Coursera
- The documents do not say whether your data trains AI.
- Your data is used for personalized ads, including by third-party ad companies.
- Data is shared with partners and affiliates; you can opt out.
- The documents do not say who can read your content.
Coursera takes a license in your work, can terminate you anytime, and funnels most U.S.
Agent Trust Hub uses AI and may make mistakes. Review reports and confirm their contents before relying on them.
Collected
Account info, coursework, device data, cookies, session replays, and sometimes ID photos and face scans.
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Privacy policy
“We may collect your Personal Data directly from you, including the following:Identity and Contact Data: such as your name, date of birth, mailing address, email address, and phone number.”
Training
They run the site, personalize learning, market with consent, do education research, and power AI tools.
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Privacy policy
“These purposes include providing the Site and Services to you, maintaining the security and performance of the Site, conducting research relating to Content Offerings, sharing information with our Content Providers and our suppliers, direct marketing, and performing statistical analysis”
Sharing
Universities, vendors, payment processors, ID-check companies, and sometimes governments or a buyer of the company.
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Privacy policy
“To share information with our Content Providers and other business partners so they can inform you about their products and services that may be of interest to you where they are legally entitled to do so.”
Kept
They keep data as long as they say they need it; face scans from ID checks last up to two years.
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Privacy policy
“Biometric facial data generated as part of the identity verification process is deleted upon successful completion of verification and in any event, no later than 2 years after collection.”
Controls
You can use Settings to access, copy, or delete data, and cookie settings to stop session recording.
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Privacy policy
“You can access your Personal Data and confirm that it remains correct and up-to-date, choose whether or not you wish to receive material from us or some of our partners, and request that we delete or provide you with a copy of your Personal Data by logging into the Site, selecting ‘Settings’”
Fine print
U.S. they can close you anytime, and you license your homework forever.
No exact line could be verified.
Expand “Read the exact line” to see the source alongside the explanation.
What you can turn off
The controls and opt-outs their own documents describe, and where they say to find them.
Download certificates before deleting your account
Privacy Notice: Your Rights — Settings, then delete; they warn certificates cannot be reissued
Turn off session recording in cookies
Cookies Preference Center (privacy notice on session-replay)
Cancel a subscription under My Purchases
Account “My Purchases” page or Coursera Support Services
Email privacy questions or rights requests
privacy@coursera.org
If a switch is not where they say, the deletion request above still applies.
Line by line
The lines that matter most, worst first.
They can keep using your homework, posts, and other uploads forever, even after you leave, and let others use them too.
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Terms of service
“you grant Coursera a fully-transferable, , , , non-exclusive, worldwide license to copy, distribute, modify, create derivative works based on, publicly perform, publicly display, and otherwise use the User Content.”
For example, a project you submitted could still be shown to later students after you delete your account.
If you live where this applies, you generally cannot take Coursera to court or join a group lawsuit.
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Terms of service
“YOU AND COURSERA HEREBY WAIVE ANY CONSTITUTIONAL AND STATUTORY RIGHTS TO SUE IN COURT AND HAVE A TRIAL IN FRONT OF A JUDGE OR A JURY.”
For example, if many students were overcharged.
They can shut off your access whenever they want, without promising a warning.
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Terms of service
“Accordingly, Coursera may terminate your use of any Service for any reason.”
For example, your account and course progress could be cut off even if you paid for a subscription.
If someone sues them because of how you used the site or what you posted, you may have to pay their legal bills.
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Terms of service
“You agree to , defend, and Coursera from any and all claims, liabilities, expenses, and damages”
For example, if a forum post you made sparked a lawsuit, you could be on the hook for Coursera’s lawyers.
If they mess up, they usually will not pay more than $20 or what you paid in the last six months.
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Terms of service
“IN NO EVENT SHALL COURSERA'S FOR ALL CLAIMS RELATED TO THE SERVICES EXCEED TWENTY U.S. DOLLARS ($20) OR THE TOTAL AMOUNT OF FEES RECEIVED BY COURSERA FROM YOU FOR THE USE OF PAID SERVICES DURING THE PAST SIX MONTHS, WHICHEVER IS GREATER.”
For example, if a bug wiped years of certificates, their payout cap could still be very small.
Subscriptions keep billing on their own, and they usually will not refund you.
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Terms of service
“Refunds for subscription plans are not provided, except (i) where required by law, (ii) where you have upgraded to another subscription plan and wish to cancel the upgrade, or (iii) in limited cases as explicitly stated by Coursera or in specific promotional terms.”
For example, if you forget to cancel Coursera Plus, the next charge typically stays.
If you verify your identity, a vendor can make a face scan from your photo and keep it up to two years.
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Privacy policy
“Coursera’s third-party identity verification vendor may use this Personal Data to generate biometric facial data, which is destroyed upon successful completion of verification and in no event after 2 years.”
For example, a webcam selfie for a certificate exam can become biometric data held by a third party.
They can replay how you move around the site, including mouse moves and pages you visit.
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Privacy policy
“We also use session-replay technologies, such as those provided by Amplitude, who employs software code to record users’ interactions with the Site in a manner that allows us to watch video replays of those user sessions.”
For example, staff could watch a replay of you clicking through a quiz page.
They use your data to market and advertise, generally with consent.
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Privacy policy
“To send marketing and serve advertising, to inform our marketing and advertising strategies and content, to understand more about our audiences and to personalize our marketing and advertising.”
For example, course ads could be tailored using what you studied and clicked.
Deleting your account can permanently wipe proof of courses you finished.
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Privacy policy
“Once your account is deleted, certificates and certifications cannot be accessed, verified, or reissued, and we recommend downloading any certificates and certifications you wish to keep before submitting a deletion request.”
For example, an employer could no longer verify a certificate after you delete the account.
Some AI grading can change your score, but you can ask for a person instead.
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Privacy policy
“Certain Features such as AI Enabled Peer Review may affect the grade you receive on an assessment. In such circumstances, you are able to elect to have a human grader instead.”
For example, if an AI peer-review tool marks you down, you can request a human grader.
Words to know
Legal words from the lines above, in plain English.
- personal data
- Any information that is about you or can be linked to you, from your name to your phone's ID. For example, your email, your IP address and the list of apps on your phone are all personal data.
- biometric
- Measurements of your body that identify you, like your face, fingerprint or voice. For example, a selfie used to unlock the app or a voice recording matched to you.
- royalty-free
- The company can use your content without ever paying you for it. For example, your photo can appear in the app's ads and you get nothing.
- perpetual
- Lasting forever, with no end date. For example, a perpetual licence means the company can keep using your video years after you leave.
- sublicensable
- The company can pass its rights over your content on to other companies without asking you. For example, an app can let an advertiser or a partner reuse your video under the licence you gave.
- worldwide license
- You let the company use your content anywhere on earth, usually for free and for as long as it likes. For example, a video you post can be shown in ads in any country without asking you again.
- indemnify
- You promise to pay the company's legal costs and losses if your use of the service gets it sued. For example, if you post a song you do not own and the label sues the app, you owe the app's lawyer bills.
- limitation of liability
- A cap on what the company will ever pay you if something goes wrong, often only what you paid in the last year. For example, if a leak of your data costs you thousands, the most you may get back is a month's subscription fee.
- third parties
- Any company or person other than you and the app, such as advertisers, partners or analytics firms. For example, an analytics company that receives a record of every screen you tap is a third party.
- service providers
- Outside companies that handle your data on the app's instructions, such as a cloud host or an email sender. For example, the company that stores the app's files in the cloud sees your data but only does what the app tells it.
How we got here · grade F · score 28/100 · 15 of 15 policy answers backed by a verified quote · 3 not stated
What does the app collect beyond what it needs to work?
They collect more than account and coursework: device IDs, IP-based location, cookies, session replays, partner-site use, surveys, and sometimes ID photos.
Does it record your voice, face or body, and what happens to that?
ID checks can create face biometrics at a third-party vendor, kept up to two years. Voice chat can be transcribed.
Are your chats and uploads used to train AI models, and is that off by default?
Not stated in the documents.
Can employees or contractors read your conversations, and when?
Not stated in the documents.
Are you profiled or tracked for advertising?
They serve advertising and use cookies, partners, and session-replay vendors to understand audiences.
Do they sell or share your data, and can you opt out?
They share with content providers, partners, and vendors; DPF users can opt out of some third-party disclosures.
What rights do they take over what you type and what the AI makes?
You keep copyright, but you give Coursera a perpetual, sublicensable license to use your user content worldwide.
How long do they keep your data after you delete it, and can you delete it in the app?
Not stated in the documents.
Does it build a lasting memory or profile of you, and can you see, edit or turn it off?
They personalize using preferences and a learner profile, but they do not describe viewing, editing, or turning that memory off.
Do they commit to basic security, and have they leaked data?
They describe industry-standard security and point users to HackerOne to report account issues.
Is there a real age gate, and are teens protected?
Use under 13 is banned, but they rely on that rule rather than describing a strong age check.
Will they tell you when the rules change, and is the policy specific?
The notices are dated. Material privacy changes get a homepage or email notice, but retention periods stay vague and continued use can bind you.
Can they close your account without warning, and can you get your data out first?
They may terminate your use of any service for any reason, without a promised warning or export step.
If something goes wrong, who pays?
Services are as-is, liability is capped around $20 or six months of fees, and you must indemnify them for many claims.
Do subscriptions renew on their own, and can you get a refund?
Subscriptions auto-renew. Most subscription refunds are refused except law, upgrades, or rare stated cases.
The privacy policy is 6,393 words at a professional or legal expert level (Flesch reading ease 14.1); the terms are 8,724 words at a professional or legal expert level.
