Privacy Policy

1. Introduction

This Privacy Policy describes how Amoeba.education LLC, a Florida limited liability company ("Amoeba.education," "we," "us," or "our"), collects, uses, discloses, retains, and protects information when you access or use the Classico platform, including our websites, web applications, mobile applications, APIs, and related services (collectively, the "Service").

By creating an account, joining a class, or otherwise using the Service, you acknowledge that you have read and understood this Privacy Policy. If you do not agree, do not use the Service.

This Policy applies to teachers, school administrators, students, parents, guardians, and other users. Where we process student education records on behalf of a school or teacher, we act as a "school official" with a legitimate educational interest under FERPA or as a service provider/processor under applicable state student privacy laws, as described in our state-specific addenda.

2. Data Controller and Contact

Amoeba.education LLC is the data controller for information collected through the Service, except where we process student data solely on behalf of an educational institution or teacher, in which case the institution or teacher may be the controller for certain student records.

Contact: rodrigo@classico.education. Mailing address: Amoeba.education LLC, Florida, United States.

3. Information We Collect

We collect information in the following categories:

For a school-facing summary of microphone data, transcripts, and teacher-review audio samples, see our Voice & Audio FAQ at /legal/voice-audio.

• Account information: name, email address, password hash, role (teacher or student), class memberships, subscription status, and operating state for teachers.
• Education information: class names, assignment prompts, spoken or typed student responses, transcripts, classico scores, timestamps, conversation metadata, and optional random audio samples of student speech.
• Audio and device data: microphone input during assignments, audio waveform levels, browser or device type, and technical logs necessary to deliver speech-to-text and scoring.
• Payment information: processed by third-party payment processors (e.g., Stripe). We do not store full payment card numbers on our servers.
• Usage and diagnostic data: IP address, approximate location derived from IP, pages viewed, feature usage, crash logs, and security events.
• Communications: support requests, feedback, and correspondence with us.
• Waitlist information: if you register from a state where teacher access is not yet available, we store your selected state and contact information.
• Consent records: teachers who accept Terms, Privacy Policy, and AI Disclosure at sign-up store acceptance timestamps in the teachers collection.

4. How the Service Processes Data (Product Architecture)

The following describes the actual data flows in the current Classico web application as operated by Amoeba.education LLC:

• Teachers and students create accounts with email and password through Firebase Authentication. Teachers select a U.S. operating state at registration; teachers outside Florida, California, New York, and Texas are placed on a waitlist (Classico stores operating state and waitlist status only).
• Teachers create classes with six-character join codes and publish spoken-response assignments stored in Firestore (classes and assignments collections). Students join classes using teacher-provided codes; student profiles store display name, email, and enrolled class IDs in the users collection.
• During an assignment, the student device captures microphone audio. When configured, audio streams in real time to Modulate Velma-2 for transcription; if Modulate is unavailable, the browser Web Speech API may be used instead. Waveform levels are used locally for UI feedback only.
• While the student speaks, transcripts update on-device. Periodically (first evaluation after approximately 15 seconds of active recording once the transcript meets a minimum length, then approximately every 15 seconds while recording continues), the current transcript and assignment question are sent to Google Gemini to produce classico subscores for Depth of Reasoning (0–40), Coherence (0–35), and Relating to Modern Events (0–25), plus optional follow-up prompts and Tink character animations. Off-topic redirects and follow-up probes are suppressed during an initial warm-up window (approximately 45 seconds or 30 words).
• After each question, a random 10-second clip is extracted from the question recording and uploaded to Firebase Cloud Storage for teacher authenticity review. Full session recordings are not retained in cloud storage by default—only the extracted sample, transcript, scores, and metadata.
• When the assignment is complete, conversation records (transcripts, subscores, timestamps, final score, sample paths) are written to Firestore in the conversations collection. Teachers review submissions in the web dashboard, including transcript text and optional audio samples via signed Storage URLs.
• Displayed transcripts may pass through a client-side profanity filter before display and persistence.
• Teacher subscriptions are managed through Stripe payment links; subscription status is stored in the teachers collection. API calls to Gemini and Modulate are initiated from the client application using configured API credentials and are subject to each provider's terms and retention policies.

5. How We Use Information

We use information to:

• Provide, maintain, secure, and improve the Service.
• Authenticate users and enforce account permissions.
• Enable teachers to create classes, publish assignments, and review student submissions.
• Enable students to join classes, complete spoken assignments, and view scores.
• Transcribe speech, grade responses using automated classico scoring, and generate educational feedback.
• Process subscriptions and billing.
• Comply with law, respond to lawful requests, and protect rights, safety, and integrity of the Service.
• Send service-related notices (e.g., assignment availability, security alerts, policy updates).
• Conduct internal analytics in aggregated or de-identified form where permitted.

6. Artificial Intelligence and Automated Processing

Classico uses third-party artificial intelligence and machine learning services to transcribe student speech and evaluate responses against an educational classico. See our dedicated AI Disclosure at /legal/ai for details on providers, data sent, outputs, limitations, and your choices.

Automated scoring is assistive and does not replace teacher judgment. Teachers remain responsible for instructional decisions and final evaluation where required by school policy or law.

We do not use student personal information to train public foundation models for unrelated commercial purposes. We contractually restrict subprocessors from using student data for model training except as necessary to provide the Service and as permitted by applicable law and our agreements.

7. Legal Bases for Processing

Where applicable (including for users in jurisdictions requiring a legal basis), we process personal information based on: performance of a contract; legitimate interests in operating a secure educational platform; compliance with legal obligations; consent where required (e.g., optional marketing); and vital interests or public interest in education where applicable.

For student data, processing is primarily for educational purposes at the direction of the teacher or school.

8. How We Disclose Information

We may disclose information:

Current subprocessors that receive personal information to operate the Service include:

• Google Firebase (Authentication, Firestore, Cloud Storage) — Account sign-in, database storage, and secure file storage for authentication audio samples. Categories: Email, display name, role, class memberships, assignment definitions, conversation transcripts, classico subscores, timestamps, subscription status, teacher operating state, and 10-second WAV authentication samples at conversations/{conversationId}/samples/
• Google Gemini API (Generative Language API; default model gemini-2.0-flash) — Automated classico scoring, optional follow-up question generation, and engagement animation selection. Categories: Assignment question text and student transcript text only. Raw audio is not sent to Gemini.
• Modulate.ai (Velma-2 streaming speech-to-text) — Real-time transcription while a student is actively recording an answer. Categories: Live PCM audio stream (16 kHz mono, s16le) transmitted over WebSocket only during active microphone capture
• Browser / device speech recognition (Web Speech API fallback) — Fallback transcription when Modulate is unavailable or not configured. Categories: Live audio processed by the student browser and underlying OS/vendor speech service (e.g., Apple, Google, Microsoft depending on device)
• Stripe — Hosted subscription checkout for teacher billing. Categories: Payment and billing information processed directly by Stripe. Amoeba.education LLC stores subscription status and plan type in Firestore, not full payment card numbers.
• To teachers and authorized school personnel for students in their classes, including transcripts, classico subscores, final scores, and optional 10-second authentication audio samples stored in Firebase Cloud Storage.
• For legal compliance, court orders, subpoenas, or government requests, after reviewing validity and scope.
• To protect the rights, property, or safety of Amoeba.education, users, or the public.
• In connection with a merger, acquisition, financing, or sale of assets, subject to continued protection of personal information.
• With consent or at your direction.
• We do not sell personal information. We do not share student personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising.

9. Data Retention

We retain information for as long as necessary to provide the Service, fulfill the purposes described in this Policy, comply with legal obligations, resolve disputes, and enforce agreements.

Teachers may request deletion of classes and assignments subject to applicable retention requirements. Student conversation records in Firestore and authentication samples in Cloud Storage may be retained according to teacher or school direction and legal requirements.

Backup copies may persist for a limited period after deletion.

10. Security

We implement administrative, technical, and physical safeguards designed to protect personal information, including encryption in transit, access controls, and monitoring. No method of transmission or storage is completely secure; we cannot guarantee absolute security.

You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your credentials and for activity under your account.

11. Children and Students

The Service is designed for use in educational contexts. Student accounts may be created at the direction of a teacher or school. We collect limited student information necessary for educational purposes.

We comply with applicable children's privacy laws including COPPA where we have actual knowledge of collection from children under 13, typically through school consent mechanisms.

Parents and guardians may contact us regarding student accounts associated with their child through their school or teacher where applicable.

12. Your Privacy Rights

Depending on your location, you may have rights to access, correct, delete, restrict, or port certain personal information, and to object to or limit certain processing.

California residents may have additional rights under the CCPA/CPRA. New York residents may have rights under SHIELD and Education Law § 2-d. Other state laws may provide similar rights.

To exercise rights, email rodrigo@classico.education. We may verify your identity and respond within timeframes required by law. Authorized agents may submit requests with proof of authorization.

We will not discriminate against you for exercising privacy rights.

13. State Student Privacy Addenda

Where teachers operate in supported states, additional student data privacy terms apply:

Florida: /legal/student-privacy/florida

California: /legal/student-privacy/california

New York: /legal/student-privacy/new-york

Texas: /legal/student-privacy/texas

In the event of conflict between this Policy and a state addendum for covered student data in that state, the state addendum controls for that data.

14. International Users

The Service is operated from the United States. If you access the Service from outside the U.S., you consent to transfer and processing in the U.S. and other countries where we or our providers operate, which may have different data protection laws.

15. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will post the updated version with a revised "Last Updated" date and, where required, provide additional notice. Continued use after changes constitutes acceptance.

16. Contact Us

Amoeba.education LLC

Email: rodrigo@classico.education

Address: Amoeba.education LLC, Florida, United States