How long does Classroom Hero keep information about me? – Classroom Hero

We retain the data we collect for different periods of time depending on what it is, how we use it, and how you configure your settings.

Non-Student Users (Teachers, School Leaders, and Parents)

We store your personal information for as long as it is necessary to provide the Service to you and others. We determine the appropriate retention period for personal information on the basis of the amount, nature and sensitivity of the personal information being processed, the potential risk of harm from unauthorized use or disclosure of the personal information, whether we can achieve the purposes of the processing through other means, and on the basis of applicable legal requirements (such as applicable statutes of limitations).

Account-Based Retention: Personal information associated with your account will be kept until your account is deleted, unless we no longer need the data to provide products and services, in which case we will delete prior to you deleting your account.

Teacher Account Deletion: You can delete your account at any time through your dashboard or by following the instructions at https://classroomhero.com/deactivate. When a teacher deletes their account, all associated class and student data is permanently removed from our systems.

Automatic Account Deletion: We automatically delete teacher accounts that have been inactive for 12 months or more, along with all associated student and class data.

Specific Retention Periods:

Teacher and School Leader Data:

Account information: Retained until account deletion

Subscription and billing information: May be retained longer for financial compliance purposes

Class setup data: Deleted with teacher account

AI tool usage data: Deleted with teacher account

Parent Account Data:

Basic profile information: Retained until account deletion or unlinking from student

Viewing history: Deleted with account removal

Communication and Support Records:

Customer support communications: May be retained for reasonable periods for service improvement and legal compliance

Platform usage analytics: May be retained in anonymized form for service improvement

Additional Retention Scenarios

Even after account deletion, we may need to retain some information in specific circumstances:

Legal and Compliance Requirements:

Financial recordkeeping: When you make subscription payments, we may be required to retain payment information for tax compliance, dispute resolution, and anti-fraud purposes

Legal obligations: To comply with applicable laws, regulations, or legal processes

Educational compliance: Some classroom data may be considered "education records" under FERPA or state student privacy laws and may need to be retained at the direction of schools

Customer Support Records: If you have directly communicated with us through customer support channels, feedback forms, or bug reports, we may retain reasonable records of those communications for service improvement and support purposes.

Security and Safety: To protect the safety and security of our educational community or our Service, or to prevent abuse of our Terms of Service.

Technical Data Retention

Server Logs and Analytics:

IP addresses in server logs: Automatically deleted after 6 months

Product event logs: IP addresses automatically deleted after 6 months

Anonymous analytics data: May be retained indefinitely as it cannot identify individuals

Backup and Recovery:

Even if you delete your account, keep in mind that:

Deletion by our service providers (like DigitalOcean) may not be immediate

Deleted information may persist in backup copies for a reasonable period of time (daily backup retention through DigitalOcean)

We may retain de-identified information for as long as we deem appropriate or as otherwise allowed by law

Student Users

Retention and deletion of Student Data and education records is at the direction of the school and the individual teacher. We enter into Student Data Privacy Addendums with schools or districts that further describes our duties, responsibilities, and commitments with respect to Student Data that we collect or receive.

Teacher-Controlled Retention:

Teachers have complete control over student data retention

Teachers can delete individual student records, entire classes, or their complete account at any time

When teachers delete their accounts, all associated student data is permanently removed

School-Directed Retention:

Schools may request specific retention periods for educational compliance

Some student activity data may be considered "education records" and retained as directed by educational institutions

Custom retention periods may be established in Student Data Privacy Addendums

For complete details on student data retention, please see "How Long Does Classroom Hero Keep Children's Information?" in our Children's Privacy Policy.

Data Deletion Process

Teacher-Initiated Deletion:

Teachers can delete their account through the dashboard settings

All associated student and class data is immediately marked for deletion

Data is permanently removed from active systems

Backup systems are updated according to our retention schedule

Parent-Requested Deletion:

Parents can request deletion through their child's teacher

Teachers can immediately delete specific student accounts

Parents can also contact us directly for assistance with deletion requests

School-Directed Deletion:

Schools can request deletion of specific student data or entire class information

We comply promptly with school-directed deletion requests

Custom deletion procedures may be established in Student Data Privacy Addendums

Geographic and Legal Variations

Depending on where you live, you may have additional rights regarding data retention and deletion:

Right to erasure under GDPR and similar privacy laws

Specific retention limits under state student privacy laws

Required notification periods for data retention changes

We comply with applicable data protection laws in all jurisdictions where we operate.

What Happens to Shared Information

Third-Party Service Providers:

When we delete your information, we also work to ensure deletion from our service providers:

DigitalOcean: Database records are permanently deleted

Analytics Services: Only anonymized data is shared, so personal information cannot be retrieved

AI Providers: Zero data retention contracts ensure no personal information is retained

De-identified Data:

We may retain de-identified and aggregated information that cannot be traced back to individual users for:

Platform improvement and educational research

Compliance with reporting obligations

Understanding educational technology effectiveness

Basically,

We keep teacher, School Leader, and parent personal information until your account is deleted, or until we no longer need it to provide you with the Service. Teachers have complete control over student data and can delete it immediately at any time. We automatically delete inactive teacher accounts after 12 months. Please see "How Long Does Classroom Hero Keep Children's Information?" for complete details on student data retention. You can delete your account at any time through your dashboard or by contacting us. Even after deletion, some information may persist in backups for a reasonable period, and we may need to keep certain information to comply with legal obligations or protect our educational community. We may retain de-identified information for platform improvement purposes as allowed by law.