Terms of use & privacy
Last updated 20 June 2026 · Studious is in pilot
1. About Studious
Studious is a teaching platform for higher-education case studies, currently offered as a pilot. It lets lecturers assemble “Studies” from a library of cases and share them with students through a join link.
2. Who can use it
- Lecturers create an account with a recognised university email address. During the pilot, accounts are limited to University of Exeter (
@exeter.ac.uk) email addresses, and lecturer access is granted manually. - Students do not create an account and do not sign in. They open a Study with a join code their lecturer gives them.
3. Privacy notice
Students — no personal data is collected
This is a deliberate design choice. When a student opens a Study:
- We do not ask for, or store, a name, email address, student number, or any other identifying information.
- To save progress, the app creates a random, anonymous identifier in the background. It is not linked to the student’s identity and cannot be traced back to them.
- What is stored against that anonymous identifier is limited to the work done in the case: the answers chosen or typed, whether an answer was correct, any group number, and the text of any questions submitted through “Ask your lecturer”.
- Lecturers see this work as anonymous, numbered responses (“Student 1, Student 2…”). Questions submitted to a lecturer are not attributed to a person.
Students should avoid typing anything that identifies them (such as their name) into answer or question boxes, as that text is stored and visible to the lecturer.
Lecturers — account data
For lecturer accounts we store the information needed to provide the service: your email address, the name you provide, your institution (derived from your email domain), your account role, and the Studies, cases, group settings and case requests you create. This is used only to operate Studious for you.
Where data is stored
Studious runs on Google Firebase (Authentication and Cloud Firestore). Data may be processed on Google’s infrastructure. Authentication and database access are restricted by security rules.
Cookies & local storage
We use only what’s necessary to make sign-in work — for example, your authentication session and, if you request an email sign-in link, your email address temporarily held in your browser to complete that sign-in. We do not use advertising or third-party tracking cookies.
Retention & your rights
Anonymous student responses are retained to support teaching and may be deleted when a Study is no longer needed. Because student data is anonymous, it cannot be linked to an individual on request. Lecturers can ask to access or delete their account data using the contact below.
4. Acceptable use
- Use Studious for legitimate teaching and learning.
- Don’t attempt to identify individual students from responses, or upload content you don’t have the right to use.
- Don’t misuse, disrupt, or attempt to gain unauthorised access to the service.
5. Content
Case materials in the library are provided for educational use within Studious. Studies, settings and requests you create remain associated with your account.
6. Pilot status & changes
Studious is an evolving pilot and is provided “as is”, without warranty. Features may change, and these terms may be updated; the “last updated” date above will reflect any changes.
7. Contact
For privacy questions or data requests relating to a lecturer account, contact the module lead who invited you to Studious. (Pilot contact address to be confirmed.)