We all have a shared responsibility to protect the privacy of our students. Here are the main things you need to know if you're deciding whether Shuffle Buddy is right for you.

Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy is a transparent explanation of how Shuffle Buddy ("we," "us," or "our") collects, uses, and protects your information when you use the web app. By using Shuffle Buddy, you agree to the collection and use of information in accordance with this policy.

Our Commitment to Student Privacy

Shuffle Buddy is intended for use by teachers and educational institutions and is compliant with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) and the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).

FERPA: Shuffle Buddy acts as a "School Official" on behalf of the school or district, performing an institutional service for which the school would otherwise use its own employees. Shuffle Buddy operates under the direct control of the Teacher with respect to the use and maintenance of student data. Any Personally Identifiable Information (PII) from student education records is used solely for the purpose of providing our Service and is not used for any other purpose.

COPPA: Shuffle Buddy is an educational tool used by Teachers in a school setting. As permitted by COPPA, the school provides consent for us to collect student information (such as names) on the parents' behalf for the exclusive use and benefit of the school. The teacher or school is responsible for obtaining any necessary parental consent required by law before entering student information into the app.

Information Collected (and Why)

It’s important for you to know exactly what information is collected. The data handled depends on whether you are using the Free Plan or the Pro Plan.

1. Information You Provide

This is the data you actively enter into Shuffle Buddy.

Student Information

Free Plan: No student information is collected on servers. All class rosters and seating charts you create are stored exclusively in your browser's local storage on your own device. This data cannot be seen or accessed by Shuffle Buddy.

Pro Plan: If you choose to use the cloud sync feature, the following information is collected to allow you to access your classes across multiple devices:

• Students' first and last names.
• Grouping rules, which may be based on information you provide to accommodate student needs (e.g., legal accommodations, learning pairs).
• Classroom layout and seating arrangements.

This information must be collected for the core functionality of the app.

Teacher Information

Free Plan: No personal information is collected from you. You can use the app anonymously.

Pro Plan: To create an account and process your subscription, the following is collected:

• Your full name and email address.
• A secure password.

This information is used to create and secure your account, allow you to sign in, verify your identity, and communicate with you about your account or important updates.

2. Information for Payment Processing (Pro Plan Only)

When you subscribe to the Pro Plan, the payment processing partner, Stripe, collects your payment information. This may include your name, email, and credit card details.

Shuffle Buddy does not store your credit card information on its servers. Stripe is a certified PCI Service Provider Level 1, the most stringent level of certification available in the payments industry. All payment transactions are transmitted securely and encrypted.

3. Information Collected Automatically

To help maintain and improve the service, a small amount of technical information is collected automatically.

• Analytics: Google Analytics is used to understand how users interact with the website and app (e.g., which features are most popular). This helps make Shuffle Buddy better. This information is aggregated and does not identify you personally.

• Error and Performance Diagnostics: If the app encounters an error, a service called Sentry is used to collect diagnostic information. This includes your IP address, browser type, device information, and operating system.

  A note on privacy: Sentry is configured to strip all personally identifiable information (PII) from these reports before they are stored. Your name, email, and all student names are removed from these logs. This technical data is used exclusively for troubleshooting and improving the app's performance.

How Information is Shared and Disclosed

Your data is not shared with third parties, except for the trusted service providers who help operate Shuffle Buddy. These partners are legally and contractually bound to protect your data and use it only for the specific services they provide.

• Google Cloud Firestore: For Pro Plan users, Google's secure database service is used to store teacher and student data for the cloud sync feature. Data is encrypted both in transit (using HTTPS) and at rest.
• Stripe: Processes payments for Pro Plan users.
• Google Analytics: Provides analytics services to help understand app usage.
• Sentry: Provides error and performance monitoring.

Your data will not be shared with any other third parties without your consent unless required by law. We will never sell, rent, or lease your personal information or any student data to third parties.

Data Security

Shuffle Buddy takes the security of your data seriously and uses industry-standard measures to protect it. This includes:

• Data Encryption: All data is encrypted in transit (between the app and our servers) and at rest (when stored in our database).
• Secure Infrastructure: Shuffle Buddy relies on the robust security infrastructure of Google Cloud to protect your data.
• Limited Data Collection: Shuffle Buddy only collects the minimum information necessary to provide the Service.

Data Retention

Your information is kept only for as long as needed to provide Shuffle Buddy to you and for legitimate business purposes.

• Student & Teacher Data (Pro Plan): When you delete a student, a class, or your entire account, that data is deleted from the main database immediately. This data will be permanently destroyed from all point-in-time backups within 7 days.
• Payment Information (Stripe): For accounting and tax purposes, Stripe retains records of transactions, which includes the customer's email address. This information can be deleted upon request by contacting support.
• Error Logs (Sentry): All diagnostic data is automatically deleted within 90 days.

Your Rights and Choices

Access and Update: You can review and update your teacher account information at any time through your account settings. You can review and edit all stored student data directly within the app.

Deletion: You can delete individual students, entire classes, or your entire account at any time. As noted above, this data is deleted immediately from the live database and within 7 days from all backups.

Data Portability: You can request a copy of the information held about you by making a request to the contact form below.

Changes to This Privacy Policy

As Shuffle Buddy evolves, this policy may be updated. If significant changes are made, you will be notified by a prominent notice within the app before the changes take effect.

Contact

If you have any questions, concerns, or thoughts about this Privacy Policy, please reach out via the contact form.