How to keep your child's learning data private

What learning apps usually collect

Most learning apps need some information to work, and that is fine. The question is whether they collect more than they need and what they do with it. Common categories include:

• Account details: a parent's name and email, and a child's name or nickname, age, or grade.
• Learning activity: answers, written work, typed or spoken questions, scores, and time spent.
• Audio or video: voice recordings or camera images, if the app listens or watches.
• Device and usage data: device type, approximate location from the internet connection, and when the app is used.
• Inferences: profiles the company builds from the data, such as predicted skill level or interests.

The laws that protect your child's data

This section is general information, not legal advice.

COPPA, the federal Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, applies to online services aimed at children under 13 and to services that know they are collecting information from children under 13. It requires the service to get verifiable consent from a parent before collecting a child's personal information, and it gives parents the right to review that information and ask for it to be deleted. When a school sets up an app only for classroom use, the school may be able to give that consent for the educational use in place of each parent.

FERPA, the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, protects education records kept by schools that receive funding from the U.S. Department of Education. It gives parents the right to see their child's records and ask for corrections, and it limits when a school can share them.

Companies that handle records on the school's behalf generally fall under the same limits. These rights pass to the student at age 18 or when they enroll in college, whichever comes first.

In California, SOPIPA, the Student Online Personal Information Protection Act, applies to companies whose sites and apps are used mainly for K-12 school purposes and were designed and marketed for those purposes. It bars them from using student information for targeted advertising, from selling it, and from building profiles of students for non-school purposes, and it requires reasonable security. California's AB 1584 sets rules for contracts between school districts and companies that store or handle pupil records, including that the records stay under the district's control and are not used for other purposes.

These laws mostly cover schools and school-purpose apps. An app you download at home for your child may fall under COPPA but not under FERPA or SOPIPA, so the company's own privacy policy matters a great deal.

Questions to ask before you sign up

You can usually answer these by reading the privacy policy's sections on what is collected, how it is used, and your choices. If you cannot find an answer, email the company; a clear reply is a good sign.

• Does it ask for a parent's consent before collecting anything from a child under 13?
• What exactly does it keep, and for how long?
• Does it keep recordings of my child's voice or video of my child?
• Does it show ads, or sell or share data with advertisers?
• Is my child's work used to train AI models, and can I say no?
• Who else receives the data, and what are they allowed to do with it?
• Can I download my child's data and delete it, and how long until deletion is complete?
• Will it tell me before the privacy policy changes in a way that matters?

Settings to check after you sign up

• Use a first name or nickname for your child's profile; a full name is rarely needed.
• Skip optional fields like photos, school name, and birthday if the app works without them.
• Turn off any sharing, public profiles, or leaderboards you do not want.
• Look for the export and delete options so you know where they are before you need them.
• Review connected accounts and permissions, such as camera, microphone, and location, in your device settings.
• Delete accounts your child no longer uses rather than leaving them open.

Teaching your child good habits

Children are often the ones typing into these apps, so a few simple rules go a long way. Agree on them together and revisit them as your child gets older and more independent.

• Don't type or say your full name, address, phone number, or school in an app's chat.
• Don't upload photos that show faces, house numbers, or school uniforms.
• Ask a parent before signing up for anything new or clicking "allow" on a permission.
• Tell a parent if an app asks a question that feels too personal.

School accounts versus home accounts

When your child uses an app through school, the district is generally responsible for choosing it and for its agreement with the company. You can ask the school which online services it uses with your child's class, and under FERPA you have the right to review your child's education records.

Some districts publish the apps they use and the data agreements behind them. The school office or the district's technology department is the place to ask.

If your child uses the same product at home and at school, check whether the accounts are separate. A school account belongs to the school's records, while a home account is between you and the company.

How Helio handles your child's data

• For a child under 13, a parent says yes before Helio keeps anything.
• A child’s account is made by a parent or a school and needs no email.
• Your child’s voice becomes text as Helio listens. The sound is not saved.
• Helio has no ads and does not sell data. A child’s work is not used to train models unless a parent agrees.
• You can download or delete your child’s data from your parent page.
• For school accounts, the school decides how student data is used. The full details are in Helio’s privacy policy.