FutureStepsPrivacy principles
FutureSteps is operated by NestR LLC. Our privacy approach is designed around data minimization, clear age and permission steps for teen accounts, and private student coaching.
Information used
The service may process student academic information, interests, activities, goals, family budget ranges and parent contact details solely to create and improve the requested roadmap.
Student protection
FutureSteps accounts are for people aged 13 and older. We ask for age information before account details and do not create accounts for children under 13. For adults we retain the age category and confirmation date; for teens we also retain the date they become adults, rather than their full birth date. We also record whether a teen declares residence in Texas or elsewhere, and when they made that declaration; we do not collect an exact address for this step. Texas students aged 13–17 can use this private web service without parent approval, unless an earlier refusal or withdrawal still applies. For other or unconfirmed locations, our current policy uses a secure parent or legal guardian email link, with no separate parent account required. The link identifies the student request and records mailbox access, the adult’s permission statements, notice version and time. Link secrets are stored as hashes, expire after seven days, and are replaced after a decision or a new link request. Approval sends a separate link for withdrawal; a parent can request a fresh link using their invited email. This process is not independent identity or guardianship verification or a substitute for stronger consent where applicable law requires it; we do not request identity documents in this process. Permission does not share private coaching or create a family connection. A parent or student can withdraw permission, closing teen access. If you believe an account belongs to a child under 13, contact [email protected] so we can restrict access and address deletion.
OpenAI coaching processing
When AI coaching is enabled, the current question and relevant public catalog details are sent to OpenAI. If you turn on Use recent conversation, up to three recent exchanges from the current visit are also sent after masking recognized identifying details. This setting is off by default. A separate option includes your explicitly saved coaching notes and up to three saved steps; it is also off by default. Coaching notes can be edited or deleted, and steps and reflections can be removed in Your coaching journey. Your linked parent sees a coaching step’s title, date and status only when you choose to share that step; private notes, obstacles, backup steps and reflections are excluded. Start fresh clears the context used for follow-ups, but does not delete previously saved account history. We do not automatically send your full profile, family details, grades, contact details, or stored chat history through this chat integration. We mask recognized names, email addresses, phone numbers, and links, but automatic masking cannot catch every identifying detail you type. Avoid sharing sensitive or identifying information. API response storage is disabled; OpenAI may retain abuse-monitoring logs for up to 30 days by default, with exceptions described in its data policy. This is not a zero-retention guarantee. OpenAI API data is not used for model training by default. FutureSteps keeps up to 40 recent chat turns for the account experience and removes turns older than 90 days. Saved coaching notes and steps remain until you remove them or delete your account.
Homework and study sessions
When the study tutor is connected, you choose whether to send material to the provider named in the workspace. Sending a lesson includes your selected subject, learning level, goal, material and question. Follow-ups include up to three recent exchanges from this study session. In the original study workspace, reading a photo is a separate action and you review its transcription before requesting a lesson. In the conversational chat pilot, the sending notice explains that pressing Send or choosing a follow-up shares your material with AI; a separate checkbox is not required for each message. The provider is identified under About this private chat. Sending a question also sends the attached photo directly to the named tutor, together with up to twelve recent turns of text. The current photo is included until you remove it. HEIC/HEIF iPhone photos are converted in your browser, then resized and re-encoded as JPEG before sending; no separate conversion service receives the original file. We remove embedded image metadata, but personal details visible in the picture can still reach the provider, so crop them out first. For age-confirmed adults in the invited pilot only, an optional, separate checkbox allows TypeSafe (Jev) to classify only your first short text question to suggest a study approach. Photos, chat history and account details are not sent to TypeSafe; explicit shortcuts bypass it. Text masking is applied before this optional transfer, but it can miss details. TypeSafe processes the question under its own retention policies. Leaving this option off still provides tutoring. We mask recognized identifying details in text; masking is not comprehensive. Study chat question and answer text now saves automatically to your private account, with a title, timestamps and whether a photo was used. Original photo files are not stored in chat history; a tutor’s visible transcription may remain in its saved text reply. You can search, reopen, rename, pin or delete saved chats. Saved chats expire 90 days after their last reply. Choose Temporary chat before sending when you do not want an account copy; its text and photos remain only in the current tab until you start another chat, refresh or leave. Switching Study activities keeps the active conversation in memory. Failed saved-chat requests may temporarily retain the question and a request identifier for safe retry; they follow the same deletion and expiry rules. Temporary mode does not change the AI provider’s processing or retention. Practice sessions remain temporary unless you explicitly save selected text as a note. Study material is not shared with linked family members. We retain account-linked daily request counts for usage limits; they contain no study content and are included in account export and deletion. A locally configured model never automatically falls back to a cloud provider. If OpenAI is selected, response storage is disabled and the provider retention limitations described above still apply. Choosing an elementary learning level does not change the minimum account age of 13.
Saved courses and Notes
In the private Study pilot, you can upload a text-based syllabus PDF or paste text. FutureSteps temporarily processes the PDF to extract selectable text, then discards the file; it does not save the original upload. Creating an AI outline is a separate, optional action that sends only the reviewed syllabus text, subject and level to the named Study provider. You review the draft before choosing Save. Saving stores the course title, subject, level, reviewed topics, syllabus excerpts, class-progress labels, any topic notes you enter, and optional exam names, dates and selected topics. Study today uses these saved items to suggest a next action without a model call. Notes (formerly Learning Notebook) preserves your existing saved items. It stores the title, subject, level, collection, text, pin preference, optional recap and reminder, and an optional link to the saved chat reply you chose. Notes are saved only when you choose to save them and remain available if the original chat is deleted or expires. These saved items remain private to the student, including from linked family members. Selecting topics or a notebook item for practice lets you review that material before you explicitly send it to AI; nothing in the library is automatically sent to coaching or advertising. Learning paths save your selected school state, grade, course identifiers, last opened topic and progress labels in your private Study workspace. Progress labels are your own selections, not verified mastery. Built-in lesson checks stay in the current tab; they do not call an AI provider or save your answers. Opening a lesson does not share your profile with the standards publisher. Clearing a learning path removes its saved preferences and progress. Saved items remain until you delete them or delete your account and are included in your account export. You can edit or delete them inside Study. Provider processing and retention limitations described above apply to optional AI actions.
Your account and data controls
In Settings, you can verify your email, change your password, download your account data, clear stored chat and coaching session history, or permanently delete your account. Export, history clearing, and deletion require your password. Clearing chat history keeps your saved coaching notes and steps, Study courses and Notes. Account deletion removes your product records and family links and cancels any active subscription; the other family member keeps their own account. Minimal payment records are retained separately for reconciliation and refunds. Backup copies expire under the hosting provider’s backup retention schedule and are not used as an active account. If you need help with a privacy request or records submitted outside a signed-in account, contact [email protected].
Trial and aggregate account reporting
We use your signup date and retain a homework trial record and AI allowance reservations to provide access and enforce usage limits. The private administrator dashboard shows aggregate account, verification, trial and subscription counts alongside public-page counters. It does not join those page counters to individual accounts or send student records or coaching content to advertising platforms. Your trial record is included in account data export and removed when you delete your account.
Signup-source measurement
To understand which public campaigns bring registrations, this browser tab can hold broad source and approved campaign labels for up to 24 hours. There is no visitor ID, advertising click ID, full referring URL or cross-device tracking. When account creation succeeds, FutureSteps records a separate anonymous daily count with those labels and clears them from the tab. The count contains no account or profile identifier, name, email or coaching content. It is kept for up to 90 days and can include accounts later deleted, because it cannot be linked back to a person. These labels are not verified by Google and do not measure email confirmation or trial activation. Privacy opt-outs, Do Not Track and Global Privacy Control disable this optional counting. No Google advertising pixel receives the data.
Public-page measurement
We count visits to the public homepage and pricing page, walkthrough starts and signup-link clicks to understand whether the pilot is useful. These are page-view counts, not identified people. We keep a page category, an event timestamp, broad referral and approved campaign categories, and a random ID for each event for up to 90 days. We do not attach account IDs, names, email addresses, full URLs, chat content or a persistent visitor identifier. These counters stay in FutureSteps; no advertising pixel receives them. Hosting services process connection metadata, and short-lived keyed hashes limit repeated requests. Counting respects Do Not Track, Global Privacy Control and the browser preference below. Changing this preference does not affect your account.
Error diagnostics
When error monitoring is configured, FutureSteps uses Sentry to receive limited technical diagnostics such as an error category and code location. The integration removes error messages, request content, account details and coaching text before transmission. Session recordings, performance tracing, and attachments are disabled. Sentry also processes connection metadata under its service policies. These diagnostics help us investigate failures; they are not a copy of your coaching session.
AI use
Structured rules and curated data drive calculations. AI may explain the results, but it must not invent requirements or guarantee admission, funding, visas, licensing or employment.
Readiness and integrity signals
The optional planning baseline may record disclosed interaction signals such as duration, tab changes, window focus and copy or paste activity. It does not use a camera, microphone or hidden screen recording.
Pilot limitation
FutureSteps is an early pilot. We update this notice when our data practices change. Canada, Europe and other expansion markets require their own review before availability is announced. For privacy questions, contact NestR LLC at [email protected].