Turnitin is committed to protecting the privacy and security of our users and their information. We maintain extremely high levels of privacy and security through the use of SSL encryption, redundant servers, sophisticated firewalls, multiple data centers, and privacy and security audits. Turnitin complies with the Safe Harbor privacy and security standards. With a security system that has never been breached and a student privacy pledge of the highest standards, instructors and students can use Turnitin with an unsurpassed level of confidence.

Students retain the copyright of papers submitted to the Turnitin service. The Turnitin user agreement entitles iParadigms to use the works as part of the plagiarism prevention system under the principles of fair use. Turnitin's use of student papers under fair use was settled in a United States District Court of Law in 2007 and affirmed upon appeal in 2009.

Read the 2007 summary judgement
Read the 2009 published decision

Turnitin archives student papers by default only for the purposes of textual comparison. Institutions may choose to not have their papers archived in the service.

The fair use defense codified in Section 107 of the Copyright Act has been recognized as an "equitable rule of reason." In considering whether a use is a fair use, courts often analyze whether the use is beneficial to society as a whole (as part of a determination of whether a use is transformative) and whether the user has "clean hands." The District Court and Fourth Circuit both held that the archiving of student works in the educational context is a fair use. In so holding, the courts did not find that Turnitin's use of student works was in any respect unethical.

As a US company with high standards for security and privacy, iParadigms has designed Turnitin to comply with many of the data protection requirements of other countries, including informed consent, access rights of submitting students, and technical and organizational measures to maintain the integrity and confidentiality of personal data.

Turnitin is compliant with European and Swiss SafeHarbor provisions.

Yes. The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia found that the online click-through agreement on the Turnitin site is an enforceable agreement, even against minors. Parental consent or the consent of a guardian is required for a minor to set up an account with Turnitin and the agreement is therefore binding.

Yes in both cases. If you attend a private school you have agreed to abide by the school's policies.

With respect to public school, as the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia has recognized in rejecting four students' claim that they were improperly compelled to submit their papers to Turnitin or face a failing grade, "Schools have a right to decide how to monitor and address plagiarism in their schools and may employ companies like iParadigms to help do so."

Turnitin integrates with third-party services such at the Educational Testing Service and Language Weaver where student information may be shared in order to deliver a part of these services. While iParadigms does transfer information where necessary to perform the service, no personally identifiable information such as name, email or school is sent by iParadigms to third-party services.

Yes. Turnitin is FERPA compliant. Family Policy Compliance Office (FPCO), in a letter to Catholic University of America, determined that FERPA does not apply to use of OriginalityCheck, because the Originality Report is produced prior to the papers becoming educational records. Institutions that use our Turnitin suite, including GradeMark and PeerMark, choose to claim exception 34 CFR § 99.31 to FERPA, available for services like ours with a legitimate educational interest.

Yes. COPPA applies to operators of commercial websites and online services directed to children under 13 that collect, use, or disclose personal information from children, and operators of general audience websites or online services with actual knowledge that they are collecting, using, or disclosing personal information from children under 13.

Turnitin complies with COPPA insofar as it only collects personal information of children under age 13 in connection with services provided to schools pursuant to contract and such personal information is collected from students for the use and benefit of the school, and for no other commercial purpose.

We are always ready to answer any question or concerns you may have. Please write to us at legal@turnitin.com.