Introduction

At Mello, protecting children's privacy is extremely important to us. This Children's Privacy Policy explains our information collection, use, disclosure, and parental consent practices with respect to information provided by children, particularly those under the age of 13, in compliance with the U.S. Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).

Regulatory Compliance

Mello is committed to protecting children's privacy through:

• COPPA Compliance: We follow the U.S. Children's Online Privacy Protection Act guidelines. Mello extends these protections to all jurisdictions, even where not legally required.
• FERPA Certification: Our platform and practices comply with the federal mandates for the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act.
• Student Privacy Pledge: We are signatories to this initiative, committing to responsible stewardship, protection, and transparent handling of student personal information.

Information We Collect from Children

Mello collects only the minimal amount of information from children necessary for them to use our service. We do not condition a child's participation in activities on providing more information than is reasonably necessary.

Types of Information Collected:

• Account Information: Basic information needed to create an account (such as name, username, or parent/guardian contact information)
• Content Created by Children: Material uploaded or created by children while using the service
• Automatically Collected Information: Device information, IP address, and usage data necessary to provide our service

How We Use Children's Information

Information collected from children is used only to:

• Provide and improve our service
• Ensure the security and safety of our users
• Comply with legal obligations
• Allow communication between teachers, parents, and children as appropriate

Important: We never use children's personal information for advertising purposes. Information collected from children is never used for behaviorally-targeted advertising by us or any third party, and children's personal information is never sold or rented to anyone, including marketers and advertisers.

Information Sharing and Disclosure

We do not disclose any personal information about children to third parties, except:

• To service providers necessary to provide the service
• To school officials as directed by the child's school
• As directed or approved by the child's parents
• As required by law
• To protect the security of our service or other users

Parental Rights and Controls

Parents or legal guardians have the right to:

1. Review their child's information: Access and review all personal information collected from their child
2. Request deletion: Ask us to delete their child's personal information and account
3. Restrict information collection: Refuse to permit further collection of their child's personal information
4. Update information: Request that we update or correct their child's information

To exercise these rights, please email [email protected] from the same email used to create your parent account.

Data Retention

We retain children's personal information only as long as necessary to:

• Provide our service
• Comply with legal obligations
• Support school requirements (for school-related accounts)

For student accounts, we automatically delete:

• Inactive accounts after twelve months
• Feedback data older than twelve months

Contact Us

If you have questions about our Children's Privacy Policy, please contact us at:

• Email: [email protected]
• Mail: ATTN: Privacy Agent, Mello, 1883 Aquamarine Ct, Chula Vista, CA 91913