An elementary school, a Pre-K program or a K–12 school has students under 13. Any online service those students use must follow COPPA. Before you add an AI chatbot to your school website, check how it handles children's information.
What is COPPA?
The Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) is a US law. It protects children under 13 online. It limits what personal information an online service may collect from a child, and it requires parental consent for that collection. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) enforces it.
The FTC's guidance lets a school give consent on parents' behalf, in place of each parent. The condition is that the service uses the information only for the school's educational purpose, and not for any commercial purpose.
Why a chatbot is a COPPA question
A chatbot takes free text. A student can type anything: their name, a teacher's name, a phone number or a health detail. Many general AI chatbots also need an account, keep every conversation, and may use conversations to train their models. Each of those is a privacy risk for a child.
The safest data is data you never collect
A school chatbot does not need to know who is asking. It only needs the question. Collecting less is the simplest way to protect students.
Questions to ask any school chatbot vendor
- Do students need an account, a name or an email?
- Are conversations stored? Where, and for how long?
- Who can read the conversations: the vendor, the school, or nobody?
- Are personal details removed automatically?
- Is any information used for ads, profiles or AI training?
- Does the contract include a data privacy addendum?
- Can the school ask what is held, and have it deleted?
Get each answer in writing. For more questions, read how to choose an AI chatbot for your school.
How School Compass handles student privacy
No accounts
Students and families never sign up, log in or give a name or email. They open the chat and ask.
Questions are not kept
What a family types is sent to the AI service to make an answer, then not saved in our database. Short search words in our server logs are deleted within 7 days. Chat history stays in the family's own browser.
Unanswered questions only with permission
When School Compass cannot answer, the family can choose to send that question to your school. Before it is saved, emails, phone numbers and street addresses are removed automatically. Sent questions are deleted within 60 days.
No ads, profiles or AI training
Information from School Compass is used only to answer school questions for your school.
One random ID, for security only
A random browser identifier stops abuse and enforces usage limits. It is never used to contact anyone or build a profile.
School authorization, in writing
Your school authorizes use for its students, on parents' behalf, as the FTC's COPPA guidance allows. The terms are in our Service Agreement and Data Privacy Addendum. You can ask what we hold and have it deleted at any time.
Your team sees counts, not conversations
Your dashboard shows how many questions families ask and how many were answered. It shows a question's text only when a family chose to send it to you.
What else to check
COPPA is a federal law. Many US states also have student privacy laws, and some districts have their own data agreements. Ask your school's counsel or privacy lead which rules apply to you. This page is not legal advice.
See it for yourself
Ask our demo school, Brightwater Academy, a question. No account needed.
