Editorial policy

The rules the desk holds itself to, stated publicly so readers can hold it to them too.

Numbers

No invented statistics and no promised outcomes. Any figure in a guide comes from primary law or official guidance named at the foot of the guide, is attributed in the text, and carries its check date. Worked examples use round numbers and are labelled illustrations, never real cases. No guide publishes a student's record or identifying information.

Evidence grading

Every guide's privacy check states the record, the data, the safeguard and the first check. The check describes how the advice is supported, and guides say plainly when the honest answer is a decision by the institution holding the record.

Jurisdiction

US law is primary: FERPA, PPRA and COPPA where they intersect with college EdTech. Other jurisdictions, including state student privacy laws, are labelled separately and never blended with federal law. A rule still being proposed, consulted on or litigated is described as such, never as settled law.

Dates

Published dates are real. A guide's evidence-check date moves only when the guide is genuinely re-read against its sources. Volatile material is written as a dated snapshot.

Voice

The desk writes as a knowledgeable explainer, not as a practising lawyer, privacy officer or vendor. It never claims a compliance result for any student or institution, never presents an illustration as a real case, and never describes itself with status words like expert or leading.

Corrections

Errors are corrected in the guide and recorded on the corrections page with the date and the reason. Silent edits to factual claims do not happen here.