Short Answer, Inc. Privacy Policy

Short Answer Privacy Policy

Short Answer, Inc. (“we”, “Platform”, or “Short Answer”) is committed to protecting your privacy and your students’ privacy. This Privacy Policy describes our collection and use of personal information collected from visitors to our website and our mobile application(s) (collectively, our “Service”), including the Service offered at www.myshortanswer.com and any other website, app, or online service which links to this Privacy Policy. “You” or “your” means a visitor or a user (whether logged in or not) of our Service.

This Privacy Policy is incorporated into and is subject to our Terms of Service, which governs your use of the Short Answer Services.

1. Information Collected

• A. Personal Data. You can use the Service without registering for an account or providing any other personal data. If you create an account, or communicate with Short Answer, you may provide to Short Answer certain information by which someone could personally identify you, such as your name, email or unique username (“Personally Identifiable Information”), as well as information about yourself such as your employment or level of schooling by which someone could not personally identify you (“Demographic Information”). When we link Demographic Information to your Personally Identifiable Information, we treat all of it as Personally Identifiable. We also collect information when you communicate with us. We refer to all of this data collectively as “Personal Data”. We may also collect Personal Data about you from a third party Internet site or service. For example, if you login to your Short Answer account through Google or another authentication tool, or if you interact with Short Answer on social media, we may collect the Personal Data you authorize that third party service to share.
• B. Usage Data. We automatically collect certain technical usage information when you use the Short Answer Services (“Usage Data”). Usage Data includes the information that your web browser or mobile application automatically sends to our servers whenever you visit. The Usage Data collected in our logs may include information such as your web request, Internet Protocol address, operating system, browser type, browser language, referring / exit pages and URLs, platform type, click history, domain names, landing pages, pages viewed and the order of those pages, the amount of time spent on particular pages, the date and time of your request, and whether you opened an email. Typically, this information is collected through log files, web beacons, browser cookies, or other device identifiers that may uniquely identify your browser or device. You may be able to set your web browser to refuse all cookies, and your mobile device to not provide your mobile device identifier. You may not be able to delete or disable cookies on certain mobile devices and/or certain browsers. For more information on cookies, visit www.allaboutcookies.org. Some features of the Short Answer Services may not function properly if cookies or mobile device identifiers are not enabled. In addition, the Short Answer Services may use third party analytics and bug tracking software (including, without limitation, Twilio Segment and Mixpanel) to collect further Usage Data regarding the online usage patterns of our users and bugs in our Services. We may combine Usage Data with Personal Data in a manner that enables us to trace Usage Data to an individual user. Although we do our best to honor the privacy preferences of our visitors, we are not able to respond to Do Not Track signals from your browser at this time. We do not permit third party advertising networks or other third parties to collect information about your browsing behavior from our website for advertising purposes.

2. Use of Your Information

• A. Use. We use your Personal Data and Usage Data (together, “User Information”) to operate, maintain, and provide to you the features and functionality of the Short Answer Services and for related business purposes. We may use your User Information to (a) improve the quality and design of the Short Answer Services and to create new features and services by storing, tracking, and analyzing user preferences; (b) remember information so that you will not have to re-enter it during your visit or the next time you use the Short Answer Services; (c) provide custom, personalized content and information; (d) monitor aggregate metrics such as total number of visitors, pages viewed, etc.; and (e) diagnose and fix technology problems and otherwise plan for and enhance our Service. Short Answer may provide personalized content and information to our users, including teachers, school administration officials, and other users associated with Schools. We may disclose your information (i.e. account creation and interaction with Services) to your school. However, Short Answer will never use Student Data to engage in targeted advertising, nor will Short Answer direct advertising to student users on any Short Answer Service, nor will Short Answer ever use any third-party advertising network on any Short Answer Service.
• B. Communications Preferences. We will not use your email address or other Personally Identifiable Information to send you marketing messages unless you provide your consent, or as part of a specific program or feature for which you will have the ability to opt-out. You can always opt-out of receiving promotional email from us by clicking on the “unsubscribe” feature at the bottom of each email or by adjusting your email subscription preferences in your settings. We may, however, use your email address without further consent for non-marketing or administrative purposes, such as notifying you of important Short Answer Services changes or for customer service purposes.

3. Disclosure of Your Information

• A. Your Publication. You may, by using applicable sections of the Short Answer Services (including sections which enable you to create items, provide comments, upload video and pictures), share your User Information, including Personally Identifiable Information and other content that you create or post to others accessing the Short Answer Services.
• B. Service Providers. We share User Information with our trusted third party service providers and other individuals who perform services on our behalf, for example, providing customer service support, hosting services, analytics and other services we utilize to help us provide our Service or conduct our business. These service providers access and use User Information only to provide services to Short Answer under reasonable confidentiality terms.
• C. Partners. At your direction, we may provide your User Information to our partners (“Partners”) that are integrated with the Short Answer Network. For example, we may share certain User Information when you login to the Short Answer Services using Google login and similar authentication tools. We may also share User Information when we provide the Service with a Partner, such as when we work with a school or educational institution to provide the Service to students. User Information that is shared with a third party Partner may be subject to that Partner’s privacy and data security policies. We are not responsible for the content or privacy and security practices and policies of the Partners. We encourage you to learn about our Partners’ privacy and security policies before providing them with your User Information or directing us to provide them with your User Information.
• D. Other Required Sharing. We may share User Information: (i) if required to do so by law, or in the good-faith belief that such action is in compliance with state and federal laws (including, without limitation, copyright laws) or in response to a court order, subpoena, legal process or search warrant, or (ii) if we believe, in good faith, such action is appropriate or necessary to enforce our Terms of Service, to exercise our legal rights, to take precautions against liability, to investigate and defend ourselves against any claims or allegations, to assist government enforcement agencies, to protect the security or integrity of the Short Answer Services, and to protect the rights, property, or personal safety of Short Answer, Education Providers, our users or third parties.
• E. Sharing of Student Work. Student Data, including, for example, a student’s response to a prompt, (collectively, “Student Work”) may be visible to other students in the same classroom. A teacher or school administration official will be able to monitor any such Student Work and will be able to hide it at their discretion, for example if said Student Work is in violation of a school’s policies or the teacher’s desired classroom culture. Short Answer will take reasonable steps to assist teachers in ensuring that Student Work follows school policies by, but not limited to, implementing basic content filters for Student Work (e.g. explicit language). Short Answer cannot guarantee that the aforementioned reasonable steps will filter all content according to school policies.
• F. Merger or Sale. If we merge, sell, or otherwise transfer all or a portion of our business, we will not transfer your Personally Identifiable Information without first giving you the ability to opt-out of the transfer, unless the new owner intends to maintain and provide the applicable Short Answer Services as a going concern, and provided that the new owner has agreed to data privacy standards no less stringent than our own. We may also transfer personal information – under the same conditions – in the course of mergers, acquisitions, bankruptcies, dissolutions, reorganizations, liquidations, similar transactions or proceedings involving all or a portion of our business.

4. Your Choices

You may decline to submit Personally Identifiable Information through the Short Answer Services, in which case Short Answer or your School may not be able to provide certain Short Answer Services to you. If you create an account, you may update or correct your name, email address, or password at any time by visiting your “Account Settings” link. You may also delete your account altogether there or by contacting us at support@myshortanswer.com. If you have any questions about reviewing, modifying, or deleting your information, or if you want to remove your name or comments from our website or publicly displayed content, you can contact us directly at support@myshortanswer.com. We may not be able to modify or delete your information in all circumstances.

5. Data Security

We care about the security of your information and employ physical, administrative, and technological safeguards designed to preserve the integrity and security of all information collected through our Service. Access to information is limited (through user/password credentials and, in some cases, two factor authentication) to those employees who require it to perform their job functions. We use industry standard SSL (secure socket layer technology) encryption to transfer personal information. Other security safeguards include but are not limited to data encryption, firewalls, physical access controls to buildings and files, and employee training. You can help protect against unauthorized access to your account and personal information by selecting and protecting your password appropriately and limiting access to your computer and browser by signing off after you have finished accessing your account.

6. For Our International Users

By using this Service, you consent to the transfer of your personal information to the United States and to the processing of your personal information in the United States in accordance with this Privacy Policy. You understand that your personal information will be subject to the laws of the United States, which may be different from those of your country of residence.

7. Contact Us

Please feel free to contact us with any questions or comments about this Privacy Policy, your personal information, your consent, or your opt-in or opt-out choices as follows:

Mailing Address

Short Answer, Inc.

13817 108th Street

Louisville, Nebraska, 68037

Legal Address of Incorporation

Short Answer, Inc.

651 N Broad St, Suite 201

Middletown, Delaware 19709

8. Changes and Updates

• A. Updates. This Privacy Policy may be revised periodically to reflect changes in our information practices and relevant laws. This will be reflected in the “date last modified” set forth at the top of the page and below. Your continued use of the Short Answer Services following such an update constitutes your agreement to the revised Privacy Policy.
• B. Date Last Modified. These Terms were last modified on October 8, 2023.

9. Information of Children

Our Service is not directed to children under 13, unless and until a School has provided consent and authorization for a student under 13 to use the Service and for Short Answer to collect information from such student. If you believe that we have inadvertently collected Personal Data from a child under 13 years of age without parental consent, then please alert us at support@myshortanswer.com and we will promptly delete the child’s Personal Data from our systems.

Minors under the age of 13 may only access and use the Platform as part of a School via the web app link provided by their instructor. This use can only occur if the school or district has confirmed that it has sufficient authority to permit the students to use the Platform and provide the information described herein. The Platform may be used to collect personal information of students who are under the age of 13. First names, last names, email addresses, activity responses, and School Community Information are examples of information that may be collected. 

We will not require a child to disclose more information than is reasonably necessary to participate in any activity associated with the Platform. Under the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (“FERPA”), Short Answer meets the definition of a school official. As such, schools may act as a parent’s agent and schools can consent to collection of their students’ information on the parent’s behalf.  Parents do have certain rights over minor children’s information. Parents may review their child’s personal information, direct their child’s school or district to delete it, and refuse to allow any further collection or use of the child’s information. Parents also have the option to allow for the collection and use of their child’s information, but still restrict disclosure to third parties. 

We have no intentions, desires, or plans to disclose any personally identifiable information of children to third parties.  Also, we do not and we will not use any data collected on the platform for targeted advertising. Explicit and verifiable consent of parents would be collected before any disclosure of information in the unlikely scenario of such a need developing. 

Because the data entrusted to us are under the direct control of the originating school, district, or educational organization, if parents would like to exercise any of the above mentioned rights, a parent should directly contact their children’s school or district. Should a school or district like to exercise any of the above mentioned rights, please contact us at support@myshortanswer.com

• We don’t share any of your information or students’ information with advertisers or marketers.
• We don’t own anything you add to Short Answer: you do.
• We use the latest security best practices to protect you at all times.
• We are compliant with COPPA and FERPA.
• We will notify you if we make any changes to this privacy policy.
• We collect only the minimal amount of information about students needed to sign up for the service: often just a first name. We don’t need or ask for anything else, such as gender, social security number, address, or student ID.

Short Answer is COPPA-compliant. Children under 13 must obtain parental consent before using the platform or creating their own account, or a parent or teacher must create a child’s account on their behalf. Short Answer’s privacy practices are regularly reviewed.

© Short Answer 2023