Privacy — the plain-English version

What is StoryJar?

StoryJar is a place where your child's teacher keeps a journal of the lovely things your child makes at school — photos, drawings and their own words.

What does it know about my child?

Only their first name and the work they make. That's it. No surname, no birthday, no address, no email. Your child never has a login or password — they sign in by tapping their name on the class iPad.

We hold as little about you as we do about them. See below.

Who can see my child's work?

• Their teacher (and other staff who teach their class).
• You, if the school links you — and only your own child, and only things the teacher has approved.

Nothing your child makes is shown to anyone until their teacher has checked and approved it. It is never public. Other families cannot see your child.

Can I message the teacher?

If your school has switched it on, yes. Under your child's jar there is a box where you can write to their class teacher, and the teacher can write back. A few things to know:

• Messages only travel in school hours, and the school chooses those hours. If you write at nine in the evening, we tell you the day and time the teacher will get it. The teacher's replies are held to the same hours, so nobody is expected to answer at night.
• It is not for emergencies. If your child is unwell or you need the school now, phone the school office. It says so above the box every time.
• You can always see who can read it. The names of the staff who can see the conversation are at the top of it. Sometimes that is more than one person — a job-share teacher, say — and the school decides who.
• Your child never sees it. It is between you and the school, and nothing from it goes in the jar.
• We do not email you about it. New replies show up in your family space, with a count on your child's name. Nothing is sent to your inbox or your phone.
• What you write is kept with your child's record at the school, for as long as that is, and the school can close a conversation if it needs to.

How do I get in, and what does StoryJar know about me?

The school sends home a letter with a family code. You type that code at the family page and you are in. There is no password and nothing to pay.

We ask the school for your code, not for you. StoryJar is not told your name, your email address or your phone number, and your child's teacher has nowhere to type them even if they wanted to. So unless you tell us yourself, all we hold about you is that somebody in your household has a code for your child.

Once you are signed in you can choose to add your email address, if you would rather be sent a one-tap link than keep the letter. We only ever use it to send you that link. You can clear it whenever you like and we will stop holding it. We will never email you something you did not ask for.

If you have more than one child using StoryJar, sign in with one code, then add the other child's code in Your family space. Both children will then sit behind the same sign-in, even if they are in different classes.

If your letter goes astray, or you would rather nobody at home had a code, ask at the school office. They can send a new code, which stops the old one working straight away, or take the access away altogether. When the last child linked to a code is removed, everything we hold about that family space is deleted.

Is it safe?

Yes — safety is the whole point. Your child's photos, drawings and voice notes are kept private and protected, stored on servers in Europe (Amsterdam, in the Netherlands), and we never use them for adverts or tracking.

What if I want to see it, or ask for it to be removed?

Just speak to your child's school — they're in charge of the data and can show you, download it, or have it deleted.

Read the full Privacy Policy for all the detail.