Privacy Policy – Cub Guide

Introduction

Cub Guide ("we," "our," or "us") is a student behavior and academic tracking platform designed for educators. We are deeply committed to protecting the privacy and security of student data. This Privacy Policy explains what information we collect, how we use it, and the rights of teachers, administrators, parents, and guardians regarding that data.

What Data We Collect

Teacher & Staff Accounts

Email address, full name, and school affiliation. This is used for authentication and to associate records with the correct school.

Student Information

Student names, behavior or academic ratings, daily notes, think sheet responses, and parent/guardian contact information. This data is entered by authorized school staff only.

Student Login Data

When schools enable the optional student self-service feature, students use an access code and PIN. We do not collect student email addresses, passwords, or other personal identifiers from students directly.

How We Use Data

To provide behavior tracking, reporting, and communication tools to educators
To generate daily reports and email summaries for parents and guardians
To display progress trends and analytics to authorized school staff
To authenticate teachers, and staff

We do not sell, rent, or share student data with third parties for advertising or commercial purposes. Ever.

How We Protect Data

Encryption: All data is encrypted in transit (TLS/HTTPS) and at rest
Row-Level Security: Database access is enforced at the row level, so authorized teachers can only access their own students' data
Role-Based Access: School staff have role-based permissions (teacher, educational assistant, school staff, administrator) that control what data they can view and modify
Rate Limiting: View attempts are rate-limited to prevent brute-force attacks

FERPA Compliance

Cub Guide is designed to support schools' compliance with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). We operate as a "school official" with a "legitimate educational interest" under FERPA, which means we handle student education records under the direction and authority of the school.

Access limited to authorized educational purposes

We only access and process student education records as directed by the school, and we use student data solely for the educational purposes the school authorizes.

No disclosure to unauthorized third parties

We will not disclose personally identifiable information from education records to any third party ever.

Schools retain full control

Schools using Cub Guide maintain control over their student data at all times. Teachers and administrators can export, correct, or delete student records through the platform at any time.

Support for parental rights

FERPA gives parents the right to access, review, and request correction of their child's education records. Cub Guide's data export and deletion tools allow schools to fulfill these requests efficiently. We encourage schools to include Cub Guide in their annual FERPA notification to parents.

COPPA Compliance

The Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) protects the online privacy of children under 13. Cub Guide is designed to be used in educational settings where schools authorize student use, which allows us to operate under COPPA's school consent exception. Under this exception, schools act as the parents' agent and provide consent on behalf of families for the limited educational purposes of the platform.

Minimal data collection from students

Students interact with Cub Guide using only a unique access token and PIN assigned by their teacher. We do not collect student email addresses, home addresses, phone numbers, or other personal identifiers directly from students.

No advertising or profiling

We do not use student data for advertising, marketing, or behavioral profiling. Student information is used solely to support the educational purposes the school authorizes.

No tracking on student-facing pages

We do not run Google Analytics, advertising trackers, or third-party analytics tools on student login or student dashboard pages. Students are not tracked across the web through our platform.

Schools authorize and control student access

Schools determine which students use Cub Guide, generate student access credentials, and can revoke access at any time. Schools are responsible for notifying parents about the educational tools they use, and we support schools in meeting this responsibility.

Data deletion on request

Schools can delete student records through the platform at any time, and we honor school and parent requests to remove student data promptly.

CIPA Compliance

The Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA) is a federal law that applies to schools and libraries receiving E-rate funding. CIPA requires those schools and libraries to maintain Internet safety policies and technology protection measures. While CIPA regulates schools directly and not software vendors like Cub Guide, we have designed our platform to support schools' CIPA-compliant environments.

How Cub Guide Supports CIPA-Compliant Schools

A closed, purpose-built environment

Cub Guide is not an open browsing platform. Students who access the optional student self-service feature see only their own behavior or academic dashboard and think sheets. There is no web browsing, search functionality, or exposure to external internet content within Cub Guide.

No peer-to-peer communication

Cub Guide does not provide chat rooms, direct messaging between students, email functionality, or any mechanism for students to communicate with peers or external parties through the platform. All communication flows are structured: teacher to parent through daily reports, or student reflection through guided think sheets.

Protection against unauthorized access

As detailed in our "How We Protect Data" section, Cub Guide uses row-level security, role-based access controls, hashed student PINs, rate-limited login attempts, and encryption in transit and at rest to prevent unauthorized access to student information.

Minimal data collection from minors

We do not collect student email addresses, names, or other personal identifiers directly from students, and we do not share student data (or any other data) with third parties for advertising or profiling purposes.

No exposure to harmful materials

Because Cub Guide is a walled environment focused exclusively on behavior tracking and reflection, students cannot access external websites, advertisements, user-generated content, or any materials that would require filtering under CIPA.

What CIPA Requires of Schools

CIPA compliance, including internet filtering, monitoring of minors' online activity, and digital citizenship education, is the responsibility of the school or district. Cub Guide does not replace internet filtering software, network-level monitoring tools, or cyberbullying and digital citizenship curricula. Schools should continue to use their existing CIPA-compliant infrastructure alongside Cub Guide.

We are happy to answer questions from school IT directors and procurement officers about how Cub Guide fits within a CIPA-compliant environment. Please contact us at info@cubbehaviorguide.com.

Third-Party Services

Cub Guide uses the following third-party services:

Google Analytics: Used on public-facing and teacher-facing pages only (home page, pricing, login) to understand general usage patterns. Google Analytics is not loaded on student-facing pages (/student and /student/dashboard)
Cloud infrastructure: Our database and authentication services use industry-standard cloud infrastructure with enterprise-grade security

We do not share student data with any third-party service for advertising, marketing, or profiling purposes.

Data Retention & Deletion

Student behavior data is retained for as long as the school or teacher account is active and the student record exists. Schools and teachers can:

Delete individual student records at any time
Request complete data export for a student
Request deletion of all school data by contacting us

When a student record is deleted, all associated behavior ratings, notes, and think sheets are permanently removed.

Parent & Guardian Rights

Parents and guardians have the right to:

Request access to their child's behavior records through the school
Request correction of inaccurate data through the school
Request deletion of their child's data through the school
Receive regular reports about their child's behavior through the daily email summaries generated by their child's teacher

All parent requests should be directed to the school, which controls the data. Schools can then use Cub Guide's tools to fulfill those requests.

Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. If we make material changes, we will notify users through the application or by email. Continued use of Cub Guide after changes constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

Contact Us

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or our data practices, please contact us at info@cubbehaviorguide.com.