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Privacy Policy and Terms of Service Key Terms

Below are definitions for key terms that are used in our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy for our main ClassDojo products as well as our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy for Dojo Tutoring:

 

Application Data Caches

An application data cache is a data repository on a device. It can, for example, enable a web application to run without an internet connection and improve the performance of the application by enabling faster loading of content.

Behaviorally-Targeted Advertising or Targeted Advertising

Behaviorally-targeted advertising (also referred to as online behavioral advertising [OBA] or interest-based advertising) is defined by the Digital Advertising Alliance (DAA) as "the collection of data online from a particular computer or device regarding Web viewing behaviors over time and across non-affiliate Websites for the purpose of using such data to predict user preferences or interests to deliver advertising to that computer or device based on preferences or interests known or inferred from the data collected." Behaviorally-targeted advertising does not include i) contextual advertising; ii) advertising or marketing to an individual in response to that individual's specific request for information or feedback; or iii) processing personal information solely for measuring or reporting advertising performance, reach or frequency.

This definition has largely been accepted by the Federal Trade Commission, and is described in similar fashion in its Self-Regulatory Principles for Online Behavioral Advertising. This type of advertising is precluded by the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act and its implementing regulations under the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule (collectively “COPPA”) for children under 13 without prior, verifiable parental consent, as well as by the existing self-regulatory advertising groups, including DAA and the Network Advertising Initiative (NAI). This is in contrast to contextual advertising which is permitted under COPPA as well as most state student privacy laws.

In addition, please see our Student Data Protection Addendum and the Student Data Privacy Consortium’s (SDPC) National Data Protection Agreement (NDPA) for (i) the definition of targeted advertising and (ii) more information on the prohibition of using Student Data for targeted advertising to students.  

Please also see the definition of “targeted advertising” in the Colorado Student Data and Transparency Act here (and below) as well as Florida here as examples of the definition of “targeted advertising” in several state student privacy laws, with similar definitions in many other state student privacy laws.  Also see the California Attorney General's guidance on the Student Online Personal Information Protection Act (SOPIPA) here.

Colorado Student Data Transparency Act:

"Targeted advertising" means selecting and sending advertisements to a student based on information obtained or inferred over time from the student's online behavior, use of applications, or personally identifiable information. "Targeted advertising" does not include: (a) advertising to a student: (i) at an online location based on the student's current visit to that location or in response to the student's request for information or feedback; and (ii) without the collection and retention of a student's online activities over time; (b) adaptive learning, personalized learning, or customized education; or (c) with the consent of a student or the student's parent, using the student's personally identifiable information to identify for the student institutions of higher education or scholarship providers that are seeking students who meet specific criteria.

CCPA

“CCPA” means the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018, California Civil Code Section 1798.100, et seq., and, effective January 1, 2023, as amended by the California Privacy Rights Act of 2020 (“CPRA”), and its implementing regulations.

Contextual Advertising

Contextual advertising (also referred to as contextually relevant advertising) is defined by DAA as advertisements that are delivered “based on the content of a Web page, a search query, or a user’s contemporaneous behavior on the website.” NAI expands a bit further explaining, “the ad selected depends upon the content of the page on which it is served, or ‘first party’ marketing in which ads are customized or products are suggested based on the content of the page or users’ activity on the page (including the content they view or the searches they perform).”

The FTC echoes this in policy statements and in comments surrounding COPPA as well as the legislative history of COPPA where the FTC proposed the following definition: 

Contextual advertising is ‘‘the delivery of advertisements based upon a consumer’s current visit to a Web page or a single search query, without the collection and retention of data about the consumer’s online activities over time.’’ The FTC notes that contextual targeting, “is more transparent and presents fewer privacy concerns as compared to the aggregation and use of data across sites and over time for marketing purposes.”  Contextual targeting is permitted under COPPA. The FTC reiterated its position in the 2025 COPPA Rule amendments.

Also, please see our Student Data Protection Addendum and the Student Data Privacy Consortium’s (SDPC) National Data Protection Agreement (NDPA) for the definition of contextual advertising.  Additionally, as an example, under Colorado’s Student Data and Transparency Act and several other state student privacy laws such as Florida located here, the following is allowed: 

"Targeted advertising" does not include: (a) advertising to a student: (i) at an online location based on the student's current visit to that location or in response to the student's request for information or feedback; and (ii) without the collection and retention of a student's online activities over time; (b) adaptive learning, personalized learning, or customized education; or (c) with the consent of a student or the student's parent, using the student's personally identifiable information to identify for the student institutions of higher education or scholarship providers that are seeking students who meet specific criteria.

Cookies and similar technologies

Cookies

A cookie is a small text file containing a string of characters placed on your browser or device when you visit a website. When you visit the website again, the cookie allows that site to recognize your browser. Cookies may store user preferences and other information. Cookies may involve the transmission of information from us to you and from you directly to us, to another party on our behalf, or to another party in accordance with its privacy policy. For example, cookies can store your session information for easy sign-in to a website or your language preferences or may allow sites to record your browsing activities – like what pages and content you’ve looked at, when you visited, and whether you clicked on a piece of content. The site or service that places a particular cookie has permission to read the contents of that cookie each time it communicates with your browser. Some cookies are set by the site you are visiting, and others are set by that site’s service partners.

Cookies may be placed in your browser by third-party advertising companies when you view content off of our site (such as an embedded YouTube video) to help deliver the ads you see online. These “third-party cookies” may be used to “remember” parts of your online activities in order to deliver ads tailored to your interests. For example, if you read an article online about running, a cookie may be used to note your interest in running. As you continue to surf the web, you may see coupons to save money on running shoes. We do not use advertising cookies or similar technologies in areas where students or children are logged in to the Services, or on the ClassDojo Website where a student or child user is directed to login to the dedicated child or student login page. For clarity, advertising cookies do not include the use of cookies or other technologies that ClassDojo may use in connection with ClassDojo product recommendations or other contextual advertising (e.g. frequency capping).

Learn more about how ClassDojo uses cookies in our Online Tracking Technologies Policy.

Other similar technologies

Other technologies are used for similar purposes as a cookie on other platforms where cookies are not available or applicable, such as the Advertising ID available on Android mobile devices and the Identifiers for Advertiser (“IDFA’) on iOS devices. Most modern mobile devices (iOS, Android, and Windows 10 and above) provide mobile advertising identifiers. These are randomly-generated numbers that are associated with your device that often come with options to reset the identifier and opt-out of advertising across apps (“Cross-App Advertising”) and in some cases (such as with the IDFA) opt-in to advertising. They are included to provide advertisers a method to identify your devices without using a permanent device identifier, like your phone’s serial number. We do not use any of these technologies where a student, learner or child using our service is logged into his or her account.

Please see our Online Tracking Technologies Policy for more information.

De-Identified

“De-Identified” or De-Identified Data” is information that has all direct and indirect personal identifiers removed such that the data cannot reasonably be used to identify, describe, or contact an individual. This includes, but is not limited to, persistent unique identifiers, name, ID numbers, date of birth, and school ID.

For EU and UK residents:

When we process data as a controller as identified in our Privacy Policy, anywhere we use the term De-Identified, we will apply the General Data Protection Regulation, including as implemented or adopted under the laws of the United Kingdom (GDPR) definition of "pseudonymization" which states that pseudonymization is "the processing of personal data in such a way that the data can no longer be attributed to a specific data subject without the use of additional information; ” 

When we process data as a processor, anywhere we use the term De-Identified, we apply the GDPR definition of “anonymised” which states in Recital 26 that “anonymised data is in information which does not relate to an identified or identifiable natural person or to personal data rendered anonymous in such a manner that the data subject is not or no longer identifiable.’ If you are a resident of the Province of Quebec, anywhere we use the term “De-Identified”, we will apply the Quebec’s Act Respecting the Protection of Personal Information in the Private Sector definition of “anonymized”.  

If you are a resident of California, we follow the definition of de-identified as set forth under the CCPA. 

For residents located in additional states with a U.S. State Data Protection Law, and such law has also defined the term “de-identified”, we will apply such definition as applicable. 

ClassDojo commits to maintaining and using de-identified data only in a de-identified form and will not attempt to re-identify the information, except that ClassDojo may attempt to reidentify the information solely for the purpose of determining whether or not its de-identification processes are sufficient. 

Device

A device is a computer that can be used to access our website or services. For example, a device could be a desktop, tablet or smartphone.

Educational Purposes

Consistent with the Student Privacy Pledge, ‘educational or school purposes’ are services or functions that customarily take place at the direction of the educational institution/agency or their teacher/employee, for which the institutions or agency would otherwise use its own employees, and that aid in the administration or improvement of educational and school activities (e.g., instruction, administration, and development and improvement of products/services (including new products) intended for educational/school use). Additionally, consistent with both the Student Online Personal Information Protection Act (SOPIPA) and other state student privacy laws, and the Student Privacy Pledge, this does not preclude the use of student personal information for adaptive learning or customized student learning or education purposes. We also consider “educational purposes” to be services or functions that a child’s parent or legal guardian directs ClassDojo (such as through setting up their child’s account, or otherwise providing their consent to us) to provide to their child for educational or learning activities outside of school (e.g. tutoring or other learning activities at home).

Education Records

Education records shall have the meaning set forth under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (“FERPA”) cited as 20 U.S.C. § 1232g(a)(4); 34 CFR Part 99.  Certain Student Data elements will also be considered education records. 

 

Family Outside School Account

“Family Outside School Account” means an account used by a Family User not connected to a school or a classroom, including for educational and other learning activities at home with a child, such as through Dojo Sparks, or certain premium features (e.g. ClassDojo Plus) used outside of school. Any data collected from Family Outside School Account would not be considered Student Data or “school data”.

Family User

“Family User” means any parent user or other authorized family user.  Any data collected from a Family Outside School Account would not be considered Student Data or “school data”. 

 

HTTP Referrer

An HTTP Referrer is information transmitted to a destination webpage by a web browser, typically when you click a link to that webpage. The HTTP Referrer contains the URL of the last webpage the browser visited.  

 

IP Address

Every device connected to the Internet is assigned a number known as an Internet protocol (IP) address. These numbers are usually assigned in geographic blocks and are typically controlled by your Internet Service Provider (ISP), your company, or your university. An IP address can often be used to identify the location from which a device is connecting to the Internet.  IP addresses can be used to combat fraud and compliance with geographical legal restrictions and can be used to target advertising. 

When ClassDojo stores an IP address, we store it in truncated or encrypted form. Additionally, we only use IP address information collected from students under 13 for internal business purposes.  

 

Learner

Learners are users who use the Dojo Tutoring service not at the specific direction of a school—such as through their parents and/or themselves signing up to use the Service directly. Any data collected from learners would not be considered student data. 

 

Linked Data 

“Linked Data” means certain data elements (as approved by a student’s parent and school) that may be linked and shared between a Student Account and an Outside School Account of a Student as set forth here and as further described in the “Linked Accounts” section of the Terms of Service. 

 

Local Storage

Local storage enables websites to store and retrieve data in a browser on a device. When used in “local storage” mode, it enables data to be stored across sessions (for example, so that the data are retrievable even after the browser has been closed and reopened). One technology that facilitates web storage is HTML 5. Other technologies include local shared objects, sometimes known as “Flash Cookies.” For more information, please see our Online Tracking Technologies Policy. 

 

Metadata

Means information that provides meaning and context to other data being collected including, but not limited to date and time records and purpose of creation. Metadata that have been stripped of all direct and indirect identifiers are not considered Personally Identifiable Information or Student Data.

 

Mobile Application

A mobile application or mobile “app” is an application software designed to run on mobile devices, such as smartphones and tablet computers. Mobile apps frequently serve to provide users with similar services as those accessed on PCs. Mobile apps differ from desktop applications that run on desktop computers, and with web applications which run in web browsers in that they run directly on the mobile device. 

 

Non-Personally Identifiable Information

This is information that on its own does not permit direct association with any specific individual. For example, we consider the following to be non-personally identifiable information: your zip code, approximate location (e.g region, city, zip), your browser type, and non-unique device identifiers (e.g. Chromebook model). We also consider aggregated, de-identified and/or anonymized data to be non-personally identifiable information. Anything that is personal information is excluded from the definition of non-personal information. Not all jurisdictions have the same definition for personal information and non-personally identifiable information. 

 

Outside School Account

“Outside School Account” is an account used by an Outside School User and includes Family Outside School Accounts and Outside School Child Accounts. Note that an Outside School Account will also be linked with the School Accounts (if both exist) and are utilized using one login. The “link” is that these accounts use the same login to access both products for and the same “Dojo”/name.

Outside School Child Account

“Outside School Child Account” is an account used by an Outside School Child User. Note that an Outside School Child Account will also be linked with the Student Account (if both exist) and are utilized using one login. The “link” is that these accounts use the same login to access both products for children/students and the same “Dojo”/name, but the product data is stored separately. The login data (the username and password) is stored in one place and shared between both the Outside School Child Account and Student Account.

Parents can choose to reuse an existing Student Account for home or create a new Outside School Child Account for home activity not associated with a school or classroom. For more information please see our FAQ.

Outside School Child User 

“Outside School Child User” means a child using the ClassDojo Service not connected to a school or a classroom, including for educational and other learning activities at home, such as through Home Islands or certain premium features such as ClassDojo Plus used outside of school. Any data collected from Outside School Child User would not be considered Student Data.  ClassDojo permits Students to associate an Outside School Child Account with their Student Account, by using the same login credentials associated with an Outside School Child Account to join a class or use the account for school-directed learning. 

 

Outside School User 

“Outside School User” means any user, including an Outside School Child User, or Family User, using the ClassDojo Service not connected to a school or a classroom, including for educational and other learning activities at home, such as through Home Islands or certain premium features such as ClassDojo Plus.  

Persistent Identifiers

This is a persistent and unique identifier that can be used to recognize a user over time and across different websites or online services. For example, this can be an IP address, a unique device identifier or a device serial number. 

Personal Information

Personal information is data that can be used to identify or contact a particular individual, such as the individual’s name, email address or billing information, or other data which can be reasonably linked to that data or to that individual’s specific computer or device. When anonymous or non-personal information is directly or indirectly linked with personal information, this anonymous or non-personal information is also treated as personal information. We will consider persistent identifiers that are not anonymized, de-identified or aggregated as personal information. Not all jurisdictions have the same definition for personal information and non-personally identifiable information. Additionally, please check here for the definition of personal information under the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (“COPPA”) which we follow for any personal information collected from children under 13. Please also see the COPPA FAQ for more information.

If you are a resident of California and when ClassDojo is acting as a “business” or “service provider” as those terms are defined under the CCPA, we follow the definition of personal information as set forth under the CCPA.

For residents located in additional states with a U.S. State Data Protection Law and such law has also defined the term “personal information”, or “personal information” we will apply such definition as applicable when such relevant U.S. State Data Protection Law applies to ClassDojo.

For EU and UK residents, anywhere we use the term personal information, we will apply the General Data Protection Regulation, including as implemented or adopted under the laws of the United Kingdom (GDPR), definition of "personal data" which states that “personal data” means any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person (‘data subject’); an identifiable natural person is one who can be identified, directly or indirectly, in particular by reference to an identifier such as a name, an identification number, location data, an online identifier or to one or more factors specific to the physical, physiological, genetic, mental, economic, cultural or social identity of that natural person.

Pixel Tag

A pixel tag is a type of technology placed on a website, or within the body of an email for the purpose of tracking activity on websites or when emails are opened or accessed, and is often used in combination with cookies. Pixel refers to the software code that is placed within a web page in order to trigger the placing of cookies and transmits information to us or our third party service providers. This enables two websites to share information. The resulting connection can include information such as a device’s IP address, the time a person viewed the pixel, an identifier associated with the browser or device, the type of browser being used and the URL of the web page from which the pixel was viewed. A pixel tag is also known as a web beacon or Clear GIFs. There may or may not be a visible graphic image associated with the pixel, and often the image is designed to blend into the background of a web page or email.


School Account

“School Account” means any Family User or other user that has an account on ClassDojo that is associated with a school, classroom, or educational institution. ClassDojo permits School Accounts to be linked (or associated with) Family Outside School Accounts, by using the same login credentials with both accounts.

Sell

“Sell” or “selling” ​consistent with the Student Privacy Pledge, does not include or apply to a purchase, merger or other type of acquisition of a company by another entity, provided that the company or successor entity continues to treat the personal information contained in student data in a manner consistent with our Privacy Policy with respect to the previously acquired personal information. We apply this same principle to all personal information we collect or receive, not just Student Data.

Sell also does not include sharing, transferring or disclosing of Student Data or other personal information with a service provider that is necessary to perform a business purpose (such as detecting security incidents, debugging and repairing, analytics, storage or other processing activities) provided that the service provider does not further use or sell the personal information or student data except as necessary to perform the business purpose.  ClassDojo is also not “selling” personal information or student data (i) if an authorized user ​directs ClassDojo to intentionally disclose personal information or student data or uses ClassDojo to intentionally interact with a third party, ; or (ii) if a parent or a third party authorized by a parent, lawfully acquires student data (e.g. enhanced classroom reports or photos) for free or for a fee.   

If you are a resident of California and when ClassDojo is acting as a “business” or “service provider” as those terms are defined under the CCPA,  we follow the definition of sell or sale as set forth under the CCPA.  For residents located in additional states with a U.S. State Data Protection Law consumer privacy law and such law has also defined the term “sale”, or “sell” ClassDojo will apply such definition as applicable when such relevant U.S. State Data Protection Law applies to ClassDojo. 

Server Log Data

Like most websites, our servers automatically record the page requests made when you visit our websites. These “server logs” or “log data” typically include your web request, IP address, browser type, browser language, the date and time of your request and one or more cookies that may uniquely identify your browser.

Student 

“Student” means a child who is using the ClassDojo Service at the direction of a school either in school or for educational purposes connected to a school or classroom and whose school has a contractual relationship with ClassDojo. 

Student Account  

“Student Account” means the account the child is accessing to use the ClassDojo Service in school or for educational purposes connected to a school or classroom.

Any Student Account (or access to a Student Account) created for the student by the parent, or the student’s teacher in class, or the student directly, are linked together (these are not different accounts). For more information please see our FAQ.

Student Data 

“Student Data” ​means any personal information, whether gathered by ClassDojo or provided by a school or its users, students, or students’ parents/guardians for a school purpose, that is descriptive of the student including, but not limited to, information in the student’s education records, persistent unique identifiers, or any other information or identification number that would provide information about a specific student. Student Data includes Metadata that has been stripped of all direct and indirect identifiers. To the extent U.S. law applies, Student Data further includes personal information as defined in 34 C.F.R. § 99.3 and as defined under any applicable state law. Student Data as specified in ​Exhibit A​ to our Student Data Privacy Addendum is confirmed to be collected or processed by the ClassDojo pursuant to our Services (as that term is defined in the Student Data Privacy Addendum). Student Data shall not include Student-Generated Content or de-Identified data or information that has been anonymized, or anonymous usage data regarding a student’s or school’s use of our Services. Student Data shall also not include any (i) information or data, including personal information, collected from Learners; (ii) information or data, including personal information, a student, parent, or family provides to ClassDojo through an Outside School Account independent of the student’s, parent’s or family’s engagement with the Services at the direction of the school; and (iii) Linked Data.

Student Generated Content

“Student-Generated Content” means materials or content created by a student in the ClassDojo Services (as defined in the Student Data Privacy Addendum) including, but not limited to, essays, research reports, portfolios, creative writing, music or other audio files, photographs, videos, and account information that enables ongoing ownership of student content. “Student-Generated Content” does not include student responses to a standardized assessment where student possession and control would jeopardize the validity and reliability of that assessment.

Third-Party Advertising

We consider third-party advertising on our service to mean third-parties that would directly advertise their products or services (i.e., when an advertiser would bid to place an advertisement directly on a platform such as Facebook). We don’t allow third parties to advertise directly on our service in user logged-in areas of our service. We also do not use third-party ad servers (such as Google AdWords or AdSense) in user logged-in areas of our Service. However, we may serve contextually relevant advertising for third-party products and services ourselves that we believe may be of interest to you (e.g., our collaboration with Stanford University creating Growth Mindset videos).

Unique Device Identifier

A unique device identifier (sometimes called a universally unique ID or UUID) is a string of characters that is incorporated into a device by its manufacturer and can be used to uniquely identify that device (for example, an IMEI-number of a mobile phone). Different device identifiers vary in how permanent they are, whether they can be reset by users, and how they can be accessed. A given device may have several different unique device identifiers. Unique device identifiers can be used for various purposes, including security and fraud detection, syncing services such as a user’s email inbox, remembering the user’s preferences and providing relevant advertising.

User Data

Any personal information of a ClassDojo User, provided that such data is electronic data and personal information submitted by or for a User (or collected by ClassDojo and processed on behalf of a User) to the Services. User Data shall not include de-Identified data or information that has been anonymized or aggregated, nor does it include anonymous usage data regarding a User's use of our services.

U.S. State Data Protection Laws

“U.S. State Data Protection Laws” means the (i) CCPA; (ii) Colorado Privacy Act of 2021, as amended (CPA); (iii) Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act of 2021, as amended (VCDPA); (iv) Utah Consumer Privacy Act of 2022, as amended (UCPA); (v) Connecticut Act Concerning Personal Data Privacy and Online Monitoring (CTDPA); (vi) Montana Consumer Data Privacy Act; (vii) Oregon Consumer Privacy Act of 2023; (viii) Texas Data Privacy and Security Act of 2023; (ix) the Maryland Online Data Privacy Act; (x) the Nebraska Data Privacy Act; (xi) the New Jersey Data Privacy Law (effective January 15, 2025); (xii) the Delaware Personal Data Privacy Act (effective January 1, 2025); (xiii) the Indiana Consumer Data Protection Act (effective January 1, 2026); (xiv) the Iowa Consumer Data Protection Act (effective January 1, 2025); (xv) the Kentucky Consumer Data Protection Act (effective January 1, 2026); (xvi) the Minnesota Consumer Data Privacy Act (effective July 31, 2025); (xvii) the New Hampshire Act Relative to the Expectation of Privacy (effective January 1, 2025); (xviii) the Rhode Island Data Transparency and Privacy Protection Act (effective January 1, 2026); (xix) the Tennessee Information Privacy Act (effective July 1, 2025); or (xx) any other applicable US state law that may be enacted for the purpose of protecting Personal Data and do not apply solely to specific industry sectors (e.g., financial institutions) or specific classes of information (e.g., health or biometric information).