Privacy Policy
How SENTINEL\u00B7IEP handles your data.
Plain-language summary
SENTINEL\u00B7IEP is designed to keep your child's records on YOUR device. The desktop application reads documents locally; raw documents are not uploaded to our servers. When you use cloud-assisted analysis, we send a summarized version of your case (extracted findings, not raw documents) to one or more AI providers. We do not sell, share, or rent your data.
Data we process locally (on your device)
- Documents you load: IEPs, evaluations, Prior Written Notices, emails, district correspondence. Stored on your device only.
- Meeting audio: recorded during live monitoring sessions.
Stored to a local
recordings/folder. Never transmitted. - Transcripts: generated locally by a Whisper model running on your device.
- Generated reports: case-analysis output saved locally to
an
analyses/folder on your device. - Acknowledgement records: JSON files documenting that you accepted the disclaimer and recording-consent acknowledgements. Stored to your user-config directory on your device.
Data sent to AI providers (cloud-assisted mode only)
If you choose cloud-assisted analysis, your case content is sent to one or more third-party AI providers (Anthropic, OpenAI, Google Gemini). Specifically:
- The extract stage sends the concatenated text of your loaded documents to ONE provider (the one with the largest context window for your case size). This is the only stage that transmits raw document content.
- The critique and synthesize stages only send the extracted analysis from the previous stage \u2014 not the raw documents.
- You can choose local-only mode (Ollama) to avoid all cloud transmission. This is the privacy-safe default.
AI providers process this content under their own terms of service and may use it according to their stated policies. Review their policies before enabling cloud mode:
Data we collect on our servers
SENTINEL\u00B7IEP operates as a desktop application; we do not run a central server that stores your documents, recordings, or analyses. Limited information is collected by the following service providers when you interact with us:
- Waitlist email: If you submit our waitlist form, your email address is stored by Formspree (our form provider) and forwarded to us. We use it only to notify you when SENTINEL\u00B7IEP becomes available.
- Website analytics: [PLACEHOLDER \u2014 specify what analytics provider is in use, if any. Currently: none configured.]
- Payment information: [PLACEHOLDER \u2014 to be specified when payment processor is selected. Likely Stripe.]
FERPA considerations
Student education records are protected under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). SENTINEL\u00B7IEP is designed so that your child's protected records remain on YOUR device. We are not a school agency, do not have a Studies-or-Audit-and-Evaluation relationship with any school district, and do not store student records on our servers in our intended deployment model.
Your choices
- Use offline mode \u2014 nothing leaves your device.
- Use cloud mode selectively \u2014 you choose when and which provider.
- Delete your data \u2014 remove the
recordings/andanalyses/folders from your device at any time. There is no central account to deactivate. - Unsubscribe from email \u2014 every email we send includes an unsubscribe link.
Children
SENTINEL\u00B7IEP is designed for use by parents and adult advocates on behalf of children. The product is not directed at children, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. The product processes records ABOUT children locally, on the parent's or advocate's device.
Changes to this policy
We may update this policy. Material changes will be communicated by email to anyone with an active account or waitlist registration. The "last updated" date below reflects the most recent revision.
Contact
Privacy questions or requests: contact us.