Your TKS student account: what we keep and why

Last updated: November 13, 2026

Your TKS account connects your devices to your points in your Canvas course. This page covers your TKS account: your PIN, your email and your devices. Here is what it stores, who sees it, and how to have it deleted.

What we keep

  • Your PIN, only as a scrambled code (a hash). It can check your PIN, but your PIN itself is never stored.
  • Your email, if you add one. It's optional.
  • Your devices. Each gets a hidden key, kept in your browser and, as a hash, by us, and a name like "Windows · Chrome."
  • Codes we email you, only as a hash. They expire after 10 minutes.
  • Wrong tries. For each wrong PIN or code: when it happened, and the browser and system you used.

Why we keep it

  • Your PIN or an email code connects a new device.
  • Your email also gets you back in if you forget your PIN.
  • Your devices let us tell you when a new one connects, so you can sign it out.
  • Wrong tries let us warn you and slow down anyone guessing.

Your email is used only for signing in, getting back in, and alerts about your account. No newsletters, no marketing.

Who can see it

  • Classmates never see your email.
  • In TKS's tools, your instructor and TKS staff see your devices and your email with most of it hidden, like j••••@clark.edu.
  • Your full email is kept in our database. Only staff who run it can see it, to fix problems.
  • Our sign-in service runs on Cloudflare. Your account is stored with Supabase, our database provider. Codes are emailed through Amazon SES, in the US.

How long we keep it

  • If you don't use your TKS account for 12 months, we delete your email from it. Your points stay.
  • If you change your email, we keep the old one for up to 30 days, in case the change wasn't you and needs undoing. Then we delete it.
  • Your devices are signed out 45 days after your last use on any device.
  • Wrong tries are deleted after 7 days.
  • Your PIN's hash stays until you change it or ask us to delete it.

Have it deleted

Ask your instructor in Canvas Inbox, or email contact@techknowsurge.com. We'll delete your email, your PIN and your devices from your TKS account. Your points stay. We answer within 30 days.

Our main Privacy Policy covers the rest of techknowsurge.com.