Your essays are yours. Full stop.
Last updated: 15 September 2026. This policy explains what we collect, why, and the promises we make about your work.
1. Who we are
essaycriteria is an independent study tool that provides AI-assisted feedback on IB Diploma Programme essays — the Extended Essay, the TOK essay and Group 1 Higher Level essays. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to the International Baccalaureate Organization. For any privacy question or request, contact us at privacy@essaycriteria.com.
2. Information we collect
Provided by you
- Account details — email address, name, and an encrypted password (only if you create an account; it isn’t required for your first free criterion).
- Essay submissions — the text or PDF you submit, the task type you select (e.g. EE in History, TOK title 3), and any RPPF reflections you upload.
- Support communications — anything you send us when asking for help.
Collected automatically
- Usage metrics — pages visited and features used, in aggregate.
- Standard technical logs — IP address, browser type and session data, kept for security and reliability.
3. How we use information
- To mark your essay: running the swarm, generating your report, and storing it for your account history.
- To operate and secure the service — preventing abuse, fraud and automated attacks.
- To improve the service using aggregate usage patterns — never by training on individual essays.
- To communicate with you about your submissions and, only with consent, product updates.
- To meet legal obligations.
4. Essay protection commitments
- Your essays are never used to train or improve any AI model.
- We do not sell, rent or share your essays with third parties for their own purposes.
- Your essays are never added to plagiarism databases.
- Essays are stored encrypted, only so you can access your reports, and are deleted automatically after 30 days.
- You may delete a submission at any time; teachers and schools on cohort plans may request deletion on students’ behalf.
5. Security
All traffic is encrypted in transit (TLS) and stored content is encrypted at rest. Access to production systems is restricted to the engineers who need it, logged and audited. Backups are encrypted and follow defined retention policies.
6. Third-party services
We work with a short list of providers, each bound by a data processing agreement:
- AI providers (frontier model engines) — used solely to process your essay for marking, on terms that prohibit them from training on your content.
- Hosting & CDN (Cloudflare) — serving the application and protecting it from abuse.
- Payment processing — card details go directly to the processor; we never see them.
7. Data retention
- Essays and reports: 30 days, or earlier if you delete them.
- Account data: for as long as your account is active. On deletion, data is removed from active systems within 30 days and from encrypted backups within 90 days.
8. Your rights (GDPR & friends)
Wherever you live, you can ask us to access, correct, export or delete your personal data, object to or restrict its processing, and withdraw consent at any time. Email privacy@essaycriteria.com and we will respond within 30 days.
9. Children & young people
Our users are mostly DP students aged 16–19. The service is not directed at children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect their data. Where local law requires parental consent for younger teenagers, we ask for it. Parents may contact us to review or delete a student’s data at any time — and student data is never used for marketing.
10. Cookies
We use strictly necessary cookies for sign-in and security, preference cookies to remember your settings, and — only with your consent — privacy-respecting analytics that do not build personal profiles. You can manage cookies through the consent banner or your browser.
11. International transfers
Our providers operate globally, so data may be processed outside your country. Where it is, we rely on EU-approved Standard Contractual Clauses and equivalent safeguards.
12. Changes to this policy
Material changes will be announced by email or a notice in the app, with an updated date at the top of this page. Continued use of the service after a change takes effect means you accept the revised policy.
13. Contact
Privacy questions and requests: privacy@essaycriteria.com · General support: support@essaycriteria.com
Student privacy is paramount. We exist to help people learn to write — not to exploit what they write.