bcs, Inc. ("bcs", "we") provides Bruno, an AI college counseling platform for students, parents, schools, and districts. We collect the minimum data we need to make Bruno work, and we never sell it. This policy explains what we collect, why, and what control you have.
1. What we collect
Account information
When you create a bcs account we collect your name, email, school, graduation year, and intended major. If you sign in with Google or Apple SSO we also receive your basic profile information from that provider.
Application content
Essays, activities, awards, transcripts, scores, and writing profile data you upload or type into bcs. Bruno uses this content to give you personalized recommendations. It is yours.
Usage data
Page views, clicks, time on each module, and basic device information. We use this to fix bugs and improve product quality. We do not build behavioral profiles for advertising.
2. How we use it
Your data powers Bruno. Specifically:
- Personalized recommendations across School List, Mapping, Essay Lab, and EC & Honors Lab.
- Match percentages and "Why Bruno picked" explanations for opportunities and schools.
- Customer support and account communication.
- Aggregate, anonymized analytics to improve Bruno's models.
3. What we do not do
- We do not sell your data to anyone, ever.
- We do not show ads inside bcs.
- We do not train third party foundation models on your essays without your explicit opt in.
- We do not share student data with admissions offices unless you choose to export and share it yourself.
4. Sharing
We share data with a small set of vetted service providers (cloud hosting, email delivery, payment processing) under strict data protection agreements. They cannot use your data for any purpose beyond serving bcs.
Schools and districts on a B2B plan can see counselor facing aggregate data about their students' progress. They cannot read individual essays without explicit student consent.
5. Your rights
- Export: download a copy of everything we have on you, any time, from your profile settings.
- Delete: delete your account and we erase your data within 30 days.
- Correct: update any field on your profile directly.
- Opt out: decline marketing emails or analytics in your settings.
6. Minors and FERPA
Many of our students are under 18. We comply with COPPA, FERPA, and state student privacy laws including SOPIPA. School and district admins can request a Data Processing Addendum from contact@bcscholars.com.
7. Security
Data is encrypted in transit (TLS 1.3) and at rest (AES 256). We follow SOC 2 Type II controls and run quarterly penetration tests. Production access is limited to on call engineers and audited continuously.
8. Changes to this policy
If we make material changes, we'll email every active account at least 30 days before the change takes effect. Older versions of this policy are available on request.
9. Contact
Questions? Email contact@bcscholars.com or use our contact form. We respond within two business days.