Privacy & safety

The short version

• You can read NOVA Learn without an account. We do not ask visitors for any personal information.
• The member site is for approved members only. The Admin approves every account and checks people in person.
• A member's real name and email address are seen only by the Admin. Other members see a username, which does not have to be a real name.
• Ads are not personalised and are kept out of stories, quizzes and the Lounge. Because every member is a child, the whole site is marked as made for children.
• We do not sell personal information, and we never will.

What we collect

Visitors to the free pages. Like almost every website, our host (Netlify) records basic technical information when a page is requested, such as the IP address and browser type, to keep the site running and secure. The free pages collect nothing else themselves.

Members. To make an account we ask for a real full name, a username, an email address, school, year level and a password. The email is used for signing in and for resetting a forgotten password. Passwords are handled by Google's Firebase Authentication and are never visible to us. While using the site, a member's progress is saved: XP and streaks, stories read, quiz answers, saved words, cards and trades, settings, and messages written in the Lounge, NEXUS or direct messages. We also count which NOVA games a member plays and how many times (never their answers), so the Admin can see which games are popular. The Admin can see these counts by username, and they are deleted when the account is closed.

Who can see what

• Other members see a member's username, avatar, XP, cards on display, and the messages they choose to post.
• The Admin can see a member's real name, email address, school and year level, and how many times they have played each NOVA game, and can read, delete and moderate messages, in order to keep the community safe.
• Nothing on the member site can be seen by anyone who is not signed in to an approved account.

Services we use

• Google Firebase stores accounts and progress, and handles sign-in.
• Netlify hosts the website and runs the small server programs behind it.
• DeepSeek (an AI service) writes the daily member stories and quiz questions, and gives feedback on written quiz answers. When a member writes an answer, the text of that answer is sent for feedback. We do not send names, email addresses or other account details with it.
• Google AdSense may show ads on the free pages and on some member pages. We ask Google for non-personalised ads only. Google may use cookies to show ads, limit how often they appear and measure them. You can read how Google uses information from sites that use its services.
• Google Fonts supplies the lettering, and Wikimedia Commons supplies the photos, so your browser loads those files from their servers.

Cookies and browser storage

The member site stores a few settings in the browser (for example, reading size and sound on or off) and keeps a member signed in. Google may set cookies for ads as described above. You can clear cookies and site data in your browser settings at any time.

The free NOVA Tools keep stars, best scores and settings only in this browser's storage, never sent anywhere. They need no account, and clearing your site data wipes them.

Keeping children safe

• Every new account is approved by the Admin, who checks people in person.
• Daily stories are checked by our server against child-safety rules before they are shown, and are written for the reader's year level.
• Chat is limited to approved members and short messages. NOVA Bot removes spam automatically, members can report a message with the 🚩 button and block other members, and the Admin can delete messages and mute or ban accounts.
• If a written answer suggests a child may need help, the site shows a care card with the details of Kids Helpline (1800 55 1800).

Keeping information and deleting it

We keep a member's information while their account is open. A member, or their parent or carer, can ask the Admin to see the information held about them, correct it, or close the account. Closing an account deletes its login, its progress and its game play counts.

Changes to this page

If we change how we handle information, we will update this page and the date at the top.

Questions

See our Contact page for how to reach us.