OptimizeGrade
Legal

Privacy policy

Last updated: November 12, 2026

1. Introduction

This privacy policy explains what information OptimizeGrade ("the Service," "we," "us") collects, why we collect it, who we share it with, and the choices you have. By using the Service, you agree to the practices described here.

We are a student-built tool. We try to keep our data practices minimal and easy to understand.

2. Information we collect

Information you provide

  • Account information. Your name, email address, school, and grade level. Provided when you sign up with email and password or with Google sign-in.
  • Essays and related content. The text of every essay you submit, the prompt, any rubric you attach, and any notes or settings you provide.
  • Reported grades. The actual grade your teacher gave an essay, if you choose to report it back to us.
  • Communications. Messages you send us (for example, support questions or deletion requests).

Information we collect automatically

  • Usage data. Basic information about how you use the Service, such as which pages you visit and when you submit essays. We use it to operate and improve the Service.
  • Device and log data. Standard server logs including IP address, browser type, operating system, and timestamps. We use this for security and debugging.
  • Cookies. We use cookies and similar technologies that are necessary for sign-in and session management. We do not set advertising or tracking cookies ourselves.

Information from third parties

  • Google sign-in. If you sign in with Google, Google sends us your name, email, and Google account ID. We do not receive your password.
  • Google Drive (optional). If you choose to import an essay from Google Drive, we read only the specific document you select and copy its text into your essay. We do not browse, list, or retain other files in your Drive. Our use of information received from Google APIs adheres to the Google API Services User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements.

3. How we use information

We use the information we collect to:

  • Provide the Service: for example, generating teacher-style feedback on essays you submit and showing your essay history in My essays.
  • Improve grade prediction accuracy for you by comparing past predictions with the actual grades you report.
  • Maintain and secure the Service, including detecting abuse and preventing fraud.
  • Communicate with you about the Service, respond to support requests, and notify you of material changes.
  • Comply with legal obligations.

We do not:

  • Sell your personal information.
  • Show ads or share your information with advertisers.
  • Use your essays or other content to train any third-party AI model.
  • Combine your essays with other users' content to train our own model.

4. Legal bases for processing (EEA and UK users)

If you are in the European Economic Area or the United Kingdom, we process your information on the following legal bases:

  • Performance of a contract: to provide the Service you signed up for.
  • Legitimate interests: to operate, secure, and improve the Service, where those interests are not overridden by your rights.
  • Consent: for optional features like Google Drive import. You can withdraw consent at any time.
  • Legal obligation: where we must process information to comply with the law.

5. Who we share information with

We use a small set of trusted service providers ("subprocessors") to run the Service. Your information passes through them only to the extent needed. Our database and sign-in system run on a server operated by OptimizeGrade.

  • Anthropic (Claude API)

    Purpose
    Generates AI feedback
    What it sees
    Essay text, prompt, rubric

  • Vercel

    Purpose
    Hosts the website and serverless functions; cookie-free page-view and speed analytics
    What it sees
    Request metadata, log data, pages visited, and browser and device type

  • Cloudflare

    Purpose
    Secure network tunnel between the website and our server
    What it sees
    All traffic to our database and sign-in system as it passes, including sign-in details, essays and grades

  • Voyage AI

    Purpose
    Finds past graded essays similar to yours
    What it sees
    Essay text

  • Google

    Purpose
    Sign-in and optional Drive import
    What it sees
    Name, email; the specific document you import

Per Anthropic's API terms, prompts and outputs sent to the Claude API are not used to train Anthropic's models.

We may also share information:

  • With your consent, including at your direction.
  • For legal reasons, if required by law, subpoena, or other legal process, or to protect rights, property, or safety.
  • In a business transfer, if the Service is acquired or merged with another entity, in which case we will notify you before your information becomes subject to a different policy.

6. How long we keep information

  • Account and essays: kept until you delete them or close your account.
  • Backups: copies of our database are kept for up to 30 days, then deleted.
  • Server logs: typically retained for up to 90 days.
  • Communications: kept as long as needed to handle the matter and meet legal obligations.

You can delete your account yourself at any time from the "Your data" section at the bottom of your account page. Deletion runs immediately when you confirm it and is permanent: there is no grace period and we cannot restore anything afterwards. Section 7 lists exactly what is removed and the small set of records that stay. Routine database backups that still contain your rows are overwritten on the schedule above.

7. Your rights and choices

Depending on where you live, you may have some or all of the following rights:

  • Access, download, and portability. Open your account page, go to "Your data," and choose "Export my data." That saves one JSON file containing your account details and profile, every essay with its predicted grade, comments, revision priorities, and any grade you reported, every coach chat, your goals, class memberships, handwriting transcriptions, graded work you donated to a teacher's model, and usage history. The file is generated on request; it is not stored by us afterwards.
  • Correction. Edit your school, level, and grade from your account page. Contact us for anything else.

  • Deletion. In the same "Your data" section, choose "Delete my account," type DELETE and choose "Delete my account" again. This runs immediately and cannot be undone.

    It removes

    • your essays and all feedback on them,
    • your chats,
    • handwriting uploads and transcriptions,
    • graded work you donated to a teacher's model (deleted outright, not anonymised),
    • your goals,
    • class memberships,
    • usage history,
    • and finally your login.

    A few things stay:

    • schools and teachers you added to the shared directory (other students rely on them; only the note that you created them is cleared),
    • a teacher's aggregate grading profile (built from other students' donated work and holding nothing about you once yours is gone),
    • the school staff access log (which records which staff member viewed which student's data; after deletion it contains only opaque identifiers that no longer resolve to anyone),
    • sign-up attempt records with your email removed (the network address and time stay, to slow down fake sign-ups),
    • and, until the month ends, how many essays, coach messages and handwriting pages you used this month and what they cost, stored under a one-way code made from your email, not the email itself, so the monthly limits still apply if the same email signs up again.

    If you cannot sign in, email us and we will run the same deletion for you after verifying it is your account.

  • Object or restrict. Object to or ask us to restrict certain processing.
  • Withdraw consent. Where we rely on consent, withdraw it at any time.
  • Revoke Google access. Manage Google permissions at myaccount.google.com/permissions.
  • Complain to a regulator. EEA, UK, and certain other users can complain to their local data protection authority.

To exercise these rights, contact us at the address below. We may need to verify your identity before acting on your request. We will not discriminate against you for exercising any right.

8. Children's privacy

The Service is intended for students aged 13 and up. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you are a parent or guardian and believe your child under 13 has created an account, please contact us and we will delete the account and information promptly.

9. Schools and educational records

If a school or teacher directs your use of the Service, the school may have its own privacy obligations under laws like the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) in the United States, New York Education Law § 2-d, or comparable laws elsewhere. We do not act as an educational agency, and we do not maintain "education records" on behalf of any school unless we have a separate written agreement with that school. Schools interested in a formal data-sharing agreement should contact us.

10. Security

We use reasonable measures to protect your information:

  • All data in transit is encrypted with TLS.
  • Database access is gated by row-level security, so users can only see their own essays and grades.
  • Passwords are stored only in hashed form, on our own server. We never keep your password in plain text.
  • Access to production systems is limited to maintainers of the Service.

No system is perfectly secure. If we learn of a breach affecting your information, we will notify you and any required regulator as the law requires.

11. International data transfers

The Service is operated from the United States, and our subprocessors may process data in the United States and other countries. If you use the Service from outside the United States, your information will be transferred to and processed in the United States, where data protection laws may differ from those of your country. Where required, we rely on appropriate safeguards (such as the European Commission's Standard Contractual Clauses) for international transfers.

12. Do Not Track signals

Some browsers offer a "Do Not Track" signal. Because there is no common industry standard, the Service does not currently respond to these signals. We do not track you across third-party websites.

13. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy as the Service changes. Material changes will be posted on this page with a new "last updated" date and, where reasonable, communicated through the Service. Continued use of the Service after changes take effect means you accept the updated policy.

14. Contact

Questions, deletion requests, or other privacy concerns: hello@optimizegrade.com