Privacy Policy

Effective date: September 4, 2026

Privacy at a glance

The Maple Explorers is designed for children to use with an adult, not to create accounts by themselves.

  • A parent, guardian, or other adult creates and manages the family account.
  • We ask for an adult email address, not a child's email address.
  • Explorer profiles use an avatar and a nickname or family-approved first name rather than a child's full name.
  • We save learning progress so families can continue across sessions and devices.
  • We do not provide public profiles or user-to-user messaging.
  • We do not sell or rent personal information.
  • We do not use personal information for targeted advertising or child profiling.
  • An adult can ask to access, correct, or delete account information through the form.

The sections below provide the complete details.

1. Who is responsible for the website

The Maple Explorers is an independently operated educational hobby project based in Ontario, Canada. Its intended public domain is www.mapleexplorers.ca. Before public launch, selected testers may access it through owner-provided test or preview links. It is not currently operated through a corporation or other registered business entity.

The individual site operator is responsible for the personal information handled through the website and acts as its privacy contact. In this Policy, "we," "us," and "our" refer to that operator.

Questions and privacy requests can be submitted by an adult through the Contact Us form in the website footer. No separate domain email address is required to use that form.

2. Scope of this Policy

This Policy explains how information is collected, used, disclosed, retained, and protected when an adult or family uses The Maple Explorers website, creates an account, signs in, saves learning progress, or sends a contact message.

It does not govern websites or services operated by other organizations, even if we link to them.

3. Adult-managed accounts and children's privacy

The children's content is designed primarily for ages 5–9. Accounts must be created and managed by a parent, guardian, or other adult who has reached the age of majority where they live.

We do not ask a child to provide an email address, full legal name, home address, school, telephone number, photograph, precise location, or other direct contact details. Adults should not enter that information into an account name, explorer nickname, or contact message.

When a child uses an adult-managed account, the website records activity such as completed chapters, Discovery Labs, puzzles, journal unlocks, and passport stamps under that family account or explorer profile. The adult authorizes this limited collection and remains responsible for supervising the child's use.

If we learn that a child has submitted personal information without appropriate adult involvement, we will take reasonable steps to delete it. An adult can report the concern through the form.

4. Information we collect

A. Account and sign-in information

When an adult creates or manages an account, we may collect:

  • an adult first name, account name, or family nickname;
  • a parent or guardian email address;
  • an internal account identifier;
  • account creation, sign-in, security, and consent records; and
  • basic profile information supplied by Google if the adult chooses Google sign-in, such as the adult's name, email address, profile image, and provider identifier, subject to the permissions shown by Google.

If email-and-password sign-in is used, the authentication provider processes the password. We do not receive or store the password in readable form.

B. Explorer profiles and learning progress

To provide saved progress and collectable features, we may store:

  • an avatar and nickname or family-approved first name;
  • chapters, stories, activities, Discovery Labs, and puzzles viewed or completed;
  • journal pages, achievements, and passport stamps unlocked;
  • progress status, completion dates, and similar account history; and
  • preferences such as sound or interface settings.

Explorer profiles are not public and cannot message other users.

C. Contact-form information

The form is for adults. When it is used, we collect the adult's email address, selected topic, topic title, message, and related submission details so we can review and respond to the request.

Please do not include a child's personal information, passwords, payment information, government identifiers, medical information, or other sensitive information in a contact message.

D. Technical, security, and usage information

The website and its service providers may automatically process limited technical information needed to operate and protect the service, such as:

  • IP address and approximate region derived from it;
  • device, browser, operating system, language, and screen information;
  • date, time, requested pages, referring page, and basic event or error logs;
  • session, authentication, fraud-prevention, and security records; and
  • cookie, local-storage, or similar identifiers needed for sign-in, preferences, and continuity.

We may use limited, aggregated, or privacy-conscious analytics to understand whether pages and features work well. We do not use this information for targeted advertising, cross-site behavioural advertising, or profiling children.

5. Why we use information

We use information only for purposes a reasonable person would consider appropriate in the circumstances, including to:

  • create, authenticate, and manage adult-controlled accounts;
  • save and display family learning progress across sessions and devices;
  • operate stories, labs, puzzles, journals, passports, preferences, and related features;
  • respond to adult questions, feedback, privacy requests, and support needs;
  • detect, investigate, and prevent errors, abuse, unauthorized access, and security incidents;
  • maintain, troubleshoot, and improve the website;
  • meet legal obligations and protect users, the public, and the website; and
  • create aggregated or de-identified statistics that do not reasonably identify a person.

We will not use personal information for a materially new purpose without providing appropriate notice and obtaining consent where required.

6. Consent and choices

The adult creating an account provides consent for the account information and limited child-related progress information described in this Policy. Account creation must include a clear confirmation that the person creating the account is a parent, guardian, or other adult.

You may decline to create an account and still use any content made available without signing in. Features that save progress across devices require an account because they cannot work without associating progress with an account.

An adult may withdraw consent and request account deletion through the form, subject to information we must retain for legal, security, fraud-prevention, or recordkeeping reasons.

7. When information is shared

We do not sell or rent personal information. We disclose it only in limited circumstances:

Service providers

Providers may process information on our behalf when they supply website hosting, database storage, authentication, email or contact-form delivery, security, error monitoring, or limited analytics. They receive only the information reasonably needed to provide their service and are subject to their own contractual and legal obligations.

Google sign-in

If an adult chooses Google sign-in, Google processes sign-in information under Google's own privacy policy and sends the basic account details authorized on the sign-in screen to our authentication system.

Legal, safety, and security reasons

We may disclose information if reasonably necessary to comply with law or a valid legal process; investigate fraud, abuse, or security incidents; protect the rights and safety of users or others; or establish, exercise, or defend legal claims.

A future transfer of the project

If responsibility for The Maple Explorers is transferred to another operator, information may be transferred only as reasonably necessary to continue the service, subject to appropriate notice, safeguards, and applicable law. We will not treat a transfer as permission to use personal information for unrelated purposes.

8. Advertising and profiling

The Maple Explorers does not display third-party behavioural advertising, sell personal information, create public child profiles, or knowingly track children across unrelated websites or apps.

If advertising, commercial sponsorship, or materially different analytics are ever proposed, this Policy and the consent process must be updated before those practices begin.

9. Where information is processed

The website's primary hosting and account-data services are currently configured through providers located in Ontario, Canada.

Some supporting providers, including Google if Google sign-in is selected, may process or store information in another province or country. Information processed outside Ontario may be subject to the laws and lawful-access rules of that location. We use service providers only where reasonably necessary to operate the website and seek privacy and security protections appropriate to the information involved.

10. How long information is kept

We retain personal information only as long as reasonably necessary for the purposes described in this Policy.

  • Account information and saved progress are generally kept while the account remains active.
  • When an adult requests account deletion, account information and saved progress will be deleted or de-identified within a reasonable period, unless limited retention is required for legal, security, fraud-prevention, or dispute-resolution purposes.
  • Contact messages are kept only as long as reasonably needed to respond, maintain necessary records, and address related concerns.
  • Technical and security logs are kept for limited periods appropriate to troubleshooting, security, and legal needs.
  • Residual copies may remain temporarily in protected backups until they are overwritten through the normal backup cycle.

11. Safeguards

We use administrative, technical, and organizational safeguards appropriate to the sensitivity of the information, including access controls, authentication protections, secure connections, restricted administrative access, and separation of one account's progress from another account.

Passwords are handled by the authentication provider and are not stored in readable form. Contact messages and account records are not publicly queryable. Administrative credentials must not be placed in browser code.

No internet service can guarantee perfect security. If a breach creates a real risk of significant harm, we will investigate and provide notices or reports as required by applicable law.

12. Access, correction, and deletion requests

An adult account holder may ask to:

  • access the personal information associated with the family account;
  • correct inaccurate or incomplete account information;
  • withdraw consent, subject to legal or practical restrictions;
  • delete an explorer profile or the family account and its saved progress; or
  • ask a question or raise a privacy concern.

Submit the request through the Contact Us form and select Privacy or account data request. We may need to verify that the requester controls the relevant adult email account before disclosing, changing, or deleting information.

We will respond within a reasonable period and explain any lawful reason why part of a request cannot be completed.

13. Cookies and local storage

The website may use cookies, browser storage, or similar technologies that are necessary to:

  • keep an adult signed in;
  • protect account security;
  • remember preferences such as sound settings;
  • maintain progress or interface state; and
  • measure basic performance or diagnose errors.

Blocking essential storage may prevent sign-in or saved-progress features from working. We do not use cookies for targeted advertising or knowingly permit cross-site behavioural tracking of children.

14. Third-party links and embedded content

The website may link to parks, government resources, tourism information, documents, maps, videos, or other third-party services. Those organizations control their own information practices. Review their privacy policies before providing information or allowing a child to use their service.

15. Changes to this Policy

We may update this Policy when the website, its service providers, or applicable requirements change. The revised Policy will be posted on this page with a new effective date.

If a change materially affects how account information or child-related progress is collected, used, or disclosed, we will provide reasonable notice and obtain renewed consent where required before the change takes effect.

16. Contact and complaints

Privacy questions, requests, or complaints can be submitted by an adult through the Contact Us form in the website footer. Select Privacy or account data request.

We will review privacy concerns in good faith. If you are not satisfied with the response, you may contact the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada through its official website at priv.gc.ca.

17. Related terms

Please also review the Terms of Use, which govern use of The Maple Explorers website and adult-managed accounts.