Privacy policy

What stays on your device

Saved jobs, application stages, private notes, saved searches, quiz answers, display preferences, tool checklists and lesson drafts stay in this browser on this device. They are not sent to Plain Chalk unless you later choose to copy specific jobs into an account.

You can remove saved jobs, stages, notes and saved searches on those pages, and reset some tool checklists there. A lesson draft, quiz answers and display preferences stay until you clear this site’s data in your browser. A saved sign in session stays until you sign out or clear that data. Clearing the browser copy does not delete a copy you already saved to an account.

Optional accounts

Accounts are optional. You sign in with your email address and a password. Your password is stored by the account service as a salted hash, so nobody at Plain Chalk ever sees it. Signing in does not add you to a marketing list.

You can choose to continue with Google or Facebook instead, where offered. If you do, that provider shares your name, email address and profile picture with the account service. We use only your email address.

Your profile stores the display name you enter and the teacher or recruiter role you choose. That role cannot be changed later. There are no public profiles, CV uploads or payments.

A private account service hosts sign in and these account records, and it sends the emails that confirm your address or reset your password. After you copy something into an account, that account copy is stored with the account service, not only on this device.

Teacher accounts

If you create a teacher account, you can look at individual Plain Chalk jobs saved in this browser and choose which ones to copy into your private account. A copy can include the job details and your application stage. Your private note is copied only if you separately choose that option for that job. Nothing is copied automatically.

If that job is already in your account, copying it again leaves the existing account stage and note as they are. Removing an account copy does not remove the copy on this device. Later edits to either copy do not update the other.

Recruiter accounts

If you create a recruiter account, you can save a private draft of a fully online vacancy with your account. A draft can include the company, role, application link, source link and optional pay or requirements. Submitting a draft sends it to the Plain Chalk Team for review. It does not publish the vacancy.

You can withdraw a draft or a submission that is still waiting for review. Withdrawing it stops the review and locks the record; it does not delete the record or publish the vacancy.

Who else handles information

These services and people handle information when you use Plain Chalk:

• Cloudflare hosts the site, helps protect it, and measures visits on the public pages. Requests include technical details such as your IP address and the page you asked for.

• The account service handles sign in, stores your profile, jobs you copy into a teacher account and recruiter drafts, and arranges delivery of the emails that confirm your address or reset your password.

• Google and Facebook take part in sign in only if you choose to continue with them. They then share your name, email address and profile picture with the account service.

• The Plain Chalk Team receives recruiter submissions for review, and receives an email you send us so we can reply.

• Employers handle applications on their own websites when you follow an application link.

Visits and site performance

We count visits on our own server: how many pages people open and which links they click, in daily totals. This uses no cookies and no third-party tracking, and we keep the counts, not who you are. The daily visitor count uses a one-way code that changes every day, and we never store your IP address or your browser’s full identity.

On the public production site and the public preview, we use Cloudflare Web Analytics for anonymous, grouped information about visits, pages viewed, referral sources, broad location, device and browser types, and how pages load. We do not add this on the private account page. It does not use cookies to identify you, and it does not try to recognise you by fingerprinting. We do not use advertising pixels or tools that record your screen, keystrokes or the notes you save in the browser.

Read Cloudflare’s explanation of Web Analytics and its privacy policy.

Email

Email links open a draft in your own mail app. Opening a draft does not subscribe you or send a message. If you send the Plain Chalk Team an email, we receive your address and its contents so we can reply or review a correction. There is no live subscriber list, and we do not sell your address.

Employer websites

Applications take place on the employer’s website. That site’s privacy policy applies when you follow an application link. Plain Chalk does not receive your CV or job application through that link.

Your choices

You can browse without creating an account. You can remove saved jobs and searches on those pages, sign out, remove an individual teacher account copy, and withdraw a recruiter draft or submission while those controls are available. You can also clear this site’s data in your browser, and use browser controls to block analytics requests. The site has no control that deletes every device item at once, and no control that deletes a whole account.

For questions about email, account access or privacy, contact hello@plainchalk.com.

Questions? Contact us. Related: our listing policy and our terms.