Privacy Policy — beta draft
How Agora Childcare Technology ("Agora") handles personal information in the Agora childcare app during the beta. This draft describes how the app currently works and is awaiting owner and legal review.
Beta draft for owner and legal review — not a final policy. Agora is operated by Agora Childcare Technology, based in British Columbia, Canada. Still to be confirmed: a privacy contact email, governing jurisdiction, data hosting region and retention periods.
Who this covers
Agora is used by adults: childcare centre owners, directors, office staff and educators, and parents or guardians. Children do not have accounts. Information about children is entered by their centre or by their parent or guardian.
Centres and Agora
Each childcare centre decides what information it collects about the children, families and staff in its care and why. The centre is responsible for giving families the notices and getting the consents it needs. Agora provides the software and stores this information on the centre's behalf, to run the service. Questions about a child's records should go to the centre first.
Information in Agora
Account details: name, email address and sign-in information (email and password, or Google sign-in). Child details: name, date of birth, classroom, allergies, dietary needs, medical notes, medication records and authorizations, incident reports, attendance and pick-up records, daily logs (meals, naps, diapers, activities), learning observations, photos and uploaded documents. Guardian and contact details: names, relationships, phone numbers, emails, emergency contacts and authorized pick-up people. Enrolment: enquiries, waitlist entries, applications, signed forms and agreements, including the signer's typed name, time of signing and a fingerprint (SHA-256) of the signed document. Staff: profiles, certifications, schedules, time records and, visible only to owners, pay rates. Billing: tuition plans, invoices, payments, refunds and funding records. Messages between families and the centre. Demo and contact requests sent through this website.
Why it is used
To provide the features a centre uses: daily care records, family updates and messages, enrolment, signatures, staffing, billing and reports. Also to keep accounts secure, prevent misuse, provide support and improve the service. Agora does not sell personal information and does not use children's information for advertising.
Who can see it
Each centre's records are kept separate from other centres. Within a centre, access depends on a person's role; for example, billing is limited to owners, directors and office staff, and pay rates to owners. Parents and guardians can see records for their own children only, matched to the email address they sign in with, and only after that email address has been confirmed. Staff invitations can likewise only be accepted from a confirmed email address. Photos and documents are stored privately and shown through short-lived links (a few minutes), never public web addresses; when staff are removed, they can no longer open new links.
Photos and consent
Photos of a child can only be added when photo consent is recorded for that child. Agreements are signed only when a parent or guardian confirms they are authorized to sign, agrees to sign electronically and types their full name; nothing is signed or ticked automatically. A guardian can ask the centre to change or withdraw a consent going forward; withdrawing does not undo records made before the change.
Service providers
Agora's database, sign-in and private file storage run on Lovable Cloud. Google is used only if you choose Google sign-in. When a centre turns on card payments, Stripe processes the card and Agora does not store card numbers; card payments are not yet switched on. Where these providers store data is awaiting confirmation and may include locations outside Canada.
On your device
Agora stores a small amount of information in your browser: your sign-in session, the centre and location you last chose, and where to return to after signing in. If an educator loses connection, attendance check-ins and text notes are saved on that device until they sync, and then removed. Photos, health information and private documents are never saved offline. Agora does not use advertising cookies.
Access, correction and deletion
To see, correct or delete information, or to withdraw a consent, contact your childcare centre first; it controls its records. You can also send a request through the Contact page on this site. A dedicated privacy contact is awaiting confirmation. Some records may need to be kept by the centre for legal, licensing or safety reasons.
How long it is kept
Records are kept while a centre uses Agora and are not deleted just because a subscription ends. Signed agreements and their history are kept unchanged on purpose, as a record of what was signed. Retention periods and how deletion and backups are handled are awaiting confirmation; backed-up copies may remain for a limited time after deletion.
Security
Agora uses access controls checked by the database, separated centre data, private file storage, signed links and encrypted connections. No system is perfectly secure, and we cannot guarantee that information will never be accessed without authorization. Centres should use strong passwords and remove staff who no longer need access.
Changes and concerns
We will update this page if this policy changes and show the date of the latest version once it is finalized. If you have a concern, contact your centre or use the Contact page. You may also be able to contact the privacy commissioner for your province or Canada. Final contact details are awaiting confirmation.