COPPA Privacy Notice

About zetalta

zetalta (operated by Zetalta, Inc.) is a social platform for young innovators aged 8–17 to share ideas, collaborate, and apply for grants. We take the safety and privacy of children very seriously. This notice explains what information we collect from children under 13, how we use it, and your rights as a parent or guardian.

1. Parental consent requirement

Under COPPA, we are required to obtain verifiable parental consent before we collect personal information from children under 13. Here is how our consent process works:

1. Your child registers and provides their birth year and month.
2. If we determine they are under 13, we send you a consent email to the parent email address they provide.
3. Your child's account is created but locked — they cannot post, follow, or interact until you approve.
4. You receive an email with a link to review what zetalta collects and to approve or decline.
5. If you approve, your child's account becomes active. If you decline or do not respond within 14 days, the account is deleted.

2. What information we collect from children under 13

We collect only the minimum information necessary:

We do NOT collect:

• Real full name
• Home address or phone number
• Precise geographic location
• School name
• Social Security number or government ID
• Photos that identify the child's face

3. How we use this information

• To operate your child's account on zetalta
• To display their ideas and projects on the platform (after consent)
• To calculate their XP, badges, and Canvas Score (gamification)
• To send your child platform notifications about their account
• To communicate with you (the parent) about account activity
• To ensure safety — all content is reviewed by our AI moderation system before it goes live

We do notuse children's personal information for advertising or share it with advertisers.

4. Content safety for children under 13

• All posts and messages are reviewed by our AI safety system (Zeta Guardian) before they appear on the platform.
• Children under 13 cannot send or receive private/direct messages.
• Children under 13 cannot share external links in posts.
• All user profiles that interact with under-13 accounts have been registered through our platform and are subject to our Terms of Service.
• Mentor accounts (adults) require manual verification by zetalta administrators before they can join rooms or interact with any users.

5. Your rights as a parent or guardian

Under COPPA, you have the right to:

6. How long we keep data

• Account data is retained while the account is active.
• After account deletion, personal information is anonymized within 30 days.
• Parent email addresses used only for consent are deleted after the consent process is complete (approved or declined).
• Content posted by the child (ideas, posts) is anonymized on deletion — the content may remain but is detached from any identifying information.

7. Data sharing and disclosure

We do not share your child's personal information with third parties except:

• Service providers who help us operate the platform (listed in our Privacy Policy), under strict data processing agreements.
• Legal requirements — if required by law, court order, or to protect the safety of a child.

We never sell children's data. Ever.

8. Contact us

9. Changes to this notice

If we make material changes to how we collect or use children's personal information, we will notify you by email before the changes take effect and obtain fresh consent if required by COPPA.