Privacy and terms
Privacy and terms of use
The short version: the site is for informational purposes only, and it isn't professional advice. An account is optional and is for people 16 and older. We keep only what an account needs, we don't run trackers, and we don't sell anything. Using the site means you agree to this page, and a teen under 18 needs a parent's or guardian's permission to use it.
What the site is
Their Next Chapter is a website for parents and teens working out what comes after high school. It has information pages for the family and a tool where the teen answers questions and makes a plan, all meant to help a family think and talk. When this page says "we," it means Their Next Chapter and the people who make and run the site.
The site isn't professional advice of any kind, including medical, mental health, legal, financial, educational, and career advice, and it isn't a recommendation. What the tool shows, such as directions worth a look or scores for the paths a teen is weighing, is worked out on the device from the teen's own answers. It's a way to organize thinking. It doesn't predict how any path will go, and we don't use it to decide anything about your teen. Decisions about school, work, money, or anything else belong to your family, and so do the results.
What we keep
The pages don't ask anyone to sign in. We don't use advertising trackers, analytics trackers, or cookies, and we don't sell anyone's information or run advertising aimed at your teen. Our fonts come from this site, so opening a page doesn't send a request for them to Google or any other outside service. Without an account, the tool keeps your teen's answers in that browser only, and the parent questions keep a parent's answers only in the browser they use.
With an account, the answers are saved in our database, so they can be opened on another device, and a teen and a parent can link their accounts and share with each other. For an account we keep:
- the email address you sign in with
- whether it's a teen's or a parent's account, and for a teen, the age band: 13 to 17, or 18 or older (never a birthdate)
- a first name, if you give one
- which version of this page you agreed to, and when
- for a teen, the answers saved from the tool, except whether they have an IEP (Individualized Education Program) or a 504 plan, which never leaves the device
- for a parent, their own answers to the parent questions, if they save them
- which accounts are linked, and the invitations between them
- what someone chose to share, until they stop sharing it
- the keys that lock saved answers and shares, kept locked with your recovery code
We keep these only to run the account you asked for: to sign you in, save your answers and show them back to you, link you with the person you choose, and send the emails below. If you use a password, our sign-in service keeps a scrambled version of it that can't be turned back into the password, and it keeps its own records of sign-ins, for security.
If nobody signs in to an account for 12 months, we delete it. An invitation closes when it's accepted, declined or cancelled, or after 14 days with no answer. We delete a closed invitation after 30 days, and a sign-up that's never finished after 7 days.
Answers and shares are locked in your browser before they're saved to your account, and your recovery code unlocks them on a new device. Keep the code somewhere safe. If you lose it and can't get to a device you've signed in on, your saved answers can't be opened again.
We don't collect Social Security or other ID numbers, health or diagnosis details, birthdates, phone numbers, home addresses, school names, grades, photos, recordings, or payment details. The tool doesn't ask about race, religion, politics, sexual orientation, or gender.
The companies we use
- Vercel hosts the site. Like any web host, it sees each visitor's internet address when a page loads.
- Supabase holds our database and runs sign-in.
- Resend sends our emails.
- Cloudflare runs a check on the account forms that tells people and automated sign-ups apart. When one of those forms opens, Cloudflare sees your device's internet address and browser details.
- Google comes in only if you choose "Continue with Google." Google then knows you signed in here, and it sends our sign-in service your email address and the name and photo on your Google account. We don't show or use the name or the photo, and Google's own privacy policy covers what Google does.
Your teen's answers and a linked parent
The saved answers open only through the teen's own sign-in. A linked parent sees only what the teen shares by tapping Share, and only the parts they pick. A share is a copy: stopping it hides it and deletes our copy, but it can't undo what's already been read. What you share with a linked parent or teen reaches them as you wrote it. We use the answers only to make the tool work for your family.
Your agreement, teens under 18, and accounts
If you don't agree to this page, please don't use the site. A teen under 18 uses the site with a parent's or guardian's permission. A parent or guardian who lets their teen use it is giving that permission, and agrees to this page for their teen and for themselves. A teen who is 18 or older agrees for themselves.
Accounts are for people 16 and older, and you give your real age when we ask. The site asks your age before it asks for an email address. If the answer is 12 or younger, the sign-up stops there, and the answer isn't sent to us. A parent account is for an adult who is a teen's parent or guardian.
For a minor, a parent also has a role in agreeing to how the minor's information is handled, and in asking for it to be corrected or removed. The site isn't for children under 13, and we delete any account we learn belongs to a child under 13. These rules vary by state and are changing, so we review this page and keep it current.
Use a real email address that you check, keep your password and your recovery code to yourself, and use one account per person. We may close an account that misuses invitations, such as pretending to be someone's parent or sending a flood of them.
Your choices
- Download. In settings, "Download my information" gives you a file with everything we keep for your account.
- Correct. Change your first name in settings, and your answers in the tool, at any time.
- Delete. Deleting your account removes it and everything saved with it at once. Copies in our database provider's routine backups are replaced on its own schedule.
- Without an account, clearing the browser's data for this site removes the answers, and so does Start over in the tool.
A teen can download or delete their answers, stop a share, or close their account on their own.
Sign-in storage and email
We keep a sign-in token in your browser's storage so you stay signed in. Once you enter your recovery code on a device, that browser keeps the keys that open your saved answers too.
On a computer the family shares, tick "This is a shared computer" when you sign in, and sign out when you're done. With it ticked, the sign-in token lasts only until the tab closes, and the keys go when the tab closes or you sign out. Otherwise the keys stay until you clear the browser's data for this site.
When you make an account, we email a link to confirm your address, and we send it again if you ask. We also email a link to set a new password when you ask for one. If an account hasn't been used in 11 months, we send one warning before it's deleted. A linked parent gets a short note when their teen shares something. The note doesn't say what was shared, and the parent can turn these notes off in settings. We never send marketing.
When to talk with a professional
The site can't diagnose or treat anything, and it isn't an emergency service. No one watches what your teen enters, and the site can't respond to an urgent situation or send help. If someone is in immediate danger, contact emergency services right away.
For money decisions, such as how to pay for school or whether to borrow, talk with the financial aid office at the school or program involved, or with a qualified financial professional. If you or someone in your family is struggling emotionally, talk with a school counselor or a licensed mental-health professional.
What not to enter
Please don't type protected or sensitive information into the tool's text boxes:
- Social Security numbers and other government ID numbers
- Bank, card, and other account numbers
- Passwords and login details
- Medical or health details
- Private information about other people
None of it is needed here, and the site isn't set up to handle it. If you enter it anyway, you do so at your own risk. Answer only what you're comfortable answering; you can leave any text box empty and keep going.
No guarantees
Information on the site can be incomplete or out of date. Programs, laws, rules, costs, and deadlines change, and they vary by location. Nothing on the site promises a job, an admission, an income, or any other result. Before you act on anything you read here, check the official source, such as the school, program, employer, or government agency involved.
The site is provided "as is" and "as available," without warranties of any kind, whether stated or implied. We don't promise that it's accurate or current, that it suits your needs, or that it will work without errors or interruptions.
Limits on our responsibility
You use the site at your own risk. To the fullest extent the law allows, we and anyone who helps us run the site aren't liable for:
- any decision you or your family make, or how it turns out
- anything you do or don't do because of something on the site
- any loss or damage that comes from using the site or from not being able to use it
This covers every kind of claim and every kind of loss, direct or indirect, even if we were told it could happen. Some places don't allow certain limits, so part of this may not apply to you. In those places, our responsibility is limited as far as the law allows.
Other websites
Some pages link to other websites, such as a program's official page. A link isn't an endorsement. We don't control those sites and aren't responsible for what's on them or what happens when you use them. Their own terms apply there.
Changes to this page
We may change this page. When a change matters, we'll email account holders and ask you to agree to the new version the next time you sign in. The date at the bottom shows when it last changed. Without an account, using the site after a change means you accept the new version.
If part of this page doesn't hold
If a court finds any part of this page can't be enforced, the rest still applies.