Privacy Policy

At a glance

Ikigai Studio Company (“Rumo,” “we,” “us”) makes a reading-comprehension app for children in 1st through 5th grade. We help kids build comprehension by writing about what they read. This Privacy Policy explains what information we collect, how we use it, and the choices parents, eligible students, and schools have.

Our four commitments:

• Collect the minimum. We only ask for what we need to teach reading and writing.
• No ads, no selling. We do not sell or rent student data, and we do not show third-party behavioral advertising to children.
• Parents and schools are in control. Parents can review, refuse, or delete their child’s information. Schools control records they entrust to us.
• Deletion on request. Email hiroshi@tryrumo.com and we’ll delete an account’s data within 30 days.

Information we collect

The information we collect depends on who is using Rumo and how. We group it into four categories.

From children

When a child uses Rumo, we collect a display name (which may be a first name or a nickname), the child’s grade level, the writing the child produces in response to prompts, and progress information such as which prompts they have completed.

From parents and guardians

When a parent creates an account, we collect the parent’s name, email address, and the verifiable parental consent records required by COPPA. Billing details are collected and processed by our payment processor; we store only the limited information needed to manage a subscription (such as the last four digits of a card).

From teachers and schools

When a school or teacher sets up Rumo for a classroom, we collect roster information (student first names or identifiers, grade levels, class assignments), the teacher’s contact email, and the school name. Schools decide what is shared with us and serve as the source of authority for that information.

Collected automatically

When anyone uses Rumo, our systems record basic technical information: device type, operating system, app or browser version, crash logs, and product usage events (for example, “prompt completed”).

On child accounts we do not collect precise geolocation, advertising identifiers, contact lists, photos, microphone or camera streams, or cross-context behavioral data. Analytics cookies and third-party trackers are suppressed on under-13 sessions. Authentication and session storage are the only cookies we set on those sessions.

How we use information

We use information to:

• Provide the service. Show prompts, save a child’s writing, give encouraging feedback, and track progress over time.
• Improve learning. Analyze aggregated and de-identified data to make Rumo better. Children’s writing is not used to train third-party models, and individual writing is never used in marketing.
• Communicate with adults. Send parents and teachers account, billing, and support messages, and occasional product updates they can opt out of.
• Keep Rumo safe and lawful. Detect abuse, prevent fraud, secure our systems, and meet legal obligations.

When we share information

We share information only in the limited circumstances described below.

• Service providers. Vendors that host our infrastructure, process payments, or send transactional email act on our behalf under written contracts that bar them from using student data for any other purpose.
• Parents, guardians, and schools. A child’s information is available to the parent or guardian on the account. For school deployments, the child’s school controls the records and Rumo acts as a school official under FERPA (see below).
• Legal reasons. We may disclose information if we believe disclosure is reasonably necessary to comply with a legal obligation, protect safety, or defend our rights.
• Business transfers. If Rumo is acquired or merged, we will require any successor to honor this Privacy Policy and notify parents and schools of any material change before student data transfers.

We do not sell or rent student information, share it with data brokers, use it for third-party behavioral advertising, or place third-party ads in child-facing surfaces.

Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act

Children’s privacy (COPPA)

Rumo is directed to children. We comply with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (“COPPA”) and the Federal Trade Commission’s implementing rule (16 CFR Part 312).

Verifiable parental consent

We do not knowingly collect personal information from a child under 13 without first obtaining verifiable parental consent. A parent provides consent at signup before any child account becomes active. When a school authorizes Rumo’s use of student information for an educational purpose, we may rely on the school to provide consent on behalf of parents under 16 CFR §312.5(c)(6); in those cases, the school must give parents the disclosures COPPA requires.

What we collect from children

See “Information we collect → From children” above for the complete list. We collect no more than is reasonably necessary for a child to use Rumo, and we never condition a child’s participation on disclosing more than that.

Parental rights

A parent or guardian may, at any time:

• Review the personal information we have collected from their child.
• Refuse to permit further collection or use of the child’s information.
• Direct us to delete the child’s information and account.

To exercise any of these rights, email hiroshi@tryrumo.com from the email address on the parent account. We will verify the request and act on it within 30 days.

No targeted advertising to children

We do not deliver third-party behavioral advertising to children, and we do not allow advertising networks to track children across sites or services through Rumo.

Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act

Schools and student records (FERPA)

When a school district, school, or teacher enrolls students in Rumo for an educational purpose, the school is in control of the student education records that result. Rumo acts as a “school official” with a legitimate educational interest under 34 CFR §99.31(a)(1)(i)(B), and is under the school’s direct control with respect to those records.

How we handle education records

• We use education records only to deliver and improve the educational service the school has authorized.
• We do not redisclose personally identifiable information from education records without the school’s authorization, except as FERPA expressly permits.
• On the school’s instruction or at the end of our engagement, we will return or delete education records.
• We do not publish or sell “directory information.”

Parent and eligible-student rights

Parents and eligible students retain their FERPA rights to inspect, review, and request correction of education records. Because the school controls the records, requests should be made to the school; the school will work with Rumo to fulfill them.

Data processing addendum

Districts and schools may request a data processing addendum that documents these obligations. Email hiroshi@tryrumo.com.

Generative AI

Generative AI and image generation

Rumo uses third-party generative-AI image models from Google (Gemini) and OpenAI to render illustrations of the sentences children write. This section explains what is sent to those providers, what they may not do with it, and the safeguards we apply.

What we send to AI providers

Only the child’s sentence (and any story prompt it responds to) plus a fixed Rumo safety and system prompt. We do not send the child’s name, account identifiers, age, grade, profile information, or any other personal information.

No training on children’s input

Both providers are used under enterprise and API terms that prohibit training on Rumo’s prompts and outputs. Children’s writing is not used to train Gemini, OpenAI, or any other third-party model.

COPPA still applies

Using third-party AI does not change Rumo’s COPPA obligations. We treat sentences submitted for image generation as personal information of a child, apply the same parental-consent and deletion rights described above, and require providers to act as service providers on our behalf under written contracts that bar them from using the data for any other purpose.

Content safety controls

Layered controls reduce the chance of inappropriate output:

• A Rumo-maintained topic and keyword blocklist filters prompts before they reach any model.
• Provider-side safety classifiers from Gemini and OpenAI reject unsafe generations.
• Parents can review every image generated for their child and flag or remove any image from the parent dashboard.
• Teachers can review every image generated by students on their roster and flag or remove any image from the teacher dashboard.
• Parents can set reading-level and allowed-topic preferences that further constrain what can be generated; teachers can set the same preferences at the class or roster level for school deployments.

Accuracy, parental and teacher supervision

Generative-AI images can drift from the literal meaning of a sentence and occasionally produce visuals an adult would not have chosen. Rumo is designed to be used with adult supervision — parental supervision at home and teacher supervision in the classroom. We encourage parents and teachers to be present during writing sessions and to use the flag and remove tools when an image doesn’t fit.

Reporting a problematic image

Parents can flag or remove images from the parent dashboard; teachers can do the same from the teacher dashboard. You can also email hiroshi@tryrumo.com to report any AI-generated content you believe is inappropriate.

How we protect information

We protect information in transit with TLS and at rest with industry-standard encryption. Internal access to student data is limited to employees who need it for their jobs, controlled by role-based permissions, and logged. Our systems are continuously monitored for unauthorized access. If a breach affecting student data occurs, we will notify affected parents and schools without undue delay and meet any applicable legal notification requirements.

Retention and deletion

We retain account information for as long as the account is active. Inactive child accounts are deleted after 24 months of inactivity. Parents and schools may request deletion at any time by emailing hiroshi@tryrumo.com; we complete deletion within 30 days, except for limited records we are legally required to retain (such as records of consent).

Your choices and controls

Parents can manage account details, change passwords, and delete a child’s account from the parent dashboard. Parents can refuse further collection of their child’s information at any time, and can request a copy of the information we hold by email. Teachers can manage rosters from the teacher dashboard; school administrators can request a district-wide export or deletion.

Changes to this policy

When we make material changes to this Privacy Policy, we will email parents and school administrators on file and update the “Last updated” date at the top of this page. For changes that expand how we collect or use children’s personal information, we will obtain fresh parental consent before the change applies to existing accounts.

Contact us

Ikigai Studio Company is the operator responsible for personal information collected through Rumo.

• Email: hiroshi@tryrumo.com
• Mailing address: available on request.
• COPPA parental rights: email hiroshi@tryrumo.com from the parent email on the account.
• FERPA records requests: route through the student’s school; the school will coordinate with us.