Terms of Service

1.1 Account setup, must be 18 or older

You must be at least 18 years of age to create an account and configure the Service. By accepting these Terms, you represent that you are 18 or older and are the parent or legal guardian of the student who will use the desktop application.

1.2 Student minimum age, 13+

The student using SparkyEd must be at least 13 years of age. Use by children under 13 is expressly prohibited. This age requirement is a material term of these Terms and is not waivable.

This 13+ minimum age is a deliberate design decision that places the Service outside the scope of the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), which applies to services directed at children under 13.

SparkyEd is an AI-assisted math tutoring and learning support service for students in grades 7 through 12. The desktop application provides Socratic coaching, guided hints, and worked solutions in response to student voice input. It is designed to help students learn to solve problems independently, not to complete their work for them.

Important limitation: SparkyEd is a supplementary learning tool. It is not a substitute for a qualified human teacher, tutor, or educational professional. All coaching responses are AI-generated (see Section 4). We make no guarantee that any particular response is educationally correct, complete, or appropriate for your student's specific curriculum.

The desktop application requires you to provide your own API keys for the following third-party AI services that power its core functions:

• Anthropic Claude API, for AI reasoning and coaching responses
• ElevenLabs API, for text-to-speech voice output

These API keys are stored locally on your device only. We never receive, store, or process your API keys. You are solely responsible for your API accounts, associated costs, compliance with each vendor's terms of service, and the security of your keys. We are not responsible for any charges, outages, or data handling by Anthropic or ElevenLabs arising from your use of their services through this application.

All tutoring responses in SparkyEd are generated by artificial intelligence, specifically the Anthropic Claude API. No human tutor reviews or provides your student's coaching responses.

AI systems can and do make mistakes. Math coaching responses may occasionally be incorrect, incomplete, misleading, or not aligned with your student's specific textbook or curriculum. You acknowledge and accept this limitation. We strongly encourage parents to periodically review the coaching their students receive and to consult a qualified human teacher or tutor if any response seems incorrect or confusing.

This disclosure is made in compliance with applicable state laws requiring disclosure when users interact with AI systems, including but not limited to laws in California, Colorado, and other jurisdictions with AI disclosure requirements. See our AI Disclosures page for more detail.

SparkyEd is offered as a paid subscription with a 7-day free trial. After the trial, your subscription auto-renews monthly until cancelled. Payment is processed by Stripe. We do not store your card number.

You can cancel at any time from your account portal. Cancellation takes effect at the end of the current billing period. We do not pro-rate refunds for partial months unless required by applicable law.

Subscription pricing, tier definitions, and trial terms are described on our website. Pricing may change with notice provided at least 30 days before the change takes effect.

You agree not to use SparkyEd:

• To complete homework, tests, quizzes, or assignments in a way that violates academic integrity policies at the student's school or institution
• For any purpose other than legitimate educational support for the enrolled student
• In any manner that violates applicable law
• To allow use by any student under 13 years of age

We are not responsible for any academic integrity violations or disciplinary consequences resulting from use of the Service. Students and parents are responsible for ensuring use complies with their school's policies.

The Service, including its source code, user interface, and tutoring logic (system prompts, hint engine, adaptive profile algorithms), is proprietary intellectual property of the Company. You are granted a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable license to install and use the desktop application on macOS or Windows devices you own or control, solely for personal, non-commercial educational purposes, while your subscription remains in good standing.

AI-generated coaching content (responses generated by the Claude API) may have limited copyright protection under current law. We do not claim ownership of AI-generated responses delivered to your student. You may retain local copies of session logs for personal educational use.

The Service is provided "as is" and "as available" without warranties of any kind, either express or implied, including but not limited to warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, accuracy, and non-infringement. We do not warrant that the Service will be error-free or uninterrupted, or that AI-generated coaching responses will be correct or suitable for any particular student or curriculum.

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, the Company shall not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages arising from your use of or inability to use the Service, including but not limited to damages arising from incorrect AI responses, data loss, or academic outcomes. In no event shall our total liability exceed the amount you paid for the Service in the twelve months preceding the claim.

Most data generated by the desktop application is stored exclusively on your device. Limited information (your account email, subscription state, occasional error reports, weekly usage pings) is transmitted to our servers to operate your subscription. AI tutoring data is transmitted directly from your device to your own Anthropic and ElevenLabs accounts, not to us.

For full details on data collection, use, and your rights (including CCPA rights for California residents), see our Privacy Policy.

You may delete all locally stored app data at any time through the Parent Dashboard (Settings, Delete Account & Data). To delete server-side data (account, subscription history, error reports, usage pings), email legal@sparkyed.com. We process deletion requests within 45 days as required by the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) and other applicable laws.

The desktop application may automatically check for and download software updates via Sparkle on macOS or WinSparkle on Windows from our distribution servers (signed appcast feed at sparkyed.com/api/app/appcast). Updates are delivered over HTTPS and verified by EdDSA signature before installation. You may disable automatic update checks in the Parent Dashboard. Manual "Check for Updates" is always available.

You may stop using the Service at any time. Cancelling your subscription stops recurring billing. Uninstalling the desktop application and deleting the app's data directory removes all locally stored data. To remove server-side records, contact us as described in Section 11.

We may suspend or terminate your access if you breach these Terms. We will notify you when reasonably possible.

We may update these Terms from time to time. We will notify you of material changes through an in-app notice at next launch and on the website. Continued use of the Service after notice constitutes acceptance of the updated Terms. If you do not agree to the updated Terms, you should stop using the Service and delete your data.

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Delaware, without regard to conflict of law principles. Any disputes shall be resolved in the state or federal courts located in Delaware. The Company's registered agent for service of process in Delaware is Corporation Service Company, 251 Little Falls Drive, Wilmington, New Castle County, DE 19808.