NaNoWriMo’s Young Writers Program

privacy pledge

National Novel Writing Month takes your privacy seriously. We make every reasonable effort to keep your account secure and your personal information private.

We also make every reasonable effort to comply with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule (“COPPA”), and we collect and display information differently for young writers under 13 years of age. We're proud signers of the Student Privacy Pledge. If we make substantive changes to this policy, we will make reasonable effort to notify you via email, seek your consent to these changes, and give you the option to discontinue your use of the site.

Educators, please feel free to use our YWP Website Permission Form to obtain permission from parents/guardians if your district requires it.

Our Privacy Policy delineates the information we collect, display, and share.

(Versión en español)

What We Collect (Under-13 Writers)

The YWP website collects the following information upon registration:

Username
First name
Birthdate
Parent or guardian email address (optional if you sign up with an educator's classroom code)
Password

You have the option to provide:

Avatar graphic
Non-identifying profile information (e.g., favorites and interests)
Novel information

You can access, edit, and delete this information any time via your Profile & Settings.

What We Collect (13 and Older Writers)

The YWP website collects the following information upon registration:

Username
First name
Birthdate
Email address (optional if you sign up with an educator's classroom code)
Password

You have the option to provide:

Avatar graphic
Non-identifying profile information (e.g., favorites and interests)
Novel information

You can access, edit, and delete this information any time via your Profile & Settings.

What We Collect (Educators)

The YWP website collects the following information upon registration:

Username
Educator name
School name
Birthdate
Email address
Password
Zip code

You have the option to provide:

Avatar graphic
Non-identifying profile information (e.g., favorites and interests)
Novel information
Classroom information
Classroom graphic

You can access, edit, and delete this information any time via your Profile & Settings or your Classroom Admin page.

What We Don’t Collect (or Allow)

The YWP website does not, and will never, collect the following:

Last name
Physical address
Telephone number
Social security number
Geolocation information

We also do not allow users to share these, or any other information that may be personally identifying, via their profiles or forum posts.

IP Addresses and Cookies

The YWP website collects IP addresses and browser cookies. We use these only to help you interact with the site, not to gather any further personal information.

What We Display (13 and Older Users)

The YWP website displays your profile information to other users. This includes:

Username
Avatar graphic
Non-identifying profile information (e.g., favorites and interests)
Novel information

Your profile information can be accessed by other users via your forum and classroom posts. It cannot be searched or found otherwise, except by site administrators.

What We Display (Under-13 Users)

The YWP website displays your profile information only to your educator(s) and other members of your classroom. This includes:

Username
Avatar graphic
Non-identifying profile information (e.g., favorites and interests)
Novel information

Your profile information cannot be searched or found otherwise, except by site administrators.

The YWP website does not allow under-13 users to post in forums.

What We (Don’t) Share

National Novel Writing Month will not share any of your information with third parties, unless it is necessary for safety or legal purposes.

In the event that National Novel Writing Month is involved in a merger, acquisition, bankruptcy, change of control, or any form of sale of some or all of our assets, your personal information may be transferred or disclosed in connection with such business transaction. If the transaction involves the transfer Personal Information to a third party, we will require the new owner to continue to honor the terms provided in this Privacy Policy, or we will provide you with notice and an opportunity to opt-out of the transfer by deleting Personal Information before the transfer occurs.

Data Retention and Deletion

Since the YWP website deals primarily with creative expression, we do not delete or expire novels or accounts as long as the user maintains an active account. The YWP will deem an account inactive and delete it 4 years after the user's last login to the site. We may retain aggregated or de-identified information in order to improve, promote, or demonstrate the efficacy of our programs.

Writers, educators, parents, and guardians may delete an account (and revoke NaNoWriMo's access to any submitted information) by pressing "Delete My Account" at the bottom of the Profile & Settings page or by submitting a help request.

Data Security

National Novel Writing Month makes every reasonable effort to protect against the loss, misuse, or alteration of your account data. These include encryption of data in transit, regular software security updates, periodic risk assessments, and remediation of identified security vulnerabilities in a timely manner. Student data is only stored on our servers, which are hosted on Amazon Web Services (AWS) and feature all the latest security protocols. AWS has instituted a FERPA Compliance Program. This data is not shared with any other third party. Our tech team is fully in-house, including development and support.

However, please be aware that no data transmissions over the internet can be guaranteed to be 100% secure. Consequently, we cannot ensure or warrant the security of any information you transmit or otherwise provide to us and you do so at your own risk. If you create an account, you will be asked to select a password in order to access the YWP website. You are responsible for maintaining the strict confidentiality of your account password, and for any activity that occurs under your account credentials, whether or not authorized by you.

Please notify us of any unauthorized use of your account or any suspected breach of security by submitting a help request.

Contact Us

If you have questions about the Privacy Policy or any other concerns related to the YWP website, please email us at ywp@nanowrimo.org.