Student Data Privacy

1. What student data we collect

We collect only what is necessary to operate the Service for your school. Below is a plain-language summary; the column-by-column inventory is in our public Schedule A (Data Elements), available in the vendor packet.

2. What we do not collect — ever

• Social Security numbers
• Government-issued ID numbers
• Biometric identifiers (no face templates, fingerprints, or voiceprints)
• Geolocation data of any precision
• Audio or video recordings of students
• PPRA-protected survey categories (political affiliation, religious beliefs, sexual behavior, illegal activity, critical appraisals of family members)
• Behavioral profiles built for any commercial purpose

3. How we protect student data

• Application-layer encryption (AES-256-GCM) for sensitive free-text fields — planner notes, counselor reasons, lesson-plan bodies — so EduSched staff cannot read the content even with database access
• Database encryption at rest (AES-256) and TLS 1.2+ in transit on every endpoint
• Row-level security (RLS) enforced inside the database — a student sees only their own records; a counselor sees only their caseload; authorization cannot be bypassed by an application bug
• Hash-chained audit log — every access to a student record is logged with the actor, timestamp, and purpose; the log is immutable and verified daily
• Annual penetration test by a qualified third-party firm; critical findings remediated within 90 days
• Background-checked personnel — production database access is limited to staff who have completed a background check and signed a confidentiality agreement
• US data residency — all data is stored in the United States (US-West by default; US-East on request)

4. No AI training. No advertising. No profiling.

The Service does not currently use AI, machine learning, or large language models in any user-facing feature. Our session recommendation engine is deterministic (rule-based).

These commitments are binding in our NDPA and will never change without district consent:

• Student Data will never be used to train an external AI model or sold to a data broker
• AI will never be used to make consequential decisions about a student (placement, discipline, eligibility, grading)
• If we ever introduce an AI feature, districts will receive at least 30 days' advance written notice and can turn it off
• EduSched does not display advertising of any kind on the platform
• We do not build behavioral profiles of students for any commercial purpose

5. FERPA — parent and student rights

EduSched operates as a "school official" with a "legitimate educational interest" under FERPA §99.31(a)(1). The School remains the controller of education records; EduSched acts only on the School's instructions.

Parents and eligible students (18 or older, or attending a post-secondary institution) have the right to:

• Inspect and review education records held by the School
• Request amendment of records they believe are inaccurate or misleading
• Request deletion of records through the School's administrator
• Receive a disclosure-of-access report (FERPA §99.10(b)) listing who has seen the records

To support these rights, EduSched provides:

• A one-time, time-bound parent magic-link page so parents can review what EduSched holds on their child without creating an account
• A per-student data export in a portable, structured format (available to School administrators)
• A disclosure-of-access report in the compliance settings page
• Deletion-on-request via the purge_student() function available to School administrators

6. COPPA — students under 13

When a School authorizes EduSched to collect personal information from students under 13 for school operations, the School acts as the parent's agent under 16 CFR §312.5(a)(2). EduSched provides Schools with a COPPA Direct Notice template that the School can distribute to parents.

Until parent consent is recorded in the platform, EduSched will not send SMS or push notifications to under-13 students — this gate is on by default and is configurable per district.

Parents may at any time:

• Refuse further collection of their child's personal information
• Request a review of the information we hold
• Request deletion — through the School or by emailing privacy@edusched.com

7. California law — SOPIPA, AB 1584, CCPA/CPRA

EduSched complies with California's student-data laws, including those that apply to Irvine Unified School District and all other California LEAs:

• We do not engage in targeted advertising on the Service or anywhere else using information acquired from the Service (SOPIPA §22584(b)(1)(A))
• We do not use information from the Service to amass a profile about a K-12 student except in furtherance of K-12 school purposes (SOPIPA §22584(b)(1)(B))
• We do not sell student information (SOPIPA §22584(b)(1)(C); AB 1584 / Ed. Code §49073.1(b)(2))
• Student data is the property of the student and the LEA — not EduSched (Ed. Code §49073.1(b)(1))
• We delete covered information of a student at the direction of the School (SOPIPA §22584(b)(4))
• Pupils may access and export their own data in a structured machine-readable format (Ed. Code §49073.1(b)(7))

California parents and staff. California residents who are EduSched users in a non-student capacity (teachers, administrators, parents) have CCPA/CPRA rights to know, access, correct, delete, and limit use of their personal information. Email privacy@edusched.com. We respond within 45 days.

8. How long we keep student data

Default retention windows (districts may adjust these in the compliance settings):

• Attendance records and audit logs: 7 years
• Student records: 5 years after end of relationship
• Planner items, external assignment cache, academic status cache: 365 days
• Counselor notes: per district retention schedule
• Magic-link tokens: 24-hour expiry by default

When a district's contract ends, EduSched will — at the district's election — return all data in a structured machine-readable format or securely destroy it within 60 days and issue a written certification of destruction.

Questions? Contact us.

EduSched, Inc.
Privacy & FERPA questions: privacy@edusched.com
Data Protection Officer: privacy@edusched.com (Christina Hanna)
Security incidents: security@edusched.com
Contracts & DPA: contracts@edusched.com

Full details are in the Privacy Policy, Terms of Service, and the Data Privacy Agreement executed with your district.