Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains what information Lodestar (the "Service"), operated by Kellie Chung, collects, how it's used, and the choices you have.

What we collect

• Account information: your email address and (optionally) your name. If you sign up with a password, we store only a salted, one-way hash of it — never the password itself. If you sign in with Google, we receive your name, email address, and profile picture from Google.
• Canvas data: if you use the companion browser extension, the course names, assignments (titles, descriptions, due dates), discussions, and announcements from your Canvas account. We do not store your Canvas password or Canvas session cookies. See what the extension can access.
• Content you create: custom and recurring tasks, task edits, planner settings, music playlists, and game progress (XP, Starlight, and the stars you've charted).
• Usage records inside the app: such as when you complete, reschedule, or delete tasks, used to power features like procrastination tracking and task suggestions.
• Server logs: our host, Vercel, automatically records technical details of each request, such as your IP address, browser type, the page or feature requested, and the time. These logs are used only to run, debug, and secure the Service.
• Consent records: when you accepted these policies and confirmed you are 13 or older (we check your month and year of birth but don't store them).

How we use it

Only to provide the Service to you: syncing and displaying your coursework, estimating task priority and time, suggesting tasks, running the game features, and keeping your account secure. We don't sell your personal information, and we don't use it for advertising.

Who we share it with

We use these service providers, who process data on our behalf:

• Vercel — hosts the app.
• Our database provider — stores your account and planner data.
• Google — if you choose "Continue with Google" to sign in.
• Anthropic — assignment titles, course names and descriptions are sent to Anthropic's Claude API to estimate importance, difficulty, and time, and the text of Canvas announcements you choose to check is sent to extract suggested tasks.
• YouTube — the music player uses YouTube API Services: it embeds YouTube's player, and playlist import reads public playlist details through the YouTube Data API. YouTube may set its own cookies and collect data when you use the player, under the Google Privacy Policy.

We may also disclose information if required by law.

AI features

Some features use Anthropic's Claude AI: estimating each assignment's priority and time, finding tasks hidden in Canvas announcements, and checking whether a found task is already an assignment. Their results are generated by a computer, not a person, and they can be wrong. Tasks the AI finds are labeled and are only added to your plan if you say yes (or turn on auto-accept). Always check due dates in Canvas and with your teachers. If an AI result looks wrong or inappropriate, tell us at lodestarplan@gmail.com.

Cookies

We use a strictly necessary session cookie to keep you signed in. We don't use analytics or advertising cookies. Embedded YouTube players may set third-party cookies.

Student records

Lodestar is a personal tool you choose to use; it is not provided by or affiliated with your school or Instructure. You control the Canvas data you bring into it and can remove it at any time by deleting courses in the app or deleting your account.

Retention and deletion

We keep your data for as long as your account exists. You can permanently delete your account and all associated data at any time from Account settings in the app ("Delete Account"). Deletion from our systems is immediate and can't be undone. Our service providers may keep copies of data they processed for a limited time under their own retention policies (for example, Anthropic keeps API inputs and outputs for a limited period before deleting them), and server logs expire on our host's schedule.

Where your data is processed

Lodestar is run from the United States, and your information is stored and processed in the United States and in other countries where our service providers operate. If you're in the European Economic Area or the UK, we rely on these legal bases: providing the Service you asked for (performance of a contract), and keeping it secure and working (our legitimate interests).

Your rights

Depending on where you live (for example, under the GDPR or California's CCPA/CPRA), you may have the right to access, correct, export, or delete your personal information, and to object to or restrict certain processing. You can delete your data yourself in the app; for any other request, contact lodestarplan@gmail.com. We won't discriminate against you for exercising these rights.

Children

The Service is not intended for children under 13, and we don't knowingly collect personal information from them. To comply with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), sign-up asks for your date of birth without suggesting an answer, and no account is created for anyone under 13. If you believe a child under 13 has created an account, contact lodestarplan@gmail.com and we will delete it.

Security

We use reasonable measures to protect your information, including encrypted connections (HTTPS) and hashed passwords. No system is perfectly secure, so we can't guarantee absolute security.

Changes

If we make material changes to this policy, we'll update the effective date above and ask you to review and accept it the next time you sign in.

Contact

Questions or requests? Contact Kellie Chung at lodestarplan@gmail.com.