Overview
Khan Academy provides educational videos on a broad range of subjects for every course and level. Khan Academy's terms say they strive to provide a safe online environment for its users, and allow users to ask public questions of other users. Khan Academy does not require a user to register for the service or provide any personal information to access most of the features on the service. In addition, Khan Academy uses certain physical, managerial, and technical safeguards designed to preserve the integrity and security of a user’s personal information. However, Khan Academy's policy says they may share your information with third-party organizations for their marketing or promotional use. Lastly, Khan Academy restricts child accounts to automatically block features that would allow a child to post or disclose personal information.
Khan Academy 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 Khan Academy’s website, iOS App Store, and the Google Play Store. This evaluation only considers policies that have been made publicly available prior to an individual using the application or service.
Safety
Khan Academy's terms say they strive to provide a safe online environment for its users, and allow users to ask public questions of other users. A parent or guardian can register for the service and create a restricted child account that can be monitored, revoked, or deleted by the parent. In addition, the terms state that a child user under 13 years of age cannot post to public discussion forums and cannot access certain features that could result in visibility or disclosure of personal information.
The terms state a child user can choose to provide opt-in consent to share their user profile with other users, but the profile is not shared publicly, because only the parent or authorized coach can see a child's profile. However, parents and teachers should be aware a child user may inadvertently post personal information publicly in open text fields by answering questions or completing exercises.
Privacy
Khan Academy's terms state they do not require a user to register for the service or provide any personal information to access most features on the service. If a user registers for the service, Khan Academy's terms state they may collect personally identifiable information, and usage data from a child, student, teacher, or parent. Khan Academy's terms state they also have external partnerships and third-party apps, and people using Khan Academy via a partnership or third-party app should review any additional privacy terms and conditions.
Khan Academy may also share information with their employees and trusted vendors, third party service providers and other individuals to provide services or products for them or on their behalf. Khan Academy's policy says they do not display any targeted advertising and do not use data collected from children or students for tracking or advertising purposes. Khan Academy's terms state they do not share any of their users’ Personal Information with third-party sponsors without explicit consent, and these sponsors do not have the ability to track or collect information about their site visitors or users.
Security
Khan Academy's terms state they use certain physical, managerial, and technical safeguards designed to preserve the integrity and security of a user’s personal information. The terms state Khan Academy encrypts the transmission of personal information using SSL technologies and Khan Academy takes reasonable steps to ensure that the personal information a vendor stores and uses is accurate, complete, and up-to-date. In addition, the terms state they take reasonable steps to verify the identity of a user before granting account access or making corrections to their information, but does not guarantee the accuracy of any user’s information submitted to the vendor in order to verify the identity of any user, coach, parent, guardian or child. Lastly, Khan Academy's terms state they will notify a user in the event of a data breach electronically or with notice on its website.
Compliance
Khan Academy restricts child accounts to automatically block features that would allow a child to post or disclose personal information. Khan Academy does not knowingly permit a child under 13 years of age to register for the service without parental consent and if they learn they have collected information from a child under 13 without parental consent, they will take steps to delete the information immediately. A parent can create a “parent account” that can review, update, or delete information collected from a child user. In addition, an educational institution or “coach” that has a relationship with the vendor can register a child under 13, if they have parental consent to do so. Lastly, a parent or guardian with notice that information has been collected from a child under 13 without their consent, may contact the vendor to delete the information. If Khan Academy is being used within a school or district setting, teachers should review the work done and stored within the service to ensure that the school or district is meeting all of their requirements under FERPA.
Overall Score
Every privacy rating includes an overall score. A higher score (up to 100%) means the product provides more transparent privacy policies with better practices to protect user data. The score is best used is as an indicator of how much additional work a person will need to do to make an informed decision about a product.
| Basic Score | Full Score | |
|---|---|---|
| Comprehensive Assessment | 82 | 59 |
Concerns
The privacy evaluation process summarizes the policies of an application or service into concern categories based on a subset of evaluation questions that can be used to quickly identify particular practices of a vendor’s policies. These concerns are composed of evaluation questions that can be used to calculate scores relative to that concern.
| Concern | Basic Score | Full Score |
|---|---|---|
| Data Collection: Protecting personal information | 83 | 55 |
| Data Sharing: Protecting data from third parties | 50 | 60 |
| Data Security: Protecting against unauthorized access | 67 | 50 |
| Data Rights: Controlling rights to data | 88 | 75 |
| Data Sold: Preventing sale of data | 75 | 30 |
| Data Safety: Promoting responsible use | 67 | 35 |
| Ads & Tracking: Prohibiting the exploitation of users' decision making process | 86 | 75 |
| Parental Consent: Protecting children’s personal information | 100 | 75 |
| School Purpose: Following student data privacy laws | 100 | 88 |
| Individual Control: Controlling data use | NA | 70 |
Statutes
Each statute or regulation is associated with one or more evaluation questions. As such, we can calculate scores for each statute or regulation using only those questions associated with the statute or regulation. Each specific statute or regulation's score serves as an indirect proxy indicating the likelihood of the application or service satisfying all of its compliance obligations.
| Statute | Basic Score | Full Score |
|---|---|---|
| California Online Privacy Protection Act (CalOPPA) | 94 | 66 |
| Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) | 81 | 66 |
| Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) | 79 | 58 |
| Student Online Personal Information Protection Act (SOPIPA) | 85 | 65 |
| General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) | 83 | 62 |
| The California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) | 80 | 63 |
Privacy Policy Details
1: Transparency
1.1: Policy Version
- Privacy policies do indicate a version or effective date.
- Privacy policies do not indicate a change log or past policy version is available.
1.2: Policy Notice
- Users are notified if there are any material changes to the policies.
- Privacy policies indicate the method used to notify a user when policies are updated.
1.3: Policy Changes
- Unclear whether users are notified prior to any material changes to the policies.
- Changes to the policies are effective immediately and continued use of the product indicates consent.
1.4: Policy Coverage
- Privacy policies indicate the products that are covered by the policies.
1.5: Privacy Contact
- Users can contact the company about any privacy policy questions, complaints, or material changes to the policies.
1.6: Policy Principles
- Privacy policies do indicate privacy principles, layered notices, or a table of contents.
1.7: Policy Language
- Privacy policies are available in multiple languages.
1.8: Intended Use
- Intended for children under 13.
- Not intended for teens.
- Intended for adults over 18.
- Intended for parents or guardians.
- Intended for students.
- Intended for teachers.
2: Focused Collection
2.1: Data Collection
- Personally identifiable information (PII) is collected.
- The categories of collected personally identifiable information are indicated.
- Geolocation data are collected.
- Unclear whether this product collects biometric or health data.
- Interactions, behaviors, or usage analytics data are collected.
- Unclear whether this product collects sensitive data.
- Data is automatically collected.
2.2: Data Source
- Personal information or education records are collected from preK-12 students.
- Personal information from children under 13 years of age is collected.
2.3: Data Excluded
- Unclear whether specific types of personal information excluded from collection.
- Unclear whether specific types of collected information are excluded from the privacy policy.
2.4: Data Limitation
- Collection or use of data is limited to product requirements.
3: Data Sharing
3.1: Data Shared With Third Parties
- Collected information is shared with third parties.
- The categories of information shared with third parties are indicated.
3.2: Data Use by Third Parties
- The purpose for sharing a user's personal information with third parties is indicated.
- Data are shared for analytics.
- Data are shared for research and/or product improvement.
- Personal information is shared for third-party marketing.
3.3: Data Not Shared With Third Parties
- Unclear whether there are specific categories of information that are not shared with third parties.
3.4: Data Sold to Third Parties
- Personal information is not sold or rented to third parties.
3.5: Third-Party Data Acquisition
- Personal information about users is obtained from third parties.
3.6: Third-Party Links
- Links to third-party external websites are not age-appropriate.
3.7: Third-Party Data Access
- Third parties are authorized to access a user's information.
3.8: Third-Party Data Collection
- Personal information of users is collected by a third party.
3.9: Third-Party Data Misuse
- Unclear whether personal information can be deleted from a third party.
3.10: Third-Party Service Providers
- Third-party services are used to support the product.
- Unclear what the roles of third-party service providers are.
3.11: Third-Party Affiliates
- Unclear whether the categories of third parties that receive data are indicated.
3.12: Third-Party Policies
- Links to privacy policies of third-party companies are not available.
3.13: Third-Party Data Combination
- Company may combine data with additional data from third-party sources.
- Unclear whether data shared with third parties can be combined with other data.
3.14: Third-Party Authentication
- Third-party login is supported.
- Personal information from third-party login providers is collected.
- Personal Information is shared with third-party login providers.
3.15: De-identified or Anonymized Data
- 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.
3.16: Third-Party Contractual Obligations
- Unclear whether contractual limits are placed on third-party data use.
- Unclear whether contractual limits prohibit third parties from reidentifying or de-identified information.
4: Respect for Context
4.1: Data Use
- Use of information is limited to the purpose for which it was collected.
- The context or purpose for which data are collected is indicated.
4.2: Data Combination
- Combined information is treated as personally identifiable information (PII).
4.3: Data Notice
- Notice is provided if the context in which data are collected changes.
4.4: Data Changes
- Consent is obtained if the practices in which data are collected change.
4.5: Policy Enforcement
- Accounts may be terminated if users engage in any prohibited activities.
5: Individual Control
5.1: User Content
- Users can create or upload content.
5.2: User Consent
- Opt-in consent is requested from users at the time personal information is collected.
5.3: Remedy Process
- A grievance or remedy mechanism is not available for users to file a complaint.
5.4: Data Settings
- Users can control the use of their information through privacy settings.
5.5: Data Disclosure
- Unclear whether users can opt out from the disclosure or sale of their data to a third party.
- Unclear whether users can request to know what personal information has been shared with third parties.
- Unclear whether notice is provided in the event the company receives a government or legal request for a user's information.
5.6: Intellectual Property
- Users retain ownership of their data.
- A copyright license is claimed to data or content collected from a user.
- Unclear whether any copyright license to a user's data is limited in scope or duration.
6: Access and Accuracy
6.1: Data Access
- Processes to access or review user data are available.
- Unclear whether methods are available to restrict who has access to data.
- Processes to review student data are available for the school, parents, or students.
6.2: Data Integrity
- The company does not attempt to maintain the accuracy of data they collect.
6.3: Data Correction
- Processes to modify data are available for authorized users.
- Processes for the school, parents, or students to modify inaccurate student information are available.
- Unclear whether the time period for the company to modify inaccurate data is indicated.
6.4: Data Retention
- A data-retention policy is available.
- Unclear whether exceptions to the data retention policy exist.
6.5: Data Deletion
- Data are deleted when no longer necessary.
- A user's data are deleted upon account cancellation or termination.
- Processes to delete user data are available.
- Processes for authorized users to delete data are available.
- The time period for the company to delete data is indicated.
6.6: Data Portability
- Unclear whether this product provides users the ability to download their data.
- Unclear whether a user can assign an authorized account manager or legacy contact.
7: Data Transfer
7.1: Data Handling
- User information can be transferred to a third party in the event of a merge, acquisition, or bankruptcy.
- Unclear whether users are notified if their information is transferred to a third party.
7.2: Transfer Request
- Unclear whether user information can be deleted prior to its transfer to a third party.
7.3: Onward Contractual Obligations
- Unclear whether third-party transfers are contractually required to use the same privacy practices.
8: Security
8.1: User Identity
- Unclear whether a user's identity is verified with additional personal information.
8.2: User Account
- Account creation is required.
- Managed accounts are available.
- Unclear whether multi-factor account protection is available.
8.3: Third-Party Security
- Unclear whether third-parties with access to information are required to provide the same security protections as the company.
8.4: Data Confidentiality
- Reasonable security practices are used to protect data.
- Unclear whether this product limits employee or physical access to user information.
8.5: Data Transmission
- All data in transit are encrypted.
8.6: Data Storage
- All data are stored in an encrypted format.
- The company is clear what jurisdiction a user's personal information is subject to.
8.7: Data Breach
- Unclear whether this product provides notice in the event of a data breach.
8.8: Data Oversight
- Unclear whether this product performs data-privacy and/or security-compliance audits.
9: Responsible Use
9.1: Social Interactions
- Users can interact with trusted users.
- Users can interact with untrusted users, including strangers and/or adults.
- Profile information must be shared for social interactions.
9.2: Data Visibility
- Personal information can be displayed publicly.
- Users can control how their data are displayed to others.
9.3: Monitor and Review
- Unclear whether 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.
9.4: Report Content
- Unclear whether users can filter or block inappropriate content.
- Unclear whether users can report abuse or cyberbullying.
9.5: Internet Safety
- The company provides links to resources that support safe and appropriate social interactions.
10: Advertising
10.1: Company Communications
- A user can receive service- or administrative-related communications from the company.
10.2: Traditional Advertising
- Traditional or contextual advertisements are not displayed.
10.3: Behavioral Advertising
- Personalised advertising is not displayed.
10.4: Ad Tracking
- Data are not collected by third-parties for their own purposes.
- User's information is not used to track and target advertisements on other third-party websites or services.
- Data profiles are not created and used for personalised advertisements.
10.5: Filtered Advertising
- Unclear whether ads displayed to children are filtered for inappropriate content.
10.6: Marketing Communications
- The company can send marketing messages.
- The company does provide promotional sweepstakes, contests, or surveys.
10.7: Unsubscribe
- Unclear whether this product provides users the ability to opt-out of contextual, or personalised advertising.
- Users can opt out or unsubscribe from marketing communications.
10.8: Do Not Track
- Unclear whether this product responds to "Do Not Track" or other opt-out mechanisms.
- Unclear whether the company provides a method for users to opt-out from third-party tracking.
11: Compliance
11.1: Children Under 13
- 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.
- Account creation is restricted or prohibited for users under 13 years of age.
11.2: Students in K–12
- 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.
- Additional rights or protections may be provided with an additional school contract.
- Company is designated as a school official.
11.3: Parental Consent
- Parental consent is required before personal information is collected or disclosed.
- Unclear whether this product limits parental consent with respect to third parties.
- Parents can withdraw consent for the further collection of their child's information.
- Unclear whether this product deletes children's personal information if collected without parental consent.
- Parental consent notice and method for submission are provided.
- Parental consent obligations are transferred to the school or district.
11.4: Legal Requirements
- The legal jurisdiction that applies to the laws governing the policies is indicated.
- A user is required to waive the right to a jury trial, or settle any disputes by arbitration.
- A user is required to waive the right to join a class action lawsuit.
- A company will disclose personal information to law enforcement.
11.5: Certification
- The company has signed a privacy pledge or received a privacy certification.
11.6: International Laws
- Unclear whether a user's data are subject to International data transfer or jurisdiction laws.
- Unclear whether the company has indicated it is a Data Controller or Data Processor.