Coppa direct notice

Last updated: Feb. 28, 2022. 

COPPA: DIRECT NOTICE TO EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS ACTING AS AGENTS FOR PARENTS WITH CHILDREN UNDER THE AGE OF 13 WITH RESPECT TO CHILDREN’S USE OF THE THINKING CAP PRODUCT

Under the United States’ Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), online service providers such as Thinking Cap must provide parental notification and obtain verifiable parental consent before collecting personal 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)).

In cases where educational institutions contract with online service providers such as Thinking Cap to offer programs solely for the benefit of students and schools, COPPA allows for such institutions to act as a parent’s agent and to consent under COPPA to the collection of a child’s information on the parent’s behalf. Pursuant to our Terms of Use, Thinking Cap will not collect personal information from a child under the age of 13 unless that child’s teacher, school, or school district (hereinafter collectively referred to as “educational institution”), acting as the parent’s agent, has agreed to obtain the required parental consent.

In order for Thinking Cap to rely on consent obtained from a child’s educational institution instead of the parent under COPPA, Thinking Cap must provide the educational institution with the same type of direct notice regarding its practices as to the collection, use, or disclosure of personal information from children as it would otherwise be required to provide to the parent, as follows:

• Thinking Cap relies on educational institutions to consent under COPPA to the collection of a child’s information on the parent’s behalf; to collect the contact information needed to obtain parental consent; and to provide the means by which parental consent can be obtained regarding the collection, use, and disclosure of such information.

• Thinking Cap intends to collect personal information from students, including children under the age of 13, but only to the extent that is reasonably necessary to enable students to participate in the Thinking Cap product. Thinking Cap requires parental consent for the collection, use, and/or disclosure of any child’s personal information. Thinking Cap will not collect, use, or disclose any personal information from a child if parental consent is not provided.

• Should such consent be provided, Thinking Cap may collect the following personal information from the child:

  • Username or unique identifier;
  • Email address (optional, if the educational institution so chooses);
  • First and last name (optional, if the educational institution so chooses);
  • Parent or guardian name and email address (optional, if the educational institution so chooses);
  • Associated grade level, class names, and teacher names;
  • Student in-app performance data and usage data;
  • Communications to teachers from within the application;
  • Conduct or behavioral data input by teachers or school staff;
  • Student generated content including writing, pictures, assignments, quiz responses, etc;
  • IP addresses for messages and comments (only tracked upon the request of the educational institution and only for security purposes).

  For a more complete explanation of what data is collected, how it is collected, how it is used, and who may have access to it, please see our Personal Information Collected Data table located at https://thinkingcap.co/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/072722-Information-Collected-Thinking-Cap.pdf.

• Because Thinking Cap is intended to be played in groups within the classroom and/or school setting, as well as to provide, when applicable, data to school and/or district leaders regarding student behavior, information collected about students, including children covered by COPPA, is intended to be shared within the School Environment (i.e. the classroom, teachers, and school and district administration and employees/agents). Specifically, Thinking Cap stores the following information that educational institutions and students may choose to share within the School Environment:

  • Student name;
  • Student email address;
  • Student activities within the Thinking Cap product;
  • School and class information;
  • Messages and comments within the Thinking Cap product.

  Please see our Personal Information Collected Data table, located at  https://thinkingcap.co/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/072722-Information-Collected-Thinking-Cap.pdf, for details on personal information that may be shared and which users may have access to that information.

• Upon request from the educational institution, Thinking Cap will provide a description of the types of personal information collected; an opportunity to review the child’s personal information and the right to have the information deleted; and the opportunity to prevent further use or online collection of a child’s personal information.

• For more information on our privacy practices, please see our Product Privacy Policy at https://www.thinkingcap.co/product-privacy-policy.

• If a child’s 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

As a best practice, Thinking Cap recommends that educational institutions make this notice available to parents so that they may review the personal information collected.