Privacy Policy

1. Information We Collect

We collect information that you provide directly, information gathered automatically through your use of our website, and, in limited cases, information from third-party sources. The categories of personal data we may collect include:

1.1 Information You Provide Voluntarily

• Contact & Identity Details: Full name, email address, phone number, nationality, and country of residence.
• Academic & Professional Information: Educational qualifications, transcripts, standardised test scores (e.g., IELTS, TOEFL, GRE, GMAT), work experience, and statement of purpose drafts.
• Application Preferences: Intended country of study, preferred universities, programme level (undergraduate, postgraduate, doctoral), intake year, and field of interest.
• Financial Information: General budget range and scholarship preferences (we do not collect payment card data directly; all transactions are processed by certified third-party payment processors).
• Communications: Messages, enquiries, feedback, and any correspondence submitted through our contact forms, email, or live chat.

1.2 Information Collected Automatically

• Device & Technical Data: IP address, browser type and version, operating system, device identifiers, and time zone settings.
• Usage Data: Pages visited, links clicked, session duration, referral URLs, and navigation patterns on our website.
• Cookies & Similar Technologies: Identifiers set by cookies, web beacons, and analytics tools (see Section 5 for full details).

1.3 Information from Third Parties

• Referrals from partner universities or education agents who recommend our services.
• Publicly available professional profiles (e.g., LinkedIn) where you have linked them or referenced them in your enquiry.

2. How We Use Your Information

GGC processes your personal data for the following clearly defined purposes:

• Service Delivery: To provide personalised study-abroad counselling, university shortlisting, application preparation, visa guidance, and pre-departure support.
• Communication: To respond to your enquiries, schedule consultations, and keep you informed about the status of your application or case.
• Account Management: To create and manage your profile on our platform and maintain accurate service records.
• Marketing & Outreach: To send relevant educational opportunities, scholarship alerts, events, and promotional content — strictly with your prior consent where required by applicable law.
• Service Improvement: To analyse usage trends, identify areas of improvement, and enhance our website's functionality and user experience.
• Legal Compliance: To fulfil our obligations under applicable Indian and international laws, including data protection, consumer protection, and immigration-related regulations.
• Fraud Prevention & Security: To detect, investigate, and prevent fraudulent activity, misuse, or unauthorised access to our systems.

3. Legal Basis for Processing

Where applicable data protection regulations require us to identify a lawful basis, we rely on one or more of the following:

• Consent: Where you have given explicit, informed consent to receive marketing communications or for specific data uses.
• Contractual Necessity: Where processing is necessary to deliver services you have engaged us for or to take pre-contractual steps at your request.
• Legitimate Interests: Where processing is necessary for our legitimate business interests — such as improving our services or ensuring network security — provided such interests are not overridden by your rights.
• Legal Obligation: Where we are required to process data to comply with a legal or regulatory duty.

4. Information Sharing & Disclosure

GGC shares your information only in the following circumstances, and only to the extent necessary:

• Partner Universities & Institutions: With your explicit consent, we share relevant application materials with the universities and institutions you have chosen to apply to.
• Authorised Service Providers: We engage trusted third-party vendors — including CRM platforms, email service providers, cloud storage services, and analytics tools — who are contractually obligated to process your data solely on our instructions and maintain appropriate security standards.
• Visa & Government Authorities: Where required as part of the visa application process, relevant personal and academic documents may be submitted to embassy or immigration authorities.
• Legal & Regulatory Bodies: We may disclose your information when required by law, court order, or governmental authority, or to protect the legal rights and safety of GGC, its staff, clients, or the public.
• Business Transfers: In the event of a merger, acquisition, or restructuring, your data may be transferred to the successor entity, subject to the same level of privacy protection.

5. Cookies & Tracking Technologies

Our website uses cookies and similar tracking technologies to enhance your browsing experience and provide us with meaningful analytics. The types of cookies we use include:

• Strictly Necessary Cookies: Essential for the website to function correctly. These cannot be disabled without affecting site performance.
• Performance & Analytics Cookies: Collect anonymised data on how visitors interact with our website, helping us measure and improve performance (e.g., Google Analytics).
• Functional Cookies: Remember your preferences and settings to provide a more personalised experience.
• Marketing & Targeting Cookies: Used — with your consent — to deliver relevant advertisements and track campaign effectiveness.

You may manage your cookie preferences through your browser settings or via our Cookie Consent Banner. Please note that disabling certain cookies may impact the functionality of some sections of our website.

6. Data Retention

We retain your personal data only for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes outlined in this Policy, or as required by applicable law. Our standard retention periods are as follows:

• Active Client Records: Retained for the duration of your engagement with GGC and for a minimum of three (3) years thereafter.
• Enquiry & Lead Data: Retained for up to twelve (12) months from the date of last contact, unless a service engagement commences.
• Marketing Consent Records: Retained until you withdraw consent or request deletion.
• Financial Transaction Records: Retained for seven (7) years in accordance with applicable Indian accounting and tax regulations.

Upon expiry of the applicable retention period, or upon a valid deletion request, your data will be securely deleted or anonymised.

7. Your Rights & Choices

Subject to applicable law, you have the following rights with respect to your personal data:

• Right of Access: To request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
• Right to Rectification: To request correction of any inaccurate or incomplete information.
• Right to Erasure: To request deletion of your personal data, subject to legal retention requirements.
• Right to Restrict Processing: To request that we limit how we use your data in certain circumstances.
• Right to Data Portability: To receive your data in a structured, machine-readable format where technically feasible.
• Right to Withdraw Consent: To withdraw consent for marketing or any consent-based processing at any time, without affecting the lawfulness of prior processing.
• Right to Object: To object to processing based on our legitimate interests.

8. Data Security

GGC implements industry-standard technical and organisational security measures to protect your personal data against unauthorised access, loss, misuse, alteration, or destruction. These measures include:

• SSL/TLS encryption for all data transmitted through our website.
• Restricted access controls ensuring only authorised personnel can access client data.
• Regular security assessments and vulnerability reviews of our systems.
• Staff training on data protection responsibilities and confidentiality obligations.
• Incident response procedures to promptly address any data breach or security event.

While we strive to maintain the highest levels of data security, no method of transmission over the internet or electronic storage is entirely infallible. We encourage you to safeguard your own account credentials and contact us immediately if you suspect any unauthorised use of your information.

9. International Data Transfers

As an education consultancy facilitating global university applications, the nature of our services may require transferring your data to institutions and partner organisations located outside India, including countries in the United Kingdom, United States, Canada, Australia, Germany, and other destinations.

Where such transfers occur, we ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place — including data transfer agreements, standard contractual clauses, or reliance on the adequacy decisions of the receiving jurisdiction — to maintain an equivalent level of protection for your data.

10. Children's Privacy

Our services are primarily designed for individuals aged 16 years and above. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under the age of 16 without verifiable parental or guardian consent.

If you are a parent or guardian and become aware that your child has submitted personal information to us without your consent, please contact us at info@gradmateglobal.com and we will take prompt steps to delete such information from our records.

11. Third-Party Links

Our website may contain links to third-party websites, university portals, scholarship platforms, or partner resources. These websites operate under their own privacy policies and are not governed by this Policy.

GGC does not endorse or assume responsibility for the privacy practices of any third-party website. We encourage you to review the applicable privacy policy of any external site you visit through links on our platform.

12. Changes to This Policy

GGC reserves the right to update or amend this Privacy Policy periodically to reflect changes in our practices, services, or applicable legal requirements. When we make material changes, we will:

• Update the "Last Updated" date at the top of this page.
• Post a prominent notice on our website for a minimum of 30 days.
• Where appropriate, notify active clients via email.

Your continued use of our website or services following the posting of any revised Policy constitutes your acknowledgement of and agreement to the updated terms.

13. Contact Us

If you have any questions, concerns, or requests relating to this Privacy Policy or the handling of your personal data, please reach out to our Privacy & Compliance team. We are committed to resolving your concerns promptly and transparently.