New Privacy Seal Helps Parents, Teachers, and Schools Identify Privacy Protecting Leaders in EdTech
TODAY's SF Edtech Happy Hour, AI competing with College Grads, Google opening Gemini to children under 13, Sal Khan's new program "Dialogues", and more!
Privacy protection in the EdTech industry is a massive priority for parents, educators, and vendors alike. The rise of AI is creating many new educational opportunities, but it is also increasing privacy risks which is leading to more urgent and visible calls for privacy protection. And yet, it is one of the most difficult topics to address for all involved. For parents and educators, privacy policies are dense, complex, and hard to understand. According to research from NordVPN, it would take 46.6 hours to read the 100 websites most often visited each month in the United States. For EdTech providers, there are a myriad of complex laws that change frequently and new state privacy laws are enacted every year. At Common Sense, we’ve spent years researching the needs of parents and educators and advocating for strong privacy practices and laws. With this work, it has become clear that the current situation is a lose-lose with companies on one side and educators and parents on the other.
Common Sense launched its Privacy Program in 2016 to help address this problem. The goal was to provide a simple, easy to understand rating that parents and educators could use at a glance to understand the privacy practices of the technology tools they are considering. These ratings go beyond simple compliance with privacy laws and focus on the privacy best practices that our research tells us parents and educators care about the most. Today, Common Sense has rated over 8,000 products and more than 90% of these earned either a Warning rating (does not meet our recommendations for privacy and security practices) or a Fail rating (does not have a privacy policy and should not be used).
At the same time, we’ve found that many software companies are well intentioned but struggle to adopt privacy best practices. These vendors do so for a variety of reasons, including the time and effort required, a lack of knowledge, an inability to keep up with changing laws and legal advice that focuses on compliance versus consumer privacy protection.
To address these issues, Common Sense Privacy created its Privacy Seal Program, designed to give parents and educators at a glance confidence that Seal recipients have adopted best practice privacy policies while providing companies with actionable advice and recommendations on what they need to do to implement these best practices.
Seal Requirements
Companies that earn the Seal are evaluated on more than 200 questions about their business and privacy practices. Common Sense Privacy developed a set of 6 dimensions to privacy best practices. These best practices honor and protect a company’s relationship with the user and demonstrate that they will not share or leak their data beyond whatever is needed to fulfill the service or provide the product.
Only products that follow best practices on each of these dimensions can earn the Seal:
No data sales to third parties
No third party marketing using customer data
No targeted advertisements based on personal information
No third-party tracking across websites
No cross-app tracking of user activity
No commercial profiling of users
Many companies have a long way to go in privacy. Almost 90% of the products we’ve reviewed over the years earned either a Warning or a Fail rating. On top of that, we’ve found that many privacy policies are misleading. In the “2023 State of Kids' Privacy” research report, Common Sense found that 73% of the industry was “selling data” without properly disclosing that fact in their privacy policy.
Despite these disappointing statistics, many companies place a heavy emphasis on privacy protection, but don’t always know what it takes to become a leader. Common Sense’ goal is to help these companies strengthen their privacy practices so they can earn the seal. Companies that sign up for the seal program will get a wide range of advice on how they can improve their privacy practices. For example, many companies are not explicitly and transparent about some of their privacy practices. These companies don’t realize that silence creates ambiguity. Common Sense provides guidance on practices that need to be clearly documented in their privacy policies. Once documented in the privacy policy, these become part of the contract with the customer, significantly strengthening the privacy commitments made to the customer.
If you think your company is a leader in privacy best practices, we encourage you to apply for a privacy seal evaluation. We’ll be happy to provide a free evaluation, including guidance on what improvements might be required to earn the seal.
Initial Recipients of the Privacy Seal
The charter recipients of the Privacy Seal include both industry heavyweights like Kahoot!, ClassDojo, Kami, and Prodigy, with a new generation of AI-Native newcomers like MagicSchool, Brisk, and Kira. Common Sense Privacy worked with each of these companies to understand and improve their privacy practices.
Magic School is an excellent example of this. AI provides huge opportunities to enhance education, but it also raises significant concerns around privacy. This is why Magic School has invested heavily in privacy. Common Sense worked with Magic School to explicitly document privacy preserving practices that both increased transparency for parents and educators and formalized the company's ongoing commitment to these practices.
Prodigy Education is another example of a company investing in privacy. Prodigy created separate experiences for educators and parents versus students. They went so far as to create an "age gate," using a separate subdomain for the students with a separate login experience where they don't collect any personal data. In working with Common Sense Privacy, they created a separate student privacy policy to make it absolutely clear how student privacy is protected. This improved transparency, strengthened their privacy practices and made it easy for anyone to understand student protections.
Conclusion
There is no question that privacy is top of mind. A 2023 survey found that 91% of consumers responded that they “want to have control over what marketers can learn about me online”. And privacy is difficult, even for school privacy officers. According to the CoSN 2025 National Student Data Report, 63% of school privacy officers express deep concern about understanding the privacy and security practices of EdTech vendors and 46% a need for guidance on state laws. Our primary goal at Common Sense Privacy is to help protect the privacy of consumers, students, parents, and educators. We believe the Common Sense Privacy Seal is an important step towards that goal by helping to improve transparency while helping companies better understand privacy and improve their practices.
If you’d like to connect with us further on privacy issues, or apply for the seal, you can learn more here!
Thanks for reading Edtech Insiders! To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
Join Edtech Insiders+
If you love Edtech Insiders and want to continue to support our work, consider becoming a paid subscriber! By joining Edtech Insiders+ you receive:
Early access to all Edtech Insiders events. No more sprinting to sign up for our monthly happy hours, edtech summits, and online conferences.
Access to our exclusive WhatsApp channel to connect with the Edtech Insiders community and discuss the latest trends and news in our space.
Access to exclusive member content, including interviews, panels, videos and articles.
All proceeds from subscriptions will help us invest in our podcast, newsletter, events, and community. Our goal is to make Edtech Insiders an enduring and sustainable community offering that connects the edtech ecosystem!
We would be so excited if you decide to join us as a member of Edtech Insiders+.
This edition of the Edtech Insiders Newsletter is sponsored byTuck Advisors.
Since 2017, Tuck Advisors has been a trusted name in Education M&A. Run by serial entrepreneurs with over 25 years of experience in founding, investing in, and selling companies, we believe you deserve M&A advisors who work as hard as you do. Not all LOIs are the same. In fact they are often apples to oranges to cashews! Use our Deal Value Calculator to level set the real value of your LOI.
Join us for another Bay Area Edtech Happy Hour at Barebottle in the sunny Salesforce Park! Co-hosted by our incredible sponsors, Reach Capital, Cooley, Tuck Advisors, Starbridge, and Magic Edtech. We can’t wait to see you there.
Please RSVP if you plan to join us!
Thursday, May 15 4 PM - 6:30 PM PST Barebottle, Salesforce Park
Cooley LLP is the go-to law firm for edtech innovators, from early childhood through workforce. Informed by decades of experience in the education vertical, Cooley created the first edtech practice to provide industry-informed, business-minded counsel to companies and organizations at all stages of the corporate lifecycle. Cooley provides a multidisciplinary approach to client needs, offering seamless collaboration across offices and practices.
To learn more about what Cooley can do for you, reach out to Naomi May.
Young college grads are having a harder time finding jobs, even from top programs. Unemployment is ticking up, and more people are turning to grad school as a backup plan. Experts point to a slow recovery, shifting degree value, and AI reshaping entry-level work.
2. China's 6-Year-Olds Are Getting AI Classes in School—Now 250 CEOs Want the Same for America
Over 250 CEOs from major U.S. companies—including Microsoft, Airbnb, and Uber—are urging states to mandate computer science and AI education in all K–12 schools. They argue this move is essential to maintain America's technological edge and unlock significant economic potential. Research cited in their open letter indicates that even a single CS course can boost a student's future wages by 8%.
Google is expanding access to its Gemini AI chatbot to children under 13 through Family Link-managed accounts. Kids can use Gemini for tasks like homework help or storytime, but parents are advised to discuss AI limitations and can disable access via Family Link. Google assures that children's data won't be used to train AI models, though it cautions that Gemini may still produce unexpected or inappropriate content.
4. As AI Tools Grow, Sal Khan’s Nonprofit Schoolhouse Focuses on Real Human Connection
Sal Khan's nonprofit, Schoolhouse, has launched a new program called Dialogues, connecting teens aged 14–18 for respectful Zoom conversations on complex topics like AI, immigration, and climate change. Unlike traditional debates, the focus is on listening and understanding different perspectives. Over 600 students have participated in more than 2,000 sessions, with many forming Dialogue Clubs to continue these thoughtful discussions.
5. The Professors Are Using ChatGPT, and Some Students Aren’t Happy About It
College professors are adapting to the rise of AI tools like ChatGPT in education. Some educators are embracing these technologies, integrating them into assignments to enhance student learning, while others are implementing strategies to mitigate potential misuse. However, they are being met with mixed reactions from their student bodys.
This edition of The Edtech Insiders Newsletter is sponsored by Starbridge.
Too often, outbound sales in EdTech feels like guesswork. Starbridge surfaces early buying signals - meeting minutes, strategic plans, competitor contract expiration dates, and RFPs - to help your team build an accurate, predictable pipeline. See why revenue teams at Collegevine, Amira learning, and Kiddom rely on Starbridge for predictable EdTech growth.
We have had some amazing guests on The Edtech Insiders Podcast in the last few weeks. One of our stand-out interviews from this past week is with Mike Yates, Senior Designer at Teach for America's Reinvention Lab, with over a decade of experience at the intersection of technology and learning.
Here’s a deep dive on our interview with Mike, and we encourage you to give the full episode a listen for more!
The Reinvention Lab and Teacher-Centered Innovation
Mike Yates discusses his journey to joining Teach For America’s Reinvention Lab, an R&D initiative focused on pushing the organization toward the future of learning. The Lab supports teacher-led innovation and helps educators build new tools and programs.
The Reinvention Lab is Teach for America's R&D arm. We exist to... build new products and programs to push Teach for America into the future of learning. And what's beautiful about our setup right now is that... the organization’s like, please, here’s our max—push. So it’s a fun place to be right now. - Mike Yates
Demystifying AI for Educators
Mike emphasizes the importance of bringing AI to the “human level” for teachers—cutting through the hype and making it accessible and supportive. He highlights how teachers are overwhelmed and need practical, in-person training to understand and adopt AI.
They want this whole like hodgepodge conversation around AI to be demystified... And the second thing that they were asking for is actually straight up support... They’re like, please tell me in my schedule of being counselor, doctor, lawyer, sometimes teacher, parent, when do I fit this AI training in? - Mike Yates
Building AI Tools That Reflect Human Interests
Teachers get most excited when building AI tools that reflect their personal interests or playfulness, not necessarily tied directly to their roles. Mike shares examples of educators creating creative or whimsical tools that connect them with their human side.
What I know is that the solutions that people have been the most excited about building... have often been solutions that have nothing to do with their job... it’s tapping into the part of herself that is most human... You can be you on this train. - Mike Yates
From Consumers to Creators – The Hackathon Model
Mike, along with Yusef Mitha, co-developed the AI hackathon model with PlayLab to turn teachers and students into creators. These hands-on events emphasize building practical tools and learning through action, introducing the concept of “AI dexterity.”
We built the Play Lab hackathon structure... We watched a student, an educator, and a former Twitter software engineer build a video tool... it was magical... And then it was about anchoring around this idea of what we call AI dexterity... AI is just another tool in your tool belt. - Mike Yates
AI as Adversary and the Poetry Slam Concept
Mike introduces the idea of AI as an adversary, using play and challenge to engage learners. This led to innovative workshops like AI Poetry Slams that explore AI ethics creatively. He argues that a slightly rebellious, playful approach increases engagement and learning.
What if you create the idea of AI as adversary, as a way to help [teachers] learn?... The Poetry Slam was something we just tried... One person said, ‘I wasn’t gonna read my poem, but as I challenged this bot, I realized I have a voice and I’m gonna make it heard.’ - Mike Yates
Curious to Learn More?
You can listen to our full interview with Mike, as well as interviews with many other edtech founders, investors, and thought leaders at The Edtech Insiders Podcast! Check it out, and as always, we’d love to hear what you think!
