Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains what information Forum Tutoring (operated by Forum Tutoring LLC) collects, why we collect it, how we use it, who we share it with, and the choices and rights you have. It applies to your use of the Platform and any connected services we provide.

What We Collect

We collect only what we need to run the Platform and deliver a good tutoring experience. The categories of information we collect are:

• Account data. Your name, email address, date of birth (used to confirm eligibility and to apply child-safety protections), and optionally your phone number. For tutors we also collect resume or credential information you choose to share, and verification documents during onboarding.
• Session data. Booking metadata (tutor, student, subject, time, duration), materials you upload to a session, classroom recordings where recording is enabled, in-session chat messages, and whiteboard snapshots.
• Payment data. Payment is processed by Stripe. We never see or store full card numbers — Stripe gives us a tokenized reference plus the last four digits and brand of the card so you can recognize it in your billing history.
• Device and analytics. IP address, browser type, operating system, referring URL, pages viewed, time on page, and similar diagnostic information collected automatically when you visit the site.

How We Use It

• Service delivery. To create your account, match students with tutors, schedule and run sessions, deliver lesson materials, and operate the classroom and whiteboard tools.
• Account security. To authenticate you, prevent unauthorized access, detect fraud, and investigate abuse or policy violations.
• Transactional communication. Booking confirmations, receipts, scheduling changes, password resets, and other service-essential messages. You cannot opt out of these while you have an active account.
• Product analytics. Aggregated, mostly de-identified usage data that helps us understand what is working, where users get stuck, and where to invest engineering effort.
• Abuse detection. Pattern analysis to surface harassment, spam, off-platform contact-circumvention, and other policy violations.

Third Parties (Subprocessors)

We rely on a carefully chosen set of subprocessors. Each is contractually bound to use your data only to provide their service to us.

• Stripe — payment processing. Privacy policy.
• Daily.co — real-time video and audio for live sessions. Privacy policy.
• Supabase — database, file storage, and authentication. Privacy policy.
• Resend — transactional email delivery. Privacy policy.
• Sentry — error monitoring and crash reporting. Privacy policy.
• PostHog — product analytics (anonymized). Privacy policy.
• Deel — Certified Tutor contracting, tax documentation, and international payouts. Privacy policy.
• Persona — identity verification for tutor onboarding. Privacy policy.
• Checkr — U.S. background checks for tutor onboarding. Privacy policy.
• Sterling — international background checks for tutor onboarding. Privacy policy.
• Vetty — credential and degree verification for tutor onboarding. Privacy policy.

COPPA (Children Under 13)

We take extra care when processing information about children under 13. Our practices include:

• Parental consent verified at account creation for any student under 13.
• No targeted advertising to under-13 users.
• Children’s Privacy Notice posted separately from general Privacy Policy.
• Parents able to review, delete, and refuse further collection of their child’s data.
• Data minimization: collect only what is necessary for the tutoring service.

See our full Children’s Privacy Notice for the complete description of these practices and your rights as a parent.

FERPA

FERPA applies to schools, not directly to tutoring platforms. However, district contracts (future B2B channel) flow FERPA through via service-provider contracts. Design from day one as if FERPA applies: minimize data retention, encrypt at rest and in transit, no sharing of student records with third parties for marketing.

State Student-Privacy Laws

California (SOPIPA), New York (Ed Law 2-d), Illinois (SOPPA), and ~20 other states have student-privacy laws applicable to platforms serving K-12. Required practices:

• No selling of student data.
• No use of student data for advertising or product development without explicit consent.
• Defined data retention and deletion schedule.
• Breach notification per state law.

Session Recording

• Two-party consent required: both tutor and family affirmatively consent at the start of every recorded session.
• Recordings stored encrypted with access limited to the family, tutor, and platform admin (QA only).
• Default retention 30 days; family may download a copy within that window.
• Recordings not used for marketing, AI training, or product development without separate explicit consent.

Background Checks (FCRA)

• All tutors (Certified and Independent) pass a background check prior to listing.
• FCRA-compliant vendors: Checkr (U.S.) and Sterling (international, including NBI clearance for Philippines).
• Tutor consents to the background check in writing before it is run.
• Adverse-action procedures followed if the check disqualifies a candidate.
• Records retained for tutor engagement duration plus 7 years.
• Background checks refreshed every 24 months for active tutors.

Retention

• Account data is kept for as long as your account is active. When you delete the account, the profile is removed from active systems, subject to the exceptions below.
• Sessions and recordings are retained for 30 days after the session, then automatically purged — unless we are required to preserve them for an active legal hold, fraud investigation, or safety review.
• Payment records (invoices, refund decisions, and related financial logs) are retained for 7 years to comply with U.S. tax and accounting requirements.
• Marketing data (subscription lists, campaign engagement) is retained until you unsubscribe, after which it is removed from active marketing systems.

Your Rights

Regardless of where you live, you can ask us to:

• Access the personal information we hold about you.
• Correct information that is inaccurate or out of date.
• Delete your account and the personal information associated with it (subject to retention obligations above).
• Receive a machine-readable export of your data (data portability).
• Opt out of marketing emails. Use the “unsubscribe” link in any marketing message, or update your preferences in your account settings.

To exercise any of these rights, email privacy@forumtutoring.com from the address on your account. We respond to verified requests within 30 days.

CCPA Notice (California)

If you are a California resident, the California Consumer Privacy Act (as amended by the CPRA) gives you additional rights, including the right to know the categories of personal information we collect, the right to request deletion, the right to correct, the right to opt out of any “sale” or “sharing” of personal information, and the right not to be discriminated against for exercising any of these rights. We do not sell personal information.

GDPR Notice (EU)

If you are in the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom, or Switzerland, the General Data Protection Regulation and equivalent laws give you the right to access, rectify, erase, restrict, port, and object to processing of your personal data, as well as the right to lodge a complaint with your local supervisory authority.

Data Controller

Forum Tutoring LLC is the data controller for the processing described in this policy. Our address is 2361 MN-36 W, Suite 130, Roseville, MN 55113. For privacy questions or to exercise any of the rights above, contact privacy@forumtutoring.com.

Cookies

We use a small number of cookies for authentication, user preferences, and product analytics. Strictly necessary cookies cannot be disabled without breaking the Platform; analytics cookies can be turned off via our cookie banner. For details on each cookie we set, see our Cookie Policy.

Changes

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When changes are material we will notify you by email and post a notice on the site at least thirty (30) days before the changes take effect. The “Last updated” date at the top of this policy always reflects the current version.

Contact

Questions, requests, or concerns about privacy? Email privacy@forumtutoring.com or write to us at 2361 MN-36 W, Suite 130, Roseville, MN 55113.