Remind is a messaging platform that helps educators, students, parents and other users send messages. The terms of Remind state it is used for communicating between students and teachers within a classroom, so there is potential for the application to share sensitive information. Remind's terms state they collect personal information and non-personal usage information automatically through use of the service. In addition, Remind's terms state they secure information using encryption of all data at rest and requiring third-party services to maintain strict privacy and security policies. The terms state student data is not sold to third parties and there is no targeted advertising on the service. However, the policy does not disclose whether it tracks any type of users on the site and across the internet for commercial purposes. Lastly, Remind's terms state they only collect information from children and students under 13 to support learning, such as first and last name, date of birth, contact information, and the child’s parent’s email address to verify parental consent.

Remind 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 used for this evaluation can be found on Remind’s website, the iOS App Store, and the Google Play Store. Additionally, other policies used for this evaluation include: Remind School Plan Standard Agreement, Remind District Plan Standard Agreement, Remind Data Practices, Anti-Bullying Policy, and Community Guidelines. This evaluation only considers policies that have been made publicly available prior to an individual using the application or service.

Safety

The terms of Remind state it is used for communicating between students and teachers within a classroom, so there is some potential for the application to share sensitive information. Remind users can only receive messages from Remind, verified administrators, or other users in the same class or group. Additionally, users may only join classes or groups with unique access codes. Remind’s policies state that while the company will never display personal information outside of groups or publicly, access codes and posted content are the responsibility of the group or class’s manager and should be tightly controlled. Terms also state that content may be monitored for appropriateness according to Anti-Bullying Policy and Community Guidelines documents by the company, and encourage users to report inappropriate content.

Privacy

The terms of Remind state they collect personal information and non-personal usage information automatically through use of the Service. Information collected from users under 13 may include a name, date of birth, district, school, class, grades and report card, and video or audio recordings of students. Remind's terms specify that Personally Identifiable Information may be shared with third parties embedded and integrated within Remind. They state that third party contractors are contractually bound, in writing, to providing at least equivalent privacy and security measures as Remind. However, third-party tracking technologies, such as Google Analytics cookies, are not covered by the Remind policy. In addition, Remind's terms state that they will not sell nor rent personal information to third parties, nor serve behaviorally targeted ads.

Security

Remind's terms state they secure information using encryption of all data at rest and requiring third-party services to maintain strict privacy and security policies. Remind's terms state they have administrative, technical, and physical safeguards designed to protect against unauthorized use, disclosure, and access to Personal Information, and work with administrators, third-party auditors, and penetration testing firms, to maintain and strengthen their security. Remind uses Amazon Web Services (AWS) and other third-party services within the AWS environment to host and operate its databases. AWS is an industry-leading cloud service platform designed and managed in compliance with relevant regulations, standards, and best-practices, such as FedRAMP and iKeepSafe COPPA Safe Harbor Program guidelines. If Remind becomes aware of a data breach of its users’ personally identifiable information, Remind's terms state they will notify affected users.

Compliance

Remind's terms state they only collect information from children and students under 13 to support learning, such as first and last name, date of birth, contact information, and the child’s parent’s email address to verify parental consent. In addition, Remind’s terms state that they only collect personal information through the services from children under 13 where that student’s school, district and/or teacher has agreed after receiving parental consent. If Remind does not receive the parent’s email address within a reasonable time period after registration, the under 13 user will not be able to receive any messages and their Personal Information will be deleted. The policies clearly indicate that there is a data retention and automatic deletion policy for users under 13, but do not specify such policies for users over age 13. Remind users may view, update, or remove information in their user account (such as email address and name), their user preferences, and the content in their account (excepting some messages) at any time. Additionally, users may request deletion of their entire Remind account through their user preferences or contacting the company.