Privacy Policy

1. Information We Collect

• Account information: name, email address, and (optionally) phone number, organization, field of study, or job role, provided when you register, sign in with Google, or complete your profile.
• Course, event & competition activity: which courses you enroll in, lecture progress, which events you register for, and which competitions you enter, including submission files or links you upload.
• Payment records: purchase amount, currency, and payment status for courses/events/competitions. Card and bank details are entered directly into Razorpay and are never stored on our servers.
• Referral data: your referral code, who you referred, and referral credit earned/redeemed.
• Certificates: your name and course/event/competition details as they appear on any certificate issued to you, plus a public certificate number used for verification.
• Consent & preferences: when you accepted our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use, and whether you've opted in to marketing communications.

2. How We Use Information

We use your information to operate the Platform: creating and securing your account, granting access to purchased courses/registered events/competitions, processing payments, issuing and verifying certificates, tracking referral credit, and communicating with you about your account, purchases, or platform updates.

3. Cookies & Tracking

We use strictly necessary cookies to keep you signed in and to remember your session. We do not use third-party advertising cookies. If you use the optional Google Website Translate feature, Google may set its own cookies to remember your language preference — see Google's own privacy policy for details.

4. Third-Party Services

We rely on a small number of third-party services to operate the Platform:

• Razorpay — payment processing.
• Google — optional sign-in (Google OAuth).
• Bunny.net — secure video hosting/streaming for course lectures.
• Vercel & Neon — application hosting and database infrastructure.
• Resend — transactional email delivery (e.g. password resets, account notifications).
• Google Website Translate — optional, client-side page translation if you choose to use it.

Each of these providers processes data under their own privacy policies; we only share what's necessary for them to perform their function (e.g. Razorpay receives purchase amount and your email for receipts). Our hosting and database infrastructure (Vercel, Neon) may process and store data on servers located outside India; we take reasonable steps to ensure these providers offer an adequate level of data protection.

5. Information Sharing & Disclosure

We do not sell your personal information. We share it only: with the third-party service providers listed above, as needed for them to perform their function; with event/competition organizers or instructors where necessary to run that specific event, course, or competition (e.g. your name for a seat list or entry roster); when required by law, court order, or governmental request; or with your consent.

6. Data Retention

We retain account, purchase, and certificate records for as long as your account is active, and as needed to comply with legal, tax, or accounting obligations. Certificate verification records are kept indefinitely so certificates remain verifiable.

7. Your Rights & Choices

You can review and update your account details from your dashboard. Subject to applicable law (including India's Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023), you have the right to access the personal data we hold about you, request correction of inaccurate data, and request erasure of your data. To exercise any of these rights, email us at scholaraura@gmail.com. Note that we may need to retain certain purchase/certificate records even after account deletion for legal or verification purposes.

8. Marketing Communications

During onboarding, you can choose whether to receive updates about new courses, events, and competitions. If you opt in, you can withdraw consent at any time by emailing scholaraura@gmail.com or using the unsubscribe link included in any marketing email. Transactional emails related to your account, purchases, or password resets are sent regardless of this preference, as they're necessary to operate the Platform.

9. Children's Privacy

The Platform is not directed at children under 18. We do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 18 without the involvement and consent of a parent or legal guardian. If you believe a child has provided us with personal information without appropriate consent, contact us and we will take steps to remove it.

10. Security

Passwords are stored using one-way hashing, not in plain text. Access to paid course lectures and private event/competition details is restricted to users with a confirmed purchase or registration. No online system is 100% secure, but we take reasonable steps to protect your data.

11. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time; continued use of the Platform means you accept the current version.

12. Contact

Questions about this Policy can be sent to scholaraura@gmail.com.