Courstructor — Privacy Policy
Effective date: July 28, 2026 Last updated: July 28, 2026
This Privacy Policy explains what Courstructor (the "Service"), operated by Harding Media Group LLC, collects, why, and what we do with it.
1. Summary
| We store | Your email, the Canvas URL and course ID you build into, the structured content extracted from documents you upload, and build activity logs |
| We do not store | Your Canvas access token (encrypted browser cookie only), or the original files you upload |
| We never access | Student records, submissions, grades, enrollments, or Canvas user profiles |
| We send to third parties | Your document content, to Anthropic, for structural analysis and formatting |
| We do not | Sell your data, share it with advertisers, or use it to train AI models |
2. Information we collect
Account information
Provided when you create an account or join the waitlist:
- Email address
- Name (if supplied to our identity provider)
- Role and institution (optional, waitlist form only)
- Account timestamps and approval status
Canvas connection details
- Your Canvas instance URL
- The Canvas course ID for each build or modifier session
Course content
When you upload a course development document, the Service parses it to plain text and sends that text to Anthropic's Claude API to produce a structured build manifest.
We retain the structured manifest, which contains the course content extracted from your document — page text, discussion prompts, quiz questions and answers, rubric criteria, and assignment instructions. This is stored so the build can run, resume after interruption, and be reviewed afterwards.
We do not retain the original file. Uploaded .docx, .pdf, .xlsx, and
.txt files are parsed in memory and discarded; only the extracted text and the
resulting manifest persist.
Build activity
- Which Canvas items were created, and whether each operation succeeded
- Error messages returned by Canvas
- Build status and timestamps
Modifier sessions
If you use the Modifier chat, we store your messages, the assistant's replies, and a record of the Canvas operations performed.
What we do not collect
We do not collect student personally identifiable information, educational records, submissions, or grades. The Service is built so it cannot request them: it has no capability to read Canvas submissions, gradebooks, enrollments, or user profiles.
3. Your Canvas access token
Your Canvas access token is handled differently from everything else and deserves its own section.
- It is encrypted with AES-256-GCM and stored in an HTTP-only,
SameSite=Laxcookie, markedSecurein production. - It is never written to our database.
- It is decrypted server-side only for the duration of a request that needs to call Canvas on your behalf.
- The cookie persists for up to one year, or until you disconnect Canvas, sign out, or clear your browser cookies.
A Canvas access token carries the full permissions of the account that issued it, which may include access to student data across all of your courses — independent of what Courstructor uses it for. We recommend issuing a token from an account with the narrowest access that meets your needs, and revoking it in Canvas when you stop using the Service.
4. How we use information
We use the information above only to:
- Authenticate you and manage access during the invitation-only period
- Parse your document and construct the build plan
- Create the content in the Canvas course you designate
- Show you build progress, results, and history
- Diagnose failures and improve reliability
- Communicate with you about the Service
We do not use your data for advertising, and we do not sell it.
5. Subprocessors
We use the following third-party services to operate Courstructor. Each receives only what it needs.
| Provider | Purpose | What it receives |
|---|---|---|
| Anthropic | AI structural analysis and content formatting (Claude API) | Text of your uploaded document; course content during builds and Modifier sessions |
| Supabase | Database | Account records, build manifests, activity logs, Modifier messages |
| Clerk | Authentication and identity | Email, name, authentication metadata |
| Netlify | Application hosting | Standard web request data (IP address, user agent, request paths) |
On AI training: Anthropic does not use data submitted through its API to train its models by default. Courstructor does not use your content to train any model.
Your Canvas instance is not a subprocessor — it is your own system, which the Service acts on using credentials you supply.
6. Retention
| Data | Retained |
|---|---|
| Account and access records | While your account is active |
| Build records, manifests, and logs | While your account is active, unless you delete the build |
| Modifier sessions and messages | While your account is active, unless you delete the session |
| Uploaded original files | Not retained — discarded after parsing |
| Canvas access token | In your browser cookie only; up to one year or until you disconnect |
| Waitlist entries | Until removed by us or on your request |
On account deletion we remove your account record and associated builds, manifests, and Modifier sessions. Content already written to your Canvas course is not affected — it lives in your Canvas instance and remains under your control. Backups may retain deleted data for a limited period before being overwritten.
7. Your rights
You may:
- Access the data we hold about you
- Correct inaccurate account information
- Delete your account and associated data
- Export your build records
- Disconnect Canvas at any time, which removes your stored credentials
- Withdraw from the waitlist
To exercise any of these, contact justin@courstructor.com. Depending on where you live, you may have additional rights under laws such as the GDPR or the CCPA, including the right to object to processing or lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority.
8. Security
We protect your information with:
- Encryption in transit (HTTPS/TLS) for all traffic
- AES-256-GCM encryption for Canvas credentials, held only in an HTTP-only cookie
- Database access restricted to server-side service credentials, with row-level security enabled as a secondary control
- Canvas requests scoped to the single course you approve, enforced in code rather than by configuration
- Security headers including HSTS,
X-Frame-Options: DENY, andX-Content-Type-Options: nosniff
No system is perfectly secure. If we become aware of a breach affecting your data, we will notify you as required by applicable law.
9. FERPA and institutional data
Courstructor writes course content. It is not designed to access, store, or process student educational records, and it has no technical capability to read them from Canvas.
We do not act as a "school official" under FERPA by default. Institutions with FERPA, procurement, or data-protection requirements should contact us before deploying the Service more broadly, so that appropriate agreements can be put in place.
Do not upload documents containing student names, identifiers, submissions, or grades. Course development documents should contain instructional material only.
10. Cookies
We use cookies only for functionality, not tracking or advertising:
| Cookie | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Authentication session | Keeps you signed in (set by Clerk) |
| Canvas credentials | Encrypted Canvas URL and token (see Section 3) |
We do not use advertising or third-party analytics cookies.
11. Children
The Service is intended for educators and institutional staff and is not directed to anyone under 18. We do not knowingly collect information from children.
12. International users
The Service is operated in the United States, and your information is processed there. If you access it from elsewhere, you consent to that transfer.
13. Changes
We may update this policy. Material changes will be posted here with a revised effective date and, where practical, notified by email.
14. Contact
Questions, requests, or privacy concerns: justin@courstructor.com