ALICE Privacy Policy

Effective date: July 12, 2026

The ALICE platform ("ALICE", "we", "us", or "our") is an AI-assisted adaptive learning platform operated by The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) as part of research pilots funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF Award #2518973, "Supporting Student Learning and Success in Early Undergraduate Mathematics Courses via AI-Enhanced Education", Principal Investigator Dr. Juan B. Gutiérrez) and the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, an institute of the National Institutes of Health (NIH-NIGMS Award #10723223 "Training Biomedical Research Teams for Rigor and Reproducibility in Data Science", Principal Investigators Dr. Jing Liu and Dr. Juan B. Gutiérrez). This policy explains what information we collect from the students and instructors who use ALICE for the courses offered under these pilots, how we use it, how we protect it, and the choices you have.

About This Pilot Program
Information We Collect
How We Use Your Information
SMS and Text Messaging
How We Share Information
Data Retention
Your Choices and Rights
Student Education Records (FERPA)
Data Security
Changes to This Policy
Contact Us

1. About This Pilot Program

ALICE is used to deliver and support early undergraduate mathematics courses, and biomedical data sciences courses at UTSA. Under NSF Award #2518973 and NIH-NIGMS Award #10723223, the project pairs an AI-assisted adaptive learning platform with faculty professional development and independent evaluation. Participation in the technology pilot is part of your course; the optional text-message submission feature described in Section 4 is entirely voluntary. This policy applies to your use of the ALICE platform for these courses.

2. Information We Collect

We collect only what we need to run the course and the research pilot:

Account information — your name, email address, and institutional role (student, instructor, administrator).
Coursework — your typed responses, submissions, uploaded files, and any photographs of handwritten work you send, together with automatically generated transcriptions of that work.
Mobile phone number — only if you choose to add and verify one to submit work by text message (see Section 4). Your number is stored encrypted, and we keep a one-way lookup value to match your incoming texts; we do not store the number in plain text.
Usage information — basic records of the pages you visit and actions you take in ALICE, used to operate and improve the platform.

3. How We Use Your Information

We use your information to:

deliver your course and record your submissions;
provide AI-assisted, formative feedback on your work;
let you submit handwritten work by text message, if you opt in;
support instructors in reviewing and assessing student work; and
evaluate and improve the pilot, using aggregated or de-identified data for research and program evaluation.

We do not use your information for advertising, and we do not sell it.

4. SMS and Text Messaging

If you choose to opt in, ALICE lets you submit a photo of handwritten coursework by text message.

Opt-in is optional. Adding and verifying a mobile number in your Communication settings is entirely voluntary and is not a condition of enrollment. You confirm your consent by entering a one-time code we text to you.
Program and content. Messages are transactional and educational — they relate only to your coursework submissions (for example, confirming which lesson a photo attaches to, or that your handwriting has been transcribed). We do not send marketing or promotional texts.
Message frequency varies based on how often you submit work by text.
Message and data rates may apply. Please check with your mobile carrier.
Opt out at any time by replying STOP; reply HELP for help. You can also remove a number or turn off messaging at any time in your Communication settings.
We will not share your mobile phone number or your SMS opt-in consent with any third parties or affiliates for their own marketing purposes, and we do not sell your mobile information or your SMS consent. Your consent to receive text messages is used solely to operate this coursework-submission feature.

We do not sell your personal information, and we do not share your mobile information or SMS opt-in consent with third parties or affiliates for marketing purposes. We share information only in these limited ways:

With service providers who help us operate ALICE under contract and act only on our instructions. For example, our SMS provider (Twilio) transmits text messages and briefly stores the media you send so we can retrieve it; such providers are bound by agreement to protect your data and to use it only to provide the service, not for their own purposes.
For research and program evaluation. Aggregated or de-identified academic outcomes may be shared with the National Science Foundation and the project's independent external evaluator to assess the pilot. Your mobile phone number and the content of your text messages are not shared for this purpose.
When required by law, or to protect the rights, property, or safety of students, staff, or the public.

6. Data Retention

We keep coursework and account records for as long as needed to deliver the course and to support the research pilot and its evaluation, and as required by university policy and applicable law. A verified mobile number is retained only while it stays verified and opted in; you can remove it at any time. Records that evidence your consent to receive text messages are retained as required by applicable telecommunications law even after you opt out.

7. Your Choices and Rights

You can:

access, correct, or delete your account information and submissions, subject to university record-keeping obligations;
opt out of text messaging at any time by replying STOP or by removing the number in your Communication settings; and
contact us with any question or request using the details in Section 11.

Opting out of text messaging does not affect your enrollment or your ability to submit work through the website.

8. Student Education Records (FERPA)

Coursework you submit through ALICE — including photographs of handwritten work and their transcriptions — is an education record protected under the U.S. Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). UTSA handles these records consistent with FERPA. Service providers that process this information on our behalf do so under the school-official exception, are under UTSA's direct control, and may not re-disclose or use the information for any other purpose.

9. Data Security

We protect your information with encryption of sensitive fields at rest (including mobile phone numbers), access controls limiting who can see student data, and transport encryption. No system can be guaranteed perfectly secure, but we work to protect your information and to limit what we collect to what the course and the pilot require.

10. Changes to This Policy

We may update this policy from time to time. If we make a material change, we will update the effective date above and, where appropriate, provide additional notice. Your continued use of ALICE after an update means you accept the revised policy.

11. Contact Us

If you have questions about this policy or your information, contact the ALICE project team, Department of Mathematics, The University of Texas at San Antonio — Principal Investigator: Dr. Juan B. Gutiérrez at the email juan.gutierrez3@utsa.edu or the phone number (210) 458-5735.