We only use student personal information for educational purposes. There are no exceptions to this.
Trust & Safety
Along is designed to facilitate strong relationships between educators and students with the help of research-informed resources that enable meaningful communication. We’re committed to making Along a safe and trusted environment for both educators and students. We design with privacy and security in mind.
Our Commitments
1
Data is used solely for educational purposes.
2
Data is never for sale.
We don’t sell or use personal information to make money from students and educators using Along, and we require our service providers to make the same commitment to NOT use student personal information for anything other than educational purposes.
3
You own and control your own data.
School staff, parents/guardians, teachers and/or students own and control their personal information. Gradient Learning does not own the student personal information used on Along.
4
We go beyond compliance.
We are committed to the Future of Privacy Forum’s Student Privacy Pledge and we were among the first signatories of Pledge 2020. In addition to compliance with federal privacy laws like the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), we are also voluntarily committed to the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). We design our practices with privacy and security in mind, and take steps to safeguard student data.
5
We practice privacy and security by design.
We promote a culture of privacy at Along. We restrict access to data on a need to know basis. Our team members who require access to data go through a background check as well as receive training on Along’s data access policies and best practices.
6
We only work with trusted partners.
We rely on service providers to help develop and support Along, and we require all the service providers who have access to student personal information to comply with strong privacy and security terms.
7
We're committed to continuous improvement.
Best practices in privacy and security evolve just as technology evolves, and we are committed to working with parents/guardians, schools, vendors, industry leaders, and partners who help us keep learning and evolving in these areas in order to help protect student personal information and make Along a safe space for all.
Want to learn more? Watch this video on 5 ways that Along keeps student information safe, secure, and private:
Policies & Practices
Our policies articulate our core commitments to teachers, students, parents/guardians and schools:
Privacy Policy
Your privacy on Along is our priority.
Open Link
Code of Conduct
We are committed to making Along a safe space for students and educators.
Open Link
User Agreement
The agreement that applies to users of Along, and outlines how we use and protect student data that is collected.
Open Link
Data Privacy Addendum
A description of our data privacy practices outlining what data is collected, how it is used and protected.
Open Link
Security White Paper
A summary of our security practices, detailing how we meet the commitments in the Data Privacy Addendum.
Open Link
FAQ
We’re working hard to make your experience on Along better, feel free to check out the most common questions we’ve heard so far.
Open LinkResources
We want Along to be a safe space. If you suspect a student is being bullied or harassed, is experiencing desires for self harm, or if you think a student may harm themselves, or someone else, please talk to them and share these resources:
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline
The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is a national network of local crisis centers that provides free and confidential emotional support to people in suicidal crisis or emotional distress 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Open Link
Stop Bullying
StopBullying.gov provides information from various government agencies on what bullying is, what cyberbullying is, who is at risk, and how you can prevent and respond to bullying.
Open Link
Crisis Text Line
Crisis Text Line provides free, 24/7 mental health support via text message.
Open Link