Piper is a tool for learning mathematics and supporting those who teach it, made and run by Ridian Technologies LLC. It is not run by Weber State University, and it is not run by your instructor. Your instructor chose to make Piper available to your class, but the service itself, and the data it handles, are Ridian's responsibility. This notice explains what Piper collects, what happens to it, and what you can do about it.
What Piper collects
- Your messages and Piper's replies. The conversation itself.
- A random session identifier. Your browser stores a random ID so a conversation holds together. It is not tied to your name, and it expires after six hours of inactivity.
- A random device identifier. Your browser also stores a second random ID that does not expire, so we can count how many people use Piper without knowing who anyone is. It is not tied to your name, your class key, or anything else about you, and it goes away if you clear your browser's site data. If you opt out of research logging (below), it is not logged either.
- Your class key. The key your instructor gave you identifies your class group. It does not identify you.
- Ordinary web traffic data. Like any website, our hosting provider records things such as your IP address, browser type, and the time of each request.
What Piper does not collect
Piper has no accounts. There is no password, no name, no email address, no student ID, no grades, and no university records. We can't look you up, because there is nothing to look you up by.
Who processes your messages
When you send a message, it goes to Microsoft Azure AI, which generates Piper's reply. Microsoft processes that data as our service provider, on our instructions.
Conversations are stored in Google Sheets through Google Apps Script. That is where the research record lives.
The safety check
An automated safety observer reviews messages for signals that someone may be at risk. When it flags something, that exchange is recorded, and a person at Ridian may read it. We want you to know that up front, so it is never a surprise.
Here is what the safety check is not. It is not surveillance of your schoolwork. It is not a disciplinary tool. And it does not send your instructor a report about you as an individual. Its only job is to notice when someone might need help.
The one exception: if we believe someone may be in danger, we may contact people who can help. That could include your instructor, university support services, or emergency services. We would rather you know that now than be surprised by it later.
Research
Conversations are stored so we can study how students learn with Piper. That research has been reviewed by Weber State University's Institutional Review Board (IRB). Before any analysis, transcripts are de-identified: names and other identifying details are removed.
Your instructor sees summaries or de-identified findings. There is no dashboard of individual students' conversations.
What we don't do with your data
We don't sell it. We don't use it for advertising. And we don't share it with anyone outside the parties named in this notice: Ridian, Microsoft Azure to generate replies, Google to store conversations, our hosting provider, and the Weber State research effort described above, which works only with de-identified transcripts and findings.
Please keep names out of it
Please don't type your full name, other students' names, or anything you wouldn't want stored. Piper doesn't need any of that to help you with math. We can't prevent you from typing it, which is exactly why we're asking.
Opting out of research
You can opt out. Email us at ryan@ridiantechnologies.com and we'll send you a link that turns research logging off on your device as soon as you open it. Piper keeps working exactly as before; your conversations on that device just aren't logged for research. If you use Piper on more than one device, open the link on each one. There is no switch for this inside Piper, so email is the way to do it.
How long we keep it
We keep conversation records through the end of the study and any analysis that comes out of it, and no longer than three years after the pilot ends. Exchanges flagged by the safety check may be kept longer, because they may need to be reviewed.
Security
Data is encrypted in transit between your device, our servers, and our service providers. Access is limited to the people who need it to run Piper, keep it safe, and do the research described above. No system is perfectly secure, and we won't pretend otherwise. We work to keep the risk low.
Age
Piper is not directed to children under 13. It is made for college students in a course that uses it.
Questions and concerns
Email ryan@ridiantechnologies.com with any question about this notice or about your data.
If your concern is about the research, you can also contact Weber State University's Institutional Review Board directly.
Changes
If this notice changes, we will update the date at the top.
See also the Terms of Use.