Privacy Policy

About This Policy

This policy explains how Nova Music collects, uses, and shares information when teachers, studios, families, and students use our website, web application, and iOS app. The information we handle depends on which Nova features you use.

Information We Collect

We collect information used to create and manage accounts and studio relationships. This may include names, email addresses, phone numbers, login and security information, studio details, teacher profiles, family relationships, student names, age or age band, instruments, experience level, goals, and preferences.

When you use Nova, we also store information you and other members of your studio add to the service. This may include lesson schedules and attendance, messages, lesson notes, assignments and feedback, practice logs and goals, forms and responses, shared resources, and files or other uploads. We also receive technical information needed to operate and protect the service, such as device or browser details, IP address, request logs, and diagnostics.

Billing and Purchases

Nova may store invoices, amounts, due dates, payment methods recorded by a studio, and payment status. Online payments for lessons are completed on the web through Stripe or another method chosen by the teacher. The iOS app can display invoice and payment status and can open Nova's website for payment. Nova does not receive or store full card numbers, full bank account numbers, or security codes. We may retain a Stripe payment-method identifier, payment-method type, and last four digits so a studio or family can recognize the method used.

If you buy Nova Pro in the iOS app, Apple processes the purchase. Nova receives purchase and subscription records needed to provide Nova Pro, such as product, transaction, subscription status, and expiration information. We do not receive your full Apple payment details. Purchases made through Nova's website are processed by Stripe, which handles the payment credentials you provide.

Teacher Directory

Our teacher directory contains public professional information about music teachers and studios, such as name, instruments, general location, website, profile image, lesson format, and whether a teacher is accepting students. Some listings are compiled from publicly accessible websites and directories. Teachers with Nova accounts may also create and publish profiles they control.

A “Managed on Nova” label means a profile is linked to a Nova account. It is not identity verification or an endorsement. Nova account owners can hide their own profiles. To request correction or removal of a compiled listing, please contact us. We may ask for enough information to identify the listing and confirm that the request is legitimate.

Families, Students, and Teacher Inquiries

Teachers and guardians may provide information about students so Nova can support lessons and studio administration. Family portal access is connected to a teacher's studio, and each studio can access only the records associated with its own relationship. Families may belong to more than one studio.

A standalone teacher-match request does not require or create a Nova account. It may include a guardian's first name, email address, optional phone number, the learner's age band, instrument, experience, goals, general availability and start timing, lesson format, general area, teacher preferences, budget, optional notes, and permission for Nova to follow up. The request goes to the Nova team for manual matching and is not sent directly to a listed teacher.

A separate direct inquiry to a managed profile requires an email-confirmed Nova family account. That inquiry may include a guardian's name and email address, a student's first name and age band, instrument, experience, goals, preferred lesson format, approximate location, and messages. Email addresses are not displayed in public directory conversations or shared during an inquiry. If a guardian accepts a teacher's invitation to join a studio, Nova shares the guardian email with that studio so it can activate portal access. Direct inquiries are available only for listings managed through a Nova account.

Nova is designed for teachers and families to manage music education, including information about students who may be children. A teacher, studio, or guardian creates or enables a child's relationship with Nova and is responsible for having the authority needed to provide the child's information and enable the child's use. Children should use Nova only with the involvement of their parent or guardian. We do not ask children to create an independent consumer account.

A parent or guardian may ask to access, correct, or delete a child's information by contacting us. We may verify the requester's identity, authority, and relationship to the relevant studio before acting. If you believe a child's information was provided without appropriate authority, please contact us so we can investigate and take appropriate action.

How We Use Information

We use information to provide and maintain Nova; authenticate users; connect teachers, families, and students; deliver the features described above; process purchases and maintain entitlements; send account, lesson, billing, and conversation notifications; provide support; understand and improve the service; prevent spam and abuse; and protect accounts and Nova. We may also use information to meet legal obligations and enforce our terms.

Analytics, Session Replay, and Cookies

Nova's website and authenticated web application use cookies and similar technologies for basic operation, security, rate limiting, analytics, diagnostics, and marketing measurement. We use services including PostHog, Google Analytics, Heap, Ahrefs Analytics, and Meta Pixel. Depending on the service and whether you are signed in, these providers may receive browser, device, IP address, page, referral, interaction, account identifier, email address, and diagnostic information according to their own privacy practices. We use this information to understand use of Nova, diagnose errors, improve the product, and measure marketing performance.

You can use browser controls to delete or block cookies and may use browser privacy tools to limit some third-party requests. Nova does not currently provide a separate in-product control for these web analytics or marketing technologies. Blocking them may affect site protections or functionality. You may contact us about privacy choices or rights that apply where you live.

Across Nova's website, web application, and iOS app, our product analytics and reliability tools may collect page or screen visits, navigation, taps, clicks, scrolling, feature interactions, action outcomes, survey responses, experiment participation, app and device details, performance information, diagnostics, crashes, and errors. We may associate this information with a Nova account, family identifier, or app-install identifier so we can understand how people use Nova, diagnose problems, and improve the service.

Where enabled, session replay may record a visual representation of screens and interactions such as navigation, taps, clicks, and scrolling, together with technical context used to investigate issues. We use masking and exclusion controls intended to reduce the collection of sensitive content. We do not intentionally use authentication credentials, full payment details, message contents, lesson notes, student records, form responses, or files for product analytics or session replay.

The Nova iOS app uses PostHog and may use additional tools for Nova's first-party product analytics, reliability, research, and experimentation as Nova evolves. These tools are used to operate and improve Nova. We do not use iOS analytics for third-party advertising, cross-app or cross-site advertising tracking, retargeting, or sharing with data brokers.

The iOS app also communicates with Nova and our service providers to sign you in, load and update your data, process StoreKit purchase status, send notifications, and protect the service. If the app opens a Nova web page, that page is covered by the website practices described above.

When We Share Information

Nova does not sell personal information for money. As described above, web analytics and advertising providers may receive information about visits and interactions; laws in some places may define some of these disclosures as “sharing” or a “sale” even when no money is exchanged. You may contact us to exercise privacy rights that apply where you live. We also share information as needed with teachers, studios, guardians, and students based on their account roles and studio relationships. For example, a teacher can see information used to teach and administer their students, and a family can see information made available through its portal.

We also use service providers to host the service and database, store files, send email and notifications, process payments and App Store purchases, provide analytics, monitor reliability, and support customer service. These providers process information for those services. We may disclose information when required by law, to protect people or the service, or as part of a business transaction such as a merger or acquisition, subject to appropriate safeguards.

Security

We use administrative, technical, and organizational safeguards intended to protect information. These include access controls, encrypted network connections, restricted service credentials, and security monitoring. No system can guarantee complete security, so please use a strong, unique password and tell us if you suspect unauthorized access.

Retention

We keep information for as long as reasonably needed to provide Nova, maintain account and studio records, resolve disputes, prevent abuse, meet legal and financial recordkeeping requirements, and enforce agreements. Retention periods vary by the type of information and why it is held. We may keep limited backups, transaction records, or security logs after an account is closed when reasonably necessary for those purposes.

Access, Correction, and Deletion

You can update some account and profile information within Nova. You may also ask us to access, correct, or delete personal information associated with you, or to correct or remove a directory listing. We may need to verify your identity and may retain information where reasonably necessary for legal, financial, security, or other permitted purposes. Teachers and guardians can also contact us about information maintained for a student or family relationship.

Teachers can request account deletion in the iOS app from Settings under the Account section. Other users, and anyone who cannot access the in-app option, can submit a request through our contact page. We process verified requests promptly and may retain limited information as described in the Retention section.

Changes to This Policy

We may update this policy as Nova changes. We will post the updated policy here and change the effective date. If a change is important, we may also provide notice through Nova or by email.

Contact

For privacy questions or requests, contact us through our contact page.