Effective as of February 1, 2024
Instructure, Inc.’s (and our affiliate(s), referenced as “Instructure”, “us”, “we”, or “our”) Canvas Free for Teacher Terms and Conditions (the “Terms”) governs each individual end user’s (referred to as “you” or “your”) use and access to Canvas Free for Teacher (the “Service”). Instructure’s privacy policies explain how we collect and use your information (collectively the “Privacy Policies”).
- California Privacy Notice available here
- Marketing Privacy Policy available here
- COPPA Privacy Policy available here
- Product Privacy Policy available here
Please note: if you are a student user, parent user, or parent/observer user using the Service, the Instructure Marketing Privacy Policy does not apply to you.
Instructure does not advertise or market to students, parents, or authorized student observers.
BY USING THE SERVICE, YOU’RE AGREEING TO USE THE SERVICE IN ACCORDANCE WITH THESE TERMS, AND TO REVIEW THE PRIVACY POLICIES.
IF YOU DO NOT AGREE TO BE BOUND BY THESE TERMS OR DISAGREE WITH OUR PRIVACY POLICIES, YOU SHOULD NOT AND MAY NOT ACCESS OR USE THE SERVICE.
PLEASE NOTE THAT THESE TERMS AND THE PRIVACY POLICIES ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE.
1. Eligibility; Accounts. In order to use the Service, you must register for an account. You may be asked to provide a password in connection with your account. You are solely responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your account and password, and you agree to accept responsibility for all activities that occur under your account or password. You agree that the information you provide to Instructure, whether at registration or at any other time, will be true, accurate, current, and complete. You also agree that you will ensure that this information is kept accurate and up-to-date at all times. If you have reason to believe that your account is no longer secure (e.g., in the event of a loss, theft, or unauthorized disclosure or use of your account ID or password), then you agree to immediately notify Instructure at support@instructure.com. You may be liable for the losses incurred by Instructure or others due to any unauthorized use of your Service account.
1.1 Child User. If you are under the age of 13 (a "Child User"), you may not create or register an account for the Service without consent and approval from your legal parent or guardian, or from your school as provided in Section 1.2 (School Use). If you are under the age of 18, you represent that your parent or legal guardian has reviewed and agreed to these Terms on your behalf. Except for accounts created for School Use as provided in Section 1.2 (School Use), a Child User that begins the registration process for himself or herself without a Parent User (as defined below) may have the registration process restricted until a parent approves the Child User account.
A Child User may use the Service if registered through certain educational organizations or, in certain cases, by School Personnel (defined in Section 1.2 below), so long as the education organization has obtained parent or guardian consent under applicable law.
1.2 School Use. Instructure may make available the Service that permit users registered as teachers, school leaders, aides, or other similar school personnel ("School Personnel") to work with students and other users through the Service to provide such students with education-related services as part of the school’s curriculum, and to review and evaluate educational achievement and progress of such students. If you are School Personnel accessing the Service on behalf of a school, school district, or other similar educational institution (an "Institution"), the following terms apply to you:
1.2.1 Limitations on Use. The Service is provided to you for educational purposes as part of the school curriculum. You must use the Service in compliance with all applicable laws, rules, and regulations.
1.2.3. Responsibility for Consent and Notices. You and/or the Institution agree to obtain consent from parents or guardians of Child Users prior to such Child Users accessing the Service, and to provide appropriate disclosures to School Users and their parents regarding the School Users' use of the Service, these Terms, and our Privacy Policies. You agree to be bound by these Terms on behalf of the School User, for so long as the School User account is not transferred to or assumed by a valid Parent User account or personal account for a student of eligible age.
1.2.4. School Consent. If you are School Personnel and you register an account for a Child User or other student (either, a “School User”) or direct a School User to create an account for school use, you represent and warrant that you have either received express consent from such School User’s parent or legal guardian or that you (or your institution) have complied and will comply with all applicable requirements of an exemption from or exception to parental consent requirements, necessary for you to register the School User for the Service and provide to Instructure the information you disclose in connection with the registration of such School User.
Specifically, you agree, individually and on behalf of the Institution, that:
- You are familiar with and agree to comply with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act and the US Department of Education's implementing regulations at 34 CFR Part 99 (collectively, "FERPA"), and all other applicable laws, rules or regulations concerning the collection, use, and disclosure of personally identifiable information about School Users in your Institution (collectively, "Applicable Privacy Law").
- You will provide appropriate notices and disclosures to students using the Service for classroom use and their parents regarding Student User’s use of the Service, our Terms, and the Privacy Policies, including Instructure’s COPPA Privacy Policy (available here) and any additional notices required by Applicable Privacy Law.
- You agree to obtain any consents required from parents or guardians of Child Users required under COPPA in connection with the Service and collection of personal information by Instructure in connection therewith. You represent and warrant to Instructure that, prior to creation of accounts for School Use, you have either obtained all necessary parent or guardian consents, or have complied and will comply with all applicable requirements of an exemption from or exception to parental consent requirements, such as by complying with the “school official” exception or by disclosing only “directory information” under FERPA.
We refer to this as "School Consent". If a Parent User does not consent or rescinds such School Consent, School Personnel or the Institution shall immediately notify Instructure to discontinue that Student User’s access to the Service and ensure that such Student User’s information is no longer accessible through the Service.
2. License Grant
These Terms provide to you a personal, revocable, limited, non-exclusive, and non-transferable license to use the Service conditioned upon your continued compliance with these Terms. Instructure reserves all rights not granted herein.
3. Data Processing. We host the Service in the United States of America. By registering and using the Service, you understand and consent to our hosting, storing, and processing of Your Content (defined below) and your personal data, and/or personally identifiable information in the United States or other locations as we determine necessary to deliver the Service.
4. Your Content and Your Permissions.
4.1. When you use our Service, you provide us with things like your files, content, messages, etc. (“Your Content”). Your Content is yours. You represent that you have all necessary right, power, and authority to use the Service and share Your Content and will comply with all applicable laws when doing so.
4.2. These Terms do not give us any rights to Your Content except for the limited rights that enable us to offer the Service. We need your permission to do things like host Your Content, back it up, or share it when you ask us to. This permission extends to our trusted third parties we work with. You therefore give us, and third parties (with whom we work) permission to use, display, host, share, and back up Your Content. By submitting Your Content, you also permit us to identify you by your username and as the contributor of Your Content.
4.2 Data Storage Limit. Each course in the Service has a limit of 500MB of course data storage. Each individual’s use file has a limit of 50 megabyte (MB). Instructure reserves the right to delete Your Content over these limits.
5. Acceptable Use Policy. Our Service lets you share Your Content with others, so please think carefully about what you share. By using the Service, you agree to do so responsibly and to not misuse the Service or help anyone else do so. This includes, but is not limited to, not doing, or trying to do any of the following in connection with the Service:
- store, transmit or create libelous, obscene, deceptive, defamatory, pornographic, racist, sexual, hateful, unlawful, tortious or otherwise objectionable content (except as necessary for legitimate instructional purposes, but in all cases in compliance with applicable laws and regulations);
- modify, translate, adapt, merge, make derivative works of, disassemble, decompile, reverse compile or reverse engineer any part of the Service except to the extent the foregoing restrictions are expressly prohibited by applicable law;
- harm, harass, threaten, or impersonate any person or violate the rights of any third party;
- probe, scan, or test the vulnerability of any system or network;
- interfere with or disrupt the integrity or performance of the Service;
- attempt to gain unauthorized access to the Service or its related systems or networks;
- introduce viruses, Trojan horses, worms, spyware, or other such malicious code into the Service;
- breach or otherwise circumvent any security or authentication measures;
- access, tamper with, or use non-public areas or parts of the Service, or shared areas of the Service you haven't been invited to;
- access, search, or create accounts for the Service by any means other than our publicly supported interfaces (for example, creating accounts in bulk);
- use robots, spiders, scripts, software or any manual or automatic device, tool, or process designed to data mine or scrape the content, data or information from the Service, or otherwise use, access, or collect the content, data or information from the Service using automated means;
- send unsolicited communications, promotions or advertisements, or spam;
- send altered, deceptive or false source-identifying information, including "spoofing" or "phishing";
- promote or advertise products or services other than your own without appropriate authorization;
- sell or re-sell the Service unless specifically authorized to do so;
- copy, reproduce, distribute, republish, download, display, post or transmit in any form or by any means any part of the Service unless specifically authorized to do so;
- remove or destroy any copyright notices or other proprietary markings contained on or in the Service;
- use the Service for the development of any software program, including, but not limited to, training a machine learning or artificial intelligence system or algorithm; or
- violate the law in any way, including by storing, publishing or sharing material that is infringing, fraudulent, defamatory, misleading, or damaging to Instructure in any way.
6. Your Responsibilities.
6.1 You must provide all equipment necessary to access the Service and are responsible for all fees incurred when accessing the Service. Additionally, you’re responsible for your conduct and Your Content and your compliance with these Terms. Content in the Service may be protected by others’ intellectual property rights. You therefore agree that you won’t copy, reproduce, create derivative works of, decompile, upload, download, share, or otherwise exploit third party content unless you have the right to do so.
6.2 We may review your conduct and Your Content for compliance with this Terms and remove content from the Service at any time and without notice. However, we have no obligation to do so. We aren’t responsible for the content people post and share via the Service. You agree also to safeguard your password to the Service, make sure that others don’t have access to it, and keep your account information current.
7. Third-Party Websites. The Service may contain links to third-party websites that are not under Instructure’s control. Instructure is not responsible for such third-party websites.
8. Our Property. The Service is protected by copyright, trademark, and other US and foreign laws. These Terms do not grant you any right, title, or interest in the Service or others’ content in the Service. We welcome feedback but note that we may use comments or suggestions without any obligation to you.
9. Infringement. We respect the intellectual property of others and ask that you do too. We respond to notices of alleged infringement after receipt of a proper notice that complies with the law and is received by our designated agent. We reserve the right to delete or disable content alleged to be infringing and terminate accounts of repeat infringers. If you believe that any content in the Service in a way that constitutes infringement, please provide our designated agent with the following information:
- an electronic or physical signature of the person authorized to act on behalf of the rights owner;
- a description of the content you claim is being infringed;
- a description or link to the location of the material claim is infringing;
- your physical address, telephone number and e-mail address;
- a statement that you have a good faith belief that the content is not authorized by the rights owner, its agent or the law;
- a statement, made under penalty of perjury, that the information in your notice is accurate and that you are the owner or authorized to act on behalf of the owner.
Contact information for Instructure’s designated agent for notice of claims of infringement is:
Instructure, Inc.
Attn: Chief Legal Officer
6330 South 3000 East, Suite 700, Salt Lake City, UT 84121, USA
Or via email to copyright@instructure.com
Instructure may also take any appropriate action in the event it receives a proper counter-notice under the law.
10. Termination & Right To Suspend. You are free to stop using our Service at any time. We also reserve the right to suspend or end the Service at any time at our discretion and without notice. For example, we may suspend or terminate your use of the Service and remove Your Content if you’re not complying with these Terms, or using the Service in a manner that may cause us legal liability, disrupt the Service, disrupt others’ use of the Service or, in our sole opinion, reason, cause harm.
If your user account is inactive for six (6) months or more after the date of registration, we reserve the right to delete Your Content, your account information, and your account credentials. All provisions of these Terms, which by their nature should survive, will survive termination of the Service.
11. SERVICE “AS IS”. INSTRUCTURE AND ITS PARTNERS MAKE NO WARRANTIES, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, ABOUT THE SERVICE. THE SERVICE IS PROVIDED “AS IS.” IN ADDITION, WE DISCLAIM ANY WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT. ANY CONTENT DOWNLOADED OR ACCESSED FROM THE SERVICE IS ACCESSED AT YOUR OWN RISK.
12. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY. YOU EXPRESSLY ABSOLVE AND RELEASE INSTRUCTURE FROM ANY CLAIM OF HARM RESULTING FROM A CAUSE BEYOND INSTRUCTURE’S CONTROL. YOU FURTHER AGREE THAT IN NO EVENT SHALL INSTRUCTURE AND ITS SUPPLIERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES OTHER THAN DIRECT DAMAGES, OR ANY LOSS OF USE, DATA, BUSINESS, OR PROFITS. THIS WILL BE REGARDLESS OF WHETHER OR NOT INSTRUCTURE OR ANY OF ITS PARTNERS HAS BEEN WARNED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. ADDITIONALLY, INSTRUCTURE AND ITS SUPPLIERS WILL NOT BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR MORE THAN ANY AMOUNTS RECEIVED BY INSTRUCTURE FROM YOU AS A RESULT OF YOUR PERSONAL USE OF THE SERVICE IN THE 12 MONTHS PRECEDING YOUR CLAIM. IF YOU HAVE NOT PAID INDIVIDUALLY ANY AMOUNTS IN THE 12 MONTHS PRECEDING YOUR CLAIM, INSTRUCTURE’S SOLE AND EXCLUSIVE LIABILITY SHALL BE NO MORE THAN $50. MOREOVER, INSTRUCTURE SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR THE LOSS OR FAILURE TO STORE YOUR CONTENT, AND YOU UNDERSTAND AND AGREE THAT BY USING THE SERVICE, YOU AGREE TO WAIVE THE RIGHT TO A TRIAL BY JURY AND THE RIGHT TO PARTICIPATE IN A CLASS ACTION RELATED TO USE OF THE SERVICE OR BREACH OF THESE TERMS.
13. Instructure’s COPPA Direct Notice to Schools.
As part of Instructure’s compliance with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (“COPPA”), we are required to provide this notice to each K-12 school (“School”) that uses the Service about how Instructure collects, uses, and discloses personal information from your students who are under the age of 13 (“Child” or “Children”). Your School’s consent, on behalf of the Children’s parents and/or guardians, is required for Instructure’s collection, use, and disclosure of this personal information, and Instructure will not collect, use, or disclose any personal information from Children without your School’s consent.
A summary of the information we collect from and about Children, and how that information is disclosed, is below. Your School will provide personal information about its students to Service and decide how that personal information will be used by implementing different Service features. The information we collect from Children and the School is used for educational purposes, namely, to provide services to students and the School through Service.
Information We Collect About Children.
Information We Collect Directly. We may collect a Child’s name and other personal information when a School provides it to us. If a School chooses to register a Child for an account, Service will generate a username and temporary password and provide them directly to the School which may then share them with the Child. After logging in, the Child can then create a permanent password for their account. Once an account is created, we collect information about Children’s performance and activities on Service.
Information We Collect Automatically. We may automatically collect information about a Child’s use of Service through our servers and in log files, such as the following: domain name; browser type and operating system; web pages viewed; links clicked; the length of time spent on Service; the length of time Service is used; the referring URL; language information; device name and model; operating system type, name, and version; and activities within Service.
We may also collect IP address, mobile device identifier, or a similar unique identifier from Child users of Service; we use such identifiers solely to support the internal operations of our Service, including to maintain or analyze their functioning; perform network communications; authenticate users or personalize content; and protect the security or integrity of users and Service.
How We Share Information. We disclose the personal information we collect about Children in the following ways:
- Parents, Teachers, and Classmates. We will disclose Children’s personal information: (1) to each Child’s individual teacher(s) and parent(s); and (2) as directed by the Child’s School. Children may disclose personal information to their teachers or with one another through Service.
- Third-Party Service Providers. We may disclose a Child’s personal information to third-party service providers who perform functions on our behalf and/or on behalf of a School in order to provide Service.
- Business Transfers. If we are acquired by or merged with another company, if all or a portion of our assets are transferred to another company, or as part of a bankruptcy proceeding, we may transfer the personal information we have collected about Children to the other company.
- In Response to Legal Process. We may disclose personal information that we have collected from Children in order to comply with applicable law, a judicial proceeding, court order, or other legal process.
- To Protect Us and Others. We may disclose personal information that we have collected from Children where we believe it is necessary to investigate, prevent, or take action regarding illegal activities, suspected fraud, situations involving potential threats to the safety of any person, violations of these Terms or our policies, or as evidence in litigation in which Instructure is involved.
More About Consent. Instructure does not collect any personal information from or about Children until the School provides its consent by executing a services agreement with Instructure. In the rare case that Instructure incidentally collects any personal information about Children prior to receiving this consent, it will delete such information if the School does not provide timely consent. After Service implementation, Parents can direct Instructure to stop collecting personal information from their Children; however, in such cases the Children will not be able to use Service. If Instructure receives direction from a parent or guardian to stop collecting and using their Child's personal information, we will notify the School of the request and disable the Child’s access to the Service.
Our Use of Cookies. We use cookies and similar technologies to collect personal information about a Child’s use of our Service. “Cookies” are alphanumeric identifiers that we transfer to a computer’s hard drive through a web browser for record-keeping purposes. We may use both session Cookies (which expire once a user closes a web browser) and persistent Cookies (which stay on a computer until a user deletes them). Some Cookies make it easier for a Child to navigate our Site and Service, while others are used to enable a faster log-in process or to allow us to track a Child’s activities on our Service for operational purposes.
Third-Party Analytics. We may also use third-party analytics tools and technologies to track and analyze data from our Service. These tools use Cookies and similar technologies to collect information such as how often users visit, what pages they visit, and what other sites they used prior to coming to the Service. We use the data collected by such third-party analytics tools only to help us administer and improve the quality of Service and to analyze Service usage. These third parties are not permitted to use the information collected on our Service, except to help us conduct and improve our business.
Third-Party Links. Schools may provide Children with links to third-party educational and learning resources located on third-party websites or apps, through our Service. Any access to and use of such linked websites and apps is not governed by this COPPA Policy, but instead is governed by the privacy policies of those third-party websites and apps. We are not responsible for the information practices of such third-party websites and apps.
Rights to Review, Delete, and Control Our Use of Children’s Personal Information. Parents and Schools have a right to review and correct the information we have collected about their Child(ren) and students, respectively, and to delete it, and to tell us to update it or stop using it.
To exercise these rights, you may contact us at privacy@instructure.com. You will be required to authenticate yourself as the Child's parent or School to receive information about that Child. Please note that we cannot delete copies of information that a Child's School has already collected and/or copied, and copies of information that you have deleted may remain in archives for a period of time.
14. Modifications. These Terms are current as of the effective date set forth above. We may change these Terms from time to time, so please be sure to check back periodically. If a revision meaningfully reduces your rights, we will provide notice to you (by, for example, sending a message to the email address associated with your account). By continuing to use or access the Service after the revisions come into effect, you agree to be bound by and subject to the revised Terms.
15. Entire Agreement. These Terms govern your use of the Service and supersedes and replaces any other prior or contemporaneous agreements applicable to the subject matter of this Terms. These Terms create no third-party beneficiary rights. These Terms shall inure to the benefit of Instructure and its respective legal representatives, successors, and assigns.
16. Waiver, Severability & Assignment. Instructure’s failure to enforce a provision is not a waiver of its right to do so later. You may not assign any of your rights under these Terms, and any such attempt will be void. Instructure may assign its rights to any of its affiliates or subsidiaries, or to any successor in interest of any business associated with the Service. If any provision of these Terms is held by a court of competent jurisdiction to be contrary to law, such provision shall be changed and interpreted to best accomplish the objectives of the original provision to the fullest extent allowed by law and the remaining provisions of these Terms will remain in full force and effect.
17. Controlling Law. These Terms and your use of the Service will be interpreted, governed, and construed by the laws of Delaware except for its conflicts of laws principles, unless otherwise agreed in a separate written agreement with Instructure or as required by a mandatory law of a competent jurisdiction.
18. Notices. For any notices relating to these Terms, you may contact us by sending an email to legal@instructure.com or you may write to us at: Instructure, Inc., attn: Chief Legal Officer, 6330 S 3000 E, Suite 700, Salt Lake City Utah