Write Now! Privacy
Last updated: Aug 2026
Write Now! is a lightweight web application developed as part of an ongoing educational research project led by researchers at the University of Auckland.
Teacher accounts
When a teacher signs in, Google provides Write Now! with the teacher’s name, email address and a unique Google account identifier. This information is used to authenticate the teacher, verify access and control access to their learning spaces. The teacher’s name and email address are also stored with learning spaces they create.
Write Now! also stores the teacher’s classroom configuration and other information required to operate their learning spaces. This information is used only to provide the Write Now! service.
Student responses
In the hosted version of Write Now!, student responses are submitted to the Write Now! server. The server encrypts the response content before forwarding the response and its associated metadata to the learning space’s Google Form. The responses are then stored in the linked Google Sheet owned by the teacher.
To provide responsive classroom displays, the hosted server also keeps a temporary copy of classroom data and encrypted student responses in private, learning-space-specific JSON files. Temporary data expire automatically 24 hours after the learning space was last used. A teacher can clear this temporary server copy earlier from the teacher application. Clearing it does not delete data stored in the teacher’s Google Forms or Google Sheets; the server may retrieve that data again if the learning space is subsequently used.
Write Now! stores a randomly generated browser identifier in the student’s browser. This identifier is submitted with responses so that responses from the same browser can be associated during an activity.
Teachers may configure a learning space to require students to sign in with Google and may restrict access to specified email domains. In these spaces, Google provides the student’s verified email address to Write Now! during sign-in. The email address is used to enforce any configured domain restriction, then encrypted immediately. The encrypted value is stored in that browser and submitted with responses. The unencrypted email address is not stored in the browser, Google Sheet or temporary response files. Teachers with access to the learning space can download responses with the email address decrypted. Write Now! does not use student Google sign-in to create a student account or PHP login session.
Response content is encrypted before storage in both Google Sheets and temporary server files. The encryption key is associated with the teacher’s classroom configuration and is not stored with the response files or within the Google Sheet itself. Response metadata—including the activity ID, browser identifier, response ID, submission time and time taken—is not encrypted. Teachers with access to the learning space can view and download decrypted responses.
Signing out of Google access for a learning space removes the encrypted email from the browser but retains the random browser identifier. Clearing the site’s local storage removes both values and generates a new browser identifier on the next use. Neither action deletes responses that have already been submitted.
Classroom data
To allow the Write Now! server to retrieve classroom data, the relevant Google Sheets are configured as Anyone with the link can view. The hosted application does not provide the Google Sheet or Google Form URLs to students. However, anyone who obtains a Sheet link could view activity data and unencrypted response metadata. Student response content remains encrypted.
Teachers are responsible for:
- deciding what information students are asked to provide;
- ensuring their use of Write Now! complies with their institution’s policies;
- managing access to their Google Forms and Google Sheets.
Write Now! does not verify the suitability of activities for collecting personal information.
Analytics
Basic server logs may be collected to assist with operation, debugging and improving the service.
Contact
Questions about Write Now! may be directed to Anna Fergusson using the University of Auckland profile linked on the About page.