Privacy Policy

1. Who We Are

The Rooted Learner (“we,” “us,” or “our”) is an educational resource platform operated by Michelle Pokodner, based in Columbia, Maryland. The website at therootedlearner.com provides teaching resources, teacher tools, consulting services, curated product recommendations, and educational blog content for grades 1–8 educators, schools, and families.

2. Information We Collect

We collect information in the following ways:

Information you provide directly

• Account registration details (name, email address, password)
• Newsletter subscription information (email address)
• Contact form submissions (name, email, message content)
• Purchase and transaction information when buying resources or products
• Any other information you choose to share with us

Information collected automatically

• Device information (browser type, operating system, screen resolution)
• Usage data (pages visited, time spent, navigation patterns)
• IP address and approximate geographic location
• Referring website or search terms that led you to our site
• Cookies and similar tracking technologies (see Section 5)

3. How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect to:

• Provide, maintain, and improve our educational resources and services
• Process your account registration and manage your membership
• Send our weekly newsletter with teaching strategies, free resources, and updates (only if you subscribe)
• Process purchases and deliver digital products
• Respond to your questions, comments, and support requests
• Analyze usage patterns to improve our website and content
• Protect against fraud, abuse, and unauthorized access
• Comply with legal obligations

4. How We Share Your Information

We never sell your personal information. We may share limited information with:

• Service providers who help us operate our website (hosting, email delivery, analytics, payment processing). These providers only access information necessary to perform their services and are bound by confidentiality obligations.
• Payment processors to complete transactions securely. We do not store your full credit card details on our servers.
• Legal authorities when required by law, court order, or to protect the rights, property, or safety of our users or the public.

5. Cookies & Tracking Technologies

We use cookies and similar technologies to:

• Essential cookies: Keep you logged in and remember your preferences
• Analytics cookies: Understand how visitors use our site so we can improve the experience
• Functional cookies: Remember your settings and personalization choices

We do not use advertising or behavioral tracking cookies. You can control cookie preferences through your browser settings. Disabling certain cookies may affect site functionality.

6. Email & Newsletter

When you subscribe to our newsletter, we use your email address solely to send you educational content, teaching strategies, and occasional updates about our resources. Every email includes a clear unsubscribe link. We use a third-party email service provider to deliver our newsletter, and your email address is stored securely on their platform.

We will never add you to our mailing list without your explicit consent.

7. Data Security

We take reasonable technical and organizational measures to protect your personal information, including:

• Encrypted data transmission (HTTPS/TLS) across our entire site
• Secure password hashing for user accounts
• Regular security reviews and updates
• Limited employee access to personal data on a need-to-know basis

While we strive to protect your information, no method of electronic transmission or storage is 100% secure. We encourage you to use a strong, unique password for your account.

8. Children's Privacy

The Rooted Learner is designed for adult educators, school administrators, and parents/caregivers, not for children. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe a child under 13 has provided us with personal information, please contact us immediately and we will promptly delete it.

9. Your Rights & Choices

You have the right to:

• Access the personal information we hold about you
• Correct inaccurate or incomplete information
• Delete your account and associated data
• Unsubscribe from our newsletter at any time
• Opt out of non-essential cookies via your browser settings

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us. We will respond to your request within 30 days.

10. Third-Party Links

Our website may contain links to third-party sites, products, or services (including affiliate links in our Favorites section). We are not responsible for the privacy practices of these external sites. We encourage you to review the privacy policies of any third-party site you visit.

11. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or legal requirements. When we make significant changes, we will update the “Last updated” date at the top of this page. We encourage you to review this policy periodically.

12. FERPA Compliance (Educational Records)

The Rooted Learner is committed to supporting schools in maintaining FERPA (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act) compliance. When our products or services are used in school settings:

• We do not collect, store, or process personally identifiable student education records unless explicitly authorized by the school or district under a signed agreement.
• Any student data processed through AssessAlign or our consulting services is handled in accordance with the school's or district's FERPA obligations.
• We act as a “school official” under FERPA only when a formal agreement (such as a Data Processing Agreement) is in place with the educational institution.
• Schools and districts retain full ownership of their student data at all times.
• Upon termination of services, all student data is deleted within 30 days unless otherwise agreed.

If your school or district requires a Data Processing Agreement (DPA), please contact us.

13. International Users & GDPR

If you are accessing The Rooted Learner from the European Economic Area (EEA) or United Kingdom, you have additional rights under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR):

• Right to access, rectify, erase, or restrict processing of your personal data
• Right to data portability
• Right to object to processing based on legitimate interests
• Right to withdraw consent at any time

Our legal basis for processing your data includes: consent (newsletter subscriptions), contract performance (purchases and account management), and legitimate interests (analytics and site improvement).

To exercise any GDPR rights, contact us at hello@therootedlearner.com. We will respond within 30 days.

14. AI Data Processing & Student Data

Some of our products, including AssessAlign, use artificial intelligence (AI) to generate educational content such as assessment questions, feedback, and instructional suggestions. Here is how we handle data in AI-powered features:

• AI Processing: When AI features are used, relevant educational content (such as standards, learning objectives, or anonymized student response patterns) may be sent to our AI provider for processing.
• Student Data Protection: We never send personally identifiable student information (names, IDs, grades, or demographic data) to AI providers. All data sent for AI processing is anonymized and aggregated.
• AI Provider: We currently use Anthropic's Claude as our primary AI provider. Anthropic does not use data sent through their API to train their models.
• Data Retention: AI-processed data is not stored by our AI providers beyond the immediate request-response cycle.
• Human Review: AI-generated content (such as assessment questions) is designed to be reviewed by educators before use with students.
• Opt-Out: Schools and educators can opt out of AI-powered features at any time without losing access to core functionality.

We are committed to transparency about our AI practices. For detailed technical information about our AI data handling, please see our AI Ethics page.