Learner Privacy Guide

Outschool takes privacy seriously - and you should too!

Updated over a week ago

This guide is designed for learners - for the version for adults, see Learner Safety and Privacy: For Parents.

We are so excited that you’ve joined our community! We take your privacy seriously, and want you to understand what information we collect from you and your parent / legal guardian who created your account, why we collect it, and what we do with it. A big sister or brother, uncle, cousin or anyone else that is an adult cannot sign you up for an account unless they have the legal right to do so.

What is privacy and why is it important

If you have ever had a diary or wanted time alone, you probably already know something about privacy. Privacy is the idea that some of your information is kept secret from people you don’t want to know it. When we use the word privacy, we are talking about how we use and share information about you when you take our classes. We also are talking about how we keep information about you secret from other people.

What information we collect from your trusted adults

When your parent / legal guardian creates an Outschool account, they give us information about you, like your name and your age. They may also share other information about you. Your parent / legal guardian can also email any questions or information about you to your teacher or someone who might be your teacher. They always have access to your account and whatever happens there, including any messages to teachers.

What information we collect from you

Once you sign up for your Outschool class, you can go into your own Learner Space and connect with other learners in your class, as well as your teacher. When you are in your Learner Space, you can make and share things like private messages, posts, comments, and other things. During class, the things you do and say are shown live and recorded on video – just by being in class. And if you join any activities, such as groups or camps, we also collect data from you through that activity.

We also get data about how you use Outschool, like what new classes you check out or words you use when you search for new classes.

If you signed up for your own limited account, we need your parent’s / legal guardians’ permission for you to continue in this limited account. With this, you can participate in some activities, but not all. If you want to join some groups or take a class, you need to have your parent / legal guardian create an account and sign you up.

How we use your information

We use your information to help keep Outschool safe, and to make Outschool better for you and everyone else. For example, we record your classes so that we can make sure class went smoothly; we also want you to be able to watch the recording after class if you missed class or just want to watch again. We look at what classes you’ve taken and things you search for so we can tell you about other classes we think you’d like.

What information we share and with whom

Because we care about your privacy, we take steps to protect the information you share when you’re in class or activities. What that means is that only your classmates and their parents / legal guardians, approved guests, and teachers who are also in your class or activity, get to see your posts, videos, and attachments. But you should always be careful about what you share in class or online. Don’t share stuff you should keep private about yourself, like your street address or email address. And don’t share private stuff about other people like your friends or your family. If you’re not sure, ask your parent / legal guardian.

We may share your information if your parent / legal guardian says it’s okay, or if we need to because of the law or for your safety.

Your parent / legal guardian may get to see what classes you like and information you share on Outschool. For example, trusted adults can see private messages between you and your teacher.

If you have questions

If you have questions, please ask your parent / legal guardian or teacher. They have articles, like this one, that provide information or they know how to reach out to us.

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