Can children create Onshape accounts?

jody_smith

I am working with a group of 5th graders for introduction to STEM topics and wanted to use Onshape as a way to not only introduce them to CAD, but to get them using it at home for our projects. Would the best way be to have them create their own accounts? Have their parents create it for them? Should (can) I create them or some sort of a group account somehow? I would assume some sort of email account is required at a minimum, and these girls are all only 11-12 and I am not sure if they have this nor would I want to require them to (I know mine doesn't). Any help would be greatly appreciated.

john_rousseau

Hi @jody_smith. 

Thanks for reaching out.

The US law that we need to follow is the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). The text of the law doesn't allow for teachers to give consent, but it looks like the FTC commonly allows this. Here's an example article that talks about this very issue.

https://www.edweek.org/ew/issues/childrens-online-privacy-protection-act-coppa/index.html

Just so you know, Onshape extends GDPR protections to all our users worldwide and does not use personal data for anything except contacting our users. We definitely do not sell information about our users.

There are many children already using Onshape in an educational setting and I can guess that some of them have not been entirely honest about their age. Having said that, can you please send an email to privacy@onshape.com, identify yourself and state that the students in your class have permission to use Onshape for educational purposes. Have them sign up for an education account at https://www.onshape.com/products/education.

Please feel free to reach out if you have any additional questions.

-John

bradley_sauln

Please look under our usage restrictions for more details: https://www.onshape.com/legal/terms-of-use#usage_restrictions

With this information, you can do as you wish but I can not advise on any specific actions. For more information around this policy, I found this article to be useful as well: https://www.thoughtco.com/does-facebook-have-age-restrictions-3367671.

What I can say is that we have a great educational/STEM platform for those that do qualify to use Onshape and this includes materials and resources for instructors: https://www.onshape.com/products/education.

john_rousseau

Hi @jody_smith. 

Thanks for reaching out.

The US law that we need to follow is the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). The text of the law doesn't allow for teachers to give consent, but it looks like the FTC commonly allows this. Here's an example article that talks about this very issue.

https://www.edweek.org/ew/issues/childrens-online-privacy-protection-act-coppa/index.html

Just so you know, Onshape extends GDPR protections to all our users worldwide and does not use personal data for anything except contacting our users. We definitely do not sell information about our users.

There are many children already using Onshape in an educational setting and I can guess that some of them have not been entirely honest about their age. Having said that, can you please send an email to privacy@onshape.com, identify yourself and state that the students in your class have permission to use Onshape for educational purposes. Have them sign up for an education account at https://www.onshape.com/products/education.

Please feel free to reach out if you have any additional questions.

-John

john_patrick133

Dear Mr Rousseau, you mentioned that you would be asking the Onshape legal team to look into the difficulties caused to schools by having a minimum age limit  of 13 in order to qualify for an account.

Has there been any progress regarding this question.

We in the D&T at a school in Devon UK are really looking forward to using this fantastic resource, Onshape. This application is powerful and intuitive, I personally am feeling a real sense of empowerment and excitement with this new found  resource and skill.

Thank you for your help, regards John.    

NikNYC

Works on an iPhone. Perfect for kids! Other iPhone apps are clay modeler (Zbrush clone) "forger" and SubD modeler "SuperD."

john_rousseau

Hi @john_patrick133, please send mail to privacy@onshape.com with your specific request and we will work with you on this.

Thanks!
-John

john_rousseau

This forum thread is out of date. As part of PTC, we now allow students of all ages to use Onshape. Please see our privacy center at:

https://www.onshape.com/privacy-center

...and specifically our notice about our education plans:

https://www.onshape.com/privacy-center/education-plan-privacy

You do not need to send email to the privacy address to allow your child to use Onshape. If you have additional questions that are not addressed in the documents above, please send mail to privacy@onshape.com. 

Thanks!
-John