Terms of Service & Privacy Notice
Effective October 19, 2026 · Written for students and their families
Terms of Service
Who may use the app
Teen Finance Coach is intended for students ages 10 through 18. Students ages 10–12 may use it only through an account created and approved by a parent or legal guardian. Students ages 13–17 must have permission from a parent or guardian. An adult completing an under-13 signup confirms that they are the student’s parent or legal guardian and agree to these terms for the student.
Educational use only
The app teaches general financial concepts. Nothing in the app is personalized financial, investment, legal, accounting, or tax advice. It does not tell a user exactly what to buy, sell, or do with real money. Students should involve a trusted adult, and families should consult a qualified professional for decisions that matter.
Virtual money and trading
All money used in simulations is fictional. Virtual balances have no cash value and cannot be deposited, withdrawn, transferred, redeemed, or exchanged for real property. Market prices may resemble real market data, but simulated results do not predict future performance.
Artificial intelligence
The AI coach can misunderstand a question or produce incomplete, outdated, biased, or incorrect information. AI output must be treated as an educational explanation to check—not a fact, promise, recommendation, or step-by-step instruction for handling real money. The AI is not a human adviser, broker, fiduciary, lawyer, or tax professional.
Accounts and safe use
Provide accurate age information, keep passwords private, and use only an account you are allowed to use. Do not submit bank credentials, card numbers, Social Security numbers, government identification, exact home addresses, brokerage credentials, or another person’s private information. Do not misuse the service, attempt unauthorized access, interfere with other users, or use the app for unlawful activity.
Service changes and availability
The project may change, suspend, or remove features and may correct or delete inaccurate simulator or learning data. News and market information can be delayed or unavailable. Reasonable efforts will be made to keep the service working, but uninterrupted or error-free access is not promised.
No guarantees and limits
To the extent permitted by law, the service is provided “as is” without guarantees about accuracy, availability, learning outcomes, or financial results. Nothing here limits rights that cannot legally be limited. Because users include minors, these terms should be reviewed under the laws that apply where the service is offered.
Privacy Notice
Information collected
The app may store an account email and password hash; age group and onboarding choices; a display username; learning progress, quiz answers, XP, streaks, and achievements; user-entered income, goals, purchases, and simulated transactions; virtual trades and holdings; AI chat conversations; theme and leaderboard choices; and technical information needed for security and operation.
How information is used
Information is used to create and secure accounts, personalize lessons, remember progress, calculate app features, provide requested AI responses, send verification codes, show optional leaderboard entries, troubleshoot problems, and protect the service. Core balances, quiz scores, streaks, and trading results are calculated by application code. Assignment criterion scores and feedback are generated by AI; application code validates and totals those scores and enforces the passing threshold.
When providers process information
Personal information is not sold. Limited information may be sent to service providers only when needed to operate a requested feature—for example, EmailJS for verification email, Google Gemini for AI responses, hosting infrastructure, and news or market-data providers. Families should avoid placing identifying or sensitive information in AI chats. Information may also be disclosed when legally required or necessary to protect users and the service.
AI-graded assignment pictures
Labs, workshops, and project stages require pictures of the student’s work for AI grading. On submission, the app sends the assignment instructions, rubric, learning tier, and pictures to Google Gemini. The app validates and re-encodes pictures to remove location metadata and does not retain its image copies after processing; temporary request buffering may be used during upload. The AI provider processes the pictures under its own applicable terms and retention policies. The app stores assignment attempt dates, rubric versions, grades, and feedback with learning progress so students can review and revise their work. Submit only schoolwork using fictional information, without faces, names, bank details, or private documents. AI grading can be inaccurate. A grade of at least 75% unlocks the next activity; lower scores require revision.
The app also saves which navigation tutorials you have completed or skipped. You can replay or reset tutorials in Settings.
Optional parent progress emails
For a parent-managed account for a student under 13, the parent may choose to receive a learning update every two weeks at the verified account email. The update uses learning activity such as completed lessons, quiz progress, achievements, and streaks. It does not include AI chats, purchase entries, savings information, or trading activity. Gemini may turn those learning facts into a short summary, and EmailJS delivers it. The parent can turn these emails off from account settings.
Public information
Leaderboard participation is optional. If enabled, the student’s chosen username and virtual performance may be visible to other users. A real name or contact information should never be used as the username.
Retention, security, and deletion
Information should be kept only while it is reasonably needed to provide the account, meet legal obligations, resolve disputes, and protect the service, then deleted securely. Passwords are stored as hashes and reasonable security measures are used, but no online system is risk-free. A production release must define specific retention periods and a working account/data deletion process.
Choices
Users can choose whether to join the leaderboard and whether to use optional features such as AI chat. A user—or a parent acting for a child—may request access, correction, or deletion of account information and may withdraw permission for future collection. If required information is deleted, the account may no longer work.
Direct Notice for Parents of Children Under 13
A parent-managed account may collect the information listed above only after parental approval. The information supports the student’s account, personalized financial education, saved progress, optional AI conversations, and simulations. Service providers may process limited information to deliver these functions; information is not sold or used for targeted advertising by Teen Finance Coach.
Parent learning updates every two weeks are optional and off unless the parent selects them during signup or turns them on later. Choosing not to receive these emails does not prevent the student from using the core app.
A parent may review the child’s stored information, ask for corrections or deletion, refuse further collection or use, or withdraw consent. Withdrawing consent will close or limit the child’s account. The operator must verify the requester’s identity before granting access to a child’s information.
The current email-code and adult-attestation flow is suitable for prototype testing only. Before accepting real under-13 users, the operator must choose and legally review a verifiable parental-consent method that satisfies COPPA, provide the parent this notice directly, and implement parent access and deletion tools.
Operator and privacy contact
Teen Finance Coach project administrator
A real operator name, mailing address, telephone number, and monitored privacy email must be added here before the service is made public.