Pangram's Commitment to Data Privacy

Pangram's commitment to data privacy

Pangram recently updated our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy, and wanted to share the reasons why. In short, our stance and commitment on protecting users' rights to data privacy has not changed, especially when a large majority of our users are educators submitting highly confidential writing from students. However, we wanted to clarify exactly what we do with data submitted to Pangram, and be even more explicit about what we do NOT do, which is what many of our customers have raised concerns about in the past.

You can read the legalese in the links at the bottom of the page, but we also wanted to put forth a short blog post explaining our stance on data privacy in plain English.

What does Pangram do with data submitted to us?

The answer to this question is simple: Pangram does not retain data for any reason other than to show it to you.

• Pangram does NOT use submitted data to train, develop, refine, or improve our machine learning and AI models. We will never use submitted data to train an AI system of any kind. All of our models are trained using commercially licensed external datasets, such as Wikipedia, Project Gutenberg, and data that we create ourselves. These datasets and their licenses can be provided upon request.

• Pangram does NOT maintain an internal database of submissions that is checked against for plagiarism, like some other companies do. User data is completely confidential and is never accessible by other users, directly or indirectly.

• Submitting data to Pangram does NOT affect the results of AI checks. Checking an essay for AI does not have any effect on future checks of that essay for AI by the same or any other user. Students should not worry that checking an essay for AI will incriminate them or that Pangram will share the results of that check with their instructor. All AI checks are confidential.

• Pangram will NOT sell or distribute data to third parties. We use third-party software providers as part of our data infrastructure, such as cloud providers and payment processors, but we have privacy agreements in place with those providers such that they are also held to strict privacy and confidentiality standards when processing data on our behalf. The exception to this is when we are legally required to share personal information to respond to legal, government, or regulatory inquiries.

Who owns the data that is submitted to Pangram?

By submitting data to Pangram, you are not granting Pangram ownership! Pangram does not have any legal claim, right, or royalty to the data that is submitted to us.

Likewise, you do not necessarily need to own the IP to any data that you submit to us either. You may check text that you don't legally own for AI-generated content, for example, someone else's content on a website.

Is using Pangram allowed by FERPA?

Yes! Pangram is a "School Official" under FERPA with legitimate educational interest, and strictly manages and uses student personal information confidentially. Parents and guardians who wish to review or delete their child's data may contact us directly, and we will collaborate with our customers to fulfill these requests.

Can I request my personal data to be deleted?

Yes, you can. You can delete queries from your history, and we will delete it from our servers. You can also email us at privacy@pangram.com and we will delete your information requested.

How secure is my data stored with Pangram?

Pangram takes data security very seriously. In Pangram's operational history, we have never experienced a data breach. We are SOC2 Type II compliant, which is the industry standard for security, and our report is available upon request. We are GDPR compliant for institutional use in the EU. We have completed and passed HECVAT audits at top universities and can provide a HECVAT upon request as well.

How long is data retained by Pangram?

Data is stored by Pangram only as long as is necessary to serve you. We keep customer history until deletion is requested. Once a customer account is closed, we securely delete the personal data within 30 days.

How often do you review and update your privacy policy?

Pangram's privacy policy is reviewed with our Chief Information Security Officer and our Chief Technology Officer twice per year, and is always evolving to meet the latest in privacy and security standards and in response to customer feedback. Should any major changes occur, we will notify our users via email.

If you have any further questions about our data privacy policies, or how we use and store data, please contact us at privacy@pangram.com.