Privacy Policy

Written By advik Kapoor

Last updated 6 days ago

This Privacy Policy describes how Collaboration Studios, Inc., doing business as Recess and Recess Academy (“Recess,” “we,” “us,” or “our”), collects, uses, and shares personal information through our website at recess.gg and our online instructional platform (together, the “Service”).

Recess is not a school. Students who enroll in a state-approved scholarship or tutoring program access Recess through an accredited partner school that serves as the student's school of record. Recess Academy is not a transcript-granting program. Where a student's enrolling institution is a partner school, that school administers the student's official academic record, and this Policy should be read together with that school's own privacy policy and any notice or consent you receive directly from that school. There may be additional circumstances in which Recess is considered a school by applicable law or regulation.

Because most Recess students are children in grades K–12, this Policy pays particular attention to how we handle children's personal information, consistent with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (“COPPA”) and the state laws described below.

1. Scope of This Policy

This Policy applies to:

  • Personal information collected when a parent or guardian creates an account, registers for a trial, or enrolls a student in the Service;

  • Personal information collected on our website in connection with enrollment or referral to a partner school;

  • Personal information we receive from a partner school in connection with a student's enrollment or coursework; and

  • Information collected automatically when a parent, guardian, or student uses the Service, including cookies and similar technologies.

This Policy does not apply to information a partner school or a state scholarship or tutoring program (for example, Florida's Step Up For Students program or a state Education Savings Account program) collects and maintains on its own, except to the extent that information is shared with Recess as described in Section 4.

2. Information We Collect

Information You or Your Student Provide

  • Parent or guardian name, email address, mailing address, and phone number, including for SMS communications where you have opted in;

  • Student name, date of birth, grade level, and enrolling state or program;

  • Account credentials and enrollment preferences, such as subject areas or elective courses selected;

  • Payment or billing information, where Recess processes a payment directly; and

  • Communications sent to us, including support and enrollment inquiries;

  • Content You or Your Student Create or Generate. This includes screenshots, images, and uploads of student work; chat messages and conversations with AI-based tutoring features; and, for live class sessions, video recordings and transcripts. Some of this content is processed by third-party AI providers, including Anthropic and OpenAI, to operate the Service.

Information From Partner Schools and Programs

Because a partner school is the student's enrolling institution, we may receive limited information from that school necessary to deliver instruction, such as a student's name, grade level, and course assignments. We do not knowingly receive Social Security numbers or full financial-aid application details from a partner school or program.

Information Collected Automatically

  • Usage data, such as pages visited, features used, and session activity;

  • Device and browser information, including IP address; and

  • Cookies and similar technologies, described in Section 7.

Sensitive Information

We collect certain information some state laws treat as sensitive, including a student's date of birth and, when a parent or partner school shares it with us for the purpose of providing appropriate instruction, information about disability accommodations or an Individualized Education Program (IEP) or 504 plan.

3. How We Use Information

  • To provide, personalize, and improve the Service, including matching students with appropriate courses and instructors;

  • To communicate with parents and guardians about enrollment, scheduling, billing, and support;

  • To coordinate with a student's partner school regarding enrollment status and coursework, so that school can maintain its own academic records;

  • To maintain the safety and integrity of the Service, including monitoring for misuse; and

  • To comply with legal obligations, including recordkeeping tied to state scholarship or tutoring program requirements.

We do not use a child's personal information for behavioral advertising, and we do not condition a child's participation in the Service on providing more personal information than is reasonably necessary to participate.

4. How We Share Information

We do not sell personal information. On our public website, we and our advertising partners, including Meta, Google, and Reddit, use cookies and similar technologies to measure and deliver advertising to prospective families, which may be considered 'sharing' personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising under California law. We do not use these technologies, and do not permit our advertising partners to use them, to target advertising based on a Student's activity once the Student has signed into their account.

We may share personal information with:

  • A student's partner school to the extent necessary for that school to maintain enrollment and academic records;

  • State funding or payment platforms (such as ClassWallet or Odyssey), to the extent necessary to process tuition or scholarship payments for direct enrollments;

  • Service providers who perform functions on our behalf, such as hosting, communications, and payment processing, under contractual confidentiality and use restrictions;

  • Government authorities or others, where required by law or necessary to protect the rights, safety, or property of Recess, our users, or others; and

  • A successor entity in connection with a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets.

5. Our Relationship With Partner Schools

Recess enrolls students in one of three ways, and Recess's role and responsibilities depend on which applies to a given student.

Partner School Enrollment. Most students access Recess through an agreement between Recess and a partner school. In this model, Recess is a vendor providing instructional services to that school, not the school itself. The partner school, not Recess, is responsible for the student's official enrollment, transcript, and compliance with the education requirements of its state. Personal information a partner school maintains as part of a student's official education record is generally governed by that school's own policies and by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act ("FERPA"), not by this Policy.

Direct Online Learning Program Enrollment. Some students enroll directly with Recess, without a partner school, to access Recess's own online learning program. This program is not a school, does not grant academic credit or transcripts, and does not maintain an official education record.

Direct School of Record Enrollment. Some students may enroll directly with Recess Academy, a private school operated by Collaboration Studios, Inc. Once operational, Recess Academy will itself be the school of record for these students, and this section will be supplemented with terms addressing that relationship.

6. Children's Privacy (COPPA)

Where a student is under 13, we collect personal information only with verifiable parental consent. A parent may:

  • Review the personal information we have collected from their child;

  • Request that we delete their child's personal information; and

  • Refuse to permit further collection or use of their child's information, understanding this may limit or end the child's access to the Service.

To exercise these rights, a parent may contact us using the information in Section 12. We do not require a child to disclose more personal information than is reasonably necessary to participate in the Service.

7. Cookies and Tracking Technologies

We and our service providers use cookies and similar technologies on recess.gg, including cookies that support core site functionality (for example, session management and bot/fraud detection through Cloudflare), cookies that remember preferences (such as display settings and our Intercom chat widget), analytics cookies (including Google Analytics and PostHog), and advertising cookies (including Google Ads, Meta/Facebook, and Reddit) used to measure and deliver advertising. We also embed YouTube videos, which may set their own cookies. We honor Global Privacy Control (GPC) signals as a valid opt-out request for California residents. You can also control cookies through your browser settings, though disabling cookies may limit some features of the Service.

8. Your Privacy Rights

Parents, guardians, and other adult account holders who are residents of California, Colorado, Connecticut, and other states with comprehensive consumer privacy laws have rights to access, correct, delete, and obtain a copy of their personal information, and to opt out of the sale of personal information, the sharing of personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising, and profiling in furtherance of certain automated decisions. Recess does not sell personal information or share it for cross-context behavioral advertising. Where someone requests access to or deletion of a minor's information, we may take additional steps to verify that the requester is the child's parent or legal guardian before acting on the request.

California residents have the right to opt out of the sharing of personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising. You can exercise this right by [using our Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information link] or by enabling a Global Privacy Control (GPC) signal in your browser, which we treat as a valid opt-out request. We do not sell or share the personal information of a consumer we know to be under 16 years of age without affirmative opt-in consent, and we do not share a Student's personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising based on activity within a signed-in account.

9. State Student Data Privacy Laws

A number of states have enacted student data privacy laws that apply to companies providing services to or on behalf of K-12 schools. These laws generally restrict using student data for targeted advertising or building a non-educational profile, and require deletion of student data at a school's request. Our agreements with partner schools are intended to reflect these requirements.

10. Data Security

We use reasonable administrative, technical, and physical safeguards designed to protect personal information from unauthorized access, use, or disclosure. No method of transmission or storage is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

11. Data Retention

We retain personal information according to the type of record and the purpose for which it was collected, as follows:

  • Educational records (such as transcripts, credits, final grades, and core enrollment history), where Recess maintains them directly: retained permanently or as required by applicable state law.

  • School and legal records (such as enrollment agreements, formal correspondence with a parent or guardian, discipline records, consent records, and ESA/scholarship program documentation): retained for 7 years after a Student's enrollment ends, unless a longer period is required by law.

  • Active-learning records (such as chat messages, tutoring history, guide notes, student projects, and AI instructional conversations): retained for the duration of a Student's active enrollment plus 12 months.

  • Operational records (such as system logs, analytics, and device data): retained for 90 to 365 days depending on the specific purpose.

After the applicable period, we delete or de-identify the information, except where a longer retention period is required to comply with law, resolve a dispute, or enforce our agreements.

12. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Policy from time to time. If we make material changes, we will notify parents and guardians by email or through a notice on the Service before the changes take effect. The “Last Modified” date at the top of this Policy indicates when it was last revised.

13. Contact Us

If you have questions about this Policy or wish to exercise any of the rights described above, contact us at:

Collaboration Studios, Inc.
38 Keyes Ave, Suite 122
San Francisco, CA 94129
[email protected]