Overview
NoRedInk builds stronger writers through an online interest-based curriculum, adaptive exercises, and actionable data. The terms say users can store user submissions in their own personal NoRedInk account, in a manner that is not viewable by any other users, or they can share submissions with only certain specified users. The terms say the service itself does not display advertising and NoRedInk does not permit the collection of data by third party advertising or tracking services in the application. However, the terms also say NoRedInk may use first-party cookies or other tracking mechanisms which allow them to target advertising to users on third party platforms who have visited their website, which may include Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter.
The terms of NoRedInk say they use industry standard data security measures to protect users' personal information and recommend strong password protection practices. NoRedInk also provides additional details about their security practices that include two-factor authentication and encryption. Lastly, the terms say NoRedInk only collects personal information through the service from a child under 13 where that student’s school, district, and/or teacher has agreed to obtain parental consent for that child to use the services and disclose personal information to NoRedInk. Also the paid premium version of NoRedInk is available under a separate agreement with a school or school district.
NoRedInk can be accessed through its website. The Privacy Policy and Terms of Use accessed for this evaluation can be found on NoRedInk’s website. Additionally, other policies used for this evaluation include: Frequently Asked Questions and California Consumer Privacy Act Notice. This evaluation only considers policies that have been made publicly available prior to an individual using the application or service.
Safety
The terms say users can store user submissions in their own personal NoRedInk account, in a manner that is not viewable by any other users, or they can share submissions with only certain specified users. The terms say social interactions within NoRedInk are generally organized by class, and student sign-ups are managed via a class code generated when teachers add students into a course. The terms also say teachers and their students can use the service to communicate, and teachers and their school’s administrators can communicate as well. Educators should be aware class codes need to be handled securely and students can create user profiles containing information that would be readily known to their classmates.
Privacy
The terms say NoRedInk will not use, sell, share, or disclose personally identifiable information they receive to market or advertise to students or families. In addition, the terms say the service itself does not display advertising and NoRedInk does not permit the collection of data by third party advertising or tracking services in the application. However, the terms also say NoRedInk may use first-party cookies or other tracking mechanisms which allow them to target advertising to users on third party platforms who have visited their website, which may include Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter.
Moreover, the terms say NoRedInk does not use cookies to collect personal information and track users' online activities over time or across different web sites. However, the terms also say third party analytics or advertising providers NoRedInk uses may be able to track users’ online activities over time, but NoRedInk says it does not have access to or control of that information.
Security
The terms of NoRedInk say they use industry standard data security measures to protect users' personal information and recommend strong password protection practices. NoRedInk also provides additional details about their security practices that include two-factor authentication and encryption. Also, the terms say NoRedInk will provide notice to users in the event of a data breach.
Compliance
NoRedInk's terms say that users joining the site must be 18 years of age or older. The terms say NoRedInk only collects personal information through the service from a child under 13 where that student’s school, district, and/or teacher has agreed to obtain parental consent for that child to use the services and disclose personal information to NoRedInk. Additionally, the terms say that any teacher creating an account on the site and creating accounts on behalf of students has the authority to create a legally binding contract for their school or district. According to the terms, the school or district is responsible for getting parental consent to comply with COPPA. Teachers signing up for accounts should verify that they have the required authority within their district, and the appropriate parental consent to create a legally binding contract that meets the school's or district's FERPA obligations and COPPA guidelines. Lastly, the terms say students can access, modify, delete, or export their data, but the information in their accounts may only be changed by their teacher, school, or school district.
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 | 93 | 89 |
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 | 75 | 80 |
| Data Sharing: Protecting data from third parties | 100 | 90 |
| Data Security: Protecting against unauthorized access | 100 | 100 |
| Data Rights: Controlling rights to data | 88 | 95 |
| Data Sold: Preventing sale of data | 75 | 85 |
| Data Safety: Promoting responsible use | 100 | 80 |
| Ads & Tracking: Prohibiting the exploitation of users' decision making process | 83 | 80 |
| Parental Consent: Protecting children’s personal information | 100 | 85 |
| School Purpose: Following student data privacy laws | 100 | 80 |
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) | 75 | 85 |
| Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) | 91 | 87 |
| Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) | 89 | 88 |
| Student Online Personal Information Protection Act (SOPIPA) | 88 | 86 |
| General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) | 96 | 95 |
Privacy Policy Details
1: Transparency
1.1: Policy Version
- Privacy policies do indicate a version or effective date.
- Privacy policies indicate a changelog 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
- 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: Policy Contact
- Users can contact the vendor about any privacy policy questions, complaints, or material changes to the policies.
1.6: Policy Principles
- Privacy policies do indicate any 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.
- Intended for teens.
- Intended for adults over 18.
- Not 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 not collected.
- Biometric or health data are not collected.
- Behavioral data are collected.
- Sensitive data are not collected.
- Non-personally identifiable information is collected.
- Free or reduced lunch status is not 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 online.
2.3: Data Exclusion
- Specific types of personal information are not collected.
- Specific types of collected information are not 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.
- Data are not shared for third-party advertising and/or marketing.
3.3: Data Not Shared With Third Parties
- Specific categories of information are not shared with third parties.
3.4: Data Sold to Third Parties
- Data are not sold or rented to third parties.
3.5: Third-Party Data Acquisition
- Personal information from users is acquired from third parties.
3.6: Third-Party Links
- Links to third-party external websites are 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
- Personal information can be deleted from a third party if found to be misused.
3.10: Third-Party Service Providers
- Data are shared with third-party service providers.
- The roles of third-party service providers are indicated.
3.11: Third-Party Affiliates
- The categories of third parties that receive personal information are indicated.
3.12: Third-Party Policies
- Links to privacy policies of third-party companies are available.
3.13: Third-Party Data Combination
- Data can be combined with data from third-party sources.
- Data shared with third parties cannot be combined by third parties for their own purposes.
3.14: Third-Party Authentication
- Social or federated login is supported.
- Personal information from social or federated login providers is collected.
- Personal Information is shared with social or federated login providers.
3.15: De-identified or Anonymized Data
- User information is shared in an anonymous or deidentified format.
- The vendor describes their deidentification process of user information.
3.16: Third-Party Contractual Obligations
- Contractual limits are placed on third-party data use.
- Contractual limits do not prohibit third parties from reidentifying deidentified information.
4: Respect for Context
4.1: Data Use
- Use of information is limited to the purpose for which it was collected.
- The purpose for which data atr 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 available for users to file a complaint.
5.4: Data Settings
- Users can control their information through privacy settings.
5.5: Data Disclosure
- Users can opt out from the disclosure or sale of their data to a third party.
- Users can request to know what personal information has been shared with third parties for commercial purposes.
- Notice is provided in the event the vendor 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.
- Any copyright license to a user's data is limited in scope or duration.
- Notice is provided to users when their content is removed or disabled because of an alleged copyright violation.
6: Access and Accuracy
6.1: Data Access
- Processes to access and review user data are available.
- Permissions, roles, or access controls are available to restrict who has access to data.
- Processes to review data are available for the school, parents, or students.
6.2: Data Integrity
- The vendor does maintain the accuracy of data they collect.
6.3: Data Correction
- Processes to modify inaccurate data are available.
- Processes for the school, parents, or students to modify data are available.
- The time period for the vendor to modify inaccurate data is indicated.
6.4: Data Retention
- A data-retention policy is available.
- The retention time period of a user's data can be changed upon a valid inspection request.
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 the school, parents, or students to delete data are available.
- The time period for the vendor to delete data is indicated.
6.6: Data Portability
- Processes to download user data are available.
- 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.
- Notice is provided to users if the vendor assigns its rights or delegates its duties to another company.
- Users are notified if their information is transferred to a third party.
7.2: Transfer Request
- User information can be deleted prior to its transfer to a third party.
7.3: Onward Contractual Obligations
- Third-party transfer is contractually required to use the same privacy practices.
8: Security
8.1: User Identity
- A user's identity is not verified with additional personal information.
8.2: User Account
- Account creation is required.
- Parental controls or managed accounts are available.
- Two-factor account protection is available.
8.3: Third-Party Security
- Third-party contractual security protections are required.
8.4: Data Confidentiality
- Industry best practices are used to protect data.
- Employee or physical access to user information is limited.
8.5: Data Transmission
- All data in transit are encrypted.
8.6: Data Storage
- All data at rest are encrypted.
- Personal information of users is not stored with a third party.
8.7: Data Breach
- Notice is provided in the event of a data breach.
8.8: Data Oversight
- Data-privacy and security-compliance audits are performed.
9: Responsible Use
9.1: Social Interactions
- 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.
9.2: Data Visibility
- Personal information is not displayed publicly.
- Users can control how their data are displayed.
9.3: Monitor and Review
- User-created content is not 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.
- Social interactions of users are not logged.
9.4: Report Content
- Users cannot filter or block inappropriate content.
- Users cannot report abuse or cyberbullying.
9.5: Internet Safety
- The vendor provides links to tools or processes that support safe and appropriate social interactions.
10: Advertising
10.1: Vendor Communications
- A user can receive service- or administrative-related communications from the vendor.
10.2: Traditional Advertising
- Traditional or contextual advertisements are not displayed.
10.3: Behavioral Advertising
- Behavioral or targeted advertising is not displayed.
10.4: Ad Tracking
- Data are collected by third-party advertising or tracking services.
- Data are 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.
10.5: Filtered Advertising
- Children do not receive any inappropriate advertisements.
10.6: Marketing Communications
- The vendor can send marketing messages.
- The vendor does provide promotional sweepstakes, contests, or surveys.
10.7: Unsubscribe
- Users can opt out of traditional, contextual, or behavioral advertising.
- Users can opt out or unsubscribe from marketing communications.
10.8: Do Not Track
- Vendor does respond to Do Not Track or other opt-out mechanisms.
- The vendor does provide a method for users to opt-out from third-party tracking.
11: Compliance
11.1: Children Under 13
- Vendor does have actual knowledge that personal information from users under 13 years of age is collected.
- Children's privacy is applicable.
- Account creation is restricted for users under 13 years of age.
- Vendor does restrict in-app purchases for users under 13 years of age.
- The vendor does not participate in an FTC-approved COPPA safe harbor program.
11.2: Students in K–12
- 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.
11.3: Parental Consent
- Parental consent is required.
- 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.
- Children's personal information is deleted if collected without parental consent.
- Parental consent notice and method for submission are provided.
- The vendor cannot use collected information to support the “internal operations” of the product.
- COPPA parental consent exceptions are not indicated.
- FERPA parental consent exceptions are not indicated.
- Unclear whether this product discloses directory information.
- Parental consent obligations are transferred to the school or district.
11.4: Legal Requirements
- The legal jurisdiction that applies to the laws governing any dispute 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 vendor will disclose personal information to law enforcement.
11.5: Certification
- The vendor has not signed a privacy pledge or received a privacy certification.
11.6: International Laws
- A user's data are subject to International data transfer or jurisdiction laws, such as the GDPR.
- The vendor has indicated it is a Data Controller or Data Processor.