Privacy Policy
Contents
1. Who we are
SparkStudy is an exam-prep platform for Alberta electrical apprentices, operated from Alberta, Canada. References to "we", "us", and "our" mean SparkStudy. References to "you" mean anyone using the website at sparkystudy.com or any associated subdomains and pages.
2. What we collect
Account data
- Name and email address you provide at signup
- Apprenticeship period (1–4) you select
- A salted SHA-256 hash of your password (we never store your raw password on our servers)
- Account creation timestamp and last login timestamp
Subscription data
- Subscription status (free, trialing, paid, cancelled, etc.) and plan name
- Stripe customer ID and subscription ID linking your account to your Stripe payment method
- Trial start/end dates and renewal dates
We never see or store your credit card number, CVV, or full bank details. Those go directly to Stripe.
Study activity
- Flashcard reviews, exam attempts, scores, and time spent
- Notes you write within the app (per-topic, per-page)
- Diagnostic responses and identified weak areas
- Session history (login dates, daily activity counts)
Uploaded content
- Files you upload through the Module Upload flow (PDFs, images, text)
- OCR-extracted text from those uploads
- AI-generated questions and study guides derived from that text
Technical data
- IP address (used by our backend rate limiter and Stripe fraud checks)
- Browser type and version (collected by Google Analytics)
- Page-view events and feature-usage events (anonymized where possible)
Support communications
- Messages you send through the in-app Support form
- Replies sent back to you
3. Why we collect it
- Run the service: authenticate logins, maintain your subscription, save your study progress so it's there when you return.
- Charge you correctly: Stripe needs the customer/subscription IDs to bill the right card and to handle refunds and cancellations.
- Personalize your experience: identify weak topics, recommend study material, generate questions tailored to modules you uploaded.
- Operate AI features: when you use AI Tutor, AI Teacher, question generation, OCR, or audio playback, we send the relevant text or image to a third-party AI provider for processing (see §4).
- Improve the product: aggregate, anonymized usage analytics tell us which features are being used and where users get stuck.
- Respond to support: we forward your messages to our owner inbox so we can reply.
4. Third-party processors
We use these companies to run the service. They process your data on our behalf under their own privacy and security policies.
- Anthropic (Claude API) — processes text you generate questions or chat with the AI Tutor about. Anthropic Privacy Policy
- OpenAI — processes text-to-speech audio generation and OCR of uploaded images. OpenAI Privacy Policy
- Stripe — processes all payments. We never see your card number. Stripe Privacy Policy
- Google Firebase / Firestore — stores your account record, subscription state, and a backup of generated study material. Firebase Privacy
- Resend — sends transactional emails (welcome, support replies, payment notifications). Resend Privacy
- Google Analytics — page-view and feature-usage measurement. Google Privacy Policy
- Railway — hosts the application backend. Railway Privacy
5. Where data lives
On your device
Most of your day-to-day data — notes, study progress, flashcard scheduling, uploaded module text, AI-generated questions — is stored on the device you're using, in the browser's localStorage and IndexedDB. This is what makes the app work offline.
In the cloud
A backup copy of your account, subscription state, and generated study material is stored in Google Firestore (Google Cloud, North America region) so you can log in from a different device and recover your data.
Backups and logs
Our backend logs API requests and errors for up to 30 days for debugging and abuse detection. These logs may include your IP address, request URL, and request timestamp.
6. Module uploads & copyright
Important. When you upload a textbook page, ILM module, or other study material, you are responsible for ensuring you have the right to do so. SparkStudy does not host or distribute uploaded copyrighted material to other users — your uploads are private to your account and visible only to you. We do not republish, sell, or share uploaded content.
Uploaded content is processed for OCR, then sent to Anthropic to generate study questions and study guides for your personal use. If you delete a module from within the app (the 🗑️ icon on the module card or the Storage Cleanup tool), the local copy is removed and the Firestore backup is purged on the next sync.
If you believe content uploaded by another user infringes your copyright, contact info@sparkystudy.com. Note that uploads are private — you would not normally see another user's uploads.
9. Security
We use industry-standard security practices: HTTPS for all traffic, password hashing with a salt, server-side rate limiting on AI endpoints, and authentication required for any access to your account data. Stripe handles all payment data under PCI-DSS Level 1 compliance.
No system is perfectly secure. If a breach affecting your data occurs, we will notify affected users by email within 72 hours of discovery, as required by Canadian PIPEDA.
10. Your rights
Under Canadian privacy law (PIPEDA) and similar laws in other jurisdictions, you have the right to:
- Access the personal data we hold about you
- Correct inaccurate information
- Delete your account and associated data
- Export your data in a portable format
- Withdraw consent for AI processing of your uploads (which would mean disabling AI features for your account)
- Lodge a complaint with the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada at priv.gc.ca
To exercise any of these rights, email info@sparkystudy.com from the email address on your account. We respond within 30 days.
11. Data retention
- Active accounts: we retain your data as long as your account is active.
- Cancelled subscriptions: if you cancel, we retain your account data for 90 days so you can reactivate without losing your study progress, then anonymize or delete it on request.
- Deleted accounts: data is removed from Firestore within 30 days of a delete request. Backup archives may persist for up to 90 days. Stripe retains payment records as required by law (typically 7 years).
- Backend logs: 30 days.
12. Children
SparkStudy is intended for adults enrolled in or working toward an electrical apprenticeship, who are typically 18+. We do not knowingly collect personal data from anyone under the age of 16. If you believe a minor has signed up, contact us and we will remove their account.
13. Changes to this policy
We may update this policy as our service evolves. The "Last updated" date at the top reflects the most recent change. Material changes (new categories of data we collect, new processors, changes to your rights) will be communicated by email to all active subscribers and posted as an in-app notice for at least 30 days.
14. Contact
Questions, requests, or complaints about this policy or our data practices:
Email: info@sparkystudy.com