At ClassDojo, we believe it’s important for parents (which we’ll use in this article to include guardians) to understand how their children use ClassDojo in the classroom. This FAQ will help primary and secondary (K–12) schools that use ClassDojo ensure that they can communicate effectively with parents and guardians about their students’ use of ClassDojo, and help obtain parents’ consent where appropriate.
Because school administrators can determine which services are available and the policies for each service, each school’s use of ClassDojo is different. Most schools have policies that govern the use of third-party services like ClassDojo, and compliance with annual notice requirements under the Family Educational Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). We believe that schools are in the best position to tailor the information they share with parents based on their school’s actual use of ClassDojo. ClassDojo aims to give schools the information they need about our services and our privacy and security practices so they can keep parents well informed. Teachers must work with their administrator to determine if they already have proper permission to allow their students to use ClassDojo in the classroom.
What permissions are needed in order for teachers to allow students to use ClassDojo student accounts?
The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) protects the online privacy of children under the age of 13 and requires ClassDojo to obtain parental consent or notice (as appropriate) prior (with limited exceptions) to the collection, use, and disclosure of that child's personal information. Due to the requirements of COPPA and similar to other cloud-based educational tools, ClassDojo requires that schools obtain parental consent if they set up student accounts on behalf of their students and allow students under the age of 13 to access students accounts in the classroom to use features such as Student Stories. ClassDojo obtains parental consent directly from a child’s parent if the parent (and not the teacher) sets up their child’s account, or if a student creates his or her own account on ClassDojo, after receiving a unique code from their teacher. For more details on how we obtain parental consent directly from parents, please see our FAQ.
Teachers may obtain parental consent in what is commonly referred to as "school consent" under COPPA, where teachers have certified that they have directly received parent consent for their child to use ClassDojo for education purposes at the school or may choose to act as the agent of the parent and consent on their behalf. For schools in the United States, ClassDojo provides a template to help schools obtain “school consent,” but it’s up to schools to determine how best to use it, to fill it with their own contact information and information about the services they enable, and to share it along with the resources for parents below. For more information on "school consent" under COPPA, please see the FTC's FAQ Section M.
* ClassDojo must ensure that services made available to students when schools are getting parental consent, are used for educational purposes, and are used in compliance with applicable laws and regulations (including FERPA, the Children’s Internet Protection Act, and COPPA). Note that some of the restrictions on the use of student’s personal information for strictly educational purposes may not apply once ClassDojo additionally obtains verifiable consent from parents through the “email plus” method.
Resources for schools to share with parents:
Share the resources below, which explain ClassDojo’s services and our commitments to privacy and security, with parents. This information will help parents and schools to make informed choices about the technology their students use in the classroom.
- Answers to many top questions about privacy and security appear on the ClassDojo Privacy Center
- The Privacy Policy describes how ClassDojo products and services collect and use information. As stated in this policy, ClassDojo does not use any student personal information (or any information associated with a student account) to serve behaviorally-targeted advertising to students and student’s personal information is never sold to anyone, including marketers and advertisers.
- Download our sample parent notice to have parent's sign if you want to create a ClassDojo student account for their child (if under 13 years old) and have them use that student account while in the classroom
- For more information about COPPA and generally protecting children's online privacy, please visit OnGuard Online.
NOTE: Schools in different countries and communities have different regulations and approaches, and ClassDojo cannot advise you on compliance with the laws applicable to your school. You should obtain any parental consent that may be required by your school (including for COPPA and FERPA) in a manner that complies with the laws of your jurisdiction.
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