Furthermore, Thinking Cap does not use student data for marketing of any kind, including marketing to students or parents. For information on our privacy practices with respect to the operation of the corporate website, please see Thinking Cap’s corporate website Privacy Policy here.

Deletion of Student and Parent Records

Student records are deleted 12 months after the end of their last class within the Product. This allows students to use their account during the next school year without having to create a new account. Parent records are deleted when their child’s or childrens’ accounts are deleted.

Parents and students over the age of 18 can request to have their account, or the account of their child, and related information deleted from the Thinking Cap database by contacting Thinking Cap at info@thinkingcap.co.

Deletion of Teacher Records

Personal data of teachers and any data not already deleted that is related to a teacher’s classes will be deleted 2 years after their account has become inactive.

Regional Compliance

1. United States of America

   FERPA

   FERPA is an acronym for the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act, a US federal law to protect the privacy of student educational records. FERPA gives parents certain rights with respect to their non-adult children’s education records. These rights include the right to inspect and review the student’s education records maintained by the school, as well the right to request that a school correct records which they believe to be inaccurate or misleading.

   Furthermore, under FERPA, schools generally must have written permission from the parent in order to release any information from a student’s education record, which includes records, files, documents, and other materials that contain information directly related to a student and are maintained by an educational agency/institution, or the personally identifiable information contained within those records. However, FERPA allows schools to disclose those records, without consent, to various parties under specified conditions, including the following (see 34 CFR § 99.31):

   • School officials with legitimate educational interest;
   • Other schools to which a student is transferring;
   • Specified officials for audit or evaluation purposes;
   • Appropriate parties in connection with financial aid to a student;
   • Organizations conducting certain studies for or on behalf of the school;
   • Accrediting organizations;
   • To comply with a judicial order or lawfully issued subpoena;
   • Appropriate officials in cases of health and safety emergencies; and
   • State and local authorities, within a juvenile justice system, pursuant to specific State law.

   Schools may also disclose, without consent, “directory” information such as a student’s name, address, telephone number, date and place of birth, honors and awards, and dates of attendance. However, schools must tell parents about directory information and allow parents a reasonable amount of time to request that the school not disclose directory information about them.

   While this act is primarily directed towards educational institutions, Thinking Cap recognizes its role as a “School Official” with a legitimate educational interest under FERPA, and our privacy policy is designed to secure student data in compliance with FERPA and to allow education institutions using Thinking Cap to be compliant with FERPA. Thinking Cap does not disclose student educational records or directory information outside of the School Environment.

   COPPA

   COPPA is an acronym for the Child Online Privacy Protection Act, a US federal law to protect the privacy of children under the age of 13. COPPA requires that online service providers such as Thinking Cap, or teachers/schools acting as a parent’s agent, provide parental notification and obtain parental consent before knowingly collecting personal/individually identifiable information from children under the age of 13, except in limited situations (for exceptions to this consent requirement, please see 16 CFR § 312.5(c)).

   Pursuant to the Terms of Use between Thinking Cap and the users of the Thinking Cap Product (https://www.thinkingcap.co/terms-of-use), teachers, or a teacher’s school or district administration, will obtain verifiable parental consent, should it be required under COPPA. Thinking Cap provides information for teachers, including COPPA Direct Notice (available at www.thinkingcap.co/coppa-direct-notice) and a sample parental permission document should they require one (available at: https://help.thinkingcap.co/hc/en-us/articles/218411437-thinkingcap-and-COPPA).

   If such personal information is collected without parental consent or collected beyond the scope needed for participation in the Thinking Cap Product, Thinking Cap will delete such information as soon as possible. If you believe that information from a student under the age of 13 has been provided in violation of these terms, please contact us at info@thinkingcap.co.

   Please review the foregoing sections for descriptions of the types of personal information we collect; how we collect that information; how that information is used; and our policies on protecting that information from third party access.

   Thinking Cap takes the rights of children and parents very seriously. To this end:

   • Thinking Cap won’t require a child to disclose more information than is reasonably necessary to participate using the Product within the School Environment;
   • Parents can review their child’s personal information, direct Thinking Cap to delete it, and refuse to allow any further collection or use of their child’s information; and
   • Parents can agree to the collection and use of their child’s information, but still not allow disclosure to third parties unless it is part of the service.

   Parents may contact Thinking Cap following the procedures outlined in the “Changes and Access to Personal Information” section below.

2. European Union

   Since May 24, 2018, the European Union General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) has defined the rules regarding the collection, use, and retention of personal information for citizens of the European Union (EU). Thinking Cap is fully compliant with these rules.

   Thinking Cap is a Canadian corporation with its headquarters in Toronto, Canada. In order to operate its services, and in accordance with this Privacy Policy, Thinking Cap may collect, use, and retain personal information from users of the Thinking Cap Product who are based in the EU. The European Commission has ruled that commercial entities in Canada have adequacy under the GDPR, or already provide adequate data security. For an updated listing of countries where data security is considered adequate, please visit the European Commission’s website.

   Furthermore, in order to operate its services, and in accordance with this Privacy Policy, Thinking Cap also conducts business with third-party data processors in the United States, where personal information for users of the Thinking Cap Product is stored. Accordingly, when Thinking Cap transfers personal information outside of the European Economic Area to a country or framework not determined by the European Commission as providing sufficient protection for personal information, including the United States, such transfers will be governed by data processing agreements that comply with European Union data protection requirements.

3. Quebec

   Rights of users located in Quebec are governed by the Act Respecting the Protection of Personal Information in the Private Sector. Individual files can be accessed and modified using your user login and password, or by following the instructions in the section of this document titled “Changes to and Access to Personal Information.” Thinking Cap offices are at 1 Bloor St. E, Toronto, ON, M4W 0A8. Data is stored on Amazon servers in the United States and Thinking Cap abides by article 17 of the Act with respect to the use of personal information.

Security Policy

Thinking Cap uses industry standard methods to protect the confidentiality, security, and integrity of its customer’s data, including personal information collected from children, against unauthorized use or access, disclosure, alteration, unlawful or accidental destruction, or loss. We ensure that all such protected data is encrypted both at rest and in transit, and is only retained or deleted in accordance with this Privacy Policy or any overriding agreements with educational agencies.

Thinking Cap does not share the data covered by this policy informally among its employees. Only those employees who require the protected data to carry out their duties are granted access. In such cases, access is granted based on the principle of least privilege, which means that each program and employee are granted the fewest privileges necessary to complete their tasks. Employees with access to protected data are given training to apprise them of their responsibilities when handling data and the various laws and agreements covering data security. Such employees are also given a unique user ID for purposes of accountability.

Thinking Cap performs periodic risk/vulnerability assessments and data privacy and security compliance audits. Thinking Cap will remediate any identified security vulnerabilities in a timely manner. We also have a written incident response plan, which includes prompt notification to the school/district in the event of a security or privacy incident, as well as best practices for responding to a breach of personally identifiable information. We will share this incident response plan upon request.

While Thinking Cap is committed to implementing best practices with regard to information and data security, we cannot make a 100% security guarantee due to constant advances in virus and hacking technology, as well as unforeseeable hardware or software failures and other risk factors. Thinking Cap can therefore not be held responsible for data loss or alteration. Thinking Cap will notify any affected user of a security breach via email within 3 days following discovery of the breach.

For additional information about our security measures and for a copy of our Data Security Policy, please contact us at info@thinkingcap.co.

Third Parties

1. Third Party Links

   Teachers and students may make postings that contain links to third party services in various sections of Thinking Cap. Common examples of this would be links to videos hosted by YouTube or Vimeo, links to Wikipedia or other reference material, and so on. It is the responsibility of the teacher to ensure that this content is appropriate and free from links to sites which may compromise the privacy of their students. The Thinking Cap software has features within it to allow teachers to monitor and control all content posted by the students in their class. Furthermore, students may flag inappropriate comments from within Thinking Cap and their teacher will be automatically notified. Thinking Cap does not actively monitor classroom content and has no responsibility for this content.

2. Third Party Integrations

   Third Party software may be integrated with Thinking Cap (such as Google Classroom, Microsoft, and Canvas). Thinking Cap has no responsibility for the content, policies, or actions of these websites and they are entirely separate from Thinking Cap and are not covered by this Privacy Policy.

   Thinking Cap also provides users with the option of registering/logging into the Product with single sign-on authentication through Third Party software such as Google, ClassLink, Microsoft, Facebook and Clever. If you choose to access our Product through single sign-on authentication, Thinking Cap may exchange personal information such as the user’s email address with the authentication service, depending on your privacy settings with that service. Thinking Cap will only collect and store such information in accordance with this policy. We recommend familiarizing yourself with any authentication service’s terms of use and privacy settings and policies before using such services to connect to Thinking Cap.

   A list of these Third Party Integrations, including the services they provide to Thinking Cap, the information we share with them or they share with us, their privacy policies, and their contact information, can be found here.

3. Third Party Service Providers

   Thinking Cap may use trusted Third Party Service Providers to support our Product by assisting us with providing, maintaining, and improving our services. To this end, Thinking Cap may share information with these providers, but only to the extent necessary to provide our services, and only in accordance with our needs, this Privacy Policy, and all other applicable privacy agreements, laws, and/or requirements.

   A list of these Providers, including the services they provide to Thinking Cap , the information we share with them or they share with us, their privacy policies, and their contact information, can be found here.

Changes to and Access to Personal Information

Users have access to their personal information via their Thinking Cap user account, or by contacting the teacher or school administration.

Users may also request a copy of their personal information, or can make modifications to any incorrect information by sending a written request to info@thinkingcap.co. The following information has to be provided:

• First and last name;
• Email;
• Phone Number;
• Class name and school;
• Student name and/or user ID and/or username;
• Teacher name.

The user will then be contacted by a member of the Thinking Cap team for verification purposes.

Users can also correct and update their personal information using the same procedures described above.

Change of Control

In the event that all or a portion of Thinking Cap or its assets are acquired by or merged with a third party, personal information that we have collected from users would be one of the assets transferred to or acquired by that third party. This Privacy Policy will continue to apply to your information, and any acquirer would only be able to handle your personal information as per this policy (unless you give consent to a new policy). We will provide you with notice of an acquisition within thirty (30) days following the completion of such a transaction, by posting on our homepage, or by email to your email address that you provided to us. If you do not consent to the use of your personal information by such a successor company, you may request its deletion from the company.

In the unlikely event that Thinking Cap goes out of business, all user information will be securely deleted within 12 months of the date of going out of business.

Disclosure of Information to Satisfy Legal Obligations

Thinking Cap may disclose personal information if we have a good faith belief that doing so is necessary to comply with the law, such as complying with a subpoena or other legal process. We may need to disclose personal information where, in good faith, we think it is necessary to protect the rights, property, or safety of Thinking Cap, our employees, our community, or others, or to prevent violations of our Terms of Use or other agreements. This includes, without limitation, exchanging information with other companies and organizations for fraud protection or responding to government requests.

Changes and Updates to the Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy is effective as of October 5, 2021 and is version 1.5. Thinking Cap may, at its sole discretion, update, revise, modify, and/or supplement from time to time this Privacy Policy. Should we make modifications to this policy or the related User Agreement, we’ll post a notice that you will receive when you login to the Product and/or we will send an email directly to you with a copy of the new documents prior to adopting any such modifications. Thinking Cap’s updated Privacy Policy and User Agreements will also be posted on Thinking Cap’s corporate website. Thinking Cap asks users to review the updated Privacy Policy and/or User Agreements before continuing to use our services. If users do not accept the updated Privacy Policy, users can cancel their subscriptions in accordance with the Terms of Use. The user’s continued use of the services provided by Thinking Cap after the updated Privacy Policy takes effect will constitute the user’s acceptance of the updated Privacy Policy.

Consent to the Gathering and Processing of Information

By accepting the Terms of Use, users are expressly giving Thinking Cap a special declaration that users have decided by their own free will to grant Thinking Cap specific authorization to collect, process, and use the personal information stipulated in this Privacy Policy and to use such information in accordance with what is stipulated in this Privacy Policy. Users are further declaring that users are aware of the purpose for Thinking Cap collecting, processing, and using such information, how the processing will be conducted, how users’ privacy will be protected, and that users are authorized to withdraw their consent.

Contact

Thinking Cap’s service to its users and users’ trust is of utmost importance to Thinking Cap. If users have any questions about this Privacy Policy, users should contact Thinking Cap at:

Name: Thinking Cap Studios Inc
Address: 1 Bloor St. E, Toronto, ON, M4W 0A8 CANADA
Phone: 888-992-8101
Email: info@thinkingcap.co