OurNews Child-Directed Privacy Notice

This short notice is for students. There are three forms on your school’s OurNews pages where you give us information. You use them to confirm your email, to report a story and to send in a story. This notice covers all three. If you send in a story by email, our privacy policy covers it.

What this is for

Some stories on OurNews are set so you must confirm your email before you can read them. You can also report a story or send one in. This page explains what happens each time, in plain words.

These words mean the following on this page.

• “We” and “the OurNews team” mean the people who run OurNews.
• The school’s team is the people your school adds to OurNews. They look after the school’s account and publish its stories.
• Email confirmation is when you give an email address, type back a six-digit code we send you, and then read the story.
• The access log is the list of email confirmations your school can see.
• An IP address is a number that shows where a device is on the internet.
• A bot is a computer program that acts like a person.

If you confirm your email

We ask for an email address. We send a six-digit code to that address. You type the code back in, and then you can read the story.

We write down your email address, the IP address of your device and the time. This goes into the access log.

Your school uses the access log to see who has confirmed an email to read its stories.

We use your IP address to stop too many tries and to check you are not a bot.

A photo you open can show your email in a small stamp in one corner.

When you confirm your email, we do not ask your name, your age or anything else.

If you report a story

If something in a story worries you, you can report it. You pick a reason and say what is wrong. You can add an email address if you want a reply, but you do not have to.

We email your report to the school’s team.

We use the IP address of your device to stop too many reports being sent, and to check you are not a bot.

If you send in a story

Your school may give you a link to send in a story. We ask for an email address, and you can give your name too. We send a six-digit code to the email address so we know it is you.

We use your email to check it is you. We also use it so the school’s team can reply to you.

There is a box that says “Email me when it’s published”. It starts ticked. If you leave it ticked, we also email you when your story is published. We send that email only if your story is published within 30 days.

The school’s team may put your name on your story. If you tick “Keep me anonymous”, the school’s team will not put your name on it.

We use the IP address of your device to stop too many stories being sent, and to check you are not a bot.

What your school’s team can see

Your school’s team can see the access log. It shows your email address, the IP address of your device and the time.

Your school’s team can see a report you send.

Your school’s team can see a story you send in. That is your name, email address, story and any photos or files.

Your school’s team can still see your name if you tick “Keep me anonymous”.

What the OurNews team can see

On a normal day, the OurNews team sees only two things. One is a message from your school’s team, called a concern. The team sends it to us from its hub, which is the page where it looks after the school’s account. The other is an email sent to our support address, hello@bolsta.education.

No one at OurNews has everyday access to the access log (the list of email confirmations), a report you send, or a story you send in.

We look at the access log, reports and stories only when one of three things happens:

• There is an emergency.
• You or a parent or carer ask what we have kept.
• We need to check something that was held back from being published.

We keep a record of each time.

An emergency means something has gone badly wrong with OurNews and we need to fix it quickly. For example, OurNews has stopped working, information has been lost and we need to put it back, or someone may have got in who should not have.

How long we keep things

If you confirm your email

• We keep your email address in the access log for 12 months, then we delete it.
• We keep your IP address for 90 days, then we delete it.
• Your device remembers you for 90 days, so you do not have to enter a code again. Each time you visit, the 90 days start again.

If you report a story

• If you gave an email address, we keep it for 30 days, then we delete it.
• We keep everything else in your report, such as the reason you picked and what you said was wrong, for as long as the story is kept.
• We do not keep your IP address with your report.

If you send in a story

• Your device remembers your email for 30 days, so you do not have to enter a code again.
• We delete your email address 30 days after we are done with your story. We are done with it when it becomes a story, or when it is turned away, held back or dropped.
• Your story, photos, files and name stay with the school for as long as the school has an OurNews account.
• If you add photos or files and do not send them, we delete them within 2 hours.
• We do not keep your IP address with your story.
• When you add a photo or file, we keep a scrambled copy of your IP address and the name of the file in a security record. We keep it for 90 days.

Your rights

You or a parent or carer can ask to see what we have kept about you. This covers your email confirmation in the access log, a report you made, and a story you sent in. You can also ask for it to be fixed or deleted. Ask the school, or email us at hello@bolsta.education. We answer within 30 days.

Our privacy policy says more.

Who to ask if something feels wrong

Talk to a parent, carer or teacher first. You or they can also email us directly at hello@bolsta.education, and we will help.