MarineHQ ("we," "us," or "our") operates the website marinehq.com/ and the MarineHQ educational platform (collectively, the "Service"). This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and protect information from users of the Service, including parents ("Parents") and their children ("Children").
We take children’s privacy seriously. MarineHQ is designed from the ground up to comply with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (“COPPA”) and applicable state privacy laws. If you have questions about our practices, please contact us at privacy@marinehq.com.
1. Information We Collect
1.1 Information from Parents
When you create a MarineHQ account, we collect:
- Account information: Your name, email address, and password (stored in hashed form).
- Payment information: If you subscribe, payment details are processed by Stripe, Inc. and are not stored on our servers. We receive only a transaction ID and subscription status.
- Communication data: Information you provide when contacting us through forms, email, or support requests.
1.2 Information About Children
We collect the minimum information necessary to operate the Service:
- First name only (used for display within the platform; we do not require a last name).
- Grade level (used to serve appropriate content).
- Learning progress data: Questions answered, accuracy rates, time spent, pages completed, stories read, badges earned, and avatar preferences.
We do NOT collect from Children: last names, photos, physical addresses, phone numbers, precise geolocation, school names, or any other personally identifiable information beyond the first name.
1.3 Automatically Collected Information
We collect standard technical data to operate and improve the Service:
- Device type and browser version (for responsive design and compatibility).
- General geographic region (country/state level, derived from IP address, not precise location).
- Session duration and page interaction data (to improve the learning experience).
We do not use tracking cookies for advertising. We use only essential cookies required for authentication and session management.
2. How We Use Information
We use the information we collect for the following purposes:
- Delivering the Service: Displaying content, tracking progress, adapting difficulty, and personalizing the learning experience.
- Parent Dashboard: Providing real-time progress data, generating report cards, and delivering AI-based learning recommendations.
- Account management: Processing subscriptions, sending billing notices, and communicating important updates about the Service.
- Service improvement: Analyzing aggregated, anonymized usage data to improve content, features, and the adaptive AI engine.
- Support: Responding to inquiries and resolving technical issues.
We never use Children’s data for advertising, marketing, or any purpose unrelated to the educational Service.
3. COPPA Compliance
MarineHQ is committed to full compliance with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). Our practices include:
- Verifiable Parental Consent: All accounts are created by Parents. Children do not create their own accounts or provide consent independently. The Parent’s account creation constitutes verifiable parental consent for the collection of their child’s information as described in this policy.
- No Direct Collection from Children: Children interact with the platform only through Parent-created profiles. There are no registration forms, contact forms, or data entry fields presented directly to Children.
- No Child-to-Child Communication: The Service has no chat, messaging, social features, or any mechanism for Children to communicate with other users.
- No Third-Party Advertising: We do not display advertisements of any kind to Children and do not share Children’s data with advertisers.
- Parental Access and Control: Parents may review, modify, or delete their child’s information at any time through the parent dashboard or by contacting us.
- Data Minimization: We collect only the minimum information necessary to deliver the educational Service.
4. How We Share Information
We do not sell, rent, or trade personal information. We share data only in the following limited circumstances:
- Service providers: We use trusted third-party services for hosting (Cloudways), payment processing (Stripe), and email delivery. These providers are contractually bound to protect your data and use it only to provide services on our behalf.
- Legal requirements: We may disclose information if required by law, subpoena, or court order, or to protect the safety of our users.
- Aggregated data: We may share anonymized, aggregated statistics (e.g., “73% of Grade 2 users mastered addition with regrouping”) for research or marketing purposes. This data cannot be used to identify any individual user.
5. Data Security
We protect your data with industry-standard security measures:
- All data transmitted between your device and our servers is encrypted using TLS 1.2 or higher (HTTPS).
- Passwords are stored using bcrypt hashing and are never stored in plain text.
- Session tokens rotate every 4 hours and use secure, HTTP-only cookies.
- Access to user data is restricted to authorized personnel on a need-to-know basis.
- We conduct regular security reviews and maintain incident response procedures.
No system is 100% secure. If we become aware of a data breach that affects your personal information, we will notify you and applicable authorities as required by law.
6. Data Retention
- Active accounts: We retain data for as long as the account is active.
- Canceled subscriptions: Learning progress data is retained for 12 months after cancellation to allow seamless resubscription. After 12 months, Children’s learning data is permanently deleted.
- Account deletion: Parents may request full account deletion at any time by contacting privacy@marinehq.com. All data, including Children’s progress, will be permanently deleted within 30 days of the request.
7. Your Rights
As a Parent, you have the following rights:
- Access: You may view all data we hold about you and your children through the parent dashboard.
- Correction: You may update your child’s name or grade level at any time.
- Deletion: You may request deletion of your account and all associated data.
- Withdraw consent: You may withdraw consent for the collection of your child’s data at any time. This will result in the deletion of the child’s profile and progress data.
- Data portability: You may export your child’s progress data as a PDF report at any time through the parent dashboard.
If you are a California resident, you have additional rights under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). Contact us at privacy@marinehq.com for more information.
8. Third-Party Links
The Service does not contain links to third-party websites within the child-facing learning experience. Marketing pages (blog, homepage) may contain links to external resources. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of external sites.
9. Changes to This Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. If we make material changes, we will notify you by email and post a notice on the Service. Your continued use of the Service after notification constitutes acceptance of the updated policy. We will never reduce your privacy protections without obtaining new consent.
10. Contact Us
If you have questions about this Privacy Policy, wish to exercise your rights, or have concerns about your family’s data, please contact us:
MarineHQ Privacy Team
Email: privacy@marinehq.com
Web: marinehq.com/contact
Legal Notice: This privacy policy is provided as a comprehensive draft and should be reviewed by qualified legal counsel before publication. MarineHQ is committed to compliance with all applicable privacy laws including COPPA, CCPA, and state-specific regulations.