EFFECTIVE JANUARY 1, 2023 in California; EFFECTIVE JULY 1, 2023 everywhere (replaces the former Student Privacy Notice), RENEWED JULY 1, 2024


  • Practice makes progress.
  • You will make mistakes.
  • It’s okay to make mistakes.
  • Your mistakes should not haunt you.
  • It is okay to say: “I don’t want everyone to know I’m online.”
  • You should know how companies use what they know about you.


UNDERSTANDING THIS NOTICE

This document uses some regular words in special ways. Words in " " have definitions unique to this document. When a word has a special definition, we put the word in " " and then tell you the special meaning.


WHO IS A TEACHER

A “Teacher” is the adult who assigned you the Boom Cards. A Teacher might be a

  • teacher,
  • parent,
  • tutor, or
  • therapist.

WHO IS A PARENT AND HOW DO WE TALK TO PARENTS

A “Parent,” is your parent or legal guardian. 


WE ARE HERE TO GIVE YOU A FUN WAY TO LEARN

When you play Boom Cards, we tell your Teacher how you did and how long it took. We usually tell you how you did. When you finish, check your work. Then go practice to do better!  We collect information that we need to let your Teacher know how you did and what you did. We have a detailed list of what we collect here:  Data Elements.


WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT YOU

In addition to knowing how you did on Boom Cards, we also know

  • Your nickname.
  • Your Email Address if your school uses an email login method.
  • Your Avatar.
  • When you logged in last.
  • Your browser and IP address.


WHO WE SHARE WITH

We share what we know about you with

  • You
  • Your Teachers.
  • Your School.
  • Our Subprocessors (who promise not to look at it).
  • Sometimes your classmates (just your nickname).


HOW WE USE WHAT WE KNOW

We also use what we know about you to

  • Protect Boom Learning from break ins.
  • Protect Boom Learning and its users from mischief.
  • Make Boom Cards better.
  • Make suggestions to your Teacher for additional Boom Cards you might like.


ASK YOUR TEACHER FOR HELP

Tell your Teacher how you learn best. Sometimes you just need to practice in a different way. Other times, you need a different explanation. There are no stupid questions when learning.


Ask your Teacher for help if you have trouble using Boom Cards. Your Parent should also ask your Teacher for help. If the problem is tricky, your Teacher will ask us for help directly. We are not allowed to talk to you directly. If you contact us, we will tell your Teacher and ask your Teacher to find out what you need so we can help your Teacher help you.


HOW WE HELP YOUR TEACHER

We can help your Teacher to:

  • Reset your password,
  • Help you log into your account,
  • Make sure your Boom Cards are working right, and
  • Make sure the Boom Cards are good for how old you are.

WAYS YOUR TEACHER CAN CHANGE WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT YOU

You have the right to say what happens with your information. Ask your Teacher for help if you>

  • Don’t want us to know about you,
  • Want to see what we know about you,
  • Want us to delete what we know about you, or
  • Need to fix information that is wrong.


STAY SAFE

We work with your Teacher to keep you safe. Your Teacher has rules for Boom Cards. These rules protect you. Please listen to your Teacher and do what your Teacher says. 


There are two rules for being safe when using Boom Cards:

  • NEVER GIVE YOUR PASSWORD TO ANYONE WHO IS NOT A TEACHER OR PARENT.
  • NEVER USE ANYONE ELSE’S BOOM CARDS ACCOUNT.

Breaking these rules can get you in trouble.


You can help protect yourself and your classmates, too. Ask your Teacher about passwords and how they help protect you.


SIGNING IN

You can sign in to Boom Cards in many ways. You can sign in using a Boom Cards username and password. You can sign-in with a "third-party" sign in service. A "third-party" is someone who is not Boom Learning. Some third-parties you can use are 

  • Google
  • Microsoft
  • Clever
  • Classlink
  • Canvas

If you sign-in with a third-party, that third-party knows stuff about you. Your Teacher should tell you and your Parent about what the third-party knows about you.


WHEN WE KNOW WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT YOU

If your Teacher assigns you a FastPlay, we won’t know anything about you. Your Teacher will only know how you did if you take a screenshot when you finish playing and show it to your Teacher.

All other ways of playing Boom Cards keep a record of how you did. We share that record with your Teacher. Most ways of playing also share that record with you. Your teacher decides how to assign Boom Cards to you. If you want your Teacher to delete how you did because of a mistake or error, ask your Teacher to do that.


CLASSROOM ROSTERS

Your Teacher’s Boom Cards classroom has a roster. The roster shows your nickname to the whole class. You can ask your Teacher to hide the roster to keep your nickname private. Your Parent can also ask your Teacher to hide the roster. All the other information we collect is seen only by you and your Teachers.  Teachers can “share” students with other Teachers. All Teachers can see all information about shared students.


HOW YOUR PARENTS CAN KNOW HOW YOU DID

Parents can look at your dashboard. Parents can also become a Teacher by opening a Boom Cards account. The Parent will also need to purchase the Boom Card deck they want to see a Teacher view for. If they buy the deck, you can keep playing it by having your Parent assign it to you. 


WHAT HAPPENS IF WE GET A NEW OWNER

Someday we might change who owns Boom Learning. If we do, the new owner must agree to all the same promises we have made to you.


A WORD ABOUT ADVERTISEMENTS AND YOUTUBE

We think school is hard enough without being distracted by ads. We don't use what we know about you to show you ads. We don't sell what we know about you to other people. Boom Store Authors are not supposed to put ads in Boom Cards decks. 


Some Boom Cards contain videos. You love videos. Your teachers love videos. For some reason, you all really like YouTube videos. YouTube likes to show you ads. YouTube also likes to know what you are watching. It keeps track of what you like in a “cookie”. Not a cookie you can eat. YouTube uses what it learned about you to show you ads for things it thinks you would like.


We no longer allow YouTube videos in new Boom Cards sold in our store. Boom Cards in our store made before July 1, 2021 may contain YouTube videos. Newer Boom Cards sold in our store are only allowed to contain Vimeo videos.


Some schools allow YouTube videos. Your Teacher can choose to put a YouTube video in Boom Cards your Teacher makes. Your Teacher is responsible for making sure that the video follows school rules. Your teacher can also include videos from Vimeo.


If you are not sure about a video, talk to your Teacher about your options. If you, your Teacher, or your parents don’t trust the video provider with your information, you can

  • Skip the card with the video
  • Ask your Teacher to Hide the video.
  • Ask your Teacher for the URL to play the video and then play the video in Incognito or Private mode in your browser. Ask your Teacher or Parent how to do this.


WHERE WE KEEP YOUR INFORMATION

Your information is stored in the United States. We "encrypt" your information. To encrypt is like playing spy to make it hard for a thief to steal what we know about you. We scramble everything so it does not look like regular words. Even if someone steals what we know about you, they would have to "decrypt" or break the code to understand it. We encrypt what we know about you when stored on a drive and when moving back and forth ("in motion"). You or any adult can find out more about the companies that host our data in our Subprocessor Disclosure. 


WHEN WE DELETE YOUR INFORMATION AND HOW TO GET A COPY

When your Teacher tells us to. Your Teacher can delete your score history and even your account. Deletion is forever. It cannot be undone.


When your Teacher stops using Boom Cards. If Teacher stops using Boom Cards, we will delete your history. We give your Teacher a grace period in case they just forgot to keep using Boom Cards. When the grace period expires, we schedule deletion.


If you want to keep your play history but your Teacher does not, you must ask your Parent to create a Teacher Boom Cards account (the account is free). Your Parent must ask your Teacher to "share" you with your Parent. This article explains how to Share Students. Then your Parent must purchase the Boom Cards decks for which you wish to see your history. You will also be able to play the deck again.


WHAT IF THE POLICE WANT MY INFORMATION?

If the police want your information, we must give it to them if a court says we must. If that happens, we will tell your Teacher if we are allowed to by the court. The Teacher will tell you and your Parent if allowed to by the court, by law, and by school rules. If we believe you have committed a crime, we can report you to the police.


WHAT IF SOMEONE TAKES MY INFORMATION

If someone takes your information without permission, that is called a “security incident”. If we learn about a security incident that affects the information we have about you in a way that could be harmful to you, we will tell your Teacher. 


Sometimes security incidents happen inside a school. In that case, you will learn about it from your Teacher. Your Teacher may or may not tell us. An example of a school security incident is when another student takes your password and logs in as you. Your school will handle that security incident.