Privacy Policy

1. Who we are

ASPIRE is operated by MLN Learning LLC, a Virginia limited liability company ("we", "us"). MLN Learning LLC is responsible for the personal information described in this policy.

2. Information we collect

ASPIRE collects information you provide directly when you create an account (name, email, password, grade level), information generated by your use of the platform (practice responses, essay submissions, progress data), and technical information (IP address, browser type, usage analytics). Usage analytics are Vercel Web Analytics, plus first-party product events (for example, "signed up" or "opened checkout") tied to your account or to a random browser ID. We do not use advertising pixels, and we do not sell personal data.

3. How you found us

On marketing pages we store a first-party note of how you arrived: the referring site's hostname, campaign parameters from the link (such as utm_source), and the first page visited. That note stays in this browser and, after you create an account, is saved on that account. We use it to understand which outreach works. We do not use it for advertising.

4. Scholarship applications

If you apply for a scholarship, we collect your household size, income range, free or reduced-price lunch status, and the document you upload (for example, a lunch-program letter). Uploaded documents are kept in private storage with no public link. Only ASPIRE staff reviewing applications can open them. We delete uploaded documents 30 days after a decision and keep only the decision.

5. Tutor referrals

If you sign up as a referring tutor, we collect your name, business name, and email to create your referral link, track referrals, and pay rewards.

6. Free practice sampler

The free NGAT-style practice sampler at aspireprep.us/try/ngat needs no account and asks for nothing about a child: no name, no email, no account. Answers are scored in the browser. We receive anonymous counts only (for example, "finished a part," with the grade band and the number correct), with no ID that follows the browser. Like every page, our host logs IP addresses for security, and we use Vercel Web Analytics. We do not use any of this for advertising. If a parent, guardian, or teacher who is 18 or older asks us to email the results and a 7-day practice plan, we store their email address, the grade band, the three part counts, the time they agreed, and an unsubscribe code, and we send the email through Resend. We do not store a browser ID, a visitor source, or the birth year used only to confirm the requester is not under 13. Every email has an unsubscribe link that deletes this record right away.

7. How we use your information

We use your information to provide and improve the platform, personalize practice through adaptive question selection, send weekly progress digests (if enabled), process payments, review scholarship applications, and send service-related messages.

8. Data sharing

We do not sell your personal data. We share data only with service providers that operate ASPIRE for us: Stripe (payments; card details go to Stripe, not us), a managed PostgreSQL database host (database), Vercel (hosting, request logs, Web Analytics, and private file storage for scholarship documents), Vercel AI Gateway and OpenAI (essay feedback), and Resend (email). Essay feedback requests are sent through the Vercel AI Gateway with zero data retention turned on, which routes them only to providers that have a zero-data-retention agreement with Vercel. OpenAI's agreement allows limited retention for safety and abuse monitoring. Essays are sent without the student's name.

9. Children's privacy (COPPA)

ASPIRE is designed for students in grades 5–12. Students in grades 8–12 may register directly. Students in grades 5–7 join only through a parent's account, after the parent gives verified consent: a successful charge on the parent's paid plan, or a signed parental consent form we have checked. Trial, scholarship, and free-promotion accounts cannot add a student in grades 5–7 until consent is verified one of these ways. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13 outside this parent-mediated flow. Parents can read the direct notice at Privacy Notice for Parents. If you believe we have collected a child's information outside this flow, contact us at privacy@app.aspireprep.us.

10. Retention

Account and practice data, including essays: while the account is active, and deleted or anonymized within 90 days after the account is closed. Billing records: as long as tax law requires. Server logs: our host's standard retention period. Scholarship documents: 30 days after a decision. Contact-form messages: as long as needed to answer them. Practice-sampler email records: until you unsubscribe, which deletes them right away, and never more than 12 months after you signed up.

11. Data security

Passwords are hashed using bcrypt. All data is transmitted over HTTPS. Scholarship documents are stored privately and can be opened only by staff through a signed-in admin check. No system is perfectly secure.

12. Your rights

You may request access to, correction of, or deletion of your personal data at any time by emailing privacy@app.aspireprep.us. A parent can anonymize a linked student in the parent dashboard; that removes the student's name, email, password, practice responses, and essays right away. We answer emailed requests as soon as we can.

13. Contact

MLN Learning LLC, PO Box 744, Midlothian, VA 23113. For privacy inquiries, email privacy@app.aspireprep.us.