PodsCool ("we," "our," or "us") operates a two-sided marketplace infrastructure connecting independent educators ("Teachers") with families ("Parents") to facilitate local learning pods. This Privacy Policy outlines how we collect, use, and secure your information. By using our platform, you agree to the practices described below.
1. Information We Collect
We restrict data collection to the absolute minimum required to operate a secure, compliant learning marketplace:
- Parents: Name, email address, phone number, billing address, and verified student account pairings.
- Teachers: Name, email address, phone number, professional teaching credentials, background check verification status, and tax/banking details (collected securely via Stripe).
- Students: First name and age/grade level only (provided exclusively by Parents to match students into age-appropriate pods). We do not collect student biological data, tracking metrics, or government IDs.
- Payment Data: We do not store credit cards or banking credentials on our servers. All financial data is processed directly by our third-party payment gateways (Stripe Connect and ClassWallet).
2. How We Use Your Information
We use the collected data solely to execute marketplace utilities:
- Validating and displaying teaching credentials and background check clearances to Parents.
- Facilitating communication, pod class registration, and student placement matching.
- Processing automated tuition billing, routing ClassWallet state ESA distributions, and executing split-fee payouts via Stripe Connect.
- Complying with state education audit reporting requirements.
3. Data Sharing and Marketplace Privacy
We do not sell, rent, or trade your data to third-party advertisers. Data is shared strictly to facilitate your transactions:
- Between Parents and Teachers: Once a student is registered in a pod, relevant matching data (Parent name, contact info, student name, and student age) is visible to the respective Teacher for classroom safety and coordination.
- With Financial & State Partners: Data required to audit and clear public fund transactions is shared securely with Stripe Connect, ClassWallet, and state Departments of Education to verify lawful allocation of learning funds.
4. Children's Privacy & Regulatory Compliance (COPPA, FERPA & Google API Data)
- Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) & Verifiable Consent: PodsCool is strictly a parent-facing marketplace; we do not permit children under the age of 13 to create accounts or interact with our services directly. All student profiles (restricted to first name, age, and Google-associated email for classroom provisioning) must be generated exclusively by a Parent or legal guardian. By executing a tuition transaction via Stripe or ClassWallet, the Parent provides Verifiable Parental Consent for PodsCool to process this minimal data. Parents retain the absolute right to review, edit, or request the immediate deletion of their child's information by contacting support@podscool.com.
- Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA): To the extent that PodsCool interfaces with state Education Savings Accounts (ESA) or synchronized digital classrooms, PodsCool operates under the "School Official" exception outlined in FERPA (34 CFR § 99.31(a)(1)). We act purely as a secure, administrative transactional conduit. We do not track, grade, sell, or maintain permanent institutional academic transcripts, and we maintain strict institutional control over all educational records forwarded to us.
- Google API Data Protection: In accordance with Google's Sensitive Data Scopes, any data accessed via the Google Classroom API (including student roster info and enrollment status) is used strictly to automate classroom entry and Stripe billing updates. This data is processed transiently, is never stored permanently on our servers, is never used for advertising, and is never shared with unauthorized third parties.
5. Security & Data Retention
We implement security measures designed to protect your information from unauthorized access. Your account is protected by your account password and we urge you to take steps to keep your personal information safe by not disclosing your password and by logging out of your account after each use. We further protect your information from potential security breaches by implementing certain technological security measures including encryption, firewalls and secure socket layer technology. However, these measures do not guarantee that your information will not be accessed, disclosed, altered, or destroyed by breach of such firewalls and secure server software. By using our Service, you acknowledge that you understand and agree to assume these risks.
6. Your Rights Regarding the Use of Your Personal Information
You have the right at any time to prevent us from contacting you for marketing purposes. When we send a promotional communication to a user, the user can opt out of further promotional communications by following the unsubscribe instructions provided in each promotional email. You can also indicate that you do not wish to receive marketing communications from us in the settings section of your account dashboard of the Site. Please note that notwithstanding the promotional preferences you indicate by either unsubscribing or opting out in the settings section of your account dashboard of the Site, we may continue to send you administrative emails including, for example, periodic updates to our Privacy Policy.
7. Links to Other Websites
As part of the Service, we may provide links to or compatibility with other websites or applications. However, we are not responsible for the privacy practices employed by those websites or the information or content they contain. This Privacy Policy applies solely to information collected by us through the Site and the Service. Therefore, this Privacy Policy does not apply to your use of a third party website accessed by selecting a link on our Site via our Service. To the extent that you access or use the Service through or on another website or application, then the privacy policy of that other website or application will apply to your access or use of that site or application. We encourage our users to read the privacy statements of other websites before proceeding to use them.
8. Changes to Our Privacy Policy
The Company reserves the right to change this policy and our Terms of Service at any time. We will notify you of significant changes to our Privacy Policy by sending a notice to the primary email address specified in your account or by placing a prominent notice on our site. Significant changes will go into effect 30 days following such notification. Non-material changes or clarifications will take effect immediately. You should periodically check the Site and this privacy page for updates.
9. Contact & Deletion Requests
If you have any questions regarding this Privacy Policy or the practices of this Site, please contact us by email at support@podscool.com. For privacy inquiries or to submit a data deletion request, contact our administration team at support@podscool.com.