Privacy Policy

We collect the least data needed to show you honest admission guidance, we never sell it, and we never store student personal datasuch as roll numbers, NEET/JEE application numbers, marksheets or parents' names. We work with rank ranges, not identities.

Account data (only if you sign up): your email address and a one-way encrypted (hashed) password. We never store your password in readable form.

Search inputs: the rank, category, home state, and course you enter to get results. These describe a situation, not a person — we do not attach your name, roll number or contact to them.

Optional contact details: if you choose to share your name and WhatsApp/phone number for follow-up, we store only what you give us, for that purpose.

Technical data: a signed, httpOnly session cookie to keep you logged in, and basic anonymous device/usage signals to run and protect the service (for example, message limits to control cost).

We do not ask for, or knowingly store, sensitive documents, exam roll numbers, application IDs, or any other student personally identifying information.

• to show your admission guidance and run the predictor;
• to create and secure your account and keep you signed in;
• to provide paid features to entitled users;
• to follow up only if you asked us to (name/WhatsApp);
• to keep the service reliable, safe, and affordable to run.

Under the DPDP Act, 2023, we process your personal data on the basis of your consent, given when you sign up or submit details, and for the legitimate uses permitted by the Act.

Many NEET and JEE aspirants are under 18. The DPDP Act treats anyone under 18 as a child and requires verifiable parental (or guardian) consent before processing a child's personal data, and it prohibits tracking, behavioural monitoring, or targeted advertising directed at children.

If you are under 18, please use CounselRwith a parent or guardian who provides consent on your behalf. We do not run behavioural tracking or targeted advertising, and we design the product to work with rank ranges rather than a child's identity. If we learn we have collected a child's personal data without the required consent, we will delete it.

After a counselling round, you can optionally tell us, anonymously, what seat you were allotted — to help us measure and improve our predictions. This is opt-in and unchecked by default. When you opt in, we store only the allotment outcome, the round, the rank/category searched, and the band we had predicted — attached to a random device id, never your name, email or phone.

We do not sell your personal data. We use trusted service providers only to run the product, under their own security and privacy terms:

• cloud database and hosting (for storing accounts and serving the app);
• an AI provider to power the Saarthi assistant (we send it your question and the relevant sourced data, not your identity);
• a payment gateway (for example, Razorpay) when paid plans go live — it handles payment details directly; we do not store your card or banking details.

We may disclose data if required by law or to protect the rights and safety of users and the service.

As a Data Principal, you may:

• access a summary of the personal data we hold about you;
• ask us to correct or update inaccurate data;
• ask us to erase your data and close your account;
• withdraw your consent at any time (this may limit some features);
• raise a grievance with us, and escalate to the Data Protection Board of India.

To exercise any right, email us (see "Contact" below). We will respond within a reasonable time.

We keep account data while your account is active, and delete it on request or a reasonable time after closure. Passwords are stored only as a one-way hash; sessions use a signed, httpOnly cookie; secrets and keys live only in secure cloud settings, never in our code. No system is perfectly secure, but we take reasonable safeguards to protect your data.

In line with the DPDP Act and IT rules, a grievance officer will be named here before public launch. Until then, please contact us at the email below and we will respond.

Grievance Officer: to be appointed. Contact: counselr.in@gmail.com.

We may update this policy as the product and the law evolve. Material changes will appear here with a new "last updated" date.

Privacy questions or requests? counselr.in@gmail.com.