Coach Privacy Policy

Last updated: October 21, 2026

Coach is an AI tutor run by Anup Rao, a university professor, at helpcoach.org. You can use it on the web, on WhatsApp, and (for invited numbers) by SMS. This page says in plain words what Coach keeps about you, why, who else handles it, how long it is kept, and how to delete it. If anything here is unclear, email anup.rao@gmail.com.

Who can use Coach

Coach is for people aged 13 and over. We don't ask your age, but if you tell Coach you are under 13 it stops teaching you, with or without an adult beside you, and suggests you learn from a parent, guardian or teacher instead. If you are under 13 and have an account, please ask a parent or guardian to email us so we can delete it.

What Coach keeps

Your account. Depending on how you sign in: the account identifier and email address from the account you sign in with, your email address, or your phone number; when you joined; whether you are admitted or on the waitlist; which invite link you joined through, and which shared widget, diagram or QR code brought you to Coach, if any; whether you want access emails; and, for WhatsApp and SMS, a record of your agreement (your first WhatsApp message or JOIN, or your YES on SMS) and any STOP.

Your conversations. Everything you and Coach say to each other on each channel, the photos, PDFs and text files you upload on the web, the photos and PDFs you send on WhatsApp and the emoji reactions you put on Coach's messages there, the diagrams and interactive widgets Coach shows you, and the quick quiz questions it asks with your answers. Coach does not read voice notes or other kinds of file on WhatsApp, or pictures sent by SMS, and does not keep them. Each channel (web, WhatsApp, SMS) keeps its own conversation.

The full record of each exchange with the AI model. For every reply, Coach sends an AI model your recent messages together with context it adds (for example the course you mentioned and how you have been doing on a concept) and receives the model's full reply, including working that you never see. We keep these full exchanges so that we can find and fix mistakes, and so that the way Coach teaches can be re-checked and improved as models improve.

Your progress and Coach's learning notes. Coach keeps track of the concepts you have worked on and how it went (what you got right or wrong in quick checks, and Coach's own judgement of what you have shown it), what you have said you already know, how deep you like to go, and what you told Coach about yourself: what to call you, what you are working on, and a goal if you set one. When a session ends, an AI model reads it and writes Coach's notes for next time: a short profile of how you learn and what you are aiming for, a summary of what you have done, a note on each topic you covered, how you are doing on each concept, and what would likely help next. The same notes flag for us where Coach went wrong, where a picture was wanted, and anything that looked broken. You can see your progress on concepts in the Progress tab of the web chat. Coach's notes you don't see directly; they are used only to teach you and to improve Coach. Both are deleted with your conversations or your account (see "Deleting your data"). For some courses, Coach knows exam dates and topics from the course's public web page; that information is shared by everyone in the course and never comes from what you tell Coach or upload.

How you use the interactive widgets and diagrams. Which ones you open, in the chat or from a link Coach sent you, how far you get, how long you spend, and whether you found them helpful.

Feedback you send through the feedback boxes. Feedback you send from the chat's Menu goes to Anup with your account's id and, if you leave the box ticked, your last exchange with Coach; Coach never sees it, and it is deleted with your account.

Technical records. Message delivery records (so a message is not answered twice), a count of how much each day's tutoring costs, a note of each shared link that is opened and how it arrived (from a QR code or a message), a receipt of each deletion you make (what kind and how much, never the text), and standard web server logs (your network address, the pages requested, and the time).

We do not use advertising or analytics trackers. The web app sets one cookie, which keeps you signed in, and stores on your own device which side panel you last had open.

Why

To teach you: to answer in context, remember what you have worked on, and choose what to show you next. To run Coach: to sign you in, admit you through an invite link or from the waitlist, deliver messages, keep to daily limits, and answer your support requests. To improve Coach: to find mistakes in how it teaches and fix them. To build new teaching materials: patterns across many conversations (for example, which explanations work and where students get stuck) may be used to make new widgets, diagrams and explanations for Coach's public library. Those materials never include names, contact details, your messages word for word, or anything else that could identify you.

Who else handles your data

Coach uses other services to run. Each handles only what it needs, under its own privacy policy:

We do not sell your data or share it for advertising. We share it with nobody else, except if the law requires it. We do not share mobile numbers or SMS consent records with third parties for marketing or promotional purposes.

How long we keep it

Deleting your data

You can delete your data yourself, at once, with no waiting period:

Deleting a message also deletes what was made from it: the full model exchange, your progress on the concepts it touched, and any widgets or diagrams it showed; Coach's notes are rebuilt without it. Deleting your account removes everything above except what "How long we keep it" says is kept longer. For the rest of that day (Pacific time) we keep a scrambled, one-way code of the account, phone number or email address you signed in with, together with that day's usage count and cost, so that deleting and rejoining doesn't reset the daily limits; it holds no name, contact details or messages, and it is erased at the end of the day.

What deletion cannot reach: copies on your own phone or in your WhatsApp or SMS app; delivery records held by the WhatsApp service or the SMS provider; copies held by AI model providers for the period in their policies; our backups, until they are replaced within about four weeks; and anonymised patterns already used in public teaching materials, which contain nothing that identifies you.

Replying STOP stops WhatsApp or SMS messages; it does not delete anything. Signing out of the web app does not delete anything.

Your rights

You can ask us at any time what we hold about you, ask for a copy, correct your account details, or delete it, by email to anup.rao@gmail.com. We answer within 30 days.

Keeping it safe

Coach runs on one server with encrypted connections. Sign-in codes and links work once and expire in minutes. Individual accounts and conversations are seen only by Anup Rao and by the AI assistants he uses to run, fix and improve Coach, and only for those purposes. Please don't send passwords, bank details, health information or other sensitive personal information: Coach will not ask for them.

WhatsApp and SMS consent

On WhatsApp, messaging Coach is your agreement to get tutoring replies; your first message gets a short notice with these links. On SMS, you are not enrolled just because you send a first message: Coach asks you to reply YES before it sends tutoring replies, learning reminders and check-ins. Message frequency varies. Message and data rates may apply. Reply STOP to stop, HELP for help. Consent is not a condition of any purchase. SMS is currently for invited numbers only.

Changes

The date at the top says when this policy last changed.

Contact

Anup Rao, anup.rao@gmail.com.