Privacy Policy

Effective Date: March 13, 2026

Spectrum Shepherd, Inc., doing business as Shepherd Skills ("we", "us", "our"), operates the Shepherd Skills platform ("Service"), an AI-powered learning companion that provides personalized, voice-enabled educational experiences. We are committed to protecting the privacy and security of our users, including learners, family members, and educators.

1. Information We Collect

Account Information: When you sign in with Google, we receive your email address and Google account identifier. We do not store your Google password.

Profile Information: Depending on your role, we may collect:

• Name and age
• Interests and hobbies
• App display preferences
• Profile photos (optional)

Support Profile Information: Parents, teachers, or other support team members may provide information about learners, including:

• Autonomy, comprehension levels and processing speed levels
• Skill focus areas and learning goals
• Post-secondary goals

Learning Activity Data: We collect data about how learners use the Service, including lesson progress, game scores, time spent, streaks, and experience points (XP).

Voice and Conversation Data: When voice features are used, audio is captured from the microphone (with explicit browser permission) and sent to our AI provider for real-time processing. We may store conversation transcripts to maintain continuity during a session. Transcripts are not accessible by School Staff or other support team members.

Messages: Communications between learners and their support team (help requests, nudges, cheers) are stored to facilitate the support relationship.

Technical Data: We collect session information such as active time, page visits, and heartbeat signals to track usage and maintain streaks.

2. How We Use Your Information

• Personalize learning content and AI companion interactions based on the learner's profile.
• Track learning progress and provide reports to learners and their support team.
• Enable communication between learners and their support network.
• Maintain streaks, XP, and other engagement features.
• Improve and maintain the Service.

3. How We Share Your Information

We do not sell or share your personal information. We share data only with the following service providers, solely to operate the Service. Importantly, we do not share Personally Identifiable Information (PII) such as your full name or email address with OpenAI, and your learning data is not shared with Google or AWS for their own independent purposes:

OpenAI: Processes AI companion conversations, voice interactions, and lesson personalization. We use enterprise-grade privacy settings to ensure that no user data, transcripts, or voice inputs are used to train OpenAI's global models. Only non-identifiable profile data (such as first name, interests, and learning preferences) is shared to enable personalized responses.

Google: Provides authentication (sign-in) only. We receive your email; Google does not receive your Shepherd Skills learning data.

Amazon Web Services (AWS): Hosts our application and database infrastructure, and stores uploaded files (profile photos, audio) in private, encrypted storage. AWS does not access or use your data content.

We do not use any advertising networks, analytics trackers, or marketing tools.

4. Multi-User Access

Shepherd Skills uses a collaborative model where support team members (parents, teachers) can view and manage learner profiles. Access is granted through explicit invitation codes. School users can view only learners within their school. Family users can view only learners linked to their account.

5. Data Storage and Security

Your data is stored in an encrypted PostgreSQL database with SSL/TLS connections. Uploaded files are stored in private AWS S3 buckets accessible only through time-limited signed URLs. Authentication uses stateless JSON Web Tokens (JWT). We do not use cookies for tracking. In the event of a data breach involving personal information, we will notify affected users and/or school administrators within 72 hours of discovery.

6. Data Retention and Deletion

We retain your data for as long as your account is active. School Staff can permanently delete user accounts, which cascades to remove associated profiles, invitations, and account links. If you would like your data deleted, contact your administrator or reach out to us directly.

7. Your Rights

• Access: View your profile and learning data at any time through the Service.
• Correction: Update your profile information through the Service.
• Deletion: Request account and data deletion by contacting us.
• Voice Consent: Microphone access requires explicit browser permission. You can revoke it at any time through your browser settings.

8. Children's Privacy

Some learners on our platform may be minors (under 18). Learner accounts for minors are created and managed by a parent, guardian, or authorized school staff member. These supervising adults are responsible for providing consent on behalf of the minor and for managing the minor's profile and data.

We do not allow minors to create accounts independently. If you believe a minor is using the Service without appropriate adult supervision, please contact us so we can take appropriate action.

9. AI Limitations and Accuracy

Our Service uses generative artificial intelligence to provide an interactive learning experience. While we strive for high educational quality, AI can occasionally produce "hallucinations"—outputs that are factually incorrect, biased, or incomplete. The Service is intended to be a learning companion, and its outputs should not be treated as a sole source of truth. We encourage learners to use the Service under the guidance of the supervising adults in their support team.

10. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of material changes by posting the updated policy on this page with a new effective date.

11. Contact Us

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or wish to exercise your data rights, contact us at:

Spectrum Shepherd, Inc.
(DBA Shepherd Skills)
Email: privacy@spectrumshepherd.com