Draft for review - not legal advice - review before use.

Your privacy

For young people aged 13 to 17. This page explains what happens to your information when you use Studytutor, and who can see what.

If anything here worries you or doesn't make sense, talk to a parent or an adult you trust. You can also ask us: contact@studytutor.co.uk.

Who we are

Studytutor is run by a company called Polylabs Research. Michael runs it for the company. The company is responsible for looking after your information, and it's registered with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), the UK's information watchdog: number C2071817.

Your tutor is an AI

Your tutor is an AI, not a person. It can get things wrong: check anything important with your teacher. Its marks are for practice, not real grades.

What we keep about you

• Your first name, your icon, the email you sign in with, and your school year.
• Your chats: what you type, photos you send, the tutor's replies, your marks, and each chat's title (the start of your first message).
• Any notes you write for the tutor, like your exam boards. Only you and the tutor see them. Don't put health details there.
• How much you use the tutor each day, so we can keep to the daily limit.
• How many of your messages the AI refused each day (a number, not the messages).
• If our safety check is on: how many of your messages it flagged each day, and the kind of worry (numbers, not the messages).
• Your age: we ask your birth month and year once, to check Studytutor is right for you. We keep only "13 or over" and your school year, and delete the month.

If you joined the waiting list

We kept your email address, your first name and how you heard about us, only to decide whether you can join. We never email anyone from the list itself. It's deleted when you're let in or turned down, or after about 6 months.

Who can see what

• You see everything: your chats, marks and progress.
• Parents and carers can't see your marks or progress unless you choose to share them. You choose that in Your account, and can stop at any time. If a parent invites you, you're asked when you first sign in, with an equal choice either way; nobody is told you were asked unless you say yes. If a parent or carer could already see your marks before Studytutor opened to other families, your screen says so, and you'll be asked once whether that carries on. A parent or carer who can see your marks also sees your topics and how much you've used Studytutor each day, and your screen always says who. No parent ever sees your chats, or what time you chat.
• Michael sees your name, your email address, your school year, how he checked you before you joined, and how much you use Studytutor. He doesn't read chats. He'd only look at your stored chats if he was worried about your safety, if you reported a problem, or if you asked him to, and every look is recorded. He never looks just because a parent asked.
• If Michael is ever worried about your safety, he may share what's needed with someone who can help keep you safe.
• No other users can see your chats. No adverts. Nothing is sold.

Anthropic, the company that makes the AI

Your messages and photos go to Anthropic so the AI can reply. So does what we tell the tutor about you: your first name, age group, school year, when you sit your GCSEs, your notes, and (when you revise or do a practice exam) how you did before in that subject. Never your email or surname.

• Anthropic's safety systems check messages automatically.
• Most are deleted within 30 days. Anything flagged as breaking its rules can be kept for up to 2 years.
• If someone uses the AI to try to harm children, Anthropic can report it. It reports child sexual abuse images to NCMEC, a US child-protection organisation that works with the police.
• Anthropic's computers may be in the US and other countries.
• Anthropic isn't allowed to train its AI on your chats.

Google

• You sign in with Google or a code we email to your own approved address. You don't need a Google account to use an email code. Keep your email account and codes private.
• If you choose Google sign-in, Google knows you use Studytutor. Someone who can open your email or Google account could sign in as you, so keep them private.
• Your account and chats are stored on Google's computers in London.
• If your account has a microphone button, recordings go to Google's speech service in the EU to be turned into text. They aren't kept. If you're not sure about using it, talk to a parent or an adult you trust first.

Photos

Only send photos of your work, never of yourself or anyone else. Photos go to Anthropic, with location data removed.

Messages the AI refuses

Studytutor counts messages the AI refuses. Sometimes it says no to ordinary science questions by mistake, and that's fine. If there are a lot, Michael is told and may pause your account while he checks. That's always a person's decision, never automatic.

Our safety check

Studytutor has its own safety check, which Michael can switch on. If it reads your messages, your Before you start screen in the app says so, and you see that screen again if it's switched on or off.

• An AI (Anthropic's, which already gets your messages) reads each message and photo you send, looking for signs that someone may not be safe, such as self-harm, abuse or sexual content.
• If it sees one, Michael is told the kind of worry and which chat, never your words. He may then read that message, and as much before it as he needs, to help keep you safe. Every look is recorded.
• We keep a count of flagged messages for 90 days, never the messages. Each alert, and anything he does about it, also goes in his safeguarding record.
• The check never pauses your account, and it never tells your parents.
• It's a computer, so it can get things wrong, and nobody watches it as it happens. If you need help, tell a person: see "If you're worried or upset" below.

Email

We send you one email when you're in, through a company called Scaleway in the EU. If an email bounces, we keep only a scrambled code of your address so we never email it again.

How long we keep things

• Your account and chats: until 12 months after the summer you sit your GCSEs, or after 12 months of not using Studytutor, whichever comes first. We'll warn you a month before.
• You can delete any chat whenever you like.
• Counts of refused or flagged messages: 90 days.
• Reports: until Michael answers, then 30 days.
• Learning records: 13 months.
• Backups can hold deleted things for up to 14 weeks, and a monthly copy kept apart in case of disaster for up to a year. Nobody reads backups. Anthropic's copies are described above.

Your rights

These are your rights, and you can use them yourself:

• ask for a copy of your data;
• ask us to correct something that's wrong;
• ask us to delete your account and your data;
• object to how we use your data.

Email contact@studytutor.co.uk. We'll reply within a month, and send any copy of your data only to the address you sign in with. If a parent asks us for your chats, we'll ask you first. Soon you'll be able to download your data and delete your account yourself, from Your account.

If a reply is wrong or upsets you

Stop, and tell a parent or an adult you trust. You can also tell Michael at contact@studytutor.co.uk: that lets him look at what's needed in that chat to sort it out.

Or press Report under the reply. We keep a copy of that reply and your message just before it (the words, never a photo), and Michael reads them to put things right. His answer shows under Your reports in Help. Nobody else sees your report, and we delete it 30 days after he answers.

Helping Studytutor improve

To make the explanations better, we keep a record of what you practise: which skill each marked question tested, how you did, and what help you had first. It's kept under a scrambled code, not your name, with the day but not the time, and never anything you wrote. Michael only looks at totals across lots of students, so nobody can tell which records are yours. The diagrams the tutor draws are kept too, with no link to you. You can untick Helping Studytutor improve in Your account at any time, and we delete what was kept. We never sell any of it.

The help assistant

Help has an assistant that answers questions about using Studytutor. It's an AI, like the tutor: your questions go to Anthropic. It isn't told your name and can't see your chats or marks, and we don't keep what you ask it. Don't type personal details into it.

If you're worried or upset

Nobody reads chats as they happen, and the tutor can't get help for you. If you're in danger, call 999. Childline: 0800 1111, free, any time. More help on our safety page.

If you're unhappy about how we've handled your information, tell us at contact@studytutor.co.uk. If you're still not happy, you can complain to the ICO: ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint.

The full details are in the privacy notice for adults.