Frequently Asked Questions
Q. Does Etriever move or store our student data?
A. No. Etriever uses a federated, read-only architecture. Your data stays in your systems of record (SIS, LMS, state systems); Etriever queries it in place and returns role-based views and reports. It never moves, modifies, or stores your source records, so you retain full ownership and control.
Q. How does Etriever keep data secure?
A. Data is encrypted in transit (TLS 1.2+) and at rest (AES-256). Access uses multi-factor authentication through your identity provider and role-based, least-privilege controls, with full audit logging. Etriever maintains SOC 2 Type II–equivalent controls aligned to the CIS Critical Security Controls (via NIST 800-53), and all data services are performed entirely within the United States.
Q. Which privacy laws and standards does Etriever meet?
A. Etriever is built to comply with FERPA, COPPA, and applicable state privacy laws (e.g., in Utah, GRAMA and Rule R277-484), and meets Sections 504/508 accessibility standards. All access is governed by your data governance policies and agreements.
Q. Can students, families, and educators see a single view of the learner?
A. Yes. The same governed data foundation that powers compliance can present a real-time, role-appropriate profile of each student, including attendance, grades, assessments, credits, and support plans, that follows the learner across schools and systems. (In Utah, this directly supports the Student Achievement Backpack, §53E-3-511, and Early Warning System requirements.)
Q. Do we have to replace or migrate our existing systems?
A. No. Etriever layers on top of what you already run — no rip-and-replace, migration, or restructuring. Onboarding is configuration-first.
Q. What systems and standards does Etriever connect to?
A. Etriever is vendor-agnostic and can connect concurrently to major SIS (e.g., PowerSchool, Skyward, Infinite Campus, Aspire, Compass, Focus, and custom/locally built systems), LMS such as Canvas, assessment platforms, and state systems — via published or custom APIs, secure file exchange, event-based integration, or localized agents. It supports Ed-Fi, SIF (including SIF 2.4), OneRoster, LTI, Caliper, and state-specific schemas, with no proprietary connectors required.
Q. How does Etriever use AI — and is it safe for regulated student data?
A1. For data validation and reporting, AI is non-adjudicative. It never changes, corrects, or certifies student data. All validation and certification outcomes are deterministic, rule-based, explainable, and auditable, with human-in-the-loop review. AI is used only to accelerate data discovery and mapping, flag inconsistencies, detect anomalies, and predict and prevent recurring errors — as recommendations subject to human approval.
A2. For data and document analysis, Etriever uses AI to build narrative summaries and compare structured versus unstructured sources, such as IEPs, 504s, MTSS, incidents, and disciplinary plans. Using a walled garden approach, Etriever performs the analysis without ever sharing personal identifying information (PII) with LLMs and other models. No student data is ever used to train LLMs.
Q. How does Etriever support compliance reporting and audits?
A. Etriever runs pre-submission validation against locally determined applicable rules and standards, with deterministic fatal-error and warning checks tied to rule identifiers. It provides audit-ready, single-pane student record views, tamper-evident certification packets, and standardized CSV/PDF exports, backed by a secure, searchable activity archive retained for six or more years.
Q. How long does implementation take?
A. Onboarding is configuration-first. A typical statewide pilot can reach operational status in about 15 weeks across six phases: kickoff and access planning, connectivity, rule configuration, training, operational use, and evaluation. Support includes role-based training, train-the-trainer, SOPs, office hours, and severity-based SLAs.
Q. What happens in the event of a data incident?
A. Etriever follows documented incident-response runbooks. Confirmed incidents involving student or institutional data are reported within one (1) calendar day, with a documented remediation plan within ten (10) calendar days.
Q. Can Etriever scale beyond a pilot, or to other states?
A. Yes. Etriever scales horizontally from a single LEA to statewide and multi-state workloads. Paired with local configurations, Etriever applies the same governance and security controls at every scale. Etriever’s current implementation in Utah following a competitive RFP is architected to scale from a limited pilot up to all 152 LEAs.
Q. Who is behind Etriever?
A. Etriever is built by Etriever AI in partnership with different technical providers, by a team with decades of combined leadership across K-12, higher education, school improvement, and enterprise data. It is deployed in partnership with state and local agencies.
