Privacy Policy

Account data: email address, display name, authentication identifiers, and (if you sign in with Google) the basic profile information that provider shares with us.

Profile and study data: target test, test scores, GPA/percentage, degree level, home country, destination preference, intake, budget band, work experience, study goals, avatar image, checklist progress, study session logs, streaks and badges.

Application data: universities and programmes you track, deadlines, statuses, notes, scholarship amounts and tuition estimates you enter.

Content you submit: AI counsellor conversations, SOP/resume text submitted for review, reviews you publish, study group names and messages, and contact-form submissions.

Payment data: when you buy a Premium pass, our payment processor (Razorpay) collects and processes your payment details. We receive only the order/payment reference, amount, status and pass validity — we never see or store your full card details, UPI credentials or bank passwords.

Technical data: IP address, device and browser type, pages viewed, approximate location derived from IP, error diagnostics and cookie identifiers.

We do not knowingly collect sensitive personal data (health, biometric, caste, religion, political opinions). Please do not include such details in free-text fields.

• To provide the service — create your account, personalise your dashboard, run the checklist, roadmap, predictor, scholarship matching and application tracker (performance of a contract).
• To process payments — activate, extend and verify Premium passes, and to meet tax/accounting duties (contract and legal obligation).
• To communicate — deadline alerts, milestone and service notifications, and replies to your enquiries (contract and legitimate interests).
• To improve and secure the Platform — analytics, debugging, abuse prevention and fraud detection (legitimate interests).
• Marketing — only where you have opted in; you can withdraw consent at any time (consent).

Features such as the AI Counsellor, Admission Predictor, SOP review and Resume review send the text and profile details you provide to third-party large-language-model providers through a secure gateway so that a response can be generated. Do not paste passport numbers, financial account numbers, passwords or other sensitive identifiers into these tools. AI output is generated automatically, may be inaccurate, and is guidance only — it is not a decision made about you by an automated system with legal effect, and it never replaces official university, test-provider or immigration advice.

We do not sell your personal data. We share it only with:

• Infrastructure and database providers that host the Platform and store your data.
• Payment processors (Razorpay) to take and verify payments.
• AI model providers, strictly to generate the output you requested.
• Partner counsellors — only when you choose to click "Apply Now via Partner Counsellor" or request counselling, in which case the details you submit on their form are governed by their privacy policy.
• Professional advisers, auditors or authorities where required by law, court order or to protect our rights, users or the public.
• An acquirer, in the event of a merger, acquisition or restructuring, subject to this policy.

Content you deliberately publish (reviews, group names, leaderboard display name and avatar) is visible to other users.

Our hosting, payment and AI partners may process data outside your country, including in the United States and the European Union. Where such transfers happen we rely on the provider's contractual safeguards (such as standard contractual clauses) and require appropriate technical and organisational protection.

We use strictly necessary cookies and local storage to keep you signed in, remember your theme and preserve checklist state on your device. We may also use privacy-respecting analytics to understand which pages help students. You can block or clear cookies in your browser settings, but some features (sign-in, saved progress) will stop working. We do not run third-party advertising networks on the Platform.

Data is stored with our managed backend provider using encryption in transit (TLS) and encryption at rest. Access to your records is enforced at the database level with row-level security rules so that, as a rule, only you (and strictly limited administrative processes) can read your data. Payment credentials never touch our servers. Passwords are stored only as salted hashes by our authentication provider. No system can be guaranteed perfectly secure; please use a strong, unique password and tell us immediately if you suspect unauthorised access.

We keep account and study data for as long as your account is active. If you delete your account we remove or irreversibly anonymise your personal data within 90 days, except records we must retain for legal, tax, accounting or dispute-resolution purposes (typically up to 8 years for payment records under Indian law). Contact-form messages are kept for up to 24 months. Aggregated, non-identifying statistics may be retained indefinitely.

Subject to applicable law (including India's Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 and, where relevant, the GDPR), you may request: access to your data; correction of inaccurate data; deletion; restriction of or objection to processing; a portable copy; withdrawal of consent; and the right not to be subject to unlawful automated decision-making. You can edit or delete most profile fields yourself in Settings. For anything else, email us and we will respond within 30 days. If you are unhappy with our response, you may complain to your local data-protection authority or, in India, to the Data Protection Board.

The Platform is not intended for children under 13, and users under 18 should use it only with the involvement of a parent or guardian. Where required by law we obtain verifiable parental consent before processing a child's data. If you believe a child has provided us data without such consent, contact us and we will delete it.

We may update this policy as the Platform evolves or the law changes. Material changes will be announced on the Platform, and the "last updated" date above will change. Continued use after an update means you accept the revised policy.

Privacy questions, data requests and complaints: hello@globalstudycompass.com, or use our Contact page. Data controller: Vuray Consulting Private Limited, India (vuray.in). We aim to acknowledge grievances within 72 hours and resolve them within 30 days.