Privacy Policy

The website https://scholarsedge.co.in and all associated subdomains (collectively referred to as the "Website") are owned and operated by ScholarsEdge ("Company", "us", "we", or "our"). ScholarsEdge is engaged in the business of operating an advanced online educational ecosystem, organizing scholarship examination programs, providing browser-based AI-proctored testing environments, and managing student merit analytics to facilitate fair academic evaluations for students ("Services").

This Privacy Policy ("Privacy Policy") outlines our data practices regarding the collection, processing, usage, storage, and protection of information obtained from users ("you", "your", or "User") of our Website.

This document is published and governed in strict accordance with the provisions of the Information Technology Act, 2000 and the rules and regulations framed thereunder, which mandate the publication of a comprehensive privacy policy and terms of use for access or usage of an online portal in India.

We request that you read this Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use thoroughly before creating an account, registering for an examination, or navigating the platform. By using our Services and accessing the Website, you explicitly agree to the terms of this Privacy Policy and consent to our collection, processing, and disclosure of your Personal Information as detailed herein. If you do not agree with these terms, please do not use the Website, subscribe to our Services, or provide any data to us.

1. Information Collected

To successfully manage online assessments, verify candidate identity, and maintain total examination integrity, we collect several categories of information through your voluntary submissions and automated system tools:

A. Information Provided Voluntarily by the User

• Account Registration & Enrollment Data: When you sign up for a ScholarsEdge account, we collect personal information required to construct your student profile. This includes your name, email address, mobile phone number, physical address, PIN code, current academic class, school name, and institutional educational board.
• Google User Data (OAuth Authentication): If you choose to register or log into our Services using your Google Account, we request access to your basic Google profile information via Google API services. This securely yields your name, verified email address, and profile picture URL.
• Award Disbursement Records: For successful scholarship recipients, we collect basic bank account numbers and routing details to directly facilitate the distribution of the earned monetary scholarship.

B. Live Web-Proctoring and Assessment Data

During an active mock test or live scholarship examination, the platform gathers the following datasets strictly to protect testing integrity and enforce anti-cheating regulations:

• Video Streaming & Snapshots: Periodic camera captures and automated video streams recorded via your webcam to verify candidate presence and monitor for secondary individuals in the testing frame.
• Audio Streaming: Ambient acoustic logs recorded via your device's microphone to monitor for external verbal assistance or audio anomalies.
• Screen Share & Window Tracking Data: Real-time data logs mapping active browser tab focuses, window switches, screen tracking metrics, or attempts to capture exam content.

C. Automatically Collected System Data

Whenever you interact with our web servers, certain non-personally identifiable technical information is automatically generated and logged:

• Internet Protocol (IP) address and domain name.
• Browser type, version, and primary language settings.
• Operating system details (e.g., Windows, macOS, Linux).
• Exact date and time timestamps of platform registration, login actions, and test cycles.
• Internet connection speeds and network stability logs.
• Web pages viewed on our domain and the referring site, application, or service.

D. Publicly Available Data

We may occasionally gather information about you that is securely hosted within publicly available spaces or combined with data from trusted academic partners to improve user validation models.

2. Use of Collected Information

ScholarsEdge processes your personal and technical datasets strictly for purposes tied directly to the execution of our educational offerings. We use this data to:

• Administer, execute, and evaluate online scholarship assessments and mock tests.
• Confirm your identity to verify scholarship-exam eligibility and check for testing duplications.
• Monitor testing sessions in real-time to log systemic integrity violations (such as switching tabs/windows or moving outside the camera viewport).
• Communicate administrative notices, exam schedules, score announcements, and service alerts.
• Disburse earned scholarship awards to verified student bank accounts.
• Analyze user engagement to diagnose performance bottlenecks and optimize website layout speeds.
• Conduct internal market research, project planning, technical troubleshooting, and defensive fraud protection.
• Enforce our platform's master Terms of Use and track regulatory compliance.

Corporate Structural Changes

In the event that ScholarsEdge undergoes a significant corporate transition—such as a merger, acquisition, reorganization, asset sale, or bankruptcy—all stored user information may be transferred to the succeeding entity as part of corporate asset migration.

3. Data Retention & Purge Timelines

The Company enforces rigid data minimization practices in line with the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act and does not retain personal information longer than required to fulfill its academic processing mandates, protect student privacy, or satisfy local auditing laws. The storage, maintenance, and permanent erasure of data collected on the ScholarsEdge platform are governed by the following strict timelines:

A. Proctoring Media (Strict 30-Day Purge Window)

• Scope of Media Data: To safeguard the privacy of minor school students, all browser-based webcam video streams, periodic photo snapshots, screen-sharing logs, and microphone audio recordings captured during an active assessment are stored on heavily encrypted, secure cloud arrays located within India.
• Retention & Access Lifecycle: These proctoring media files are maintained for a strict period of thirty (30) days from the exact date of the examination.
• Integrity Verification: During this 30-day window, access is strictly limited via role-based access controls to authorized institutional administrators and exam authorities solely to audit and validate test integrity, candidate authenticity, and flag proctoring anomalies.
• Automated Purge: Immediately following the expiration of this 30-day window, all proctoring media files are permanently and automatically purged from our live systems and storage networks.

B. Account Profile Information & Baseline Data Retention

• Scope of Profile Data: Standard registration profiles encompass any and all personal information collected during website sign-up, account configuration, or examination registration. This includes, but is not limited to, the student's legal name, verified email address, mobile phone number, academic class, institutional educational board, and school tracking data.
• Purpose of Retention: This baseline data is maintained strictly to allow continued dashboard login utility, preserve historical mock test analytics, manage continuous student account authorization states, and verify merit or rank eligibility for future scholarship cycles.
• Parental Control & Erasure Framework: Profile information is maintained continuously until: (a) the parent or lawful guardian formally deactivates or cancels the account through the dashboard settings; or (b) a verified erasure or data deletion request is formally filed by the parent/guardian and processed by our privacy desk at [email protected].

4. Data Sharing & Third-Party Limitations

Except as explicitly declared within this policy, personal data entered on our Website is never shared, sold, leased, or distributed to outside third parties without your explicit, free consent. We enforce a zero-tolerance policy against marketing exploitation or commercial solicitation.

A. Operational Processing Partners

We only transfer essential data elements to trusted operational vendors who help run infrastructure services on our behalf (such as secure cloud databases, transactional SMS gateways, or automated email dispatch software). We require these processing partners to maintain equal levels of data protection, bound by strict confidentiality clauses and data safety protocols.

B. Integrated Web Subsystems

Our platform utilizes select external tools to streamline operations, optimize workflows, and capture analytics:

• Google Analytics (Web tracking and optimization)
• Google API Subsystems (OAuth user sign-in)
• Verified Secure Transactional SMS Gateways
• Encrypted Email Dispatch Subsystems

C. Financial Separation (Payment Gateways)

When processing enrollment fees, credit cards, debit cards, or unified payment info, data is submitted directly and exclusively to our integrated, certified Payment Gateway provider. ScholarsEdge does not capture, see, or store any financial account numbers, CVVs, or card credentials on its servers. Any billing discrepancies must be addressed directly through your banking provider and the respective gateway platform.

D. Regulatory and Law Enforcement Disclosures

We cooperate transparently with government, judiciary, and law enforcement officials to comply with legal mandates. We will share your personal information if we reasonably determine it is necessary to:

1. Satisfy a valid court order, search warrant, legal statute, or regulatory decree.
2. Identify, block, or resolve active security vulnerabilities, identity theft, or deep-level technical fraud.
3. Protect the immediate physical safety, intellectual property, or legal rights of ScholarsEdge, our community of users, or the public.

E. Aggregated Non-Personal Data

We may share aggregated, anonymized demographic metrics with research groups or institutional partners (e.g., publishing the total number of test applicants from a specific educational board or the volume of platform visitors per month). This data is strictly statistical and does not contain any individually identifiable metrics.

F. No Behavioral Tracking or Targeted Ad Disclosures

ScholarsEdge does not share or transfer any personal data of minor students to third-party ad networks, including Google or social media networks, for behavioral targeting or commercial tracking. Any general advertising deployed on the public sections of the Site is contextual, non-targeted, and completely independent of the student's personal identity or tracking profile.

5. Google API Services User Data Policy Compliance

ScholarsEdge's use and transfer of information received from Google APIs to any other app will strictly adhere to the Google API Services User Data Policy, including its core Limited Use requirements.

• We do not share your Google user profiles with any third-party advertising brokers, tracking pixels, or data syndication networks.
• We use Google OAuth details solely to verify your real identity and build a fast, secure single-sign-on login channel for your personalized user dashboard.

6. Browser-Based Hardware Permissions

To execute live, uncompromised examination monitoring without requiring desktop software downloads, our Website uses native browser-level HTML5 sandbox APIs. When launching a proctored assessment, you will be explicitly prompted to grant the following browser permissions:

• Webcam / Camera Permission: Utilized to capture real-time frames of the candidate sitting for the assessment to verify user identity.
• Microphone / Audio Permission: Utilized to capture ambient background noise and audio anomalies during the active test session.
• HTML5 Geolocation Permission: Utilized to track country, state, and geographic location tags to verify regional scholarship eligibility and guard against location-spoofing fraud.
• Screen Capture API: Utilized to monitor full-desktop or browser-tab views to ensure the user does not open unauthorized secondary tabs, reference materials, or communication windows during live testing.

7. Security Measures

ScholarsEdge implements industry-standard administrative, physical, technical, and digital safeguards to preserve your personal datasets from unauthorized destruction, modification, disclosure, or access.

• Data Localization: In compliance with local data protection preferences and regulatory standards, all personal information, examination records, proctoring data, and media collected by ScholarsEdge are transferred to, stored, and processed exclusively on secure cloud servers physically located within India. No user data is transferred or hosted outside the sovereign borders of India.
• Access Control: We run regular internal evaluations covering data capture loops, server-side storage architectures, and encryption controls. System access to personal data is restricted exclusively to authorized employees, contractors, or platform engineers who require that data to operate, evaluate, or improve our Services. These personnel are bound by strict contractual confidentiality agreements and face structural termination or criminal prosecution for data handling violations.
• User Responsibility: While we deploy rigorous encryption protocols, you assume full responsibility for maintaining the confidentiality of your account password and login tokens. The Company is not liable for data exposures resulting from shared credentials or user negligence.

8. User Rights: Access, Correction, and Deletion

We believe in granting you total autonomy over your personal information. You can execute the following data rights at any time:

A. Access and Real-Time Correction

You are responsible for the accuracy of your account registration data. You can access your complete profile details by logging into your student dashboard. If any information is incorrect or outdated, you can update it directly through your settings or submit a formal correction request to [email protected].

B. Consent Withdrawal

The consent you grant for the collection and processing of your personal information remains valid until you formally withdraw it. You may withdraw your consent at any time by issuing a written email request to our administration desk. Upon receipt, we will halt processing your data, except where we are legally required to preserve specific data metrics for regulatory audits or statutory records. Please note that withdrawing consent may limit our ability to provide you with our examination Services.

C. Account Cancellation and Data Deletion

If you wish to close your account, wipe your data files, or request that we no longer track your information to deliver Services, contact us directly at [email protected]. We will execute your request within a reasonable timeframe. We will wipe all personal profiles, except for elements we are legally obliged to archive to comply with regulatory statutes, conclude fraud tracking cases, or settle ongoing financial records.

9. DPDP Act Compliance & Safeguards for Minor Students (Children)

In strict accordance with the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act, ScholarsEdge implements heightened security protocols and legal safeguards for data processing concerning individuals under the age of 18:

• Verifiable Parental Consent: We do not knowingly process the personal data of any student under 18 without the explicit, verifiable consent of their parent or lawful guardian. This consent is obtained during the onboarding and fee verification process.
• Absolute Prohibition on Behavioral Tracking: We strictly do not engage in any tracking, behavioral monitoring, or profiling of children's browsing habits on our platform.
• No Targeted Advertising: We do not serve targeted advertisements to minor students, nor do we transfer their data to external ad networks for promotional optimization.
• No Harmful Processing: The Company warrants that all data processing operations—including AI-driven web proctoring—are executed solely to measure academic performance and integrity. We ensure no data processing activity causes any detriment, distress, or harm to the psychological or physical well-being of the child.

10. Jurisdictional Scope & Indian Data Governance

Our operations, database architectures, and cloud infrastructure are managed entirely on secure servers located within India. ScholarsEdge makes no representation that the platform's layout or testing mechanics are legally aligned or appropriate for access from international regions outside India.

This platform is constructed in total alignment with the Information Technology Act, 2000, domestic data regulations, and the laws of India. Users who choose to access or attempt scholarship exams from international regions do so completely on their own initiative, acknowledge that their data will be processed and stored strictly within India, and assume full liability for ensuring compliance with all local laws.

11. Grievance Redressal Officer

In compliance with the Information Technology Act, 2000 and the consumer data protection regulations established thereunder, the contact details of our designated Grievance Officer are listed below. If you have any questions, unresolved concerns, or formal complaints regarding data misuse, privacy lapses, or security bugs, please route your query here:

Email ID: [email protected]

Our team will make a good-faith effort to investigate your concerns and address any validated grievances within one month from the official date of email receipt.

Cookies Policy

Last updated: June 2026

This Cookies Policy ("Cookie Policy") explains how ScholarsEdge uses tracking cookies and web beacon scripts whenever you visit our Website, review email notifications, or interact with our dashboard plug-ins. This policy should be read alongside our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. By clicking "Accept" on our cookie notification banner, you provide us your explicit consent to deploy and read cookies on your device in accordance with the terms detailed below.

1. What Are Cookies?

Cookies are tiny text files containing a string of unique characters that a web server sends to your computer or mobile browser when you visit a webpage. Your browser sends these text tokens back to our servers on each subsequent page request. Cookies are highly efficient markers that enable our platform to recognize your specific device session, maintain active dashboard states, preserve exam configurations, secure your identity across page shifts, and elevate your user experience by adapting page assets to your recorded preferences.

2. How ScholarsEdge Uses Cookies

We collect and analyze information gathered from our cookies to trace broad platform movement trends, examine general user engagement behavior, and fix system navigation flaws. We may also permit trusted third-party service systems (such as analytical tools or video embedding engines) to place cookies on your device via our Website to optimize their background processing systems. We do not maintain access to, nor do our platform privacy guidelines govern, the cookies placed by external provider domains.

3. Structural Breakdown of Cookies We Use

• Technical / Essential Cookies: Strictly required to let you move around our Website, authenticate your identity, load testing engines, and access secure account areas. These cookies preserve your active state within a single session so your exam progress remains safe.
• Analytical / Performance Cookies: Monitor how users interface with our digital services. We use Google Analytics persistent cookies (which carry a 2-year duration profile) to evaluate layout performance, track which geographical zones use our systems, and log user paths across informational pages. These systems do not harvest personal data.
• Functionality Cookies: Record selections you make on the site (such as setting your target academic board or saving system configuration metrics) to deliver a personalized interface upon your return.
• Educational Media Cookies (YouTube Embeds): We periodically embed educational review clips or guide videos from YouTube directly into our Website pages. YouTube deploys persistent cookies (carrying a 30-day duration profile) to analyze video plays, prevent interface bugs, and track video engagement performance metrics.
• Policy Compliance Cookies: We deploy a specific cookie (carrying a 1-year duration profile) once you dismiss our privacy alert, which ensures you are not repeatedly prompted with the same banner on every subsequent page view.

4. Managing and Disabling Cookies

If you prefer to block cookies from being stored on your device, you can adjust your tracker options at any time by clicking the "Cookie Preferences" link located in our website's footer. Alternatively, you can configure your browser's core security settings to reject all cookies or notify you whenever a cookie is deployed. You can also manually delete your browser's historical cookie storage folder at any time. Please note that disabling or blocking essential cookies may cause specific features of our online examination platform or dashboard security modules to function incorrectly.

5. Contact Information

If you have any further questions or comments regarding our cookie frameworks, tracking mechanisms, or data usage rules, contact our technical crew anytime at [email protected].