Privacy Policy

Who we are

IEP Explained provides plain-language guidance and preparation tools for parents navigating special-education evaluations, IEPs, and reading-screener flags in the United States. This policy explains what information we collect when you visit iepexplained.com or use the free IEP Analyzer, and the choices you have. It applies to this website only.

What we collect

Information you give us. When you use the Analyzer and ask us to send your full read, we collect:

• Your email address.
• The choices you select: your state, your child's grade band, and the situation that fits best (for example, "the school won't evaluate my child").
• A short summary of your deadlines — how many apply and the soonest date — calculated from any dates you chose to enter.

Information collected automatically. Like most websites, we use Google Analytics to understand how the site is used — pages viewed, general device and browser type, an approximate location derived from your IP address, and how you arrived (including which link or ad campaign brought you here). This uses cookies and similar technologies.

What we don't collect

We don't ask for your child's name, and you're welcome to redact identifying details. We don't ask for diagnoses, documents, or any sensitive identifiers like Social Security numbers. The specific dates you type into the Analyzer are used in your browser to calculate your deadlines — we receive only the summary described above, not the raw dates, and not a free-text description of your child.

How we use your information

• To send you the full read you requested, and occasional plain-language guidance you can unsubscribe from at any time.
• To understand which content actually helps parents, so we can improve it.
• To measure how well our ads reach parents who need this — in aggregate, never by sharing your situation with advertisers.

Who processes your information

We don't sell your information. We use a small number of trusted service providers to operate the site; they process data on our behalf and only for these purposes:

• Formspree — receives your email and the structured summary above so we can send your read and follow-up guidance.
• Google Analytics — provides the usage analytics described above.
• Stripe — only if you choose to purchase a paid analysis, Stripe processes the payment. Your full card details go directly to Stripe; we never see or store them.
• Anthropic (Claude) — if you use our optional AI-assisted plain-language read, the structured details of your situation (your state, grade band, situation, and the deadlines we calculated) are sent to Anthropic's API to put the result into warm, readable wording. We don't send your email or your child's name, and Anthropic does not use this data to train its models.

Advertising

We run ads on Google and Meta to reach parents searching for help. These platforms may set their own cookies to measure whether their ads worked. We do not share your special-education details — your situation, your child's grade, your deadlines — with any advertising platform for targeting, and we don't use sensitive categories to target ads.

How long we keep it

We keep your email and the associated summary for as long as you're subscribed to our guidance, or until you ask us to delete it. You can unsubscribe from any email we send, and you can ask us to delete your information entirely at any time.

Your choices and rights

• Unsubscribe from any email using the link in it.
• Access or delete the information we hold about you — email privacy@iepexplained.com and we'll handle it.
• California residents: you have the right to know what personal information we collect, to request its deletion, and to opt out of any sale or sharing of it. We don't sell or share your personal information in the first place, and you won't be treated differently for exercising these rights.
• Analytics opt-out: you can install Google's browser opt-out add-on or use your browser's privacy controls to limit analytics cookies.

Children's privacy

This site is intended for parents and caregivers — adults. It is not directed to children, and we don't knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 13. The information you provide is about your child's school situation, but it comes from you, the adult, and we keep it to the minimum needed to help.

Security

The site is served entirely over an encrypted (HTTPS) connection, and access to the information we collect is limited to what's needed to operate IEP Explained. No method of transmission or storage is ever perfectly secure, but we work to protect your information and to collect as little of it as possible.

Changes to this policy

If we change how we handle your information, we'll update this page and the "last updated" date above. Material changes will be reflected here before they take effect.

Contact us

Questions about your privacy, or a request to access or delete your data? Email privacy@iepexplained.com.