OwnedIt: Homework Monitoring in the ChatGPT Era
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Privacy Policy

Last Updated: August 15, 2025

1. Introduction

OwnedIt ("we," "our," or "us") provides educational tools—including our website, Chrome extension ("OwnedIt AI Homework Supervisor"), and related services ("Services")—to help teachers and students complete assignments securely and with academic integrity.

This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, and protect your information when you use any of our Services. By using our Services, you agree to this Privacy Policy.

2. Information We Collect

We only collect information necessary to provide and improve our Services. Depending on how you use OwnedIt, this may include:

a. Google Account Information

  • Your name and email address from your Google account, obtained via OAuth sign-in.
  • Used to authenticate your identity, link assignments, and verify document ownership.

b. Assignment Data

  • Files and metadata for assignments you explicitly create, open, or monitor with OwnedIt.
  • Access is limited to the files and folders you choose to use with our Services (drive.file scope).
  • User preferences and configuration data are stored in your Google Drive appdata folder (drive.appdata scope).

c. Monitoring Session Data (Chrome Extension Only)

When you explicitly start a monitoring session using the OwnedIt Chrome extension:

  • Screenshots of your desktop at regular intervals.
  • Timestamps and assignment/session identifiers.
  • Copy/paste trigger events (boolean + timestamp only; clipboard contents are never stored).
  • Optional OCR analysis using Google Vision API (if enabled by the school) to detect text in screenshots.

Not collected:

  • Audio or microphone data
  • Camera/webcam video
  • Browsing history
  • Keystrokes or passwords
  • Clipboard contents
  • Files or data outside the monitored assignment

d. Service Usage Data

  • Basic anonymized metrics (e.g., performance logs, error rates) used for debugging and performance optimization.

3. How We Use Your Information

We use your data only for educational and security purposes:

  • Authenticate your account and verify assignment ownership.
  • Provide teachers with visibility into assignment completion through session metadata and screenshots.
  • Analyze screenshots with AI or OCR to detect potential academic integrity violations.
  • Store configuration data so your settings travel with your account.
  • Monitor service performance, prevent misuse, and troubleshoot issues.

We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal data.

4. Data Sharing

We only share your data in the following cases:

  • With Teachers/Schools: Screenshots, session metadata, and integrity analysis results are shared with the teacher(s) and school administrators managing the assignment.
  • With Service Providers:
    • Google APIs (OAuth for login, Vision API for OCR if enabled).
    • Supabase cloud infrastructure (storage, database).
    • Railway hosting platform (backend infrastructure).
  • With Your Consent: If you explicitly agree to share.
  • When Required by Law: To comply with valid legal requests or protect security.

We never share or sell data to advertisers or third parties unrelated to education.

5. Data Storage & Security

  • All transmissions use HTTPS encryption.
  • Data stored on OwnedIt servers is encrypted at rest.
  • OAuth tokens are never stored longer than necessary for the current session (securely refreshed if background sync is enabled).
  • Access is limited through strict role-based permissions and audit logging.

6. Your Choices & Rights

You may:

  • Disconnect your Google account anytime via the Google Account Permissions page.
  • Decline to start a monitoring session; all monitoring is opt-in per assignment.
  • Request deletion of your account and associated data by emailing privacy@ownedit.org.
  • Request a copy of your data or corrections under applicable privacy laws.

7. Compliance

OwnedIt complies with:

  • Google API Services User Data Policy, including Limited Use requirements.
  • FERPA (U.S. student education record protection).
  • COPPA (not intended for children under 13).
  • GDPR/CCPA (rights to access, delete, and restrict processing).

8. Changes to this Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy periodically. The "Last Updated" date reflects the latest revision. Significant changes will be communicated through our Services.