The Privacy Challenge in the Digital Age

Navigating digital privacy has become increasingly complex. Most consumers lack the time or expertise to thoroughly understand the dense, jargon-filled privacy policies that accompany digital products. 

"A recent study showed that it would take the average person 46.6 hours to read all the privacy policies of the websites they visit in a month and without expertise in privacy, much of that time would be wasted," said Daphne Li, CEO of Common Sense Privacy. "For the first time, consumers will have a trusted brand that can verify privacy best practices."

This problem is only getting worse with the rise of Artificial Intelligence.  Almost every product is starting to use AI. People want to use these technologies, but there is also a lot of fear from consumers around how their personal data will be used in AI.  While AI is top of mind, AI is just the tip of the iceberg.  Increased use of marketing pixels, biometrics, and location tracking add to the complexity of navigating privacy.


Our Solution: The Common Sense Privacy Seal

The Common Sense Privacy Seal is designed to cut through the complexity. By rigorously evaluating companies against the privacy best practices that consumers care about most, we're providing a clear, trustworthy indicator of a product's commitment to protecting user data.

What Sets Us Apart

We’ve reviewed recipients using  a comprehensive rubric of more than 200 privacy questions  We’ve built a software platform that identifies applicable laws and provides recommendations on how to improve their privacy policies.  Our privacy analysts meet with each recipient and provide advice on how to improve their policies.  We then monitor recipient privacy policies on a quarterly basis and recipients agree to update their policies at least annually.  

Most importantly, our seal goes beyond basic compliance. We evaluate products based on six key privacy best practices:

  • No data sales
  • No third-party marketing
  • No targeted advertisements
  • No third-party tracking
  • No cross-app tracking
  • No commercial profiling

Congratulations to Our Initial Seal Recipients

Less than 10% of evaluated companies meet our stringent requirements. We want to congratulate our initial group of distinguished EdTech companies, including MagicSchool, Prodigy Education, ClassDojo, Quizizz, Kami, Kira Learning, Kahoot! and Brisk Teaching.

“We’re honored to be among the first recipients of this seal, reaffirming our commitment to privacy,” said Ben Johnson, Chief Technology Officer of Prodigy. "It’s vitally important that anyone who teaches or learns with Prodigy does so with peace of mind. The Common Sense Privacy Seal highlights our commitment to privacy best practices, demonstrating why Prodigy has earned trust in classrooms and homes worldwide.” 

“At MagicSchool, we recognize that the responsibility we hold in education extends to the critical need for data privacy and security. We have proactively built our platform with policies and practices that rigorously safeguard data and protect privacy. Our commitment is unwavering: to provide educators with powerful AI tools they can trust to ensure a safe and secure learning environment for their students,” said Adeel Khan, MagicSchool AI CEO.

Check Out the Privacy Ratings of the Products You Use

Common Sense has rated over 5,000 products.  We encourage you to check out the privacy ratings of the products you use most at privacy.commonsense.org.  If one of the products you use hasn’t been rated yet, email us a request to rate it at:  privacy@commonsense.org.

How We Help Companies Improve Privacy Practices

Many companies want to be trusted and make considerable investments in their privacy practices.  Yet, many of these companies still don’t qualify for the Privacy Seal.  When we meet with companies, we educate them on important privacy practices and take a consumer-first perspective when reviewing their privacy policies.  We help companies move from just compliance to privacy preserving best practices.  

Why This Matters

For consumers, the Common Sense Privacy Seal offers immediate confidence. Instead of spending hours deciphering complex privacy policies, you can now make informed decisions at a glance.  At Common Sense, we are advocates for consumers and we help companies implement privacy practices that address the biggest areas of concern for consumers.

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Join the Movement

Interested in learning more about how to earn the Common Sense Privacy Seal?

Visit commonsenseprivacy.net/seal to explore how we're setting new standards in digital privacy protection. 

Do you think your company can earn the seal?  Click the Contact Us button to apply to join the program.  

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