Privacy Policy

Teacher Data

When a teacher registers for and uses the Service, we collect:

• Email address — for account creation, authentication, and service communications
• Name — as provided during registration
• Account type — whether the account is a standard teacher account or a school administrator account, chosen at registration
• Organization or school name — optional, if provided at registration
• Password — stored in hashed form; we never store or have access to plaintext passwords
• Word lists and test content — created, uploaded, or generated by the teacher
• Class and roster information — class names, student assignments, and group organization
• Usage Data — IP address, browser type and version, device type, pages visited, time and date of visits, and session duration
• Billing information — payment status, subscription plan, invoices, and limited payment-related information processed through our payment provider; we do not store full payment card numbers

Student Data

We collect the minimum student data necessary to deliver assessments and report results:

• First name and last name — entered by the teacher or by the student when joining a session
• Student number — an identifier assigned by the teacher, used only to identify the student within their class
• Grade level — optionally assigned by the teacher
• Class and group membership — as organized by the teacher
• Test responses — the student's typed answers to each test word
• Test results — per-word correct/incorrect status, overall score, and completion status
• Session metadata — test mode used, completion time, and submission status
• Integrity log data (Class Test and Self-Paced modes only) — timestamps of fullscreen exits, focus loss events, and window dimension changes during a supervised test session
• Usage Data — IP address, browser type, device type, and session timing

What We Do NOT Collect from Students

• Email addresses
• Passwords or login credentials
• Dates of birth
• Physical addresses or precise geolocation
• Phone numbers
• Student profile photos, videos, facial images, or biometric data (paper answer-sheet scans are handled separately as described in the Paper Scan Grading and AI-Assisted OCR section below)
• Social Security Numbers or government-issued identifiers
• Behavioral profiles or advertising identifiers

Where AI Is Used

• AI Word Generator (credit-based) — When a teacher types a natural language description of what they need (e.g., "Latin root words that connect to our history unit"), AI interprets the description and returns a matching word list with context sentences. Credits are consumed per generation. For teacher-facing AI features, AI receives only teacher-provided content, such as prompts, uploaded list files, or platform questions. These requests do not include student names, student numbers, class rosters, grades, or other direct student identifiers.
• AI context sentences (credit-based, included with AI Word Generator) — Example sentences accompanying an AI Word Generator request are generated by AI as part of the same operation.
• File import parsing (credit-based) — When a teacher uploads a file (PDF, Word document, or other format) to create a word list, AI extracts and structures the word list content. These requests contain only the uploaded file content and do not include student names, student numbers, class rosters, grades, or other direct student identifiers.
• Student spelling feedback (credit-based, teacher opt-in) — When a teacher enables AI feedback for a test, students who misspell a word receive a brief pedagogical explanation of the spelling rule they missed. Disabled by default. See the Student Spelling Feedback section below for full details.
• Paper scan grading / AI-assisted OCR (scan-credit-based) — Ezergrade uses AI-assisted OCR to read handwritten student answers from scanned paper tests. The extracted text is compared against the teacher's word list; uncertain handwriting is flagged for teacher review. Paper scan grading uses scan credits, not AI credits. See the Paper Scan Grading and AI-Assisted OCR section below.
• Platform support / Chat with Ezer (free) — An AI assistant helps teachers with platform questions and navigation. Free for all users. Operates only on the teacher's typed questions and does not access student records. Conversations with the assistant are stored on the teacher's account so we can provide support and improve the Service; teachers should avoid typing student names or other student details into the chat, as it is intended for platform questions rather than record-keeping.

Where AI Is NOT Used

• Free Word Generator — The standard word generator uses structured form inputs (grade level, word count, phonics pattern, difficulty, subject area) to query Ezergrade's curated word database directly. No AI is involved. No credits required.
• Free context sentences — Example sentences generated alongside the Free Word Generator are drawn from the curated database. No AI is involved.
• Digital test grading — Grading is an exact string match. The student either spelled the word correctly or they did not. No AI judgment is involved at any point.
• Test delivery, audio playback, integrity monitoring, and grade record storage — None of these core features involve AI.
• AI is never used for behavioral profiling, predictive analytics, or advertising.
• AI feedback is never active by default. Teachers must explicitly enable it and use credits on a per-test basis.

Student Spelling Feedback

AI written feedback (optional, credit-based, off by default) — When a teacher enables this feature for a test, Ezergrade sends that test's results to a third-party AI service, which writes each student a short note: what they handled well, the pattern behind their mistakes, and a few words to practise.

What is sent is the test's title and, for each student, the list of words with what they typed and whether it was correct. No student name, student number, class information, or any other identifying data is included in the request — students are distinguished only by their position in the batch. The feedback that comes back is stored with the student's result so the teacher can review, edit, or print it.

AI feedback is off by default and is never used unless a teacher turns it on. The setting is saved on the test, so once a teacher enables it for a test it stays enabled for that test — including later runs of it — until the teacher turns it off again. It is not re-asked each time.

When a test session begins, whatever the setting is at that moment is recorded against that session, so editing the test afterwards cannot change a run already under way. A teacher can therefore leave AI feedback off entirely, switch it off for a specific test, or leave it on — and see which setting applied to any past session. Parents or students with concerns should speak to their teacher, who controls the setting, or contact support@ezergrade.com.

Paper Scan Grading and AI-Assisted OCR

When a teacher uses Paper Mode and uploads scanned answer sheets, Ezergrade uses AI-assisted Optical Character Recognition (OCR) to read handwritten student answers.

• What is sent to OCR: The scanned image of the student's answer sheet is transmitted to our enterprise OCR provider for text extraction. The image contains whatever appears on the page. Ezergrade's printable answer sheet is designed so that a student name is not required — a student number alone is enough to match a sheet to a student. However, if a name, student number, or any other identifying information has been written on the page, it will be part of the image transmitted to the OCR provider. Ezergrade cannot remove handwriting from a photograph before sending it for text extraction.
• How our printable answer sheet is designed: Ezergrade prints one packet per student, deliberately split in two. Every answer page — the pages that get photographed and sent for OCR — carries only the student number and the numbered answer boxes. No name appears on them. A single name page at the end of the packet collects the student's first and last name and nothing else (no student number), and it is not intended to be scanned — it exists so the teacher can match the packet to a student in their own records. Used as designed, the images sent to the OCR provider contain a student number and handwritten spelling answers, and no student name.
• Teacher responsibility: Teachers remain responsible for what is actually photographed. If the name page is included in a scan, or a name, class list, or other identifying detail is written onto an answer page, that information becomes part of the image transmitted for text extraction. Ezergrade cannot remove handwriting from a photograph before sending it. We recommend using Ezergrade's printable answer sheet rather than a teacher's own paper, scanning only its answer pages, and keeping the name page with the teacher's records.
• Where the image is stored: Ezergrade does not store scanned answer-sheet images on its servers. An uploaded photo is held in your browser for the duration of the scan-and-review session and passed through to the OCR provider for text extraction; only the extracted text and your reviewed grades are saved to the grade record. Closing or finishing the session discards the image.
• What the OCR provider does: Our OCR provider uses machine learning / computer vision technology to process the image and return extracted text. The provider may process and retain data or metadata only as described in its own terms and data usage documentation.
• What Ezergrade does with the result: Ezergrade compares the extracted text against the test word list. Confident matches may be graded automatically, and uncertain handwriting or low-confidence matches are flagged for teacher review.
• No subjective AI grading: Ezergrade does not use AI to make subjective judgments about student performance. Paper scan grading is limited to reading handwritten answers, comparing them to the teacher's word list, and flagging uncertain cases for teacher review.
• Pricing: Paper scan grading uses scan credits and may be charged separately as described on our pricing page or in your account settings. Scan credits are separate from AI credits.

AI Service Providers

When AI features are used, data may be processed by our third-party AI service provider.

For teacher-facing AI features (AI Word Generator, context sentences, file import, Chat with Ezer), requests contain only teacher-provided content such as prompts, uploaded list files, or platform questions. These requests do not include student names, student numbers, class rosters, grades, or other direct student identifiers.

For optional AI spelling feedback, the request contains only the target word and the student's misspelled answer. It does not include the student's name, student number, class, teacher, grade, score, or account information.

We select AI providers that state they do not use API-submitted customer data to train their models, and we configure available settings to prevent training where applicable.

Google User Data We Access

When a teacher authorizes Google Classroom integration, we request access to:

• Google Classroom rosters — student names and class membership, used to import students into Ezergrade
• Google Classroom course information — course names and identifiers, used to match Ezergrade classes
• Grade passback — we write grade data back to Google Classroom only at the teacher's explicit direction

How We Use Google User Data

Google User Data is used solely to provide and improve the Ezergrade Service. Specifically:

• Roster data is used only to populate the teacher's student list within Ezergrade, reducing manual data entry.
• Course data is used only to help teachers organize their Ezergrade classes to match their Google Classroom structure.
• Grade data (when available) is written back to Google Classroom only at the teacher's explicit direction.

How We Do NOT Use Google User Data

We do not use Google User Data for:

• Advertising, ad targeting, or ad profiling
• Selling, renting, or sharing with third parties for their independent use
• Training machine learning or AI models
• Any purpose unrelated to providing or improving the Ezergrade Service

Google User Data Storage and Retention

Google Classroom roster data imported into Ezergrade is stored as part of the teacher's class and student records within our database. This data is subject to the same retention, security, and deletion policies described elsewhere in this Privacy Policy.

We do not store Google OAuth refresh tokens longer than necessary to maintain the authorized connection. Teachers can revoke Ezergrade's access to their Google account at any time through their Google Account permissions settings.

Compliance with Google API Services User Data Policy

Our use of Google user data complies with the Google API Services User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements.

Teacher Data

• To create and maintain teacher accounts
• To provide the Service, including test creation, word list generation, class management, grading, and results reporting
• To communicate with teachers about their account, service updates, and support requests
• To monitor and improve the security, performance, and functionality of the Service
• To comply with legal obligations

Student Data

• To deliver spelling assessments and display test content to students during a session
• To grade student responses and generate results for the teacher
• To store test results as part of the teacher's unified grade record across all delivery modes
• To enforce assessment integrity during supervised test sessions (Class Test and Self-Paced modes)
• To enable CSV export and optional Google Classroom grade sync for the teacher

Student data is used exclusively to provide educational assessment services. We do not use student data for advertising, profiling, or any commercial purpose beyond delivering the Service.

Subprocessors

The following third-party service providers process data on our behalf to operate the Service:

• Database and authentication provider — database hosting, authentication, real-time communication (United States)
• Hosting and content-delivery provider — hosting, delivery, security (global edge network)
• Enterprise OCR provider — OCR text extraction for Paper Mode scanning
• Google Classroom APIs — roster import and grade passback (when authorized by teacher)
• AI service provider — AI text processing for AI Word Generator, file import, student feedback, and Chat with Ezer
• Payment processor — payment and subscription processing (we do not store full payment card numbers)
• Transactional email provider — delivery of account and authentication emails to teachers

The current named list — each provider's identity and location — is available to any customer on request at support@ezergrade.com. Our Data Processing Agreement additionally commits us to notifying customers before a subprocessor is added or replaced, so a change is never silent.

Who Authorizes a Student's Participation

Ezergrade is used in several different settings, and the authority to enroll a child differs by setting. Under COPPA, a school or educational program may consent on a parent's behalf only in a school-authorized educational context, and that authority does not automatically extend to every adult who administers a test. Every account holder tells us which setting applies to them when they create their account:

• Schools and school-authorized educators. Where a school directs the use of Ezergrade for a school-directed educational purpose, the school may authorize the collection of limited student information on parents' behalf to the extent COPPA permits. The school remains responsible for deciding whether to provide parental notice itself or to obtain parental consent. This covers both teachers and the administrator who sets up a school account.
• Co-ops, microschools, and homeschool programs. Where participating families have authorized the program to choose the educational tools their children use, the program authorizes collection in the same way a school does. That delegated authority is what the program confirms when it creates an account; a group whose families have not delegated it should not use this basis.
• Homeschool parents and guardians. The parent or legal guardian authorizes their own child's participation directly. No school authorization is involved — the parent's own consent is what permits collection, and it is given at signup and confirmed by clicking the email we send. Nothing is collected about a child until that confirmation.
• Private tutors and independent instructors. Not supported for children under 13. A private tutor is neither a school nor the child's parent, so neither authorization route is available to them, and we would need each parent's written permission given directly to us. Rather than rely on being told that permission exists, we do not open these accounts.

In every case, Ezergrade uses student information only to provide the teacher-directed assessment service. We record the basis each account holder selects, the date and time it was given, and the version of this notice they were shown. COPPA obligations are ours as the operator of the Service; this record establishes the basis on which each account's student information was collected.

Third-Party Disclosure

We never sell children's personal information, share it for advertising, or provide it to data brokers.

The service providers we use to run the Service — hosting, database and authentication, network security, and text extraction for paper scans — receive information only to support the internal operations of the Service, are contractually barred from using it for any other purpose, and are therefore not third parties for the purposes of children's privacy law.

A disclosure: a teacher who connects Google Classroom can push grades back, which sends each student's score to Google so it reaches their school's own gradebook. Score and the school's Google-issued identifier only — never the student's name. It never happens automatically.

Schools and organizations may request the named list of these providers, together with our data processing agreement, by contacting support@ezergrade.com.

European Economic Area and United Kingdom (GDPR / UK GDPR)

If you are located in the EEA or United Kingdom, the following applies:

Legal basis for processing. We process Personal Data on the following legal bases:

• Contract — processing necessary to provide the Service you have registered for (teacher account management, test delivery, grading, and results storage)
• Legitimate interests — processing necessary for security, fraud prevention, service performance, debugging, product improvement, and protecting the integrity of the Service, where those interests are not overridden by your rights and freedoms
• Consent or user direction — for optional features such as Google Classroom integration, AI feedback, and OCR scanning, where required or appropriate; these features can be disabled or withdrawn as described in this policy
• Legal obligation — where we are required to process data to comply with applicable law

International data transfers. Your data is transferred to the United States. We rely on the data processing agreements and security measures of our service providers, which include Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) or equivalent safeguards approved by relevant authorities.

Your rights under GDPR. In addition to the rights listed in the Your Rights section below, you have the right to:

• Lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority
• Object to processing based on legitimate interests
• Request restriction of processing
• Data portability — receive your data in a structured, commonly used, machine-readable format

Privacy contact. For GDPR-related inquiries, contact us at support@ezergrade.com.

Australia (Privacy Act 1988)

Where the Australian Privacy Act 1988 applies, we handle your Personal Information in accordance with the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs). You have the right to access and correct your Personal Information, and to make a complaint about our handling of your information. Complaints can be directed to support@ezergrade.com and, if unresolved, to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC).

Canada (PIPEDA)

Where the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) or applicable provincial legislation applies to our processing, we will provide the rights and safeguards it requires. You have the right to access your Personal Information, challenge its accuracy, and withdraw consent for its collection, use, or disclosure. Contact us at support@ezergrade.com to exercise these rights.

For users in Quebec, where Quebec's private-sector privacy legislation applies to our processing, we will provide the rights and safeguards it requires, including those relating to transparency and cross-border transfers.

Other Jurisdictions

Data protection laws vary by jurisdiction, and we comply with those applicable to our processing. Where a local law grants rights beyond those described above, we will honour them to the extent they apply.

As a matter of practice, the core rights — access, correction, deletion, export, and objection — are extended to all users regardless of location, and most may be exercised directly within the Service: a teacher may view, correct, export, and delete students, classes, tests, and results at any time, and may delete their account in full. For questions about how your local law applies, contact support@ezergrade.com.