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Age & Child Safety

Minimum age requirements, protections for younger learners, and how we handle reports.

Last updated on October 25, 2026.

You must be 13 or older to use ACADA. If you are under 18, your account starts private, new followers need your approval, only people you follow can message you first, you stay off leaderboards and recommendations, and you cannot take on a paid role until you turn 18. Anyone who endangers a child on ACADA loses their account at once, and we report what the law requires us to report. If you think a child is at risk, tell us and a person replies within 1 business day.

This summary is for orientation only. The sections below are the operative terms.

1. Who this applies to

This policy applies to everyone on acada.ac. ACADA L.L.C., a Tennessee limited liability company (ACADA, we), sets the minimum age for an account, the protections that apply to accounts under 18, and what we do when a child is put at risk. Throughout, a minor is a person under 18.

2. What we expect

Give us your real date of birth when you sign up. If you are a parent or guardian, know that a child under 13 cannot have an account, and that a teenager can. Treat every young person on ACADA as you would want your own treated.

3. Minimum age

You must be at least 13 to create an account. If the law where you live sets a higher age for agreeing to an online service on your own, that age applies to you instead. We check the date of birth you give against 13 only, so by signing up you confirm that you meet the age that applies where you live.

We ask for your date of birth when you sign up. If you sign in with Google or GitHub, we ask the first time you use the site. We keep it private: it is never shown on your profile, and only you and our staff can see it. Under United States law, known as COPPA, a service like ours cannot collect personal information from a child under 13 without a parent's verified consent, and ACADA is not built to obtain that consent. A signup with a date of birth under 13 is refused, and nothing from it is kept.

4. Accounts under 18

If your date of birth shows you are under 18, these protections apply to your account until your eighteenth birthday. They switch off on their own that day.

  • Your profile starts private, and new followers need your approval. You can change either in Settings, under Privacy, when you choose to.
  • Only people you follow can message you first. The same goes for invitations to group chats, and course staff are no exception. Anyone else who tries is told that you only receive messages from people you follow. Adults can choose the same setting, so that message does not reveal your age. You can choose No one instead. Message requests, which let someone you do not follow send one message for you to accept, are not available to you. If you message someone first, they can reply.
  • You are not shown to strangers. You do not appear on the leaderboards or in recommended users, and other members do not see your XP or level. People you share a room or a course with can still find you there.
  • No paid roles. You cannot create a course, join the affiliate programme or be appointed as a collaborator. All three pay out through Stripe, which requires account holders to be 18. You can enroll in courses, use every learning tool, take part in rooms, and build your portfolio.

5. Purchases by minors

If you are under 18, buy a course only with the permission of a parent or guardian, using a payment method you are allowed to use. A parent or guardian who did not give permission can write to support@acada.ac within 14 days of the purchase. We cancel the access and refund it, as described in the Purchases, Refunds & Subscriptions policy.

6. Protecting minors from other users

The Community Guidelines apply to everyone. Where a minor is involved, three things are treated as the most serious breaches we handle.

  • Sexual content involving a minor, whether photographic, drawn or written, is removed as soon as we find it. We report it to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, as United States law requires, and close the account.
  • Seeking contact with a minor for a sexual purpose, including asking a minor for photos, for personal details, or to move the conversation to another app, closes the account at once.
  • Collecting a minor's personal details, such as their school, address or daily routine, whether in a course, a room or a message, is not allowed.

Courses may cover any legal subject, as the Community Guidelines set out, and that includes subjects a teenager might study. What no course may contain is set out in the Prohibited Content policy.

7. When someone's age is not what we were told

Under 13. If we learn that an account belongs to a child under 13, we close it and delete its personal information within 7 days. Any active paid access is refunded. We tell the email address on the account what we did. A parent or guardian can ask us to do this at any time.

Under 18 with a paid role. If we learn that an instructor, collaborator or affiliate is under 18, we close that role until their eighteenth birthday. Money already earned is paid out as normal. Their courses are unpublished, and students who paid are refunded as described in the Purchases, Refunds & Subscriptions policy. The account itself stays open, with the protections in section 4.

8. How we enforce this

Lying about your age to get around section 4 is handled under the steps in the Account Enforcement & Appeals policy: a written warning, then restrictions, then closure. Any breach of section 6 closes the account at once, without a warning.

9. Reporting a concern

If you think a child on ACADA is at risk, or a course, room or message involves a minor in a way this policy does not allow, use the Report button and choose "Child safety", or choose "Child safety concern" on the support form, or write to support@acada.ac. A person reads every report and replies within 1 business day. If someone is in immediate danger, contact your local police first.

Parents and guardians can use the same channels to tell us that a child under 13 has an account, or that a purchase was made without permission.

10. Changes to this policy

When we change this policy, we change the date shown at the top. If a change adds a rule or a consequence, or removes a protection in section 4, we post a notice in the app at least 14 days before it takes effect.

11. Related policies