Saturn Technologies, the developer of a popular scheduling app for high school students, has agreed to pay $650,000 in penalties after an investigation found it failed to verify users’ identities, potentially exposing students’ personal information to strangers.
New York Attorney General Letitia James announced the settlement Friday, saying the company misled users by claiming only verified high school students could access the platform while failing to properly screen them. The agreement requires Saturn to overhaul its privacy policies and strengthen protections for young users.
Lack of verification exposed students to outsiders
The investigation by the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) found that Saturn initially required users to verify their high school email addresses, but in 2021, the company quietly made verification optional while still promoting the app as a secure space for students. Between 2021 and 2023, Saturn disabled verification for more than 4,000 high schools, allowing unverified individuals to join school communities and view student schedules.
The company attempted to use alternative verification methods, such as checking whether a user was in the phone contacts of at least three other users or had been friended by just one other Saturn user. The OAG determined these methods were unreliable.
Saturn also failed to screen new users by age until August 2023 and retained copies of users’ contact lists, even after users changed their phone settings to block access.
New privacy safeguards required
Under the settlement, Saturn Technologies must notify users of verification changes and provide stronger privacy settings for those under 18. The company must also:
- Restrict visibility of non-users’ information entered into the app.
- Allow teachers to remove their names from the class schedule feature.
- Delete unauthorized copies of users’ contact books.
- Ensure all users under 18 review their privacy settings every six months.
Additionally, Saturn is prohibited from making false claims about user safety or verification without scientific evidence.
Saturn Technologies will pay $200,000 immediately, with the remaining $450,000 suspended to ensure compliance with the settlement terms.
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