Privacy Evaluation for Edmodo
70%
Overview
Edmodo provides a learning network for students, teachers, parents, schools, and districts. Edmodo provides multiple ways for students to interact with one another. The terms state that interactions may occur within classroom spaces, where teachers, parents, and/or school administrators can see interactions that occur between students, messages between students and their teachers, and grades that they receive on assignments. The terms say Edmodo does not sell users' personal information to third parties and Edmodo does not share personal information with third parties for their own direct marketing purposes. However, the terms do say Edmodo may display advertisements for their own products and services, but do not say whether advertisements may be personalized or targeted using personal information. Edmodo's terms further state that teachers, schools, and/or districts are fully responsible for obtaining parental consent for the collection of personal information from a child under 13 years of age and providing all required notifications to parents under COPPA.
Edmodo can be accessed through its website. Edmodo: Your Online Classroom is available for download at the iOS App Store, and the Google Play Store. Edmodo for Parents is available for download at the iOS App Store, and the Google Play Store. The Privacy Policy and Terms of Use accessed for this evaluation can be found on Edmodo’s website. This evaluation only considers policies that have been made publicly available prior to an individual using the application or service.
Safety
The terms of Edmodo state that student interactions may occur within classroom spaces via limited access codes, where teachers, parents, and/or school administrators can see interactions that occur between students, messages between student’s and their teachers, and grades students receive on assignments. Edmodo's terms specify that parent accounts may see the interactions of their linked child accounts. The policy explains that certain usage-related information may be viewable in the user profile that may be displayed to other users, depending on the User Category; for example, a “badge” may displayed in the profile indicating that a user has added content to the user “library,” or that a user has logged into the Services more than a certain number of times.
Privacy
The terms say Edmodo does not sell users' personal information to third parties and Edmodo does not share personal information with third parties for their own direct marketing purposes. However, the terms do say Edmodo may display advertisements for their own products and services, but do not say whether advertisements may be personalized or targeted using personal information. The terms do say that Edmodo will not share the personal information of users under 13 years with advertising partners to promote Edmodo or other products.
In addition, the terms say that Edmodo's partners, affiliates, and service providers, including advertising partners, may also transmit cookies to a user's browser or device when, for example, the user clicks on an advertisement that appears on the services for tracking purposes. The policy notes that referrals to and from the service may result in Edmodo transmitting personal information.
Security
Edmodo's terms state that personal information is protected by a password. Also, when a user enters sensitive information (such as a credit card number) in the credit purchasing process, they state that they encrypt the transmission of that information using secure socket layer technology (SSL). The terms explain that they also use coding practices that take steps to prevent attacks on their services from web browsers and malicious scripts, by processing all actions through several permission verification checks. The terms do not contain details about any breach notification process, or the time frame in which users will be notified of a data breach.
Compliance
Edmodo's terms are very clear that teachers, schools, and/or districts are fully responsible for obtaining parental consent for the collection of personal information from a child under 13 years of age (updated to 16 when necessary for EU users) and providing all required notifications to parents under COPPA. However, Edmodo's terms do not disclose its compliance obligations under FERPA with the creation of student records. Edmodo's terms also state clearly that teachers signing up for the service "represent and warrant" that they have the legal authority to agree to "these Terms on behalf of your school and/or district." Accordingly, teachers signing up for Edmodo should verify that they have the ability to create a binding agreement for their school or district. Lastly, Edmodo allows parents and teachers to request access, modification, and deletion of student information and Edmodo will retain a user’s personal information for as long as the account is active or as long as needed to provide the services.
Rating
- Personal information is not sold or rented to third parties.
- Personal information is not shared for third-party marketing.
- Unclear whether this product displays personalised advertising.
- Data are collected by third-parties for their own purposes.
- User's information is used to track and target advertisements on other third-party websites or services.
- Unclear whether this product creates and uses data profiles for personalised advertisements.
Data Collection
SCORE: 55%
What data does it collect?
- Personally identifiable information (PII) is collected.
- The categories of collected personally identifiable information are indicated.
- Collection or use of data is limited to product requirements.
- Geolocation data are collected.
- Biometric or health data are collected.
- Interactions, behaviors, or usage analytics data are collected.
- Unclear whether this product collects sensitive data.
- Data is automatically collected.
- Opt-in consent is requested from users at the time personal information is collected.
- Unclear whether personal information of users is collected by a third party.
Data Sharing
SCORE: 85%
What data does it share?
- Collected information is shared with third parties.
- The categories of information shared with third parties are indicated.
- The purpose for sharing a user's personal information with third parties is indicated.
- The categories of third parties that receive data are indicated.
- Data are shared for analytics.
- Unclear whether data are shared for research and/or product improvement.
- Third-party services are used to support the product.
- The roles of third-party service providers are indicated.
- Third-party login is supported.
- Contractual limits are placed on third-party data use.
Data Security
SCORE: 55%
How does it secure data?
- A user's identity is verified with additional personal information.
- Account creation is required.
- Managed accounts are available.
- Unclear whether multi-factor account protection is available.
- Third-parties with access to information are required to provide the same security protections as the company.
- Reasonable security practices are used to protect data.
- Unclear whether this product limits employee or physical access to user information.
- All data in transit are encrypted.
- Unclear whether all data are stored in an encrypted format.
- Unclear whether this product provides notice in the event of a data breach.
Data Rights
SCORE: 75%
What rights do I have to the data?
- Users can create or upload content.
- Users retain ownership of their data.
- Processes to access or review user data are available.
- Processes to modify data are available for authorized users.
- A data-retention policy is available.
- Processes for authorized users to delete data are available.
- A user's data are deleted upon account cancellation or termination.
- Unclear whether this product deletes data when no longer necessary.
- Unclear whether methods are available to restrict who has access to data.
- Processes to download user data are available.
Data Sold
SCORE: 55%
Is the data sold?
- Personal information is not sold or rented to third parties.
- Users can opt out from the disclosure or sale of their data to a third party.
- User information can be transferred to a third party in the event of a merge, acquisition, or bankruptcy.
- Users are notified if their information is transferred to a third party.
- Unclear whether user information can be deleted prior to its transfer to a third party.
- Third-party transfer is contractually required to use the same privacy practices.
- User information that is shared is shared in an anonymous or de-identified format.
- Unclear whether the company describes their de-identification process of user information.
- Unclear whether data are shared for research and/or product improvement.
- Unclear whether contractual limits prohibit third parties from reidentifying or de-identified information.
Data Safety
SCORE: 50%
How safe is this product?
- Users can interact with trusted users.
- Users cannot interact with untrusted users, including strangers and/or adults.
- Profile information must be shared for social interactions.
- Personal information can be displayed publicly.
- Users can control how their data are displayed to others.
- User-created content is reviewed, screened, or monitored by the company.
- Unclear whether user-created content is filtered for personal information before being made publicly visible.
- Unclear whether social interactions between users are moderated.
- Unclear whether social interactions of users are logged.
- Unclear whether users can report abuse or cyberbullying.
Ads & Tracking
SCORE: 50%
Are there advertisements or tracking?
- Personal information is not shared for third-party marketing.
- Traditional or contextual advertisements are displayed.
- Unclear whether this product displays personalised advertising.
- Data are collected by third-parties for their own purposes.
- User's information is used to track and target advertisements on other third-party websites or services.
- Unclear whether this product creates and uses data profiles for personalised advertisements.
- The company can send marketing messages.
- Unclear whether this company provides promotional sweepstakes, contests, or surveys.
- Users can opt out of contextual, or personalised advertising.
- Users can opt out or unsubscribe from marketing communications.
Parental Consent
SCORE: 65%
Can I provide parental consent?
- Intended for children under 13.
- Personal information from children under 13 years of age is collected.
- Unclear whether intended for parents or guardians.
- Company does have actual knowledge that personal information from users under 13 years of age is collected.
- The company does provide a section, heading, or separate policy for children in their policies.
- Parental consent is required before personal information is collected or disclosed.
- Unclear whether this product limits parental consent with respect to third parties.
- Unclear whether this product allows parents to withdraw consent for the further collection of their child's information.
- Children's personal information is deleted if collected without parental consent.
- Parental consent notice and method for submission are provided.
School Purpose
SCORE: 50%
Is the product intended for school?
- Unclear whether intended for students.
- Personal information or education records are collected from preK-12 students.
- Intended for teachers.
- Product is primarily used by, designed for, and marketed toward students in grades preK–12.
- Processes to enter education records into the product are described.
- Unclear whether additional rights or protections may be provided with an additional school contract.
- Unclear whether the company is designated as a school official.
- Parental consent obligations are transferred to the school or district.
Individual Control
SCORE: 60%
Can I control the use of my data?
- Users can control the use of their information through privacy settings.
- Unclear whether use of information is limited to the purpose for which it was collected.
- The context or purpose for which data are collected is indicated.
- Company may combine data with additional data from third-party sources.
- Unclear whether this product treats combined information as personally identifiable information (PII).
- Notice is provided if the context in which data are collected changes.
- Unclear whether consent is obtained if the practices in which data are collected change.
- A grievance or remedy mechanism is not available for users to file a complaint.
- Users can request to know what personal information has been shared with third parties.
- Notice is provided in the event the company receives a government or legal request for a user's information.
Common Sense Standard Privacy Report (SPR)
The standard privacy report (SPR) displays all the privacy practices from a product's policies in a single, easy-to-read outline. The report shows a green check mark for better privacy practices and an orange alert for risky or unclear practices. This alert indicates that more time should be focused on these particular details prior to use.
About Privacy Evaluations
The privacy evaluations have been designed with the help and support of a consortium of schools and districts across the United States. These evaluations are designed to help educators make informed decisions about the potential privacy implications of educational technology used to support teaching and learning.
Our core evaluation criteria will always be freely available. People are encouraged to read the questions we use and our information security primer. Vendors are encouraged to use our questions and the information security primer to self-evaluate. You can also learn more about our evaluation process. Please be in touch with any questions or feedback.