Privacy Policy

Introduction

Hope Technologies Sacramento Inc (“we,” “our,” or “us”) operates the Hope Reads educational platform (read.hopenlc.org), which provides a literacy learning service for developing reader skills through guided phonics practice, interactive readers, and educational games.

This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard your information when you use our Service, including our website, mobile applications, and related services. Please read this policy carefully. If you do not agree with our policies and practices, please do not use our Service.

Information We Collect

1. Personal Information You Provide

When you create an account or use our Service, we may collect:

• Name, email address, and password
• Phone number and postal address (if provided)
• Grade level and age of learner (for personalization)
• Payment information when purchasing Premium or Group subscriptions (processed securely through Stripe)
• Profile preferences, avatar selections, and customization choices

2. Learning and Game Progress Data

We automatically collect and store:

• Game progress and performance (levels completed, scores, stars earned)
• Literacy skill assessments (phonics, letter recognition, sight words, blends)
• Time spent on activities and learning patterns
• Reader engagement (pages read, comprehension indicators)
• Story Writer projects and saved work
• Store purchases and inventory (premium heroes, avatars, readers, images)

3. Device and Log Data

We collect information about your device and how you interact with our Service:

• Internet Protocol (IP) address
• Browser type and version
• Device type and operating system
• Pages visited, access times, and time spent
• Referrer information
• Service Worker and PWA cache interactions

4. Authentication Data

When you sign in, we collect:

• Google OAuth information (name, email, profile picture) if using Google Sign-In
• Email magic link authentication data
• Session tokens and access credentials

How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect to:

• Provide, maintain, and improve the Hope Reads Service
• Create and manage your account and subscription
• Personalize your learning experience and recommendations
• Track learning progress and generate performance insights
• Process payments and manage billing and subscriptions
• Communicate with you about your account, updates, and support
• Prevent fraud, abuse, and security violations
• Comply with legal obligations and enforce our Terms of Service
• Conduct research and analytics to improve our Service
• Sync your profile and progress across devices

Information Sharing and Disclosure

Third-Party Service Providers

We may share your information with third-party service providers who assist us in operating our Service:

• Stripe: For secure payment processing and subscription management
• Supabase: For database management, authentication, and cloud infrastructure
• Google: For OAuth authentication services
• Upstash: For rate limiting and security services
• Vercel: For hosting and CDN services

These service providers are contractually obligated to use your information only to provide services to us and are required to maintain the confidentiality of your information.

Group and Enterprise Accounts

For Group and Enterprise subscriptions, learner progress and performance data may be shared with authorized school administrators or organization representatives for educational and administrative purposes.

Legal Requirements

We may disclose your information if required by law, such as in response to a subpoena or court order, to protect the rights, property, or safety of Hope Technologies Sacramento Inc, our users, or the public.

Cookies and Tracking Technologies

We use cookies and similar tracking technologies to enhance your experience:

• Session Cookies: To maintain your login session and user preferences
• Persistent Cookies: To remember preferences and improve future visits
• Analytics Cookies: To understand how you use our Service and optimize performance
• Service Worker Cache: To enable offline functionality and faster load times (progressive web app)

You can control cookie settings through your browser preferences. However, disabling certain cookies may limit functionality of the Service.

Data Security

We implement comprehensive technical and administrative safeguards to protect your personal information:

• HTTPS encryption for all data in transit
• Encrypted storage of sensitive information (passwords, payment data)
• Row-Level Security (RLS) policies in our database to restrict access
• Regular security audits and vulnerability assessments
• Access controls and authentication verification

While we strive to protect your information using reasonable safeguards, no method of transmission over the internet or electronic storage is completely secure. We cannot guarantee absolute security of your data. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your account credentials.

Children's Privacy

Hope Reads is designed for children and learners. We take children's privacy seriously:

• We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13 without parental/guardian consent
• Parents and guardians can request access, review, or deletion of their child's information
• We do not use children's data for marketing or targeted advertising
• Learning data is used only to improve educational outcomes and personalize instruction

If we become aware that a child under 13 has provided personal information without proper consent, we will delete such information from our servers immediately. If you are a parent or guardian and believe your child has provided information, please contact us.

Data Retention

We retain your information as long as necessary to provide the Service and fulfill the purposes outlined in this Privacy Policy:

• Account and learning progress data are retained while your account is active
• Payment and billing information is retained for 7 years as required by law
• Log and analytics data may be retained for up to 90 days
• You may request deletion of your account and associated data at any time
• After account deletion, we may retain de-identified aggregate totals such as collective reading time and cumulative user counts for nonprofit impact and grant reporting

Your Privacy Rights

Depending on your location, you may have the following rights:

• Access: Request a copy of your personal data we hold
• Correction: Request correction of inaccurate information
• Deletion: Request deletion of your account and associated data
• Portability: Request your data in a portable, machine-readable format
• Opt-out: Object to certain types of data processing

To exercise these rights, please contact us at the email address provided below.

Links to Other Websites

Our Service may contain links to third-party websites and services not operated by us. This Privacy Policy applies only to information collected through our Service. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of external sites. We strongly recommend reviewing the privacy policies of any third-party services before providing your information.

Updates to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, technology, legal requirements, and other factors. We will notify you of material changes by posting the updated policy on this page and updating the “Last Updated” date. Your continued use of the Service following the posting of changes constitutes your acceptance of such changes.

Contact Us

If you have questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or our privacy practices, please contact us: