COPPA Compliance Statement

Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) Compliance
Last Updated: July 17, 2026

Our Commitment to Children's Privacy

WorksheetPal is committed to complying with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) and protecting the privacy of children under 13 years of age. This statement describes our current production controls. It is not a certification, safe-harbor seal, legal opinion, or guarantee that every legal obligation has been independently audited.

General Exploration Without a Kid Profile

WorksheetPal's privacy-by-design goal is to let visitors and parent-account holders explore eligible games, worksheets, and freemium content without supplying child-profile information. General exploration does not require a child's name, grade, birthday, country, learning difficulties, or learning topics.

In this mode, WorksheetPal must not create a persistent child learning profile or save child-specific progress, game sessions, points, streaks, recommendations, assessments, or leaderboard records. Necessary parent-account controls, security records, subscription administration, and non-child-specific download allowances may still be processed as described in our Privacy Policy.

Personalization and Premium Child Features

Personalization begins only when a parent creates a kid profile. Our production model requires all three of the following before kid-profile creation or restoration and covered child-specific processing:

1. a qualifying Stripe monetary transaction, which may be a clearly disclosed and automatically refunded verification payment;
2. active verifiable parental consent; and
3. a parent-submitted kid profile after verification succeeds.

The verification experience combines a versioned direct parental notice, an email confirmation process, and server-side confirmation of a qualifying Stripe monetary transaction. Parents may use a subscription purchase or a one-time EUR €0.50 verification payment that is automatically refunded. The verification payment is not a subscription and unlocks no premium entitlement. These steps are coordinated for convenience but remain legally and technically separate: payment is not consent, and consent does not purchase a subscription.

The production gate is active. New parents cannot submit a kid profile until verification succeeds. Existing profiles without current verified consent are preserved, but covered personalised processing remains paused while the parent completes the transition flow. Withdrawal stops future covered processing without removing the parent's rights to export or delete child data.

Current Access Model

“Not necessarily” means that eligible public content can be explored without creating or signing into a parent account. It does not mean that WorksheetPal creates an anonymous or temporary kid profile.

What is COPPA?

COPPA is a federal law that requires websites and online services directed to children under 13 to:

1. Obtain verifiable parental consent before collecting personal information from children
2. Provide parents with notice of information collection practices
3. Give parents control over their child's information
4. Maintain reasonable security for collected information

How WorksheetPal Complies with COPPA

1. Parental Consent Requirement

Before Kid-Profile Creation and Personalization:

• Parent accounts may access eligible general content without a kid profile
• Child-profile fields are not presented for submission until the verified consent gate is complete
• Parents receive the versioned direct notice and control all consent decisions and kid-profile settings
• Children may explore eligible unpersonalized content without creating persistent child progress records

Consent Method:

• A direct parental notice delivered through the authenticated parent account and email
• An approved email-plus confirmation step that is more than ordinary email verification
• Server-side verification of a qualifying Stripe monetary transaction, using either a subscription purchase or a disclosed, automatically refunded EUR €0.50 verification payment
• A signed server callback and append-only consent record before activation

An account checkbox, Terms acceptance, ordinary email verification, browser success page, saved payment method, zero-value card check, or payment by itself is not treated as verified parental consent. The active consent record is created only after the required notice, email confirmation, and qualifying transaction factors have been validated server-side.

2. Information Collection Notice

What We Collect from Children:

• First name only (not full name)
• Grade level (1-6)
• Birth month and year (for age-appropriate content)
• Subjects of difficulty (for personalized learning)
• Learning progress (worksheet completions, scores)
• Selected avatar (for profile display)
• Exercise responses (to provide feedback)

What We DO NOT Collect from Children:

• Full legal name
• Home address or physical location
• Phone numbers
• Social security numbers
• Photographs or videos
• Social media profiles
• Precise geolocation data
• Unnecessary personal information

3. How We Use Children's Information

Educational Purposes Only:

• Generate age-appropriate worksheets
• Track learning progress and achievements
• Provide AI-powered educational hints (Smarky assistant)
• Display a stable fictional leaderboard nickname by default; disclose a real profile name only through a separate parent-controlled public-disclosure choice
• Send weekly learning plans to parent's email

What We Don't Do:

• ❌ Show targeted advertising to children
• ❌ Create behavioral profiles for advertising
• ❌ Sell or rent information to third parties
• ❌ Share information for marketing purposes
• ❌ Use information beyond educational purposes

4. Parental Control and Rights

Parents have complete control and can:

Review Information:

• Access all information collected from their child
• View progress reports, completed worksheets, and activity history
• Request: [email protected]

Modify Information:

• Update child's name, grade level, or preferences
• Change privacy settings at any time
• Edit through Account Settings or contact support

Delete Information:

• Request deletion of child's account and all data
• Data deleted within 30 days of request
• Email: [email protected] with "Delete Child Account"

Refuse Further Collection:

• Revoke consent at any time
• Close account and stop data collection
• No penalties for consent withdrawal

Control Communications:

• Opt in/out of weekly learning plan emails
• Control notifications and updates
• Manage preferences in Account Settings

5. Information Sharing and Third Parties

We Only Share with Essential Service Providers:

WorksheetPal remains responsible for selecting, configuring, and reviewing service providers appropriate to the sensitivity of the information and for limiting disclosure to the operational purpose described in our Privacy Policy.

We Never Share With:

• Advertisers or ad networks
• Data brokers or marketing companies
• Social media platforms
• Any non-essential third parties

6. Data Security Measures

We implement industry-standard protections:

Technical Safeguards:

• All data encrypted in transit (HTTPS/TLS)
• Encrypted data storage at rest
• Secure authentication and session management
• Regular security audits and vulnerability testing

Administrative Safeguards:

• Employee training on COPPA requirements
• Access controls and role-based permissions
• Data minimization policies
• Regular privacy impact assessments

Physical Safeguards:

• Secure data centers (Supabase infrastructure)
• Redundant backups and disaster recovery
• Physical access controls

7. Data Retention Policy

While Account is Active:

• Retain information necessary to provide Services
• Continuously update progress and learning data

Upon Account Deletion:

• Personal information deleted within 30 days
• Anonymous aggregate data may be retained for analytics
• Parents can request immediate deletion

Legal Requirements:

• Some records retained longer if required by law
• Financial records (subscriptions) retained per tax laws

8. No Third-Party Advertising

Our Commitment:

• Zero targeted ads to children
• No behavioral tracking for advertising
• No ad networks integrated in our Services
• No cookies for advertising purposes

Free Plan Note:

• May include generic educational content suggestions
• Not based on child's personal information or behavior
• Parents can opt out of all promotional content

9. Leaderboard Privacy

How Leaderboards Work:

• Display a stable fictional nickname for real learners by default
• Show only the minimized ranking fields needed for the leaderboard
• Rank learners for motivation without making a real child name necessary

Privacy Controls:

• Parents control whether a specific learner participates where that control is available
• A real profile name is disclosed only if the parent separately and explicitly enables name disclosure; otherwise the fictional nickname remains public
• Country disclosure is controlled independently. If it is disabled, the country flag is replaced by a privacy indicator
• Email addresses are never displayed; the only profile fields that may replace the privacy defaults are the name and country choices expressly enabled by the parent
• Setting in Account Settings > Privacy

10. AI Assistant (Smarky) and Child Interactions

Smarky Chat Safety:

• Designed to provide educational hints, not answers
• Programmed to avoid inappropriate content
• Does not collect unnecessary personal information
• Conversations logged for quality and safety monitoring

Parental Oversight:

• Parents can review chat history
• No private messaging between children
• AI designed with child safety guidelines
• Report concerns to [email protected]

11. Contact Information for COPPA Inquiries

For COPPA-Related Questions or Requests:

📧 Primary Contact: [email protected]
📧 Safety Concerns: [email protected]
📧 General Support: [email protected]
📬 Mail: WorksheetPal COPPA Compliance Officer, Rua Fernando Mauricio 21 - 7B, 1950-477 Lisboa, Portugal

Response Time: We respond to all COPPA requests within 5 business days.

12. Parental Consent Withdrawal Process

To Withdraw Consent and Delete Child's Account:

1. Email: [email protected]
2. Subject Line: "Withdraw COPPA Consent"
3. Include:
   • Parent's name and email address
   • Child's first name
   • Account email address
4. Confirmation: We will confirm deletion within 5 business days
5. Data Deletion: All personal information deleted within 30 days

Alternative Methods:

• Delete account directly in Account Settings
• Call support (if phone support available)
• Mail written request to address above

13. Annual COPPA Review

We conduct annual reviews of:

• Information collection practices
• Service provider compliance
• Security measures and protocols
• Privacy policy accuracy
• User feedback and concerns

Last Annual Review: December 2025
Next Scheduled Review: December 2026

14. Changes to COPPA Practices

If We Make Material Changes:

• Notify parents via email
• Obtain new parental consent if required by law
• Provide 30-day notice before changes take effect
• Give option to delete account before changes apply

Parents Will Be Notified of Changes To:

• Types of information collected
• How information is used
• Third parties with access to information
• Parental rights and controls

15. State-Specific Privacy Rights

California (CCPA/CPRA):

• Right to know what information is collected
• Right to delete personal information
• Right to opt out of "sales" (we don't sell data)
• Contact: [email protected]

Other States:

• Similar privacy laws in Virginia, Colorado, Connecticut, etc.
• Same rights available to all U.S. users
• Contact us to exercise state-specific rights

16. Resources for Parents

Learn More About COPPA:

• FTC COPPA Information: https://www.ftc.gov/coppa
• COPPA FAQs: https://www.ftc.gov/tips-advice/business-center/guidance/complying-coppa-frequently-asked-questions

Online Safety Resources:

• NetSmartz (National Center for Missing & Exploited Children)
• Common Sense Media
• ConnectSafely.org

WorksheetPal Resources:

• Privacy Policy
• Terms of Service
• Parent Guide
• Safety Tips

Our Promise to Parents

We promise to:

• ✅ Protect children's privacy as our top priority
• ✅ Collect only information necessary for educational purposes
• ✅ Never show targeted ads to children
• ✅ Give parents full control over their child's information
• ✅ Respond promptly to privacy requests
• ✅ Maintain transparent privacy practices
• ✅ Continuously improve our safety measures

Questions or Concerns?

If you have ANY questions or concerns about:

• How we collect or use children's information
• Your rights as a parent under COPPA
• Our privacy and security practices
• Specific incidents or issues

Please Contact Us Immediately:

📧 [email protected]
⏱️ Response within 24 hours for urgent matters
📞 [Phone number if available]

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Next Review: October 2026

WorksheetPal is committed to providing a safe, private, and educational environment for children. We take COPPA compliance seriously and welcome parental oversight and feedback.