Children's Privacy Notice
Last updated: July 6, 2026 — see also our general Privacy Policy and Terms of Service.
This notice explains, in compliance with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), what information Development Over Time ("DOT") collects from learners under 13, how we use it, and what rights parents and guardians have over that information.
Before we collect anything
When a learner under 13 signs up, we ask for a parent or guardian's email address before the account can be used. The account is held inactive — the learner cannot browse courses, submit work, post to the community feed, or message anyone — until the parent verifies via a link we email them.
What we collect from a child
- Account info: full name, date of birth, and a password (stored as a one-way hash, never in plain text).
- Learning activity: courses enrolled in, lesson progress, assignment submissions, assessment results, and competency/mastery records.
- Credentials earned: micro- and macro-credentials tied to standards they've demonstrated mastery of.
- Content they create: goals, projects, and anything they post to the Community feed or send in a message.
How we use it
Solely to operate the learning platform: to deliver courses and lessons, track and report progress to the linked parent, enable communication with facilitators, and issue credentials the learner has earned. We do not use a child's information for advertising, and we do not sell it.
Who we share it with
We do not sell or rent children's personal information. It is visible to: the learner's own linked parent/guardian, the facilitator(s) teaching their enrolled courses, and (for anything posted to the Community feed) other signed-in DOT users. We use a small number of service providers to operate the platform — a database host and an email provider to send parent-verification emails — who process data only on our behalf and are not permitted to use it for their own purposes.
How long we keep it
We retain a child's account and data for as long as the account is active. If a parent never completes verification, the account remains inactive and unusable, but is not automatically deleted — a parent (or the account holder once no longer a minor) can request deletion at any time using the tool described below.
Your rights as a parent or guardian
- Review: sign in to your parent account and open "My Children" to see your child's enrollments, progress, and credentials. You can request a complete export of everything we've collected from the "Account data" section of your child's detail page.
- Delete: from that same "Account data" section, you can permanently delete your child's account and all associated data at any time. This is irreversible.
- Refuse further collection: deleting the account stops all further collection immediately. You can also contact us directly (below) to request this.
Contact us
Questions about a child's data, or need help exercising any of the rights above? Email privacy@developmentovertime.com.