Privacy Policy

Effective October 10, 2026

1. Who we are

Maker Mindz is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization (EIN 93-3457324) based in North Carolina. We offer free STEM learning for students in grades 6 to 12. This policy covers the website apps.makermindz.org (the "Apps"), including the STEM Explorer, Live Sessions, the host application at /opportunities and the host portal.

Our main website, makermindz.org, our donation page and our mobile games have their own privacy policy. If the two policies differ, this one applies to the Apps.

2. What we collect

What we collect depends on what you do.

When you use the free apps without signing in

• A random visitor code saved in your browser. It lets us count how much time is spent in each app (for example, "the riddles were used for 40 hours this month"). It is not linked to your name.
• Your IP address, which every website receives. We do not store it as is. We turn it into a scrambled code (a one-way "hash") so we can block abuse, such as someone flooding a form.
• Basic browser information such as browser type, if you send us a problem report.

School accounts

• The school's name and the shared school password. Passwords are stored in scrambled (hashed) form, so even we cannot read them.
• When the school signs in, and the total time the school's users spend in the STEM Explorer each day. We do not collect individual student names for the STEM Explorer.

Individual and member accounts

• Your name, email address and a hashed password.
• When you sign in, and which passes you bought.

Payments

• Passes are paid through Stripe. Your card number goes straight to Stripe and never reaches Maker Mindz. We receive your email, the amount, the date and whether the payment went through.

Live Sessions sign-ups and calls

• The name of who will attend (this can be a class name, like "Ms. Lee's 7th grade class"), a contact email for reminders, and any notes you add for the host.
• During a call: video, audio, a written transcript of what was said, the names people use in the call, and when each person joined and left. We do not save the in-call chat.

Student hosts (applicants, volunteers and interns)

• Everything you enter on the application: name, contact details, age, school, graduation year, subjects, availability, experience, sample session, references and links.
• For hosts under 18: a parent or guardian's name and email, and a record of their consent.
• Your safety training results, reference check dates and, for undergraduates, background check results from Checkr. We see the outcome (for example "clear") and dates. The full report stays with Checkr.
• For paid interns: your hourly rate, sessions hosted and payments. Bank and tax details go directly to Stripe. We only see whether your account is connected and what was paid.
• For volunteers: the volunteer hours we record for you.

When you contact us

• If you use "Report an issue" or email us: your name, email, message, the page you were on and, if signed in, your school's name. Your browser may remember your name and email to fill in the form next time.

3. Children and students

Many of our users are students, and some are under 13. We follow the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) and design the Apps to collect as little as possible from children.

• The free apps can be used without giving any personal information.
• Accounts for Live Sessions must be created by an adult (a parent, guardian, teacher or adult learner). Students under 18 join through a parent's, guardian's or school's account.
• When a school signs students up, the school gives consent on behalf of parents for this educational use, as allowed under COPPA. Schools are responsible for following their own rules and any parent notice their policies require.
• Students under 13 should not send us problem reports or emails themselves. A parent or teacher can do it for them.
• Student hosts must be at least 13. Hosts under 18 need a parent or guardian's consent before they can host.
• If we learn we collected personal information from a child under 13 without the right consent, we will delete it.
• Parents and guardians can ask to review or delete their child's information, or tell us to stop collecting it, by writing to info@makermindz.org.

For schools: any student information we receive through a school account is used only to provide our educational services to that school. We do not use it for advertising or sell it, and the school can ask us to delete it.

4. How we use information

• To run the Apps: sign you in, show the right content, take payments and give access.
• To run Live Sessions: send sign-up confirmations, reminders and cancellations, connect you to the call, and tell hosts who signed up.
• To keep everyone safe: review recordings, check that sessions happened as planned, and handle concerns.
• To review, clear and support student hosts, pay interns and record volunteer hours.
• To fix problems you report and answer your questions.
• To understand which apps are used and improve them, using totals that do not identify you.
• To report on our programs to grant makers and partners, using totals only (for example, "120 students joined 40 sessions"), never names.
• To follow the law, such as tax records for payments.

5. Session recordings and AI review

Every Live Session is recorded and transcribed. After a session ends, an AI model (Claude, made by Anthropic) reads the transcript and attendance times to check that the session was appropriate, on topic and ran for its scheduled length. Sessions that raise a concern are reviewed by Maker Mindz staff. Undergraduate hosts are paid only after a session passes this review.

• Recordings and transcripts are private. Only Maker Mindz staff can see them, and only for safety, quality, payment questions or legal reasons.
• We do not use recordings for promotion or post them publicly.
• Under Anthropic's commercial terms, transcripts we send for review are not used to train its AI models.
• Recordings are deleted automatically one year after the session.

If you do not want to be recorded, please do not join a Live Session. Participants must not record sessions themselves.

6. Who we share information with

We never sell or rent personal information. We share it only as described here.

• Service providers that run parts of the Apps for us, and only for that purpose:
  • Cloudflare: website hosting and database
  • Stripe: pass payments and intern payouts
  • Daily.co: video calls, recordings and transcripts
  • Anthropic: AI review of session transcripts
  • Checkr: background checks for undergraduate hosts
  • Resend: sending our emails
  • YouTube (Google): playing our videos. We use YouTube's privacy-enhanced mode. When you press play, YouTube's own privacy policy applies.
  • Public code libraries and Google Fonts, which receive your IP address when your browser loads a page
• Hosts and attendees: hosts see the attendee names and notes for their own sessions. Attendees see the host's first name, last initial and graduation year or college. Everyone in a call can see the names and video of the others in that call.
• Parents of student hosts: we email the parent or guardian of a host under 18 to ask for consent.
• When the law requires it, or to protect someone's safety, for example in response to a court order or to report suspected abuse.
• If Maker Mindz merges with another nonprofit, information may move to it, and this policy would still protect it.

7. Cookies and browser storage

We only use cookies and browser storage that the Apps need to work. We do not use advertising, tracking or social media cookies.

• Sign-in cookies keep you signed in to the STEM Explorer, Live Sessions, the host portal or the admin panel. They end when you sign out or after a set time.
• Browser storage remembers your random visitor code, your name and email for the problem report form, and whether you already saw the welcome message.

You can clear these at any time in your browser settings. If you do, you will be signed out.

8. How long we keep information

• Session recordings and transcripts: one year, then deleted automatically.
• Failed sign-in records: 30 days.
• Accounts: until you or your school ask us to close them.
• Payment and payout records: as long as tax law requires (usually 7 years).
• Host applications and safety records: while you host and for up to 3 years after, so we can answer safety questions, unless you ask us to delete them sooner and the law allows it.
• Problem reports: until the problem is solved and we no longer need them.
• Usage totals that do not identify anyone: kept for reporting.

9. Security

The Apps use encrypted connections (HTTPS). Passwords are stored hashed, sign-in cookies cannot be read by other websites, staff access to the admin panel is limited to what each person needs, and we limit repeated sign-in attempts. No system is perfect, so please use a strong password and keep it private. If we learn of a breach that affects your information, we will tell you as the law requires.

10. Your choices and rights

You, or your parent or guardian, can ask us to:

• show you the information we have about you,
• correct it,
• delete it or close your account,
• withdraw a consent you gave, such as a parent's consent for a student host.

Email info@makermindz.org. We will reply within 30 days. We may need to confirm who you are first. Some records, such as payment records, may need to be kept for legal reasons. Schools can make these requests for their school accounts. The Apps are run from the United States, and information is stored in the United States.

11. Changes and contact

If we change this policy, we will update the date at the top. If a change is important, we will also post a notice on the Apps or email account holders before it takes effect.

Questions? Contact Maker Mindz at info@makermindz.org or through makermindz.org/contact-us.

See also our Terms of Use.