This Privacy Policy explains how Focus on Foundations (“Focus on Foundations,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) collects, uses, discloses, and protects information through our website, family account and learning services, and QRAG question-answering service (collectively, the “Services”).
1. Scope of the Beta
The current beta is offered directly to families in the United States. It is not a school-directed service, and we do not currently contract with schools or act on behalf of schools. A parent or legal guardian must manage any use by a child under 13. A person 13 or older may create an individual account for themselves. Independent accounts are not available for children under 13.
Pending legal review: this 2026-08-16 update adds email-plus standing parent consent, the individual 13+ path, the guardian-directed tutor-sharing exception, and Stripe as the payment processor for an optional $0.50 parental-verification fee. It is a product draft, not a lawyer-approved notice. Tutor disclosure remains feature-flagged off until that review.
2. Information We Collect
The information we collect depends on which Service you use.
Adult and guardian accounts
When an adult or guardian creates or uses an account, we collect:
- Account and authentication information, including the email address, Amazon Cognito user identifier and authentication status. Passwords are processed by Amazon Cognito; Focus on Foundations does not receive the account password in readable form.
- Profile information, such as a display name.
- Family membership and account-management records.
- Records of agreement to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy, including the version and date or time of consent.
Guardian-created child accounts and learning data
A child under 13 cannot self-register. An authenticated parent or legal guardian creates and manages the child account after email-plus consent (a direct-notice email, a confirmation-code response, and a follow-up email that consent can be revoked). For a guardian-created child account, we collect:
- A guardian-owned plus-address email, such as
parent+child@example.com, used as the child’s sign-in address and routed to the guardian’s inbox. - The child’s display name, Cognito user identifier, authentication status, and family relationship.
- Learning activity and progress, including answers, attempts, assignments, app settings, and related educational interactions.
- Learning data files, including SQLite files created by learning applications and stored for account synchronization.
- Consent provenance, including the consenting guardian’s account identifier, the consent statement or version, and the date or time consent was recorded.
Please choose a child display name that does not reveal more personal information than is needed to use the Service.
QRAG service data
QRAG is separate from the family account and child learning services. QRAG may be used without an account and without providing an email address. We collect:
- Questions and other text submitted to QRAG, along with the generated response and supporting service metadata.
- An email address only when a user optionally provides it for an email-related feature.
- A self-selected name or label if the QRAG interface requests one.
Use without an account or email may be described as anonymous use, but the technical usage and security logs described below may still be generated. QRAG questions and selected source context may be sent to an LLM provider, such as OpenAI or Anthropic, to generate a response. Do not submit sensitive personal information in a QRAG question.
Usage, device, and security data
We and our service providers collect operational data needed to deliver and protect the Services. This may include IP address where applicable, browser and device information, pages or features used, timestamps, request and error metadata, authentication events, security events, and similar usage logs. We may use cookies, browser storage, and comparable technologies for authentication, session continuity, consent state, preferences, and security.
3. How We Use Information
We use information to:
- Create, authenticate, and administer adult, guardian, and child accounts.
- Provide learning activities, save and synchronize progress, and let guardians manage family data.
- Operate QRAG, answer submitted questions, and provide optional email features.
- Communicate about accounts, verification, support, privacy requests, and material Service changes.
- Maintain, debug, understand, and improve the Services, including internal product research. We may publish de-identified or aggregated findings that cannot reasonably identify a child.
- Detect abuse, protect users and the Services, enforce our terms, and comply with legal obligations.
We do not sell personal information. We do not use personal information for targeted or cross-context behavioral advertising. We do not market to children. Focus on Foundations does not independently share identifiable child information with third parties. A parent or legal guardian may separately start, scope, and revoke a tutor relationship after a stronger verification step; in that case we disclose only the tutor relationship and the child’s display name to that tutor. If we intend to share identifiable child information with other third parties — for example for research, with research organizations, or with partner nonprofits — or we are legally required to, we would request additional consent for that.
4. How We Disclose Information
We disclose information only as needed for the purposes described in this Policy:
- AWS service providers. We use Amazon Web Services, including Cognito for authentication; API Gateway and Lambda for service APIs; DynamoDB for account, family, consent, and application records; S3 for user files and other service storage; CloudFront for content delivery; and SES for transactional email.
- Stripe. If a guardian chooses the optional parental-verification fee to authorize a tutor relationship, Stripe’s hosted Checkout processes the $0.50 payment. Stripe receives the guardian’s payment and contact data required for Checkout. Child names, child identifiers, tutor email addresses, and Cognito user identifiers are not sent to Stripe.
- LLM providers for QRAG. QRAG questions and related context may be sent to OpenAI or Anthropic to generate answers. Adult account records, guardian-created child account records, and child learning activity, progress, and SQLite files are not sent to OpenAI, Anthropic, or other LLM providers.
- Legal and safety needs. We may disclose information when reasonably necessary to comply with law or legal process, protect rights or safety, investigate fraud or abuse, or secure the Services.
- Organizational changes. If Focus on Foundations is involved in a merger, financing, reorganization, or transfer of Services, information may be transferred subject to this Policy and applicable law.
- At your direction. We may disclose information when an adult user or guardian directs us to do so.
Our providers may process information only to perform services for us under their applicable contractual and legal obligations. We do not allow providers to use child information for advertising or marketing.
5. Children’s Privacy: Direct Notice to Parents and Legal Guardians
This section gives parents and legal guardians direct notice of our practices for children under 13.
How a child account is created
A child under 13 may not create an account independently. An adult must first create and authenticate a parent account, including email-plus consent. The parent or legal guardian then creates the child account, supplies the guardian-controlled plus email address (for example, johndoe+billy@gmail.com) and child display name, and affirmatively agrees to the child-consent statement bound to that standing consent. We record the consent provenance described above.
What we collect from a child
Through the child account and learning applications, we collect the child’s guardian-controlled plus email address, display name, persistent Cognito identifier, learning activity and progress, assignments and settings, SQLite learning files, and usage or security data. We do not require a child to provide more information than is reasonably necessary to participate in the available learning activities.
How we use and disclose child information
We use child information to authenticate the child, provide and personalize learning activities, save and show progress, allow guardian oversight, maintain and secure the Services, and comply with law. We disclose it to AWS only as needed to operate the account and learning Services, or when legal or safety needs require disclosure. We do not send child account or learning data to OpenAI, Anthropic, or other LLM providers. We do not sell child information, use it for targeted advertising, or market to children. If a guardian completes a separate tutor-disclosure verification, we disclose the tutor relationship and the child’s display name to that tutor only. If we intend to share identifiable child information with other third parties — for example for research, with research organizations, or with partner nonprofits — or we are legally required to, we would request additional consent for that.
Guardian choices and rights
A parent or legal guardian may:
- Review the child information associated with the family account.
- Correct the child’s display name or other editable account information.
- Delete the child account and its saved learning data through family account controls.
- Withdraw consent by deleting the child account.
- Contact us to request access, correction, or deletion, or to ask questions about our child-data practices.
We may need to verify the requester’s identity and authority over the child account before fulfilling a request. A guardian may consent to our collection and use of child information without permitting disclosure beyond the disclosures that are integral to providing the Services, as described in this Policy.
6. Retention and Deletion
Adult account, family, child account, consent, and learning data in current records is retained while the relevant account remains active, until an authorized user uses self-service deletion, or until we perform beta or Service cleanup. Current user files remain available while the account is active. During the beta, we do not automatically delete account data merely because an account has been inactive.
Temporary child-consent confirmation challenges expire after about 10 minutes, and family invitations expire after 7 days. We enforce those expiration times when the records are used. DynamoDB’s background deletion of expired temporary records is asynchronous, so an expired record may remain in storage for a limited time after it can no longer be used.
The user-data Lambda’s security and operational logs are retained for 90 days. Superseded, noncurrent versions of user files in S3 expire after 30 days; the current file version remains while the account is active. QRAG questions, optional email information, and other Service records are retained only as reasonably needed to provide and improve the applicable Service, maintain security, resolve support issues, and perform beta operations.
When self-service account or child deletion succeeds, it removes the applicable current DynamoDB records, every current and noncurrent version of the applicable user files in S3, and the applicable Cognito identity. Limited information may remain temporarily in service-provider backups or DynamoDB point-in-time recovery until those provider-managed windows expire. We may also retain narrowly limited legal or security records when reasonably necessary or required by law. Backup and restricted records are not used to continue the deleted account or for marketing.
7. Security
We use reasonable administrative, technical, and organizational safeguards designed to protect personal information. These include managed authentication, access controls, encrypted network connections, AWS storage protections, and logging or monitoring for security events. No internet transmission or storage system is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.
8. Your Privacy Rights and Choices
Depending on applicable law, an adult account holder or verified guardian may request access to, correction of, or deletion of personal information; obtain information about our collection and disclosure practices; or withdraw consent. Account and family controls provide self-service access to certain correction and deletion functions.
To make a request that cannot be completed through the account controls, contact us using the information below. We may verify identity and authority before acting. We will not discriminate against a user for exercising an applicable privacy right.
9. United States Processing
The beta is limited to United States families. We and our service providers store and process information in the United States. If information is submitted from outside the United States, it will be transferred to and processed in the United States.
10. Third-Party Links
The Services may link to third-party websites or media services. Their privacy practices are governed by their own policies, not this Policy.
11. Changes and Re-consent
We may update this Policy as the beta and our practices change. We will post the revised Policy and update its date. If a change materially affects how we collect, use, or disclose account or child information, we will provide additional notice and request updated consent when appropriate or required by law. Consent records identify the policy or consent version accepted.
12. Contact Us
For privacy questions or requests, including requests concerning a child account, contact:
Focus on Foundations
Email: contact@focusonfoundations.org
This notice describes current implementation and practices for the beta. It is not a representation that a lawyer or regulator has approved the Services or this Policy.