Privacy policy

No personal information. The site has no sign-up and no login. We do not ask for a student's name, email address, school, age, or any other personal information, and we have no database where it could be stored. The only times anything a student writes or says leaves the device are when they ask for feedback on their writing, or get feedback on speaking with the live transcript turned on, both described below. That text is not kept.

Because we do not collect personal information from anyone, including children under 13, there is nothing for us to share, sell, or hand to advertisers. The site has no advertising and no social media widgets. The only outside service it loads is Google Analytics, described next.

We use Google Analytics to learn how the site is used: which pages are visited, how many practice tests are started and finished, roughly where visitors are (country or region), and what kind of device and browser they use. This shows us which pages are confusing or broken and which practice to write next.

Google Analytics sets cookies in the browser so it can tell a returning visit from a new one. We have set it up for a site that children use: Google Signals and ad personalization are turned off, so the statistics are not linked to Google accounts or used for advertising, and they are deleted after two months. We never send answers, writing, transcripts, recordings, or anything a student types, only the page visited and, for practice tests, which test and grade was started or finished. Google processes this data under its own privacy policy.

To opt out, block analytics with a browser setting or extension, or install Google's opt-out add-on. The site works the same either way.

To let a student pick up where they left off, the site saves a few things in the browser's own storage (called localStorage) on the device being used:

• answers and progress on practice tests, and the results page;
• writing drafts;
• settings, such as light or dark mode and whether the live transcript is on.

This saved information never leaves the device. We cannot see it, and it is not shared with other devices or other people. On a shared or school computer, anyone using the same browser profile can see it.

To delete it, clear this site's data in your browser. In Chrome or Edge, click the icon to the left of the web address, open site settings, and choose to delete data. In Safari, go to Settings, then Privacy, then Manage Website Data. In Firefox, click the padlock and choose Clear cookies and site data. Using a private or incognito window means nothing is kept after the window is closed.

Writing practice has an optional Get personalized feedback button. Only when the student presses it, their answer is sent to our server and on to Cloudflare, whose service reads it and writes the feedback automatically. The answer is used only to make that feedback. We do not save it, log it, or link it to anyone, and Cloudflare processes it under its own privacy policy. So that the same answer is not processed twice, the finished feedback is kept in Cloudflare's cache for up to a day under a code worked out from the answer, and then deleted.

Speaking practice gives the same kind of feedback, but only when the student has turned on the live transcript (see below). When they stop recording, the text of the transcript is sent and handled in the same way. The recording itself is never sent.

An answer that is never sent for feedback stays on the device. To stop overuse, the server counts how many feedback requests come from each internet address in a minute and in a day. The address itself is not stored: the daily count is kept under a one-way code made from it that changes every day, and all counts are deleted at the end of each day. Students should not write their full name or other personal details in a practice answer.

Speaking practice can record the student's voice so they can listen back. The browser asks for permission before the microphone is used, and you can say no and still use the rest of the site. Recordings are kept in the page's memory on the device only. They are never uploaded to us or anyone else, and they are gone when the page is closed or reloaded.

The live transcript is optional and off by default. If it is turned on, the site uses the speech recognition built into the browser to turn speech into text. Some browsers do this on the device, but Google Chrome usually sends the audio to Google's servers to be processed, under Google's own privacy policy. When the site can confirm the browser will process speech on the device, the recorder says so in its status line. With the live transcript on, the finished transcript (the text, not the audio) is also sent for feedback, as described above.

To keep all audio on the device, leave the live transcript switched off. The student can still record, listen back, and review the sample response and rubric without typing.

When feedback on a spoken answer cannot come from Cloudflare, for example after the daily limit is reached, the page gives a simpler estimate instead. In some versions of Chrome this uses a feature built into Chrome that runs on the device; otherwise it is worked out by simple rules in the page itself. Neither sends the answer anywhere.

The site is a set of static pages served by Cloudflare. Like any web host, Cloudflare may keep standard server logs, such as IP addresses and the pages requested, for security and to keep the service running. Those logs are not used by us to identify or profile visitors. Audio files and images are served from the same host; apart from Google Analytics, described above, the site loads nothing from other services.

Because students do not create accounts or submit personal information, using TELPAS Practice Test in class does not involve sharing student records with us. If a school device is shared, clearing site data at the end of a session removes one student's progress before the next student starts.

If this policy changes, we will update this page and the date at the top.