Privacy & Security
Compliance & Certifications
Amira uses only the information needed to provide educational services and support student learning. Student information is protected through encryption, controlled access, secure infrastructure and defined data-retention practices.
Our Commitment to Student Data Privacy & Security
Amira is independently audited by three separate firms: financially, for security, and for compliance with its contractual commitments. Amira carries substantial cyber-liability insurance and has contractually committed to more than 2,000 government agencies that it will not sell or release student data.
We support district-specific Data Privacy Agreements (DPAs) and ensure full transparency about how data is used.
No biometric identifier is created from a student’s voice. Amira never produces a voiceprint, a voice profile, or any other biometric identifier.
Responsible Use of AI and Voice Data
Amira uses voice recordings to provide personalized reading feedback and accelerate literacy development. We do so with strong safeguards, responsible AI practices, and full district oversight.
Audio retention
Amira’s default is no retention: practice audio is never saved, and assessment audio is deleted within 48 hours of scoring. Districts may elect to keep it longer and can change that in writing at any time. Audio is encrypted, access-controlled and carries no student name or ID, and it is never backed up, so a deletion is complete when it runs. US student audio stays in the US, and a district may request deletion at any time.
District choices
Audio retention is a single setting. A district selects one of five positions: no retention, deletion after 48 hours, deletion over the weekend, deletion at the end of each month, or deletion at the end of the school year, and may change that election in writing at any time. A district may request deletion of its student audio at any time, whatever its retention setting. Requests come from the district, which holds the education record, so a parent makes the request through their district. Amira completes deletion requests within 10 business days and provides written confirmation of each one.
Model improvement
Amira does not use voice recordings directly to train models. We do not provide student data to others to build models. Amira utilizes only de-identified data to train our models. Participation in model improvement is a separate district setting from audio retention: turning retention off does not by itself decline model improvement, and declining it does not change the audio setting.
Student interactions
Amira is not a chatbot. It cannot hold everyday conversations, build relationships with students, or answer anything outside the assigned reading. It is functionally incapable of saying anything that has not been vetted by a human in advance, and it does one thing: give feedback on a student's reading.
Compliance You Can Trust
FERPA (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act)
Parents consent through their educational agencies: the state department of education and the local school district. Amira operates under contract with districts or states governed by FERPA, which lets a district designate a third party such as an assessment provider to collect data on its behalf. 34 C.F.R. § 99.31(a)(1) is the mechanism.
COPPA (Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act)
Amira complies with COPPA by ensuring that:
- Only authorized school officials, not students, create and manage student accounts.
- No open registration or anonymous access is available.
- All data collection is governed by school district agreements, ensuring information is used solely for educational purposes and in line with local policies.
- Schools may provide consent on behalf of parents for the collection of student data when using Amira, given the information is used strictly for educational purposes and not for commercial activities, in accordance with the COPPA school exception.
Independent verification
Amira's certifications are independently verified by 1EdTech, its security posture is published as a self-assessment in the Cloud Security Alliance STAR registry, and Amira is a signatory to the CISA Secure by Design Pledge, verified on CISA's published list of signers.
Audio data residency
Amira voice recordings are stored only in Amira's own hosting facilities: in Ohio for students in the United States, and in Montreal for students in Canada. There is no other location, and storage is never outside Amira's direct control.
State Student Privacy Laws
Amira Learning supports compliance with student privacy laws across the US, including:
- House Bill 18 (SCOPE Act)
- California’s Student Online Personal Information Protection Act (SOPIPA)
- New York’s Education Law § 2-d
- Connecticut’s Public Act 16-189
To meet these laws, Amira Learning ensures:
- Data Minimization: Only essential student information is collected.
- Age-Appropriate Access: Students are onboarded through district-verified processes, no open or public accounts exist.
- Content Safety: Students never encounter harmful material, open forums, or unmoderated user-generated content.
- Family Transparency: Districts and families have access to review, correct, or delete student data as needed.
Transparency & Family Rights
Amira Learning gives districts and families clear options to manage student data responsibly:
- Data Review and Correction: Families can request access to their child’s data or corrections through their school or district.
- Family Access: Districts can provide families with clear documentation and oversight tools that align with local policy.
Audio deletion requests
Retention is a district decision and Amira's default is not to retain. Where a district has made no election, practice audio is never saved and assessment audio is deleted within 48 hours of scoring. Retention is a single setting: no retention, deletion after 48 hours, at the weekend, at the end of each month, or at the end of the school year. A district may change its election in writing at any time, and may request deletion of its student audio whatever the setting. Amira completes deletion requests within 10 business days and confirms each one in writing. Participation in model improvement is a separate setting: turning retention off does not decline model improvement, and declining model improvement does not change retention.
Keeping Student Data Safe
We use industry-standard practices to secure all data collected by Amira Learning, including:
- Encryption: All data is encrypted in transit and at rest.
- Access Controls: Only district-assigned, authorized users can access student information.
- Data Minimization: We collect and retain only what is necessary to support educational goals.
- Regular Audits: Our systems are regularly reviewed and updated as needed to meet evolving cybersecurity standards.
