Privacy policy

Ellerna is a learning, care and enrichment platform provided by Mindtris (“Mindtris”, “we”, “us”), based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. This policy covers the Ellerna website and the Ellerna platform.

We handle personal information in line with British Columbia’s Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA) and, where it applies, Canada’s Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA).

Childcare centers, schools, learning centers and enrichment providers (“organizations”) use Ellerna to run their programs. Each organization decides what information about its children, families and staff it keeps in Ellerna, and remains responsible for that information. For that information we act as the organization’s service provider and use it only to provide Ellerna to them.

If you are a family member with a question about your child’s record, please contact your provider first. We will help them answer it.

• Account information: your name, email address, phone number (if provided), role and password. Staff sign-ins also use one-time codes sent by email.
• Organization information: organization and location names and addresses, classes, programs, currency and plan.
• Information about children, entered by authorized staff and family members: name, date of birth, enrollment details, class, attendance, daily activity notes, photos, documents (for example immunization records and consent forms), guardians and approved pickup contacts, and any health or allergy notes the organization chooses to record.
• Communications: messages, announcements and family requests sent through Ellerna.
• Billing information: subscription and tuition invoices and their payment status. Card payments are handled by Stripe; we do not receive or store full card numbers.
• Technical information: IP address, browser and device type, and records of requests to our servers, used to keep Ellerna secure and working. See our cookie policy for the cookies we use.
• Information you send us: the details you include when you request a demo, send feedback or email our support team.

• To provide Ellerna: accounts, enrollment, attendance, daily updates, photos, documents, messages, billing and reports.
• To verify who you are, keep accounts secure and prevent misuse.
• To process subscription and tuition payments through Stripe.
• To send service emails, such as invitations, sign-in codes, password resets and notices about your account.
• To answer support requests and demo requests.
• To troubleshoot, maintain and improve Ellerna.
• To meet legal obligations.

We do not sell personal information, and we do not use children’s information for advertising.

We collect, use and disclose personal information with consent, or where PIPA or PIPEDA otherwise permits it. Organizations that use Ellerna are responsible for having the consent they need from families and staff for the information they enter, including photos.

You may withdraw your consent at any time, subject to legal or contractual limits. Withdrawing consent may mean we or your organization can no longer provide some or all of Ellerna to you.

• Within an organization: access follows each person’s role and location. Teachers see the classes they work in, location admins their location, owners their organization, and families their own children.
• Service providers: companies that help us run Ellerna, such as hosting, file and photo storage, email delivery and payment processing (Stripe). They may use personal information only to provide their services to us.
• Legal reasons: when required by law, or to protect the safety, rights or property of children, users, the public or Mindtris.
• Business changes: if Mindtris is involved in a merger, acquisition or sale of assets, personal information may be transferred as part of that transaction, subject to this policy.

Some of our service providers store or process information outside British Columbia and Canada, including in the United States. Information held outside Canada is subject to the laws of the country where it is held and may be accessible to authorities there under those laws.

We use reasonable security arrangements to protect personal information, including:

• access checked by role, organization and location on every request;
• one-time sign-in codes for owners, location admins and teachers;
• encrypted connections (HTTPS) and session cookies that page scripts cannot read.

No system is completely secure. If a breach of our safeguards creates a real risk of significant harm, we will notify affected organizations and individuals, and report to regulators, as the law requires.

We keep personal information only as long as it is needed for the purposes in this policy, or longer where the law requires. When an organization closes its Ellerna account, we delete or de-identify its information within a reasonable time, unless we must keep it to meet a legal obligation.

Ellerna is used by adults: organization staff and parents or guardians. Children do not have Ellerna accounts. Information about children is entered by authorized adults, and is shown only to the child’s linked family members and the staff who work with the child.

You can ask to see the personal information we hold about you, ask how it has been used and disclosed, and ask us to correct it. You can update much of your account information yourself in Settings.

To make a request, email support@ellerna.com with the subject “Privacy request”. We may need to confirm your identity. Where the information belongs to an organization that uses Ellerna, we will work with that organization to respond. We respond within the time the law requires, normally 30 days.

If you are not satisfied with our answer, you can contact the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner for British Columbia, or the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada.

We send the service emails your account needs, such as sign-in codes, invitations and password resets. If we send you news or product updates, every message will include a way to unsubscribe.

We may update this policy as Ellerna changes. The “Last updated” date at the top shows when it last changed. If we make significant changes, we will tell organizations through Ellerna or by email before they take effect.

Questions about this policy or our privacy practices: Ellerna by Mindtris, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Email support@ellerna.com.