Privacy Policy

1.Who we are & scope

This Privacy Policy explains how Chalkmark.school, a product operated by Teche Center ("Chalkmark.school", "we", "us"), handles information in connection with the Chalkmark.school website, applications, and services (the "Service"). It applies to all users of the Service and should be read together with our Terms & Conditions. By using the Service, you agree to this Policy.

2.Information we collect

You decide what to enter into the Service. Please do not submit sensitive personal information that is not necessary, and do not enter information about other people (including students) unless you are permitted to do so and have any required consents.

3.How we use information

• To provide, operate, maintain, and secure the Service and your Account;
• To authenticate you and send one-time passwords and service messages;
• To process signups, subscriptions, wallet balances, and payments;
• To generate AI output in response to your inputs;
• To monitor usage, prevent fraud and abuse, and enforce our Terms;
• To provide support and respond to your requests;
• To analyse and improve the Service, features, and reliability;
• To comply with legal obligations and protect our rights.

4.Legal bases

Where applicable law requires a legal basis, we rely on: performance of our contract with you (to provide the Service); your consent (e.g., for certain messaging); our legitimate interests (e.g., security, improvement, and fraud prevention); and compliance with legal obligations. Where we rely on consent, you may withdraw it at any time without affecting prior processing.

5.AI processing

Certain features send your prompts and related content to third-party AI providers (for example, Google Gemini) to generate output. This means the content you submit to AI features is transmitted to and processed by those providers, subject to their terms and privacy practices. Do not submit confidential or sensitive information to AI features that you would not want processed by a third party. We do not control how third-party AI providers use data submitted to them, and you use these features at your discretion.

6.Messaging & OTP

We use messaging providers (for example, WhatsApp / Meta) to deliver one-time passwords and account-related messages to the phone number you provide. Delivery depends on those providers and on your number being reachable. Your interactions with those providers are subject to their terms and privacy policies.

7.Payments

Payments are processed by third-party payment service providers (for example, Razorpay) and associated commerce systems. We receive transaction confirmations and limited details (such as amount, status, and a payment reference) but do not collect or store full payment-card numbers. Your payment information is handled in accordance with the processor's terms and privacy policy.

8.Cookies & similar technologies

We and our providers use cookies, local storage, and similar technologies to keep you signed in, remember preferences, secure the Service, and understand usage. Essential technologies are required for the Service to function. You can control non-essential cookies through your browser settings; disabling some may affect functionality. On this Service that storage is small and functional: the sign-in token that keeps you logged in, and remembered choices such as your dictation language, a referral or partner code you arrived with, and whether you have dismissed the install or reminder prompts. We do not use advertising cookies.

9.How we share information

We do not sell your personal information. We share information only as needed:

• Service providers / processors: hosting, AI, messaging, payments, analytics, and similar vendors who process information on our behalf;
• Legal & safety: to comply with law, legal process, or lawful requests, and to protect the rights, safety, and property of Chalkmark.school, our users, or others;
• Business transfers: in connection with a merger, acquisition, financing, or sale of assets, your information may be transferred subject to this Policy;
• With your direction: where you ask us to share or make content available.

10.Data retention

We retain information for as long as your Account is active and as needed to provide the Service, then for any additional period required to comply with legal obligations, resolve disputes, prevent fraud, and enforce our agreements. We may retain de-identified or aggregated data indefinitely. You are responsible for keeping your own copies of important content; we are not a backup service and may delete data following account closure.

11.Security

We apply reasonable technical and organisational measures designed to protect information, such as encryption in transit, hashed passwords, access controls, and restricted internal access.

12.International transfers

Our providers may process information in countries other than yours, which may have different data-protection laws. Where we transfer information, we take steps intended to ensure appropriate protection consistent with applicable law. By using the Service, you acknowledge that information may be processed outside your country.

13.Your rights & choices

Subject to applicable law, you may have the right to access, correct, update, or delete your personal information, to object to or restrict certain processing, to withdraw consent, and to request a copy of certain data. You can update much of your information within the Service, or contact us at contact@techecenter.com. We will respond as required by applicable law. We may need to verify your identity before acting on a request, and some data may be retained where permitted or required.

14.Students & minors

The Service is intended for teachers and is not directed to children. We do not knowingly collect personal information directly from children. If you choose to enter information about students or other individuals, you are solely responsible for having a lawful basis and any required consents, and for complying with applicable laws and your institution's policies. If you believe a minor has provided us personal information directly, contact us and we will take appropriate steps. Where you enter a class register, section 19 sets out exactly what is stored and how to remove it.

15.Third-party links

The Service may contain links to third-party sites and services that we do not control. This Policy does not apply to them. Please review the privacy policies of any third-party services you use.

16.Notifications and reminders

If you switch on browser notifications, Chalkmark can remind you at the end of a period on your timetable to write up what you actually covered. This is off until you turn it on.

• What we store: the push subscription your browser creates - an address at your browser vendor's push service and two keys that let us encrypt a message to it - along with the browser's user-agent string and when it was created.
• What we send: the class, subject and period number, and a prompt to record the lesson. Treat it as you would anything else that appears on a lock screen.
• Who else is involved: delivery goes through your browser vendor's push service - Google for Chrome and most Android browsers, and Microsoft, Mozilla or Apple for theirs. The message content is encrypted so that only your browser can read it, but that service does see that a message was addressed to your device, and when.
• How to stop it: My Account → Period reminders → Turn off, or revoke the notification permission in your browser's site settings. Turning it off deletes the subscription. We also delete it by ourselves when the push service tells us that browser is gone.
• What it costs: nothing. Reminders are not charged to your wallet, and we do not use notifications for marketing.

17.Voice input (dictation)

The lesson write-up card has a Speak button, so you can say what you covered instead of typing it. It is optional and does nothing until you press it.

• How it works: it uses the speech recognition built into your browser, not a Chalkmark service. In Chrome the audio is sent to Google's speech service to be turned into text. That happens between your browser and Google; we neither request the audio nor receive it.
• What we store: only the text that comes back, and only if you keep it - it goes into your write-up note exactly like typed text. Chalkmark never records, receives or stores the audio itself.
• Your control: your browser asks for microphone permission and you can refuse or revoke it at any time; the button then simply does not work. Everything you can dictate you can also type.
• A word of care: do not dictate anything about a student that you would not be willing to type into the same box.

18.Devices, sharing and referrals

Some features involve a second device, or another teacher. Each one is listed here so that you know exactly what leaves your account, and what does not.

• Linked devices and QR sign-in: signing in by scanning a QR code creates a session record - the device and browser it came from, when it was created and when it was last used - so that you can see every signed-in device under Linked Devices and revoke any of them. The one-time password that confirms it is sent as described in the messaging section.
• Phone as a projector remote: pairing a phone to drive a slide deck creates a short-lived session identified by a random code. It carries slide commands only, and it expires.
• Sharing with another teacher: when you send a teaching page or a set of notes to a colleague, they receive a copy of that content. You choose what to send and to whom.
• Handing over a class (substitution): when you hand classes to a colleague while you are away, the colleague you name can see the teaching pages, syllabus and topics for the classes and dates you set, and what they teach is recorded against that handover so that you can read it when you return. You set the scope and the dates, and it ends when they do.
• Referral links: your referral code identifies you when a teacher signs up through your link. We record which account joined with which code, and show you how many have. The teacher you invited is not told anything about your account beyond the code itself.
• Partner and salesperson links: if you arrive through such a link, the code is stored in your browser and recorded against your signup so that commission can be calculated. It identifies the partner, not you, to that partner.
• Your teaching record: closing out a period stores what you taught, when, whether it matched the plan, any homework set and any note you add. It is yours. It is not shared with a school, a department or any authority - see the section on students and minors for the wider point.

19.Class lists and student records

Courses & Sections lets a teacher keep a register for each section they teach. It is optional: if you never open that screen, nothing described here is stored about anyone.

• What we store: for each student you add to a section, a roll number (optional), a name, and — only if you choose to enter them — an email address and a phone number. They are stored exactly as you type or paste them. We do not add anything to them and we do not obtain them from anywhere else.
• Why: so that the register is there when you need it, against the right section, on whatever device you sign in from.
• Who can see it: only you, signed in to your own account. It is not shown to other teachers, it is not sent to a college, department, school or authority, and it is not part of anything you share or hand over under section 18.
• It is never sent to the AI: class lists are not included in prompts to our AI provider and are not used to train any model. See section 5.
• Removing it: deleting a student removes that record; deleting a section or a course removes the register with it. Everything goes when your account is deleted, on the timetable in section 10.

These are other people's details, not yours. As set out in section 14, you are solely responsible for having a lawful basis and any required consents before entering them, and for following your institution's rules. Please enter only what you actually need — a roll number and a name are enough for a register, and an email address or phone number is not required. If a student asks what is held about them, or asks for it to be corrected or removed, you can see and change all of it yourself on the Courses & Sections screen; we hold it on your behalf and will help you if you ask.

20.Changes to this policy

We may update this Policy from time to time. The "Last updated" date shows the latest version, and material changes may be communicated through the Service or by other reasonable means. Your continued use of the Service after changes take effect constitutes acceptance of the updated Policy.

21.Contact

For privacy questions or requests, contact us at contact@techecenter.com. Chalkmark.school is a product of Teche Center.