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Privacy Policy

Last updated: 26 May 2026 · Applicable law: Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 (India) · Data Fiduciary: StudyVerdict

1. Who We Are

StudyVerdict is an independent consumer review platform operated from India. For purposes of the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 ("DPDP Act"), StudyVerdict is the Data Fiduciary — the entity that determines the purpose and means of processing your personal data.

2. Data We Collect

We collect only the minimum data required to operate the Platform:

  1. Account data: Email address (required for sign-in), and where you choose to provide it, your name and profile image from Google OAuth.
  2. Verification data: Whether your email domain is an educational institution (e.g., .ac.in, .edu). We store a boolean flag — we do not store your email domain separately.
  3. Review content: The text, ratings, and metadata you submit with a review (subject, course level, amount paid, turnaround, photos).
  4. Technical data: IP address (hashed, not stored in plain text), device fingerprint (hashed), approximate geolocation (country level only).
  5. Usage data: Pages visited, search queries, interactions — collected via analytics tools (PostHog, Google Analytics) in anonymised or pseudonymised form.

We do not collect your Aadhaar number, PAN, financial account details, health data, or any other sensitive personal data as defined under the DPDP Act.

3. Anonymous by Default

Every user account is assigned a randomly generated anonymous handle (e.g.,student_a8x3kq). Your real name is never displayed publicly on the Platform. Reviews are attributed to your anonymous handle only. This is a core design principle, not just a setting.

We will not reveal your real identity to any service provider, third party, or legal representative of a service provider, except where compelled by a valid order of a competent Indian court directed specifically to us.

4. Why We Process Your Data (Purpose Limitation)

We process your personal data only for the following purposes:

  1. Authenticating your account and verifying your eligibility to submit reviews.
  2. Publishing your review under your anonymous handle.
  3. Detecting and preventing fake, spam, or manipulated reviews.
  4. Communicating with you about your account, reviews, or the Platform (transactional emails only).
  5. Complying with legal obligations under Indian law.

We do not use your data for advertising targeting, profiling for commercial resale, or any purpose not listed above.

5. Data Sharing

We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal data. We share data only with:

  1. Service providers who process data on our behalf under contractual obligations (e.g., Neon for database hosting, Vercel for infrastructure, Resend for email, Anthropic for AI moderation). These providers are bound by data-processing agreements.
  2. Analytics platforms (PostHog, Google Analytics) — data is pseudonymised before transmission.
  3. Law enforcement or courts — only when required by a valid order under Indian law.

We never share your data with service providers listed on StudyVerdict, including providers whose listings you review.

6. Data Retention

We retain your personal data for as long as your account is active, or as required to comply with legal obligations. Review content (minus your personal identifiers) may be retained as part of aggregate analytics after account deletion.

IP and device hashes used for anti-spam detection are retained for 12 months.

7. Your Rights under the DPDP Act, 2023

As a Data Principal under the DPDP Act, you have the right to:

  1. Access — Request a summary of the personal data we hold about you.
  2. Correction — Request correction of inaccurate personal data.
  3. Erasure — Request deletion of your personal data and account. Deletion is processed within 30 days. Note: reviews you submitted may remain on the Platform under your anonymous handle even after account deletion, as they constitute consumer speech of public interest.
  4. Grievance redressal — Raise a complaint with our Consent Manager / Grievance Officer (see Section 9).
  5. Nomination — Nominate another individual to exercise your rights in the event of death or incapacity.

To exercise any of these rights, email us at: privacy@studyverdict.com

8. Cookies and Tracking

The Platform uses session cookies for authentication and functional purposes. Analytics cookies (PostHog, Google Analytics) are used to understand site usage in aggregate. We do not use advertising cookies or cross-site tracking cookies.

9. Grievance Officer (DPDP + IT Rules)

For any privacy-related complaint, contact our Grievance Officer:

Grievance Officer: Editorial Team, StudyVerdict
Email: privacy@studyverdict.com
Response time: 24 hours acknowledgement · 15 days resolution

If you are not satisfied with our response, you may escalate to the Data Protection Board of India once it is constituted and operational under the DPDP Act, 2023.

10. Security

We implement industry-standard security measures including encrypted connections (HTTPS/TLS), hashed storage of sensitive identifiers, access controls, and audit logging of administrative actions. No system is entirely secure; if you believe your account has been compromised, contact us immediately.

11. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy periodically. Material changes will be notified via the Platform or by email. Continued use after notification constitutes acceptance of the revised Policy.