Privacy Policy

Last updated: 24 September 2026

Shape of Headline is a daily news reading platform for students in Classes 5 to 12. Our users are children, so this page sets out in plain language exactly what we collect, why, who can see it, and what we will never do.

Most of this is written to parents, who give consent and hold the rights over their child’s data. Two sections are written to students. Each heading says which.

1. Who we are

Shape of Headline is built and run by Anuj in Bengaluru, under Amriculum Education. You can reach us at anuj@shapeofheadline.com.

2. Parental consent comes first for parents

India’s Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 (DPDP Act) treats everyone under 18 as a child and requires a parent or guardian’s consent before a child’s personal data is processed. Shape of Headline is built around that requirement.

When a student registers, the account is created in a pending state. It cannot be used to read, to submit a summary, or to build a streak. We email the parent or guardian at the address given during registration, and the account is activated only after they confirm through that email.

That email also states the class the student entered, because the class decides how their writing is marked and the parent is the only person who can check it.

The confirmation link is valid for 7 days. If a parent does not confirm, the account stays unusable and we delete it, and everything entered during registration, automatically.

3. What we collect for parents

About the student: first and last name, username, class level, and a securely hashed password. We do not ask students for an email address or a phone number.

About the parent or guardian: name, email address and mobile number. The email address is also the parent’s own login. We use these to obtain and record consent, to give the parent their dashboard, and to contact them about their child’s account.

Reading activity: the summaries a student writes, the feedback each one receives, the follow-up question and their answer to it, and whether the read was verified. This is the data that lets a parent see proof of reading rather than a claim of it.

Reading windows: when a student opened their first piece each day. This is how the daily 45-minute window is enforced.

Vocabulary lookups: words a student looked up while reading, with the meaning and example shown to them. Visible to the student and their parent.

Subscription records: the dates a student’s free period and any paid period run to, and a record of each payment made, including a reference we generate and the amount. We never see or store card numbers, UPI PINs, or bank credentials — payments happen entirely inside your own banking or UPI app.

Activity records: logins, streak changes and a log of significant actions, with timestamps and IP addresses. These exist so that consent actions can be audited and so we can investigate a problem with an account.

Cookies: one session cookie when someone signs in, so the site knows they are signed in. It is not used for tracking or advertising and it expires when the session ends. We use no analytics or advertising cookies of any kind.

4. Why we collect it for parents

To run the platform, and for nothing else: to obtain and record parental consent, to show a student the right reading and mark it at the right level, to give a parent an honest picture of their child’s reading, and to know whether an account is paid for.

5. What we will never do for everyone

6. Who can see what you do for students

You, and the parent or guardian who approved your account. They see which days you read, which pieces you chose, the exact words you wrote, and the result of every check. Nothing you do on Shape of Headline is hidden from them.

No other student and no other family can see any of it. Where brothers or sisters share the same parent email, that one parent sees all of them.

We can see activity across the platform, to run the service and to improve how summaries are marked.

7. How your writing is checked for students

When you submit a summary, it is sent along with the article to OpenAI’s service, which assesses it and writes the follow-up question. Your name, username, class and your parent’s details are not sent — it receives your writing and the article, and nothing that says who wrote it. OpenAI handles this on our behalf under their API data usage terms.

We keep your summaries and the results in our own database, and use them to improve how marking works.

8. Where data is stored for parents

Our database and files are held with our hosting provider, GoDaddy. Data may be processed in data centres outside India as part of our hosting and AI processing arrangements.

9. How long we keep it for parents

Accounts that are never confirmed are deleted, with everything entered at registration, after 7 days.

Active accounts and their reading history are kept while the account exists. An account whose paid period has ended is paused, not deleted — the streak, history and vocabulary are kept so that reading can resume where it left off. If you would rather it were deleted instead, ask us.

When a parent asks for deletion, we delete the account and its data within 30 days.

10. Withdrawing consent for parents

A parent or guardian can withdraw consent at any time by writing to support@shapeofheadline.com from the address on record. The account stops working immediately and the data is deleted as described above.

11. Your rights for parents

As the parent or guardian of a student on Shape of Headline, you may ask us to tell you what data we hold about your child, correct anything that is wrong, delete it, or withdraw your consent. Write to support@shapeofheadline.com and we will respond within 30 days.

12. Keeping data secure for everyone

Passwords are stored as bcrypt hashes and are never logged or transmitted in readable form. The site is served over HTTPS. Every database query uses prepared statements. Access is restricted by role: a parent can reach only their own children’s data, and a student only their own. Significant actions are logged.

13. Changes to this policy for parents

If we change how we handle data, we will update this page and the date at the top. If the change is significant, we will email parents directly rather than only changing this page.

14. Contact and complaints for everyone

For any question, request or complaint about how Shape of Headline handles personal data, write to support@shapeofheadline.com. We will acknowledge your message and tell you what we are doing about it.