Trust & Safety

ZoodleBug is built by a teacher, for classrooms. Here is how we keep students safe and their information private, in plain words.

Student data

Student information stays private

Many free apps make money from what children do online. ZoodleBug does not. There are no ads, and student information is used only to run the games and help the teacher.

No advertising, ever, and no marketing to students.
Student information is never sold, rented or used to build profiles.
Students use a made-up username, a first name and last-name initials. No email address and no full last name.
Only the outside companies needed to run the site (like Google, which hosts it) handle data, and they may not use student information for their own purposes.
Schools stay in control: a teacher, parent or school can ask to see, fix, export or delete a student's information.

Student information Maya P., Grade 3

Sold to anyone	Never
Used for ads	Never
Used to train AI	Never
Seen by other schools	Never
Deleted when the teacher or school asks	Always

In a ZoodleBug Tournament, players from other classes see only a player name and the game, never schoolwork or records.

Who can see it

Only the right people

A student's progress, scores and reports are seen by the student, their own teacher and the people the school allows. Nobody else.

Who can see Maya's work Example

M Maya P.Student	Her own games and progress
R Ms. RiveraHer teacher	Her class's progress and reports
P Mr. & Mrs. PatelParents	Through Maya's login, or a privacy request
S Her schoolAdministrator	On request, for the school's own students
C Other classesOther students and teachers	Nothing

ZoodleBug's own administrator can see records only to support the school and keep students safe.

Student accounts made through a school are kept off public leaderboards and public sharing.
In class games, the class screen shows only what the teacher chooses, and shared work is shown without names.
Teachers see only their own students. They cannot see another teacher's class.
Only verified educators can make student accounts, classes or published activities.

Students never chat with AI

Many apps now put an AI chatbot in front of children. ZoodleBug does not. Every game was designed by a teacher, and the questions, hints and feedback are written ahead of time.

No AI chatbot anywhere students go.
Nothing a student types is sent to an AI company.
Student information is never used to train AI.
Some music, voices and pictures in the games were made with AI tools ahead of time. Students just hear and see the finished files.

A hint in a ZoodleBug game Example

I don't know where 3/4 goes.

Hint: split the path into 4 equal jumps. Where does the 3rd jump land?

Hints like this are written ahead of time and are the same for every student. No AI writes them on the spot.

Students under 13

Made for young students, with the teacher in charge

Children cannot make a ZoodleBug account on their own. Their teacher sets everything up, and many games can be played with no account at all.

A verified teacher sets up the class

Only teachers and parents whose educator account is verified can create a class and student accounts, with permission from their school or the child's family.

Students join with a class code

Students log in with a made-up username. No email address, no full last name, no birthday, no address.

The teacher stays in control

The teacher manages the accounts, resets passwords and can delete a student's account and information at any time.

COPPA (school-authorized use) FERPA California AB 1584 & SOPIPA

Guest play: many games can be played without any account. ZoodlePop's guest progress is saved only in that browser, and other guest games save no player record on ZoodleBug's servers.

Security

Protected at every step

Encrypted when it travels: every page and game uses a secure connection (HTTPS).
Encrypted when it is stored, on Google Cloud.
Each kind of user (student, teacher, administrator) can reach only what their role allows, and the database itself enforces those rules.
Sensitive actions, like creating or deleting student accounts, run on our servers, not in the browser.
Backups, activity logs, and a plan for responding quickly if anything ever goes wrong.

Kept only as long as needed Examples

Tutor Live drawings and screen copy	When the session ends
Join buttons on students' home pages	Within 3 hours
Messages to the class	After 30 days
Information from a deleted student account	Within 30 days

The full list is in the Privacy Policy.

Found a security problem? Please email [email protected]. We read every report.

For schools and districts

A privacy agreement for your district

ZoodleBug is ready to review and sign your district's student data privacy agreement, including the California Student Data Privacy Agreement, and to fill in your security questionnaire.

Every outside company that handles data is listed, with what it does.
A written data inventory, retention schedule and incident-response plan.
A District Readiness Brief (PDF) you can download.

Signed privacy agreements

Your district next. We sign your agreement when you set up ZoodleBug.

Ask for an agreement or email [email protected].

The details

Privacy in plain languageTwo minutes, for families Privacy PolicyThe full policy District Privacy & SecurityFor technology directors Outside companies we useWho handles data, and why Terms of ServiceWritten in plain language Make a privacy requestSee, fix, export or delete