Privacy policy

Who runs Sowa

Sowa is run by FUSION SOFTWEB INC, which decides how the information described here is used (the "controller" under the GDPR). Our contact details are at the end of this page.

Using Sowa without an account

• You can browse and print every worksheet without an account and without telling us your name or email address.
• Some settings and, while you are logged out, your list of printed worksheets are kept only in your browser (local storage) and are not sent to us.
• Cloudflare delivers and protects the site. Like any web server, it sees your IP address and browser details to do so.
• Google Analytics counts page views and prints (which worksheet, never a child's name), and Google AdSense shows ads on public pages. In the EEA, the UK and Switzerland, both wait for your answer to the consent message before using cookies. Every ad request is marked as directed at children, so Google shows no personalized ads.
• Analytics and ads never load on the account, family, recording and calendar pages, or in the Sowa app.

Accounts for parents and teachers

To use the family and class features, an adult creates an account with an email address, a user name and a password. The password is stored only as a secure hash. We also keep what you save in your account: printed worksheets, your own books, classes and assignments.

Children's profiles, recordings and photos

• A parent can add children to their account: a first name, a birth date (to suggest the right grade), a four-digit PIN, the site language and a reading goal. The PIN is stored only as a hash. Children never create accounts or give us an email address.
• Recordings: a child can record reading aloud for their parent. The audio is kept in private storage that only the parent's login can open. For reading, the audio is sent to our speech-recognition provider (Groq) to turn it into text, and the text to a language model there to write a short quiz. Reading speed, pauses and quiz answers are shown only to the parent.
• Photos of finished worksheets: before upload, the photo is made smaller and its location data (EXIF) is removed. It is kept in private storage like the recordings. For a dictation, the photo is sent to an image-recognition model (Groq) to read the handwriting and check it.
• We never add the child's name or the parent's email address to what we send these providers. A photo still shows whatever is written on the sheet, such as a name on its Name line.
• Deleting a child's profile deletes their recordings and photos.

Teachers and classes

• A teacher can create a class with the students' names only.
• To connect a student with their family, the teacher enters a parent's email address. We use it only to send that invitation and delete it once the invitation is accepted. The teacher never sees the parent's account details.
• A teacher sees a child's photo only when the child hands in homework that teacher sent.

Email updates

If you sign up for news about new worksheets, we keep your email address, the site language and the date you signed up, and use them only for those emails. The list is for adults only.

Who processes data for us

We don't sell or rent personal information. We share it only with the companies that run parts of the service for us:

• Cloudflare: delivering and protecting the site, and storing files (recordings and photos in private storage).
• MongoDB Atlas: our database.
• Our hosting provider: the servers that run the website and the API.
• Groq: speech and image recognition and reading quizzes, as described above.
• Google: Analytics and AdSense on public pages.
• Our email provider: sending class invitations.

Where the data is processed

FUSION SOFTWEB INC is based in the United States, and our providers may process data in the United States and other countries. We may also disclose information when the law requires it.

Legal bases (GDPR)

We use account, family and class data to provide the service you asked for (performance of a contract). Analytics and advertising cookies and email updates rely on your consent, which you can withdraw at any time. Security logs rely on our legitimate interest in keeping the site safe.

How long we keep it

Account, family and class data is kept until you delete it or ask us to delete your account. Email-list addresses are kept until you unsubscribe. Information kept in your browser stays there until you log out or clear it.

Your choices and rights

• You can delete recordings, photos, printed worksheets, books, classes and children's profiles yourself in your account.
• To get a copy of your data, correct it or delete your whole account, write to us. We answer within one month.
• Parents can review their child's information, have it deleted or stop any further collection at any time, as the US Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) provides.
• If you are in the EEA, the UK or Switzerland, you can also complain to your local data protection authority.

Children's privacy

Sowa is made for children. They can use the worksheets without giving any personal information. Everything about a child is entered and managed by a parent in the parent's account, and we don't knowingly collect personal information directly from a child under 13. If you think a child has given us personal information, write to us and we will delete it.

Security

All traffic uses HTTPS. Passwords and PINs are stored as hashes, and recordings and photos are kept in private storage that needs the parent's login. No system is perfectly secure, so please use a password you don't use anywhere else.

Changes to this policy

When we change this policy, we update the date at the top. We will tell account holders on the site about important changes.

Contact

Questions about privacy, or a request about your data: