Effective Date: May 15, 2026
1. Overview
This Month™ is a K-5 educational platform operated by THENCE LLC (United States). We provide standards-aligned, seasonal learning activities for classroom educators through school and district partnerships.
This privacy policy explains how we collect, use, store, and protect data when educators and students use the This Month™ platform at month.thence.us.
Who This Policy Applies To:
- K-5 classroom teachers who access This Month™ through their school or district
- Students who access This Month™ activities via teacher-shared links
- School and district administrators who manage This Month™ access
2. Our Privacy Commitment
FERPA Compliance: This Month™ is designed to comply with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). When operating under a school or district contract, This Month™ acts as a School Official with legitimate educational interest limited to delivering instructional content and reporting student progress to authorized educators.
Core Privacy Principles:
- We do not require student accounts or collect student personally identifiable information (PII) for platform access
- We do not sell, license, or share student data with third parties
- Student data is never used for advertising, profiling, or any purpose beyond delivering instructional insights to the teacher of record
- Teachers control what student information (if any) is stored in the platform
3. Data We Collect
3.1 Teacher Account Data
When your school or district provides you with This Month™ access, we collect:
- Email address (for account login and platform notifications)
- Name and school affiliation (for teacher dashboard personalization)
- Planner data (activities selected, date ranges, custom notes you create)
Storage: Teacher account data is stored in our WordPress database on Jelastic Cloud infrastructure (Infomaniak, Switzerland).
Legal Basis (GDPR, if applicable): Contractual necessity — we process your data to deliver the This Month™ service your school or district has authorized.
3.2 Student Data
No Student Accounts Required: This Month™ does not require students to create accounts or log in. Students access games and activities through teacher-generated Specialized Links without providing names, email addresses, or other personal information.
Optional Student Progress Tracking: Teachers may optionally create student records within their This Month™ account to track learning progress. These records are pseudonymous by design:
- Teachers control student identifiers (e.g., “Student A,” “Red Group – Child 2,” first names only, etc.)
- No student email addresses, birth dates, or government-issued IDs are required
- Student records are visible only to the teacher who created them
Game Completion Data: Some This Month™ activities (such as Wormly™ spelling games) generate performance assessments. Teachers may choose to store this data within their This Month™ account at their discretion. Completion data may include:
- Activity completion timestamps
- Performance metrics (scores, time spent, error patterns)
- Teacher notes and observations
What We Do NOT Collect:
- Student login credentials (no student accounts)
- Student email addresses or contact information
- Student birth dates or age
- Student home addresses
- Student biometric data
- Student browsing history outside This Month™ platform
3.3 Website Traffic Analytics
Independent Analytics (Privacy-First Analytics): This Month™ uses Independent Analytics, a privacy-focused WordPress plugin that collects anonymous, aggregated website traffic statistics.
How It Works:
- Self-hosted on our own servers (no data sent to external analytics services)
- No cookies or browser storage
- No user tracking across sessions, devices, or websites
What We Collect:
- Page views and visit counts
- Referral sources (how visitors arrived at the site)
- Approximate geographic location (country/region level only, derived from IP address)
- Device type (desktop/mobile/tablet) and browser information
- Pages visited during a session
IP Address Handling: Your IP address is used momentarily to determine country-level location, then immediately hashed (one-way encryption) and discarded. We never store raw IP addresses.
What Analytics Data Shows Us:
- “15 people visited the Wormly™ game page this week”
- “60% of traffic came from mobile devices”
- “8 visitors came from a school referral link”
What Analytics Data Does NOT Show Us:
- Who you are (no names, emails, or identifiable information)
- Your specific IP address
- Your browsing history outside This Month™
- Any connection between website visits and student identities
Legal Basis (GDPR): Legitimate interest — we need basic usage statistics to maintain and improve the platform. Because the data is anonymous and aggregated, it does not constitute personal data under GDPR.
3.4 Specialized Links & Family Portal
What Are Specialized Links? Specialized Links are unique URLs that teachers generate to share This Month™ activities with students’ families. These links provide access to a read-only family portal without requiring families to create accounts or log in.
How Specialized Links Work:
- Teacher generates a link from their planner dashboard
- Link contains URL parameters specifying which activities to display and date range
- Teacher shares link via email, class newsletter, or parent communication platform
- Families click the link and view activities in their browser
Data in the Link:
- Activity IDs (which games/lessons to show)
- Date range (e.g., “Week of January 6-10”)
- Teacher display preferences (optional: teacher name, school name, grade level — all teacher-controlled)
Data NOT in the Link:
- Student names or identifiers
- Family email addresses or contact information
- Any personally identifiable information
No Persistent Tracking:
- Specialized Links do not set cookies
- We do not track which specific families clicked the link
- We cannot identify individual students or families who accessed the portal
- Independent Analytics may log aggregate access counts (e.g., “12 page views from this link”), but cannot identify individual visitors
Legal Basis: Legitimate interest — teachers need a mechanism to share instructional activities with families while minimizing data collection.
4. How We Use Data
4.1 Teacher Account Data
- Deliver This Month™ platform access and features
- Send account notifications (login credentials, planner updates, platform announcements)
- Provide customer support
- Improve platform functionality based on usage patterns
4.2 Student Data (if teacher chooses to store it)
- Display student progress to the teacher who created the records
- Generate class-level analytics visible only to the teacher
- Support instructional decision-making (identify students who may need additional support)
We Do NOT Use Student Data For:
- Advertising or marketing
- Building user profiles for commercial purposes
- Sharing with third parties (except as required by law or district contract)
- Any purpose beyond delivering instructional insights to authorized educators
5. Data Storage & Security
5.1 Where Data Is Stored
Hosting Infrastructure:
- This Month™ is hosted on Jelastic Cloud, a product of Infomaniak (Switzerland)
- Data is stored on Infomaniak infrastructure in Switzerland
- THENCE Sagl (Switzerland) provides infrastructure services; THENCE LLC (United States) owns all intellectual property and educational content
5.2 Security Measures
We implement technical and organizational security measures to protect data:
- HTTPS encryption for all data transmission
- Secure database access controls (limited to authorized THENCE LLC personnel)
- Regular security updates and monitoring
- Password protection for teacher accounts
- Separate database environments for production and testing
5.3 Data Retention
Teacher Account Data:
- Retained for the duration of your school or district’s contract with This Month™
- May be retained for up to 1 year after contract termination for record-keeping and support purposes
- Can be deleted upon request (contact info@thence.us)
Student Records (if created by teacher):
- Retained for the duration of the school year plus any retention period specified in your district’s contract
- Teachers can delete student records at any time via their account dashboard
- District administrators can request bulk export or deletion of student data
Anonymous Analytics Data:
- May be stored indefinitely (cannot identify individuals, not considered personal data)
6. Data Sharing & Disclosure
6.1 We Do NOT Sell or Share Data With Third Parties
This Month™ does not sell, rent, license, or share teacher or student data with third parties for marketing, advertising, or commercial purposes.
6.2 Service Providers
We share data only with service providers necessary to operate the platform:
Jelastic Cloud / Infomaniak (Switzerland):
- Hosting infrastructure and cloud storage
- Data Processing Agreement in place
These providers access data only as necessary to deliver their services and are contractually obligated to protect data security.
6.3 Legal Requests
We will disclose data to public authorities only if legally required (e.g., valid subpoena, court order) and only to the extent necessary for pursuing a legitimate public interest objective such as law enforcement or national security.
If we receive a legal request for student data, we will:
- Notify the school or district (unless prohibited by law)
- Verify the validity of the request
- Disclose only the minimum data necessary to comply
7. Email Communications
7.1 This Month™ Platform Emails (Transactional)
What You Receive:
- Account creation confirmation
- Password reset requests
- Planner notifications (e.g., “Your weekly activities are ready”)
- Platform updates and feature announcements
Service Provider: Emails are sent via our WordPress hosting infrastructure (Jelastic Cloud/Infomaniak, Switzerland).
Opt-Out: You cannot opt out of transactional emails while maintaining an active This Month™ account, as these emails are necessary to deliver the service. If you no longer wish to receive these emails, contact your school or district administrator to deactivate your account.
7.2 THENCE Corporate Communications (Separate & Optional)
Separate from This Month™: THENCE LLC (the parent company of This Month™) operates a separate corporate communications system for company-wide news and other THENCE products (such as TEJ Books™).
Service Providers:
- Email delivery: SendPulse (servers in United States and Germany, GDPR-compliant)
- Business CRM: Odoo (Belgium)
Opt-In Required: THENCE corporate emails are completely separate from your This Month™ account. Having a This Month™ teacher account does NOT automatically subscribe you to THENCE corporate communications.
Opt-Out: If you have separately opted in to THENCE corporate emails, unsubscribe links are included in every email.
8. Your Rights (GDPR, if applicable)
If you are located in the European Union or a jurisdiction with similar privacy regulations, you have the following rights:
8.1 Rights Regarding Your Teacher Account Data
- Right to access: Request a copy of the data we hold about you
- Right to rectification: Update or correct your account information
- Right to erasure: Request deletion of your account and associated data
- Right to data portability: Export your planner data in a machine-readable format
- Right to object: Object to processing of your data for certain purposes
- Right to lodge a complaint: File a complaint with your supervisory authority
How to Exercise Your Rights: Contact info@thence.us with your request. We will respond within 30 days and may ask you to verify your identity.
8.2 GDPR Does Not Apply To
- Anonymous website analytics (no personal data collected)
- Student gameplay data accessed via Specialized Links (no student accounts, no PII)
- Family portal access (anonymous, no login required)
8.3 Data Controller vs. Data Processor
Current Access Model: This Month™ is currently available exclusively through school and district partnerships. All teacher accounts are provisioned through institutional contracts.
For District-Licensed Teachers:
- Your school or district is the data controller
- This Month™ (THENCE LLC) is a data processor acting on their behalf
- Questions about your data should be directed to your district’s data privacy officer or technology administrator
9. Children’s Privacy (COPPA Compliance)
This Month™ is designed for use in K-5 educational settings under teacher supervision. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13 without verifiable parental or school consent.
COPPA Compliance Measures:
- No student accounts required (students access activities without providing personal information)
- No direct marketing to children
- No behavioral advertising based on student data
- Teachers (acting as school officials) control what student data (if any) is stored in the platform
If you believe we have inadvertently collected personal information from a child under 13 without proper consent, please contact us immediately at info@thence.us.
10. International Data Transfers
This Month™ is operated by THENCE LLC (United States) with hosting infrastructure in Switzerland (Infomaniak/Jelastic Cloud).
For EU Users:
- Data is stored in Switzerland, which has been recognized by the European Commission as providing adequate data protection
- Our hosting provider (Infomaniak) complies with Swiss data protection laws and GDPR requirements
11. Changes to This Privacy Policy
We may update this privacy policy from time to time to reflect changes in our data practices, legal requirements, or platform features.
How We Notify You of Changes:
- Updated “Effective Date” at the top of this policy
- Email notification to all active teacher accounts for material changes
- Prominent notice on the This Month™ dashboard for 30 days after update
Your Continued Use: Continued use of This Month™ after a policy update constitutes acceptance of the revised policy. If you do not agree with the changes, please contact your school or district administrator to deactivate your account.
12. Contact Us
Privacy Questions or Requests: Email: info@thence.us
FERPA / Student Privacy Inquiries: Email: info@thence.us Subject Line: “FERPA Inquiry – This Month”
Data Subject Rights Requests (GDPR): Email: info@thence.us Subject Line: “GDPR Request – [Your Name]”
13. Additional Legal Information
13.1 FERPA School Official Exception
Under district contracts, This Month™ acts as a School Official pursuant to FERPA 34 CFR § 99.31(a)(1). We maintain direct control over the use of student data and use it only for authorized educational purposes as specified in our contract with your school or district.
13.2 Copyright & Intellectual Property
All content published on This Month™ (including games, lessons, graphics, and text) is the property of THENCE LLC. Unauthorized reproduction or distribution is prohibited. For licensing inquiries, contact info@thence.us.
13.3 Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA)
To report alleged copyright infringement, contact our designated DMCA agent at info@thence.us. Include:
- Physical or electronic signature
- Identification of the copyrighted work
- Identification of the infringing material
- Your contact information
- Good faith statement that use is unauthorized
- Statement that the notification is accurate and you are authorized to act on behalf of the copyright owner
END OF PRIVACY POLICY
