Privacy Policy

Here is a summary of the most important points from our privacy policy. Please don’t hesitate to read through the full version below.

  • We are GDPR-compliant. Although a set of regulations for the EU, all users, no matter their location, benefit from the GDPR regulations, whose aim is to enhance individuals’ control and rights over their personal data.
  • We are also compliant with COPPA and SOPIPA, various regulatory frameworks to protect the privacy and security of student data. Among other things, it prohibits us from using their information to advertise to them or their families, as well “amassing a profile” on students to be used for non-educational purposes.
  • You have the power to delete your account and all associated data at any time via your Profile page. In addition, upon request by a parent, we can delete all data associated with a student account on Taut’s servers. To do so, please fill in the request to delete student data.
  • Our business model is based on paid Taut subscriptions, not on your data. We do not collect and track data for third-party advertising services, build user ad-ready profiles or display ads.
  • At Taut, we use third-party services that fill a variety of functions (support chat, hosting, analytics, etc.). Data protection agreements are in place for all these services, guaranteeing the privacy and security of users’ data.

We guarantee that your email will not be used for spam or sold onto third-parties. It is purely used for communication purposes between Taut and you. Unsubscribing from newsletters can be done at any time.

Privacy Policy

Latest update: February 17, 2022

Whether you are new to Taut or a long-time user, please take some time to get to know our practices. This Privacy Policy is meant to help you understand how we collect and use the personal information you provide on our website and inside the app. This policy explains:

  • What information we collect and why we collect it.
  • How we use and share that information.
  • The choices we offer you to protect your privacy and the rights you have, including how you can access and update your information.
  • How to contact us if you have questions or concerns.

Children’s privacy, GDPR, and COPPA compliance

We take student privacy very seriously at Taut and that is why we are fully GDPR, COPPA, and SOPIPA-compliant for students under the age of 16 provided the student’s school, district and/or teacher has agreed to obtain parental consent for that child to use Taut’s services.

  • We only use personal student information to benefit the learning environment for students and teachers. We do not pass that data onto third parties.
  • Taut will never use any of the student’s data for commercial purposes.
  • No ads will be displayed for students through the Taut platform.

Upon request by a parent, we can delete all data associated with the student account on Taut’s servers. To do so, please fill in the request to delete student data.

What information we collect

We need to collect certain information about you to provide you with the service or the support you request. The type of information we collect can vary depending on how you access and use Taut. Additionally, you can choose to voluntarily provide information to us.

Information you provide to us to use the Service

We collect the information you provide when you sign up for a Taut account, log in to your account, communicate with us, answer our surveys, upload content, or otherwise use the services.

We request your first name, last name, school community status (are you a student, parent, staff member, or a teacher), and email address. Without this information, we are not able to provide you with the service.

Information you provide to enhance your experience

You can choose to provide us with additional information in order to obtain a better user experience when using Taut. This additional information will be processed with your consent and/or to provide you with the services you request. This information includes your survey responses, participation in contests, promotions or other marketing efforts, suggestions for improvements, referrals, or any other actions on Taut.

Information we get automatically when you use Taut

We automatically collect information about you and how you use Taut, like when you create a video, text message, join a Live call, or view and interact with your or other users’ content. This information we collect includes:

Device information

Like most website operators, Taut collects information about how users visit our site and the devices they use. We collect device-specific information (such as your hardware model, operating system version, device identifiers like IDFA and UDID, and mobile network information). Taut may associate your device identifiers or other device information with your Taut account to help us provide consistent services across your devices.

Log information

When you use Taut, we automatically collect and store certain information about this activity. This data includes details of how you used our service, like your search queries, clicks and site navigation information. It also may include data such as:

  • Browser type
  • Referring site, and the date and time of each visitor request
  • Login and logout times
Information we collect from other sources

We also collect some information from other sources and combine that with information we collect from you. We do not control, supervise or respond for how the third parties providing your information process your personal data, and any information request regarding the disclosure of your personal information to us should be directed to such third parties.

The information we collect about you from third parties includes:

Har-ID and E-klase

You have the option to log in to our site using a sign-in service such as Har-ID or E-klase. This service authenticates your identity and provides you the option to share certain personal information with us, such as your name, date of birth, and email address, to pre-populate our sign-up form.

Other partners and companies

Taut may also receive information about you from other sources, including our partners, service providers or other third parties.

How we use your information

We collect information about you when you use Taut for a variety of reasons in order to support Taut and to enable our team to continue to create engaging experiences for our users.

Providing, analyzing, improving and developing Taut

We process the data we collect about you to operate, improve and develop the Taut service, including providing, maintaining, securing and improving our services, developing new ones, and protecting Taut and our users. We are able to deliver our services, personalize content, and make suggestions for you by using this information to understand how you use and interact with our services. We conduct surveys and research, test features in development, and analyze the information we have to evaluate and improve products and services, develop new products or features, and conduct audits and troubleshooting activities.

Here are some examples of how we use this information:

  • Providing, maintaining and improving Taut. The information we collect from you allows us to help you log in, host your content, and use the various features we have. It also allows us to learn about how you and others use Taut to help create new activities and services.
  • Measuring, tracking and analyzing trends and usage in connection with your use or the performance of Taut. In order to develop and enhance our products and deliver a consistent, secure and continuous experience, we need to gather certain information to analyze usage and performance of Taut.
  • Fulfilling any other purpose disclosed to you in connection with Taut.

Communicating with you about Taut

We also process the data we collect about you to provide you with relevant information about Taut and to assist you in using Taut if required.

These communications may include:

  • Sending you information we think you may find useful or which you have requested from us about our products and services. We may send you information about the parts of Taut you use or that may be relevant to you. While we primarily use our product blog and social media channels to communicate this type of information and we expect to keep this type of email to a minimum, you may object to being contacted for these reasons using your personal contact information, using the mechanisms provided in the Taut service or contacting us by sending us a message at privacy@tautapp.co.
  • Conducting surveys and collecting feedback about Taut. We do this to evaluate the effectiveness of any updates we provide.
  • Delivering assistance or answering support requests. We send you the information and support you request, including technical notices, security alerts, and other administrative messages to provide assistance for problems you may encounter with Taut or your Taut account.

Protecting Taut and maintaining a trusted environment

We use the data we collect to maintain Taut as a safe and secure platform for all our users, including appropriate enforcement of Taut policies and compliance with the law and applicable regulations.

These efforts include:

  • Preventing fraud, crime and abuse and the security and integrity of Taut. This includes investigating, detecting and preventing or reporting fraud, misrepresentations, security breaches or incidents, other potentially prohibited or illegal activities or to otherwise help protect your account.
  • Protecting our and third parties’ rights and property and enforcing our Terms of Service.
  • Complying with any applicable laws or regulations. This includes appropriately responding to lawful requests for information from the government or third parties through legal process.
  • Contacting you to resolve disputes, collect fees and provide assistance with Taut.

Third-party analytics

We can use third-party service providers to provide site metrics and other analytics services. These third parties can use technologies discussed below, such as cookies, web beacons, and other technologies to collect information such as identifiers associated with your device, other applications on your device, the browsers you use to access Taut, the pages viewed, how much time you spend on a page or Taut overall, links you clicked, and activity information (for example, videos you have created or otherwise engaged, messages you’ve created, etc). This information can be used by Taut and third-party service providers on behalf of Taut to analyze and track usage of Taut, determine the popularity of certain content, and better understand how you use Taut. The third-party service providers that we engage are bound by confidentiality obligations and other restrictions with respect to their collection, use and disclosure of your information.

Other uses

We may process data for any other purpose disclosed to you in connection with Taut from time to time. If we intend to process your personal data for a purpose other than that set out above and which is not compatible with the original processing purpose, we will provide you with relevant information prior to such processing and will obtain your consent where necessary.

List of third-party service providers

At Taut, we use third-party services that fill a variety of functions (support chat, hosting, analytics, etc.). These third parties have been carefully chosen and all of them comply with the legislation set out in the EU General Data Protection Regulation 2018 (GDPR).

Registration and authentication

By registering or authenticating, users allow Taut to identify them and give them access to dedicated services.

Depending on what is described below, third parties may provide registration and authentication services. In this case, Taut will be able to access some data, stored by these third party services, for registration or identification purposes.

Direct registration

The user registers by filling out the registration form and providing the personal data directly to Taut.

Personal data processed:

  • First name
  • Last name
  • Email address
  • User category

Category of personal information collected according to CCPA: identifiers; sensorial information.

Analytics

The services contained in this section enable Taut to monitor and analyze web traffic and can be used to keep track of user behavior.

Google Analytics

Google Analytics is a web analysis service provided by Google LLC.

Google utilizes the data collected to track and examine the website traffic only and not the app usage.

Google may use the data collected to contextualize and personalize the ads of its own advertising network.

This integration of Google Analytics anonymizes your IP address. It works by shortening users’ IP addresses within member states of the European Union or in other contracting states to the Agreement on the European Economic Area. Only in exceptional cases will the complete IP address be sent to a Google server and shortened within the US.

Personal Data processed: cookies, usage data.

Place of processing: US – Privacy PolicyOpt Out.

Category of personal information collected according to CCPA: internet information.

This processing constitutes a sale based on the definition under the CCPA. In addition to the information in this clause, the user can find information regarding how to opt out of the sale in the section detailing the rights of Californian consumers.

Contacting the user

MailChimp

MailChimp is an email address management and message sending service provided by Intuit, Inc.

Personal data processed: email address, first name, last name.

Place of processing: US – Privacy PolicyGDPR compliance.

Category of personal information collected according to CCPA: identifiers.

This processing constitutes a sale based on the definition under the CCPA. In addition to the information in this clause, the User can find information regarding how to opt out of the sale in the section detailing the rights of Californian consumers.

Hosting

This type of services has the purpose of hosting data and files that enable Taut to run and be distributed as well as to provide a ready-made infrastructure to run specific features or parts of Taut. Some of these services work through geographically distributed servers, making it difficult to determine the actual location where the personal data are stored.

Amazon Web Services

Amazon Web Services (AWS) is a hosting and backend service provided by Amazon Web Services, Inc.

Personal Data processed: various types of data as specified in the privacy policy of the service.

Place of processing: Sweden and Germany. For more information, see the Amazon privacy policy – Privacy Policy.

Category of personal information collected according to CCPA: internet information.

How we use cookies and other similar technologies

Technologies such as cookies, beacons and scripts are used by Taut and our partners’ affiliates, or analytics and other service providers, to collect and store data about our users in order to provide the service in accordance with our agreement with you under the Terms of Service and are an essential technology for allowing Taut to pursue our legitimate interests in operating and improving the service.

Cookies

Cookies are small pieces of text sent to your browser by a website you visit. The cookies are set by third parties who deliver services on our behalf. Most web and mobile device browsers are set to automatically accept cookies by default. However, you can change your browser settings to prevent automatic acceptance of cookies or to notify you each time a cookie is set.

You also can learn more about cookies by visiting this site, which includes additional useful information on cookies and how to block cookies on different types of browsers and mobile devices. Please note, however, that by blocking or deleting cookies used on Taut, you may not be able to take full advantage of the service.

We begin collecting information about you or from activity on devices you use as soon as you use the service. By using the service, you permit us to collect and use your information from activity on devices you use in accordance with this Privacy Policy. These technologies are also used for analyzing trends, administering the site, tracking how users use and navigate the website and app, and to gather demographic information about our user base. We may receive reports based on the use of these technologies by these companies on an individual as well as aggregated basis.

Web beacons

Web beacons are electronic images that can be used in emails. We use web beacons to understand usage and campaign effectiveness, and determine whether an email has been opened and acted upon.

Local Storage

We use Local Storage to support the integrity of our registration process and to retain your preferences and account settings. Various browsers may offer their own management tools for removing data from Local Storage, so we would encourage you to review the practices and policies of your browsers.

How your information is shared

Information you choose to share on Taut

Information about you or activities you perform on Taut may be visible to other Group and Institute members in Taut, for example, your name and profile picture, messages in Topics, or files in Materials. This is solely for the purpose of users to engage in meaningful learning and communication activities with peers, teachers, parents, or school staff. Your information is not published publicly, and if you have any concerns about people in your Institutions or Groups that might be seeing information about you, we encourage you to discuss it with your teachers or school administrators.

To request removal of your personal information or associated content created from these areas, contact us at privacy@tautapp.co. In some cases, we may not be able to remove your personal information or the associated content, in which case we will let you know if we are unable to do so and why.

How Taut shares this information

Taut do not share your information unless one of the following conditions applies:

With your consent

We will share personal information with companies, organizations or individuals outside of Taut when we have your consent to do so.

For external processing

Taut provides personal and non-personal information to our partners, trusted organizations, vendors and other affiliated organizations to process it on our behalf. Some of these contractors and affiliated organizations may be located outside of your home country. Our providers process data in accordance with our instructions, Privacy Policy and any other appropriate confidentiality, security or other requirements we deem necessary in order to comply with Taut’s obligations. By using Taut, you agree to allow these companies to process your data on our behalf, regardless of where they are located.

We regularly update a list of our partners, service providers and sub-processors, which you can view on this Privacy Policy.

To respond to legal and other requests and to prevent harm

Taut will share personal information with companies, organizations or individuals outside of Taut if we have a good-faith belief that access, use, preservation, or disclosure of the information is reasonably necessary to:

  • Respond to or meet any applicable law, regulation, legal process or other enforceable governmental request.
  • Enforce our Terms of Service, including investigation of potential violations.
  • Detect, prevent, or otherwise address fraud, security or technical issues.
  • Protect against and prevent harm to the rights, property or safety of Taut, our users or the public as required or permitted by law.
  • If Taut is involved in a merger, acquisition, or sale of all or a portion of its assets, you will be notified via email and/or a prominent notice on our website of any change in ownership or uses of your personal information, as well as any choices you may have regarding your personal information.

Managing your account

You remain in control of the information you provide to Taut. You may review, edit, or delete any information you submit to us at any time by signing into your Taut account; however, deletion of this information may restrict your ability to effectively use the service. You may also delete your account at any time. If you delete your account, all the data you’ve created will also be also deleted in accordance with our data retention practices.

For users under 16, the parent also retains control of removing the information the child provides to Taut. Parents may request to delete their child’s data at any time by requesting it through the form here or by contacting privacy@tautapp.co.

How long we retain your information

Taut retains your personal information for as long as your account is active, to fulfill our legitimate business purposes, or to comply with our legal obligations. When these conditions no longer exist, Taut removes that information in accordance with our standard deletion processes. Taut may retain and use non-personal information, including information which has been de-identified, aggregated, or anonymized, indefinitely.

How we secure your information

The security of your personal information is important to us and Taut takes all measures reasonably necessary to protect against the unauthorized access, use, alteration, or destruction of personal information.

We follow generally accepted industry standards to protect the personal information submitted to us, both during transmission and once we receive it. For example, our website and apps are protected by HTTPS encryption. If you have any questions about security on our website, you can contact us at privacy@tautapp.co.

If we know or have reason to know of a systems security breach by an unauthorized party of your user data where that data is being or is likely to be used for an unauthorized purpose, we will promptly notify you so that you can take appropriate steps.

How “Do Not Track” requests are handled

Taut does not support “Do Not Track” requests.

Changes to this privacy policy

Taut reserves the right to modify this Privacy Policy at any time, so please review it frequently. If we materially change how we use your personal information, we will notify, by email, and/or by means of a notice on our website prior to the change becoming effective. If you disagree with these changes, you can delete your account at any time and/or stop using the service. Your continued use of the service constitutes your acceptance of any changes to this Privacy Policy.

If we make material changes to how we collect and use personal information from children under the age of consent, we will notify parents by email and, when appropriate, obtain additional parental consent for the new uses of the child’s personal information.

Contact us

Homestudy OÜ

A. Lauteri 3, 10114 Tallinn, Estonia

Owner mobile number: +372 5801 4033

Owner contact email: dpo@tautapp.co