Plain-language privacy notice for families

Only an adult — a parent, guardian or teacher — creates an account. Children never enter an email address or a password, and they never create an account of their own. The adult adds each child reader and gives consent at that point. We record the date and time that consent was given.

• First name and last initial only
• Age and grade, so we can choose the right reading level
• Reading practice records: which passage was read, words read, minutes practised, reading rate, and how many comprehension questions were answered correctly
• Results of the reading diagnostic, which tells us what to practise next

That is all. We do not ask for a child's email, address, phone number, photograph, school, or location, and there are no free-text boxes where a child could type personal details.

Only to teach reading and to show the grown-ups the child's progress. We use the data to pick the next story, target the sound drills to the skills the child has not yet mastered, and produce the progress report you see in the app.

• The adult who holds the account sees only their own children.
• One programme administrator can see progress across the pilot — names shown as first name and last initial — to support families and measure whether the programme works.
• Nobody else. We never sell or share family data, and there is no advertising.

We keep a child's reading records while the account is open, and delete them within 30 days of you asking us to, or within 90 days of the account being closed. Records created during the founding pilot are deleted within 90 days of the pilot ending unless the family asks us to keep them. Nothing is kept longer to train advertising or outside systems.

You can remove a reader from your account at any time in the practice app, which deletes that child's reading records. You can also close your whole account from the Account menu in the practice app, which deletes your account, every reader you added and all of their reading records. Or email us to ask for a copy of everything we hold, to correct it, or to delete it entirely. We will not ask a child to provide more information than is needed to take part.

Because our readers are children, we follow the approach required by the US Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA): the parent or legal guardian gives consent for their own children before any child information is collected, we collect the minimum needed, and a parent may review or delete it at any time. We record the exact wording each parent agreed to and the date and time they agreed to it. A school or tutoring programme may only add a child where the parent or guardian has authorised that adult to act for their child; consent always rests with the family. Families in the UK or EU have the same rights of access, correction and deletion under GDPR.

Questions, or a request about your child's data? Email ron@theskillfulreader.com — we reply within one school day, and answer formal data requests within 30 days.