Privacy Policy

What we collect

• Account information — username, email, hashed password (bcrypt), account creation timestamp, last login.
• Course content you upload — answer key PDFs, scanned student exam PDFs, rubrics, custom prompts.
• Student information you provide — names, emails (optional), student indices, custom-field values.
• Grading outputs — AI-generated scores, per-question feedback, manual overrides, audit trail.
• Usage data — token usage per grading call (for cost accounting), basic request logs (IP, timestamp, route, response code; retained 30 days).
• Communications — emails you send to students through the Service (subject, recipient, send timestamp).
• Google sign-in details — only if you sign in with Google: your Google account ID and the email address Google reports for it (see Sign in with Google).
• Google Classroom and Drive connection details — only if you connect them (see Google Classroom and Drive).

What we do NOT collect

• We do not collect biometric, financial, or health data.
• We do not use third-party advertising trackers.
• We do not sell or rent your data.
• We do not use your content to train AI models.

How we use your data

• To provide grading, splitting, rubric generation, and email-sending features you’ve explicitly invoked.
• To send service notifications you’ve opted into (objection alerts and grading-complete notices — toggleable in Settings → Notifications).
• To detect and prevent abuse (rate limiting, security monitoring).
• To respond to your support inquiries.

Sign in with Google

Signing in with Google is optional. When you use “Continue with Google” (or connect Google to your account in Settings), you sign in on Google’s own page and Google tells us which Google account you used.

• What we ask Google for — only the basic sign-in scopes (openid, email, profile). We never see your Google password, and signing in does not give us access to Gmail, Google Drive, Google Classroom, Calendar, Contacts, or any other Google data (connecting Classroom or Drive is separate — see Google Classroom and Drive).
• What Google sends us — your Google account ID (a stable identifier for your Google account), your email address and whether Google has verified it, and the basic profile details Google includes with a sign-in (such as your name and profile picture).
• What we store — your Google account ID, the email address Google reports for it (refreshed each time you sign in with Google), when you connected it, and when you last signed in with it. When you connect Google to an existing account, we also post a security notice to your in-app notifications that names that email address. If you create your account with Google, your Gradency account uses that email address and a username based on it. For sign-in we do not store your name, profile picture, or any Google access token.
• Why — to sign you in and to keep your Google account linked to the right Gradency account. We only create an account or connect Google when Google has verified the email address.
• How long — until you disconnect Google in Settings or delete your account. Disconnecting deletes the stored Google account ID, email address, and timestamps; the security notice stays in your notifications until you delete your account. Deleting your account deletes all of it (backup copies follow the retention schedule below).

Canvas (LTI)

If your institution connects Gradency to Canvas, you can open Gradency from a Canvas course. This only happens after an institution administrator registers Canvas with Gradency, and an instructor connects their own Gradency account.

• What Canvas sends us — when you open Gradency from Canvas: your Canvas user ID, name, email address, your roles in the course, and the course name and code. When an instructor syncs the roster: each student’s name, email address, Canvas user ID and, if Canvas provides it, their SIS ID.
• What we store — the connection between your Canvas account and your Gradency account, the connection between the Canvas course and your Gradency course (and between an exam and its Canvas assignment), and a copy of the Canvas roster linked to the students in your course.
• What we send to Canvas — scores for the exams you connect to the Canvas gradebook, and the feedback students already see in their result only if the instructor turns that on. We never send the answer key.
• Disconnecting — disconnecting a course or your Canvas account stops both directions: we stop receiving rosters and stop sending grades. Nothing already in Canvas is deleted, and your Gradency data stays.

Google Classroom and Drive

Connecting Google Classroom or Google Drive is optional. It applies only if you connect them in Settings → Google Workspace, an option shown only where the integration is available. Google shows you exactly which permissions Gradency asks for, and you can grant Classroom and Drive separately.

• What we ask Google for — for importing a Classroom roster: classroom.courses.readonly, classroom.rosters.readonly and classroom.profile.emails; for sending grades to Classroom: classroom.coursework.students; for importing scans from Drive: drive.file, which only covers the files you pick.
• What we read — the list of classes you teach and their student names and email addresses, only when you import a roster; the current grade and status of each student’s submission for an assignment Gradency created, only when you preview or send grades (so Gradency never silently overwrites a grade you changed in Classroom); and only the individual Drive files you select in Google’s file picker, which we download to import as exam scans. We cannot see any other Drive files.
• What we write — one Classroom assignment per exam you link, and the draft or assigned grades you choose to send. Only numeric grades are sent; we never send feedback text or answer keys to Classroom.
• What we store — your Google account ID and email address, the permissions you granted, encrypted access and refresh tokens, the student records you choose to import, the Classroom identifiers that link your classes, students and assignments, and the last grade we sent for each student. We do not store Classroom class lists beyond the students you import.
• How we use it — only to provide these features. Google user data is not used for advertising, is not sold, and is not used to train AI models. Exam PDFs imported from Drive are processed like uploaded scans, including by the automated grading provider listed below. Gradency's use and transfer of information received from Google APIs adheres to the Google API Services User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements.
• How long — until you disconnect Google in Settings → Google Workspace, which revokes Gradency’s access at Google and deletes the stored tokens, or delete your account. You can also remove Gradency at myaccount.google.com/permissions. Students and grades already in Gradency stay until you delete them.

Third parties we share data with

The list of specific sub-processors is available to institutions and to data subjects on request via our contact page.

Each third party has its own privacy policy. Their handling of your data is governed by their terms; we choose providers we believe meet reasonable industry standards.

How long we keep your data

We retain your data for as long as your account is active. Scanned exam PDFs can be deleted automatically after a period you choose in Settings → Privacy & data (off unless you or the administrator set it); grades and feedback are kept. When you delete your account, we delete:

• Your account record and all derived data within 30 days.
• Course content, students, exams, grades, and uploaded PDFs immediately on account deletion.
• Backup copies are purged within 90 days of account deletion.

Audit logs and usage records may be retained up to 1 year for security and accounting purposes.

Your rights

Depending on your jurisdiction, you may have rights to access, correct, export, or delete your personal data. To exercise these rights:

• Access / export: download a ZIP of your account data from Settings → Privacy & data (available for 7 days after it is built).
• Correction: edit your profile via Settings.
• Deletion: deleting your account in Settings → Danger zone removes your data and gives you a signed erasure certificate you can verify at /erasure-certificate.
• Other requests: use our contact page.

Security

We employ industry-standard practices: HttpOnly authentication cookies, CSRF protection, role-based access control, and rate limiting on authentication endpoints. See the Security page for technical details.

Children

Gradency is intended for educators. Account holders must be of legal age in their jurisdiction (typically 18+, or 13+ with guardian consent in the US). Student data uploaded by educators may include minors; that is the educator’s responsibility under their institution’s policies.

International transfers

The Service may transfer your data to servers located outside your country. By using the Service, you consent to such transfers. Where required, we rely on standard contractual clauses or equivalent safeguards.

Changes to this policy

Material changes will be communicated by email or in-app notice at least 14 days before they take effect.

Contact

Privacy inquiries: please use our contact page.