Sconce · Privacy & AI disclosure
Last updated: June 17, 2026
What Sconce is
Sconce is an AI-powered executive-function coaching service for students. Every student interaction labeled "Coach" is an AI system (Anthropic's Claude), not a human. Sconce is operated by Sconce LLC, a Washington, DC limited liability company.
Who uses Sconce
Sconce is designed for students — middle and high school, and sometimes earlier. Students under 18 use Sconce only with the consent of a parent or legal guardian, captured at intake.
For younger students — especially those under 13 — Sconce is parent-driven by default: the parent sets things up and is the primary user, and the student contributes directly (chatting with the coach, sending photos) as much as they're ready to. As a student gets older and more independent, they take on more of that themselves. The parent provides consent and stays in control of the account throughout.
With the parent's consent (captured at intake), Sconce may also message the parent directly — by text or WhatsApp — with schedule updates, reminders, and brief summaries. These go to the parent, not the student. Reply STOP to any of them to opt out.
For students under 13, Sconce is subject to the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). We collect only the information needed to coach the student, and we do not share it with third parties beyond the service providers listed below. A parent can review, export, or permanently delete their child's data at any time — directly from the parent dashboard, or by emailing [email protected].
What we collect
- Information the parent provides at intake: names, grade, school, calendar habits, goals, any context you share, and (if the parent opts in to SMS coaching) the student's mobile phone number.
- Information the parent provides on an ongoing basis: messages to Sconce's parent assistant (by text or in the dashboard), and any documents or photos the parent shares — for example, a photo of an assignment sheet — which we process the same way as materials the student shares.
- Information the student provides: chat messages, voice notes, photos of assignments, and documents they share. If the student records or shares lecture audio, we create a written transcript of it to find assignments, dates, and other academic details.
- Location, only when the student chooses to share it (for example, to help plan travel time to or from school). We do not track location in the background.
- Information from connected services, only if you connect them: assignment data from Canvas or your school's LMS, and events and tasks from Google Calendar and Google Tasks.
- The secure access tokens that let Sconce connect to the services above (for example, Google or Canvas). These are stored only to keep the connection working, and are never shared.
Who sees it
- Karl Kahn (operator).
- Anthropic, the provider of the Claude AI models Sconce uses. Anthropic's processing of Sconce data is governed by its Commercial Terms of Service and Usage Policy.
- Twilio, our SMS delivery provider. Twilio receives only the student's mobile phone number and the text of each coaching message, for the purpose of delivering it. Twilio's handling is governed by its Privacy Notice.
- Meta (WhatsApp), if the student receives coaching messages over WhatsApp instead of SMS. Meta receives only the student's WhatsApp number and the text of each coaching message, to deliver it. Meta's handling is governed by the WhatsApp Privacy Policy.
- Google, if you connect Google Calendar or Google Tasks.
- Canvas / your school's LMS, if you connect it.
- Cloudflare, our hosting and infrastructure provider, which operates the servers Sconce runs on.
We do not sell personal information. We do not share it with advertisers. We do not use it to train AI models. Phone numbers collected for SMS coaching are never used for marketing, never shared with third parties for marketing, and never sold.
SMS coaching messages
If a parent opts in at intake by providing the student's mobile number and checking the SMS-authorization box, Sconce sends SMS coaching messages from Sconce LLC to that number. These messages include reminders about schoolwork, conversational coaching, and follow-ups on tasks the student has discussed with the coach. They are generated by an AI system, not a human.
Message frequency varies based on the student's schedule and coaching activity — typically 1–10 messages per day during the school year, with lower or zero volume on weekends, holidays, and breaks. Message and data rates may apply from your wireless carrier.
You can stop SMS coaching messages at any time by replying STOP (or STOPALL, UNSUBSCRIBE, CANCEL, END, QUIT) to any message. After you send STOP, you will receive a confirmation SMS that no further messages will be sent. Reply HELP (or INFO) for help. Full SMS terms are at https://sconce.dev/terms.
Wireless carriers are not liable for delayed or undelivered messages.
How to reach us
You can export or permanently delete your child's data yourself, at any time, from the parent dashboard. For privacy questions, other data requests, or to pause or close an account, email [email protected]. We will respond within a week.
Changes
We will update this page when the lawyer-reviewed version is ready. If material terms change, we will ask for fresh consent at next login.