Privacy policy

Who we are, and what this policy covers

SATShield is made by G SHARP INC. This policy covers the SATShield iPhone app, the parent dashboard at dashboard.satshield.app, and this website.

SATShield keeps a chosen set of apps on a student's device shielded until the student completes a short SAT vocabulary session. The sections below describe exactly what the app stores, what it deliberately does not, and who can see it.

What does the app store?

When the app is first opened it creates an anonymous account. That account has no name, no email address and no phone number. It is only an identifier that lets study data belong to one device rather than another. Against that account we store:

• The vocabulary words shown, and the multiple-choice answers given.
• Sentences the student writes. When the student writes an original sentence using a word, that sentence is sent to our server to be evaluated for correct usage, and is stored along with the result and the feedback shown.
• Disagreements with a grade. If the student thinks a sentence was graded wrongly they can say so from the screen showing the grade, in their own words. What they write is stored against that grade so it can be reviewed and the grading rules improved. Disputing a grade never changes it.
• Study progress: which words have been seen, how well each is known, when sessions were completed, and how much unlock time was earned.
• The device's time zone.
• When the app was last opened, together with the app's build number and iOS version. This is what lets a parent see that a paired device is still checking in, and lets us tell which release a problem belongs to. It identifies a version, never a location: no address is recorded, and none is derived from one.

What does the app not collect?

SATShield also does not collect or use:

• Location, contacts, photos, the camera, the microphone, or health data.
• Advertising identifiers. There is no advertising in the app.
• Third-party analytics, crash reporting, or tracking of any kind.

We do not sell personal information, we do not share it with data brokers, and we do not use it to track anyone across other apps or websites.

What can a parent see and change?

A parent can link a child's device to a parent account by entering a pairing code shown on the device. Pairing is what gives a parent access; it cannot be done remotely or without someone entering that code on the device itself.

Once paired, the parent can:

• See the child's study progress and the sentences the child has written.
• Shield everything. A parent can override the app selection made on the device so that everything in it stays shielded. This is enforced from the device's stored copy of the policy, so it takes effect the next time SATShield is opened rather than straight away.
• Set the time of day the shield returns. An earned unlock runs until that time: midnight by default, which means the rest of the day. Changing it does not shorten an unlock the student has already earned. Neither a parent nor a student sets how long an unlock lasts; only when it ends.

Nothing about the session itself can be configured. How many words a session asks for, and whether it asks the student to write an original sentence, are decided by the app and are the same for everyone.

A parent signs in to the dashboard with their email address, which is used only to sign them in. A parent cannot choose which apps are shielded, and cannot see which apps are shielded.

How do subscriptions and purchases work?

SATShield is sold by G SHARP INC as an App Store subscription.Apple handles every purchase: payment details, billing, any free trial, Ask to Buy, Family Sharing, renewals, cancellations and refunds all happen in the App Store, under Apple's terms. We never see a card number, a billing address, or the name or email address of the Apple ID that paid.

What we do store about a subscription is what Apple tells us about it:

• Apple's identifiers for the subscription and its transactions, the product bought, when it expires, whether Apple is retrying a failed charge, whether it was refunded or revoked, whether it was shared through Family Sharing, and whether it was a real purchase or one made in Apple's test environment.
• Which anonymous accounts it covers. When the app shows Apple's proof of a subscription, the subscription is recorded against that device's account. When a purchase is made in the app, its anonymous account identifier is attached to the purchase so that Apple's later notifications about it can be matched to it.

A paired parent can see whether the child's device is subscribed, in a free trial, in Apple's billing grace, or no longer subscribed, and the dates that go with it. A parent cannot buy, change or cancel a subscription from the dashboard.

Why do we store this?

Study data is stored so the app can work: so a session can be scored, so an unlock can be earned and honoured, so words are repeated on a schedule that reflects how well they are known, and so a paired parent can see progress. It is not used for advertising, profiling, or any purpose unrelated to studying. Subscription records are stored so the app knows whether a device is subscribed.

Where is it stored, and who processes it?

Data is stored in a hosted Supabase project, which hosts the database on our behalf. Sentences submitted for evaluation are sent toAnthropic solely to grade that sentence and return feedback. Purchases are processed by Apple, which sends us the subscription records described above.

Only the target word, its definition, its acceptable parts of speech, the example sentence shown on screen, and the student's own sentence are sent for grading. No account identifier, no session identifier and nothing else identifying the student is included. All network traffic uses HTTPS.

What does this website collect?

• Email: if you email us, your address and whatever you choose to include in your message.
• Analytics: Cloudflare Web Analytics, which does not use cookies or track you across sites.

We use these to reply to your messages and to understand which pages are useful. The website is hosted by Cloudflare, sets no tracking cookies and has no advertising trackers. Messages you send us are kept for up to 24 months.

Children's privacy

SATShield is intended for students preparing for the SAT, typically high-school age, and for parents managing such a student's device. This website is intended for parents, guardians and educators. Neither is directed at children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13; if you believe we have, email us and we'll delete it.

Where a parent manages a child's device, the parent can view and delete that child's study data as described below.

How long is data kept, and how is it deleted?

Study data is kept while the account exists. Deleting the app from the device does not by itself delete data already stored on the server. To have an account and all of its study data deleted, contact us at the address below and we will delete it.

Changes to this policy

If this policy changes materially, the date at the top of this page will change. Continued use of the app after that reflects the updated policy.

Contact

Questions about this policy, or requests to access, correct or delete data:hello@satshield.app