Common Sense Privacy Program

thumbnail

Privacy Evaluation for Achieve3000 Literacy Solutions

Last updated
Applications and services with a Pass rating have met our minimum requirements for privacy and security practices. Before using an application or service with this rating, parents, teachers, schools, and districts are strongly advised to read the full privacy evaluation as a starting point for the process of vetting the application or service. In addition, a more detailed review should happen before any child or student data is shared with a product.

96%

Pass

Learn how we rate

Overview

Achieve3000 provides a cloud-based service for nonfiction reading and writing that maps student work to that student's reading level. The terms of Achieve3000 specify that students do not have the ability to share any data about themselves outside the services. The terms also specify that Achieve3000 does not rent or sell data to third parties. In addition, Achieve3000 may work with business partners to improve their services and that these business partners may receive aggregate or anonymized data. Achieve3000 makes reasonable efforts that include physical, administrative, and technical safeguards to keep data secure. In addition, the terms state that personal information is protected by the most current version of Transport Layer Security (TLS) encryption and data are stored in encrypted file systems with the encryption keys stored and maintained in separate secured systems. As noted in the Security section and in the terms, accounts are only available via participating schools, districts, or educational agencies. The terms also specify that schools and districts often sign a "School District Agreement" that contains additional provisions governing the use of the service.

Achieve3000 can be accessed through its website, and 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 Achieve3000’s website, iOS App Store, and the Google Play Store. Additionally, other policies used for this evaluation include: Terms of Service. This evaluation only considers policies that have been made publicly available prior to an individual using the application or service.

Safety

The terms of Achieve3000 specify that students do not have the ability to share any data about themselves outside the services. Use of the services is governed by a code of conduct that is included in the terms. Achieve3000's policy says that it is not obligated to monitor any social interactions, but may monitor interactions at their discretion. The terms also say if a teacher or administrator shares a draft assessment with other users in order to collaborate with them, those users will have access to that assessment. Also, if a teacher or a school or district administrator, adds a co-teacher to a class, the co-teacher will have access to teacher and student data.

Privacy

The terms specify that Achieve3000 does not rent or sell data to third parties. The terms also state that Achieve3000 can work with business partners to improve their services and that these business partners can also receive aggregate or anonymized data. The terms state that the service can be connected with third party providers such as Facebook or Google, and that Achieve3000 can receive information from these services. The terms say Achieve3000 does not use cookies to serve third-party advertisements, nor to target users with behavioral advertising on the service. In addition, the terms say Achieve3000 does not share personal information of any of its users with third parties for their marketing purposes, nor track users to target advertisements on other websites.

Security

Achieve3000's terms specify that student data should be provided in an "electronic form (.CSV comma separated values or .XLS Excel format) regarding each student who will utilize each Service." The pre-set sample rosters used to generate these lists include fields for student IDs, student first and last name, email address, password, gender, and grade level.

The terms also state that Achieve3000 makes reasonable efforts that include physical, administrative, and technical safeguards to keep data secure. In addition, the terms state that personal information is protected by the most current version of Transport Layer Security (TLS) encryption and data stored in encrypted file systems with the encryption keys stored and maintained in separate secured systems. The terms contain detailed information about regular security audits additional security protections. Lastly, the terms contain an up-to-date incident response plan that includes responsibilities, how information security events are assessed and classified as incident, and notification of users without undue delay after becoming aware of the security breach.

Compliance

As noted in the Security section and in the terms, accounts are only available via participating schools, districts, or educational agencies. The terms also specify that schools and districts often sign a "School District Agreement" that contains additional provisions governing the use of the service. The contents of different School District Agreements are outside the scope of this evaluation as they are not publicly available, and can vary between districts. Ideally, these agreements would be publicly available, consistent across districts, and address requirements and responsibilities under FERPA and COPPA. Lastly, the terms state educators can access, modify, and delete personal information of students at any time through the service.

Rating

This product received a Pass rating based on the following details:
  • Intended for children under 13.
  • Collection or use of data is limited to product requirements.
  • Personal information is not displayed publicly.
  • Users can interact with trusted users and/or students.
  • Notice is provided in the event of a data breach.
  • Parental consent is required.
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 not collected.
  • Unclear whether this product collects biometric or health data.
  • Behavioral data are collected.
  • Sensitive data are collected.
  • Non-personally identifiable information is collected.
  • Unclear whether this product treats combined information as personally identifiable information (PII).
  • Personal information from children under 13 years of age is collected online.
Data Sharing
SCORE: 90%

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.
  • Use of information is limited to the purpose for which it was collected.
  • Data are shared for analytics.
  • Data are shared for research and/or product improvement.
  • Data are shared with third-party service providers.
  • The roles of third-party service providers are indicated.
  • Social or federated login is supported.
  • Contractual limits are placed on third-party data use.
Data Security
SCORE: 80%

How does it secure data?

  • Unclear whether a user's identity is verified with additional personal information.
  • Account creation is required.
  • Parental controls or managed accounts are available.
  • Unclear whether two-factor account protection is available.
  • Third-party contractual security protections are required.
  • Industry best practices are used to protect data.
  • Employee or physical access to user information is limited.
  • All data in transit are encrypted.
  • All data at rest are encrypted.
  • Notice is provided in the event of a data breach.
Data Rights
SCORE: 85%

What rights do I have to the data?

  • Opt-in consent is requested from users at the time personal information is collected.
  • Users can control their information through privacy settings.
  • Users can create or upload content.
  • Users retain ownership of their data.
  • Processes to access and review user data are available.
  • Processes to modify inaccurate data are available.
  • A data-retention policy is available.
  • Processes for the school, parents, or students to delete data are available.
  • Processes to delete user data are available.
  • Unclear whether this product provides users the ability to download their data.
Data Sold
SCORE: 70%

Is the data sold?

  • Data are 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.
  • Users are notified if their information is transferred to a third party.
  • 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 is shared in an anonymous or deidentified format.
  • Unclear whether the vendor describes their deidentification process of user information.
  • Data are shared for research and/or product improvement.
  • Unclear whether contractual limits prohibit third parties from reidentifying deidentified information.
Data Safety
SCORE: 75%

How safe is this product?

  • Users can interact with trusted users and/or students.
  • Users cannot interact with untrusted users, including strangers and/or adults.
  • Profile information is shared for social interactions.
  • Personal information is not displayed publicly.
  • Users can control how their data are displayed.
  • User-created content is reviewed, screened, or monitored by the vendor.
  • User-created content is filtered for personal information before being made publicly visible.
  • 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: 75%

Are there advertisements or tracking?

  • Data are not shared for third-party advertising and/or marketing.
  • Traditional or contextual advertisements are not displayed.
  • Behavioral or targeted advertising is not displayed.
  • Data are not collected by third-party advertising or tracking services.
  • Data are not used to track and target advertisements on other third-party websites or services.
  • Data profiles are not created and used for data enhancement, and/or targeted advertisements.
  • The vendor can send marketing messages.
  • Unclear whether this vendor provides promotional sweepstakes, contests, or surveys.
  • Unclear whether this product provides users the ability to opt-out of traditional, contextual, or behavioral advertising.
  • Users can opt out or unsubscribe from marketing communications.
Parental Consent
SCORE: 70%

Can I provide parental consent?

  • Intended for children under 13.
  • Unclear whether intended for parents or guardians.
  • Vendor does have actual knowledge that personal information from users under 13 years of age is collected.
  • Children's privacy is applicable.
  • COPPA parental consent exceptions are not indicated.
  • Parental consent is required.
  • 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: 70%

Is the product intended for school?

  • 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.
  • Product does create education records.
  • Notification of a contract or additional rights is provided.
  • Vendor is designated as a school official.
  • Parental consent obligations are transferred to the school or district.
  • Unclear whether the vendor indicates FERPA parental consent exceptions.
  • Unclear whether this product discloses directory 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.

Learn more about the SPR Read the report

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.