Kova Privacy Policy
Kova Technologies Inc. (“Kova,” “we,” “us”) collects information to run Kova and to improve it for instructors and students. We don’t sell personal information, we don’t use it for advertising, and we don’t use your content, including student work and course materials, to train AI models.
This policy covers kovaedu.com and the Kova platform, where instructors build and assign learning activities, such as quizzes, branching simulations, and team exercises, and students complete them. It applies to everyone who visits the site or uses the platform, including instructors, students, and administrators (“you”).
Sometimes a school, university, or other organization gives its people access to Kova under an agreement with us. In that case, the organization controls the information in its courses, and we handle it on its behalf. The Schools and organizations section explains how that works. If the organization’s agreement with us differs from this policy, the agreement controls.
The short version
- We collect what we need to run Kova: account details, the course materials instructors upload, and the work students do in activities.
- Instructors see the work of students in their courses. Students see only what’s shared with them, like a team activity.
- We use outside AI providers to power Kova’s features. They process data only to send results back to us and can’t use it to train their models.
- We don’t sell personal information or use it for ads.
- You can ask to see, correct, or delete your information. If you use Kova through a school, start with your school.
Information we collect
We collect the information you give us, the work you do in Kova, and basic technical data about how you use it.
Information you give us
- Account details: your name, email address, password, school or organization, and role, such as instructor or student. If you sign in through your school’s single sign-on, your school sends us your name, email, and an account identifier instead of a password.
- Optional profile details: students can add details like their major and interests so activities can be tailored to them.
- Course materials: slides, readings, and files instructors add to Kova. We store slides used in live sessions and files uploaded to writing workshops. Material uploaded only to generate an activity is used to build that activity and is not stored afterward.
- Student work: answers, writing, drawings and uploaded files, choices in simulations, poll responses, board posts, team activity work, and conversations with Kova’s AI characters and tutors.
- Grades and feedback: scores and comments from instructors or from Kova’s AI grading.
- Messages to us: anything you send when you email us or give feedback.
- Payment details: if you buy Kova online, our payment processor collects your payment information. We never see or store full card numbers.
Information from other sources
- Canvas: if an instructor connects a Canvas course, we receive the course list and class roster, including student names and emails, and we send assignments and grades back to Canvas.
- Public sources: we may collect educators’ work contact details, like name, title, and school email, from public sources such as university websites, to tell them about Kova.
Information collected automatically
- Usage and device data: IP address, browser and device type, pages and features used, and when you use them.
- Academic integrity signals: when an instructor uses Kova’s integrity features, we record signals such as a student leaving an activity window or pasting text, and share them with that instructor.
- Cookies: see Cookies below.
How we use information
We use information to run Kova, tailor it to each student, and keep it secure. Specifically, we use it to:
- Run the platform: create accounts, let instructors build and assign activities, deliver activities to students, and save their work.
- Tailor activities: adapt activities to each student’s choices, level, major, and interests.
- Power AI features: generate activities, run simulations and AI characters, answer questions from course materials, and suggest grades and feedback.
- Report progress: show instructors results, grades, and analytics for their courses, and sync grades to Canvas when it’s connected.
- Support you: answer questions, fix problems, and send messages about your account and the service.
- Tell instructors about Kova: send occasional updates about new features. You can unsubscribe anytime.
- Improve Kova: find bugs and see which features work, using de-identified or aggregated data wherever we can.
- Keep Kova safe: prevent fraud, abuse, and security incidents, and enforce our terms.
- Follow the law: meet legal obligations and respond to valid legal requests.
What we don’t do
- We don’t sell personal information.
- We don’t use personal information for targeted advertising.
- We don’t use student information to market to students or to build profiles for non-educational purposes.
- We don’t train AI models on course materials, student work, or anything else you add to Kova.
How Kova uses AI
Kova’s AI features run on models from Anthropic, and Anthropic doesn’t use Kova data to train its models.
When you use an AI feature, we send the information that feature needs to Anthropic to generate a response. Depending on the feature, that can include the activity’s instructions, course materials the instructor chose, and a student’s answers and messages. Anthropic processes this data only to return results to us, under terms that bar it from training on the data. It may keep the data for a limited time for safety and legal reasons.
- AI characters and tutors: the characters in Kova simulations and the tutors that answer course questions are AI, not people. They can make mistakes, so check anything important.
- AI grading: Kova can suggest scores and feedback on student work. Instructors choose whether to use it, can review what it suggests, and stay responsible for final grades.
If we add or change AI providers, we’ll update the provider list under How we share information.
How we share information
We share information with the people in your courses and the companies that help us run Kova. Beyond that, we share it only when the law requires it or you direct us to.
People in your courses
- Instructors see the work, grades, and results of students in their courses, plus integrity signals when those features are on.
- Classmates see what you share in shared spaces, like team activities, peer review, deliberations, and live boards. Depending on how an activity is set up, they may see your name with it.
- Your school or organization, if it provides Kova to you, may have administrators who can see information in its courses.
Companies that help us run Kova
These providers handle personal information for us. Our agreements with them let them use it only to provide their services to us.
| Provider | What they do for us |
|---|---|
| Supabase | Stores Kova’s database and files, and handles sign-in |
| Vercel | Hosts our website and app |
| Anthropic | Runs the AI models behind Kova’s AI features |
| Microsoft | Runs our email |
Other cases
- At your direction: for example, when an instructor connects Canvas, we send assignments and grades to that Canvas course.
- Legal reasons: to follow the law or valid legal process, or to protect the safety and rights of our users, Kova, or others. If we get a legal request for a school’s student data, we’ll tell the school first unless the law bars us.
- Business transfers: if Kova merges, is acquired, or sells its assets, information may move to the new owner. The new owner must keep the promises in this policy for information collected under it.
- De-identified data: we may share aggregated or de-identified information that can’t reasonably identify anyone, like overall usage trends. We won’t try to re-identify it, and we require anyone who receives it not to either.
Schools and organizations
When a school or organization provides Kova to its people under an agreement with us, it controls the information in its courses, and we act as its service provider.
- Our role: the school or organization decides what goes into Kova and how it’s used. We use that information only to provide Kova to it, as this policy and our agreement describe.
- FERPA: for schools covered by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, we act as a “school official” with a legitimate educational interest. The school keeps direct control over how we use and maintain education records, and we don’t disclose them except as FERPA and the school allow.
- Other organizations: nonprofits and employers that use Kova, for example for staff training, control their information the same way under their agreements with us.
- Requests: if you use Kova through a school or organization and want to see, correct, or delete your information, contact it first. We’ll help it respond, and if you write to us directly, we’ll pass your request along.
- When an agreement ends: we return or delete the organization’s information as the agreement requires.
Children
Kova isn’t meant for children under 13, and we don’t knowingly collect their personal information.
Kova is built for college students, instructors, and adults in professional training. An organization that wants to use Kova with K-12 students or youth program members must first agree with us in writing on how that will work, including any parental consent the law requires. If we learn that we’ve collected personal information from a child under 13 without that consent, we’ll delete it. If you think that’s happened, email privacy@kovaedu.com.
Keeping and deleting data
We keep your information while your account is open and delete it within 30 days after you close your account or ask us to delete it.
- Courses provided by a school or organization: we keep and delete that information as the organization’s agreement and instructions say.
- Backups: deleted information can remain in our backups for up to 30 more days, until those backups expire.
- Exceptions: we may keep some information longer if the law requires it or to resolve disputes. We may also keep de-identified information that can’t identify anyone.
Security
We protect information with encryption, access controls, and limits on who at Kova can see it.
- Encryption: information is encrypted in transit and at rest.
- Access controls: our database checks every request against row-level security rules, so each user reaches only the data they’re allowed to see.
- Passwords: stored as secure hashes, never in plain text.
- Staff access: only team members who need personal information to do their jobs can access it.
- Location: Kova’s data is stored in the United States, in Supabase’s AWS us-east-1 region. Our providers may also process it in other countries under agreements that protect it.
No system is perfectly secure. If a security breach affects your information, we’ll notify you, or the organization that provided Kova, without unreasonable delay and as the law requires.
Your choices and rights
You can ask to see, correct, download, or delete your information by emailing privacy@kovaedu.com.
- See and correct: you can update most account details in Kova, or ask us to.
- Delete: ask us to delete your account and information.
- Download: ask for a copy of your information in a format you can take elsewhere.
- Emails: unsubscribe from product updates with the link in any update email. We’ll still send messages about your account.
- Through a school or organization: start with it, as described under Schools and organizations.
Depending on where you live, you may have more rights under your local law, and we’ll honor them as that law requires. If we deny a request, you can appeal by replying to our decision. We may need to confirm your identity first, and you can use an authorized agent where the law allows. We won’t treat you differently for using any of these rights.
Cookies
We use cookies and similar technology, like your browser’s local storage, to keep you signed in and make Kova work. We may also use basic analytics to understand how people use our website. We don’t use advertising cookies or let ad networks track you on Kova.
You can block or clear cookies in your browser, but parts of Kova, like staying signed in, may stop working. Because we don’t sell your information or use it for targeted ads, we don’t change how Kova works in response to Do Not Track signals.
Changes to this policy
We’ll post changes here and update the date at the top. If a change materially affects how we handle your information, we’ll tell you by email or in Kova before it takes effect. For student information, we won’t make a material change without telling the schools and organizations we work with, and getting their consent where our agreements or the law require it.
Contact us
Email privacy@kovaedu.com with questions or requests, or write to Kova Technologies Inc., 16192 Coastal Highway, Lewes, Delaware 19958.