1. Who this covers
This policy applies to the Pedagrade website (pedagrade.com) and app (app.pedagrade.com). "We" and "us" mean Black Beacon Studios LLC; "you" means anyone who uses Pedagrade.
2. What we collect
- Course content you submit. The design documents or storyboards, scripts, transcripts, or files you paste or upload so we can produce your review.
- Account information. If you create an account, your email address and authentication details (handled by our authentication provider).
- Payment information. If you buy the Individual plan, billing is processed by Stripe. We do not see or store your full card number; Stripe does.
- Usage data, never your course. A sign-in session cookie, and a record of what you do in Pedagrade while you're signed in: the pages you open, the buttons you click, the checks and suggestions you use (in the web app, the Word and Google Docs add-ons, and the Claude and ChatGPT connectors), and how long a page stays open. It never includes your course text. We use it only to see what works and fix what doesn't, and we don't sell or share it. Turning on Do Not Track or Global Privacy Control in your browser turns it off in the web app. We do not run third-party advertising or cross-site tracking.
- Things you send us on purpose. Feedback (including feedback you ask ChatGPT or Claude to send to Pedagrade, which arrives as your own words with your account email), "keep me posted" emails, questions typed into the site assistant (which are product questions, logged so we can improve our answers), and your answer if you tell us why you're not upgrading yet.
- Quick answers in the Word and Google Docs panels. Now and then the panel asks a short question: a thumbs up or down on a rewrite, why a flag was wrong when you keep your own text, or how useful checking while you design is (1 to 5). Every one is optional. We keep only what you tap or type, plus which kind of flag it was (for example "wrong answer key"). Your document's text is never sent with it. A rating or a typed note is delivered to the founder so it can be read; a typed note from "Send feedback" includes your account email so we can reply.
- Newsletter sign-ups. If you choose to join the monthly newsletter (a checkbox when you sign up, or when you leave your email for a bonus review), we keep your email address, when and where you signed up, and the reason you gave, if any.
- "Is this right?" answers. Under each finding in your report you can tell us whether the check got it right. If you answer, we save only which check it was (its framework, rule number, and severity), your yes or no, and, if you pick one, a reason from a short fixed list. We never save the finding's wording, the fix, or any of your course text with your answer. Answers are deleted when you delete the review or your account. We use them only in total, to find checks that misfire and improve them. Answering is optional, and you can undo it anytime.
- Review ratings. When you rate a review (whether the score seems fair, whether the review was useful, and how accurate the findings were), we save your answers with the review's score, material type, and number of findings, and never any of your course text, so we can tune Pedagrade's checks. A note you choose to type goes to the founder as a message.
3. How your course content is handled (the important part)
When you run a review, your content is processed on hardware we own and operate, to produce your report. It is never transmitted to a third-party AI provider (such as OpenAI or Anthropic) and is never used to train a model.
- Every review is saved to your own account, and you can delete any of them yourself: open it from your History and choose Delete. To delete your whole account and its data, email support@pedagrade.com.
- Keep my course text (your choice). On by default, so Pedagrade can remember your course. Turn it off in the account menu at app.pedagrade.com, and from then on every check, everywhere you use Pedagrade, saves only its report and a one-way fingerprint of the text (used to tell when the text hasn't changed; your course can't be rebuilt from it), never the course text itself. Revised drafts aren't kept either. Course text you saved before turning it off stays until you delete those reviews.
- Keeping a course for testing (optional, off by default). At the end of a saved review you can choose "Let Pedagrade keep this course to test future versions of its checks." If you turn it on, we keep a copy of that one course's text, as it was at that moment, in our database (hosted by Supabase). We use it only on our own hardware, to check that Pedagrade's findings stay accurate as we change the checks. It is never sent to any outside AI company, and never used to train a model. We keep the copy until you turn the option off, delete that review, or delete your account. Any of those deletes our copy, including any working copy on our test machines the next time we run tests. Nothing is kept unless you turn it on, one course at a time.
- Course projects (if you use Check while you design) save the course objectives you paste and each lesson or section you check, with its result, to your own account so your progress builds across the course. You can delete a project, and everything checked in it, from the Check while you design page.
- Connected assistants (if you connect Pedagrade to ChatGPT, Claude, or another AI assistant): the assistant sends Pedagrade the text you ask it to check, and Pedagrade checks it on its own hardware, as above. Pedagrade's result then goes back to that assistant so it can answer you, so the result, and anything you type or paste into the chat, is also handled by that assistant's provider under its own terms. A connected assistant can see your course projects' names and progress, check lessons, create projects, and run reviews. It can't change your plan or billing, delete anything, or see anyone else's courses. We keep a record of which assistants you've connected so the connection works, and you can disconnect one anytime in that assistant's settings.
- Add-ins for Microsoft Word and Google Docs (if you install them): the add-in reads only the document it is open in, and only while it is open. With checking while you design turned on (you can turn it off in the add-in), it sends each section of that document to Pedagrade when you pause after changing it; otherwise it sends only the text you select, or the whole document when you ask for a full review, when you click a check button. The text is checked on Pedagrade's own hardware, as above, and the result is saved to your account like any other check. The add-in may underline or highlight findings in the document, and it changes your text only when you click to put in a fix or rewrite you chose (with Undo) or to add a comment. It remembers which course a document belongs to, and whether checking while you design is on, in that document's add-in settings, and it keeps recent results in your browser so a document opens with its findings already shown. In Word, it can open with the document you used it in, until you turn checking while you design off.
Google user data (Pedagrade for Google Docs)
The Google Docs add-on asks Google for three permissions: to view and edit only the document it is opened in (to read that document while the sidebar is open, to highlight findings, and to put in fixes you choose), to show its sidebar, and to connect to Pedagrade's service (to send the text for checking). As with any app installed from the Google Workspace Marketplace, Google also shares your Google account's email address and basic profile (your name and picture) when you install it; the add-on doesn't read, use, or store them, and you sign in to Pedagrade separately in its sidebar. It does not access your other documents, your Google Drive, your Gmail, or your contacts. Text from your document is used only to produce your Pedagrade results; it is not sold, not used for advertising, not shared with anyone else, and not used to train any model.
Pedagrade's use and transfer of information received from Google APIs to any other app will adhere to the Google API Services User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements.
4. How we use your information
To produce your reviews, run and secure the service, bill and support subscriptions, respond to you, and improve Pedagrade. We do not sell your personal information, and we never share your course content with third parties for their own use. Messages you choose to send us (feedback, support chat questions, the optional reason you give when cancelling, and your answer if you tell us why you're not upgrading yet) are delivered to the founder through a private internal notification channel on Discord so they can be read and answered.
Account emails. When you create an account, we send a short welcome note from the founder. The day after your first full review, we send one email asking how it went. These come from todd@pedagrade.com, and replies go straight to the founder. If you'd rather not get them, reply and say so, or email support@pedagrade.com.
Newsletter. If you join, we email you about once a month with what's new in Pedagrade and a practical instructional design tip. We only add you if you opt in. Leaving your email for a bonus review includes joining the newsletter, and the form says so before you submit. Every newsletter has an unsubscribe link, and you can also unsubscribe by emailing support@pedagrade.com. We never sell or share the list.
5. Service providers (sub-processors)
We rely on a small number of providers to run the service: a database and authentication provider (Supabase) for accounts, saved reviews, and course projects, Stripe for payments, Resend to send email (account emails and the newsletter), Discord to notify the founder of messages you send us (assistant questions, feedback; based in the United States, and it receives only what you type), and our hosting providers (Vercel hosts the website). These providers process data only to provide their service to us. Our own private AI is not a third party.
6. Cookies
We use only essential cookies: one to keep you signed in and, if you leave your email for a bonus review, one that unlocks that single extra review. We do not use advertising or tracking cookies. To see which pages are useful and where visitors come from, we count visits ourselves: the page, the site that linked to it, campaign tags in the link, and whether it was a phone or a computer. We set no cookie and store no IP address; to count a visitor once per day, we keep a one-way code made from a random value that changes every day, so a visit can never be traced back to you or linked across days. If your browser sends Do Not Track or Global Privacy Control, we don't count your visit at all. We also use Vercel Web Analytics, which sets no cookies and counts visits in aggregate. None of this ever touches your course content.
7. Data retention
Every review is saved to your own account, and you can delete any of them. Saved reviews and course projects remain in your account until you delete them or close your account. Files you upload to Course files or Finished course are read to make the fix list, then discarded; nothing from them is saved to your account. For a Playtest, the course zip is kept only while the test learner takes it and is deleted when the playtest finishes or fails; the report, with screenshots of the slides it points to, stays in your account until you close it or ask us to delete it. If you turn off Keep my course text, new checks are saved without your course text. Account and billing records are kept as needed to run the service and meet legal or accounting obligations. Newsletter sign-ups are kept until you unsubscribe; after that we keep only a record that you unsubscribed, so we don't email you again.
8. Your choices and rights
You can view, export, or delete your saved reviews, view or delete your course projects, you can unsubscribe from the newsletter at any time, and you can ask us to delete your account and associated data (we do it within 30 days). Depending on where you live, you may have additional rights to access or correct your data. To make a request, email support@pedagrade.com.
9. Security
All traffic is encrypted over HTTPS/TLS, access to systems is restricted, and, because content stays on our own AI, Pedagrade never sends your course to third-party AI services. If you use Pedagrade inside ChatGPT or Claude, the chat itself is handled by that company as usual (see section 3). No method of storage or transmission is perfectly secure, but we take reasonable measures to protect your information.
10. Children
Pedagrade is a professional tool for instructional designers and is not directed to children. We do not knowingly collect information from children.
11. Changes to this policy
If we change this policy we will update the date above and, for material changes, take reasonable steps to let you know.
12. Contact
Questions about privacy? Email support@pedagrade.com.