Privacy Policy

1. Information We Collect

We collect information in the following ways:

Information you provide directly

• Account registration: Name, email address, and (if applicable) a hashed password when you sign up via email/password. Google Sign-In provides your name, email, and profile photo from your Google account.
• Profile updates: University, degree, and phone number if you choose to add them to your profile.
• Donations: Name, email, phone, and payment details processed securely by Razorpay. We do not store card or UPI credentials on our servers.
• Applications & enquiries: Information submitted through internship, volunteer, partnership, or contact forms.
• Newsletter subscriptions: Email address when you subscribe.

Information collected automatically

• Learning activity: Which courses you enrol in, lessons completed, quiz scores, and progress percentages.
• Usage data: Pages visited, time spent, and interactions with the Platform, collected through Firebase Analytics.
• Device & connection information: Browser type, operating system, IP address, and general geographic region.

2. How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect to:

• Provide, maintain, and improve the Platform and its features.
• Track your learning progress, issue certificates, and personalise your experience.
• Process donations and issue tax receipts (80G / 12A where applicable).
• Send transactional emails (account verification, receipt confirmations, progress reminders).
• Send newsletters and product updates, where you have opted in. You can unsubscribe at any time.
• Detect and prevent fraud, abuse, and security incidents.
• Comply with legal obligations and enforce our Terms of Service.
• Analyse aggregate, anonymised usage trends to guide content development and platform improvements.

We do not sell your personal data to third parties.

3. Firebase Authentication & Data Storage

Vidyasaar uses Google Firebase for authentication and data storage:

• Firebase Authentication manages your login sessions. Passwords are never stored in plain text; Firebase handles secure hashing.
• Cloud Firestore stores your profile data, enrolment records, quiz attempts, and certificate information. Data is stored in Google data centres with encryption at rest and in transit.
• Firebase Analytics collects aggregated, anonymised usage data to help us understand how the Platform is used.

Firebase services are governed by Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service. Firebase processes data on servers that may be located outside India, in compliance with applicable data transfer regulations.

4. Cookies

We use cookies and similar tracking technologies to:

• Essential cookies: Maintain your login session and remember your preferences (e.g., dark mode). These cannot be disabled without breaking Platform functionality.
• Analytics cookies: Understand aggregate traffic patterns via Firebase Analytics. These cookies collect anonymised data.

We do not use advertising or third-party tracking cookies. You can control cookie settings through your browser, but disabling essential cookies may affect your ability to use the Platform.

5. Third-Party Services

Razorpay (Payments)

Donations are processed by Razorpay. When you make a payment, you are interacting with Razorpay’s platform, which is governed by Razorpay’s Privacy Policy. Vidyasaar receives only a transaction confirmation and the donor details you provide for the receipt.

Cloudinary (Media)

Course video and image assets are hosted on Cloudinary. Cloudinary may collect IP addresses and request metadata when delivering content to your browser. Cloudinary’s data practices are governed by their privacy policy.

Google Services

We use Google Sign-In (via Firebase Authentication), Google Fonts, and Google Firebase infrastructure. Use of these services is governed by Google’s Privacy Policy.

6. Your Rights

As a user, you have the following rights regarding your personal data:

• Access: Request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
• Correction: Update inaccurate information via your account profile or by contacting us.
• Deletion: Request deletion of your account and associated personal data, subject to legal retention requirements.
• Portability: Request an export of your data in a machine-readable format.
• Objection: Opt out of analytics collection or marketing communications at any time.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at admin@vidyasaar.org. We will respond within 30 days.

7. Data Retention

We retain your personal data for as long as your account is active or as needed to provide services, comply with legal obligations, resolve disputes, and enforce our agreements. Specifically:

• Account and learning data is retained while your account remains active. Upon deletion request, account data is removed within 30 days, except where legally required (e.g., donation records for tax compliance).
• Donation transaction records are retained for 7 years in accordance with Indian financial regulations.
• Certificate records are retained indefinitely to allow verification, but can be anonymised upon request.

8. Contact

If you have questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or your personal data, please contact our data team:

If you are not satisfied with our response, you may contact the relevant data protection authority in your jurisdiction.