Privacy Policy — Hua Gen Chinese School

How we protect your family's and children's data

Hua Gen Chinese School ("the School," "we," "us") operates this online platform to manage class registration, tuition payments, and an AI-assisted virtual classroom for our students and their families. We take the privacy of our families — especially our children — seriously. This policy explains what information we collect, how we use it, who we share it with, and the choices you have.

A note to parents: Our students are children. We designed this platform to collect only what we need to run the school, to keep your family's information on our own systems, and to give you control over your child's data. Questions? Contact us at support@huagen.org.

1. Who this policy covers

This policy applies to parents/guardians who create accounts, the children they enroll, and anyone who uses the platform. Because our students are minors, accounts are created and controlled by a parent or legal guardian. Children do not create their own accounts. When a parent registers a child, the parent provides consent for the school to collect and use that child's information as described here. This is how we comply with the U.S. Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) and follow the spirit of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) for student records.

2. Information we collect

From parents/guardians

Name, email address, phone number
Login credentials (your password is stored encrypted; we never see it in plain text)
Payment information (see §5 — we do not store full card numbers)
Communications you send us

About children (provided by the parent)

Name and preferred/classroom name
Date of birth and grade level (used to place students in the correct class)
Class enrollments, attendance, and progress
Test, quiz, and homework results recorded by teachers
Interactions within the AI virtual classroom (see §4)

Automatically

Basic technical data needed to run the site securely (e.g., session cookies, general log information). We do not use advertising trackers or sell data.

3. How we use information

To register children for classes and manage enrollment
To process tuition and book payments
To operate the virtual classroom and track learning progress
To communicate with parents about classes, schedules, and school news
To keep the platform secure and functioning, and to meet the school's legal and record-keeping obligations

We do not sell, rent, or trade your family's personal information, and we do not use children's information for advertising.

4. The AI Virtual Classroom — how it works and what is shared

The virtual classroom uses artificial-intelligence services to provide an interactive tutor and text-to-speech voices. To make this work, some lesson content is sent to trusted third-party AI providers:

What is sent	To whom	Purpose
The child's typed or spoken lesson messages	OpenAI	Generate the AI tutor's replies
The lesson text to be spoken aloud	Microsoft Azure and/or Google Cloud	Convert text to speech (the voices)
Microphone audio (only when the child chooses to speak)	The browser's built-in speech service	Convert speech to text

Privacy protections we apply:

We use these providers' business/enterprise services, under terms where submitted content is not used to train their AI models and is not retained beyond processing the request.
We minimize personal data sent to these providers. The school can enable a name-privacy setting so that no child's name is ever sent to any AI provider — the tutor addresses the child generically. Parents may also set a non-identifying classroom nickname.
We do not send a child's date of birth, address, contact details, grades, or payment information to any AI provider.

The AI classroom is optional and separate from registration and payment.

5. Payments

Tuition and book payments are processed by established providers (such as Stripe, Zeffy, or bank transfer via Zelle). When you pay by card, your card details are entered directly with the payment provider under their security standards. We do not store your full card number. We keep a record of the payment (amount, date, method, purpose) for the school's accounting.

6. Where your data lives, and who can see it

Your family's data is stored on the school's own server infrastructure, not sold or handed to a third-party management company. Access is protected by encryption in transit (HTTPS) and secure login.
Role-based access: Parents see only their own family; teachers see only the students in their classes; staff access is limited to their role.
We share information only with the service providers who help us operate the platform, when required by law, or with your consent.

7. How long we keep information

We keep records for as long as the family is active with the school, plus a reasonable period afterward for legal, accounting, and historical record-keeping. Parents may request deletion (see §8).

8. Your rights and choices as a parent

At any time, you may review, correct, or request deletion of your child's information (subject to records the school must legally retain); withdraw consent for the AI classroom by not using it or asking us to enable name-privacy; and ask questions about how your data is handled. Contact support@huagen.org.

9. Security

We use industry-standard measures including encrypted connections (HTTPS), hashed passwords, restricted staff access, and regular maintenance. No system is perfectly secure, but we work in good faith to protect your family's data and will notify affected families of any significant breach.

10. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy as the platform evolves or as laws change. We will post the updated policy here and, for significant changes, notify parents by email.

11. Contact us

Hua Gen Chinese School
1700 SW 75th St., Gainesville, FL 32607
Email: support@huagen.org