Privacy Policy

1. Our role: schools direct, NIX processes

NIX is a platform that schools use to run phone-free events and, where a school chooses, to support a phone-free school-day policy. A school decides to adopt NIX, configures how it works, and directs how student information is used within it. For the student records processed through NIX, the school is the data controller and NIX acts as a service provider (a “school official” under FERPA) carrying out the school's instructions. We do not use student information for our own purposes, and we do not sell it.

2. Information we collect

We collect only what is needed to run the Service for a school:

Students

• Full name and the school-issued Student ID number used to identify the student at events and during the school day.
• A password the student sets to sign in to their account (stored only as a securely hashed value, never in plain text).
• Grade level, if the school provides it. We do notcollect a student's email address or date of birth.
• Device location, used as described in Section 3.
• In the events experience, friend connections a student chooses to make with other students at their school.
• A device push-notification token, so the school can notify the student about events.

School staff (admins)

• Name, work email address, and a securely hashed password.
• When a staff member scans student IDs at an event, the scanning device's location at the moment of the scan (used to confirm the scan happened on site).
• Event content the staff member uploads, such as marketing or prize images, and the school's branding (logo and colors).
• A device push-notification token.

School configuration

• School name, the campus boundary and time zone, bell schedule and no-school calendar, and (for the school-day model) classes and rosters the school sets up.

Walk-in attendees who do not use the app

Some events let staff scan a student's physical ID even if that student has no NIX account (for example, a printed coupon card). In that case we record only the scanned ID number and the event, so the school can issue the reward. The school remains the controller of those records.

Automatically

• Basic technical information needed to keep accounts secure and the Service working (for example, a device identifier used to deliver push notifications, and security and error logs).

NIX uses no advertising identifiers, no cross-app or cross-site tracking, and no third-party analytics or advertising SDKs. We do not collect contacts, photos library, health, or biometric data.

3. How location works

Location is the core of how NIX verifies that a phone was left behind. How and when it is used depends on how the school runs NIX, and the school controls this:

• Events model:location is checked around an event window to confirm, against that event's geofence, whether the phone was away from the event.
• School-day model:if a school adopts a phone-free school-day policy, NIX checks whether the phone is off campus during school hours on school days, against the campus boundary the school sets. Because these checks must work while the app is in the background, the app requests “Always” location permission for this model.

In both models we are deliberately data-minimizing. The app's live location field keeps a single, overwriting reading, so there is no ongoing location history or trail. For the school-day model, what the school sees is a derived signal(for example, “phone was off campus” and an on-campus timestamp), not a map of where a student went. For the events model, each check-in additionally stores a one-time location snapshot on that event's record, used to confirm the phone was away from the event; this snapshot is automatically deleted 90 days after the scan. A student can turn off location sharing in their device settings at any time; doing so disables phone-free verification.

4. How we use information

We use the information above only to run the Service for the school: to create and manage accounts; to run events and verify phone-free participation; to support a school's phone-free school-day policy where adopted; to issue rewards to eligible students; to send school-related notifications; to provide the admin console; to bill the school; and to keep the platform secure, prevent abuse, and meet our legal obligations.

5. What we never do

We do not sell personal information. We do not share it with advertisers or use it for advertising. We do not build profiles of students for any purpose unrelated to running the school's use of NIX, and we do not track users across other apps or websites.

6. Service providers we share with

We share information only with the vendors that help us operate NIX, and only so they can perform services for us under contract:

• Neon: database hosting (stores the Service data described above).
• Vercel: website and API hosting; processes Service data in transit while requests are handled (it does not retain student data at rest).
• Resend: sending account and notification emails to staff.
• Stripe: processing a school's subscription payments. Card details go to Stripe and are never stored on our servers.
• Object storage (an S3-compatible provider): hosting images staff upload for events.
• Apple Push Notification service: delivering notifications to devices.

We may also disclose information when required by law, to protect the rights and safety of users and the public, or to a successor in a merger or acquisition. Any successor remains bound by this Policy for the information it receives.

7. Children's privacy: COPPA & FERPA

NIX is built for schools, and many students are minors, including children under 13. NIX is intended to be adopted and directed by a school as part of the school's educational program. Under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), NIX operates as a “school official” with a legitimate educational interest, processing student information only under the school's direction.

Under the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), a school may provide consent for the collection of personal information from students under 13 for the use and benefit of the school's educational program, in place of individual parental consent. The school is responsible for providing any notices to parents and obtaining any consent that COPPA or FERPA requires. We collect from children only the limited information described in this Policy, use it only to provide the Service to the school, and never for advertising or any commercial purpose unrelated to the school's use of NIX. Parents may exercise their rights, including reviewing or requesting deletion of their child's information, through their school, and the school may direct us to delete it. Questions can also be sent to contact@nix.management.

8. Retention & deletion

We keep information for as long as a school uses NIX and as needed to provide the Service, meet legal obligations, and resolve disputes, after which we delete or de-identify it. A student can delete their own account from the app (Profile → Delete Account); deletion clears the account's location, revokes its sign-in tokens, and disables the account. A school can also direct us to remove a student's information. As noted above, the school-day model stores derived signals and a single overwriting location reading rather than a location history.

9. Security

We use reasonable technical and organizational measures to protect personal information, including encryption in transit (TLS), hashed passwords, access controls, and a logged, append-only record of every staff view of an individual student record. No system is perfectly secure, but we work to protect information and will notify affected schools of a material breach as required by law.

10. Your choices & rights

Students can turn location sharing on or off in device settings, and can delete their account in the app. School staff can update or delete account and school information from the admin console. Because the school is the controller of student records, requests about a student's data are generally handled through the student's school; we will assist the school in responding. You can also contact us using the details below.

Depending on where you live, you may have rights to access, correct, delete, or obtain a copy of personal information, and to opt out of its sale or of targeted advertising. NIX does not sell personal information or share it for targeted advertising, so there is nothing to opt out of. To make a request, email contact@nix.management (or, for a student record, contact the school). We will respond as required by applicable law.

11. Where NIX operates

NIX is offered to schools in the United States, and information is processed in the United States. The Service is not directed to individuals in the European Union or United Kingdom.

12. Changes to this Policy

We may update this Policy from time to time. When we make material changes, we will update the “Effective” date above and notify schools where appropriate. Continued use of the Service after a change takes effect means you accept the updated Policy.

13. Contact

Questions, requests, or complaints about this Policy?

• Email: contact@nix.management
• Mail: NIX Development LLC, 12167 W Devis Rd, West Olive, MI 49460-9393, United States