Privacy Policy

1. Who We Are

Connectsum Social Networks Pvt. Ltd. (“we”, “us”, “our”) operates the Homework Practice platform, available at homeworkpractice.com and associated mobile applications (collectively, the “Service”). We are registered in India and are committed to protecting the personal data of all users, with particular care for minors.

2. Information We Collect

2.1 Information you provide directly

• Account information: First name, last name, email address, password (hashed), role (parent / teacher / student / school admin).
• Student profiles: Student name, date of birth, grade level, preferred subject, guardian details (name, email, phone — optional).
• Teacher & school information: School name, school address, class details, and teacher profile.
• Payment information: Billing details processed securely by our payment processor. We do not store full card numbers.
• Communications: Messages you send us via email or support chat.

2.2 Information collected automatically

• Usage data: Pages visited, features used, practice sessions started/completed, assessment scores, time spent.
• Device & log data: IP address, browser type and version, operating system, referring URL, and date/time of access.
• Cookies & local storage: Session tokens, theme preferences, and usage analytics. See Section 9.

2.3 Information from third parties

• If you sign up or sign in via a third-party identity provider (e.g., Google), we receive your name and email address from that provider, subject to your consent.
• School administrators may upload or import student information on behalf of their institution.

3. How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect to:

• Provide and improve the Service: Deliver practice sessions, assessments, curriculum content, and analytics.
• Personalise learning: Adapt difficulty levels, recommend topics, and track curriculum coverage based on student performance.
• Communicate with you: Send account-related notifications, parent progress reports, assignment alerts, and support responses.
• Process payments: Manage Subscription billing, invoicing, and refund requests.
• Ensure safety & security: Detect fraud, investigate violations of our Terms, and protect our users.
• Analyse and develop: Understand aggregate usage patterns to improve features, fix bugs, and develop new educational tools.
• Legal compliance: Meet our obligations under applicable laws and regulations.

We will not use your data to serve behavioural advertising to students, sell personal data to third parties, or use student data for any non-educational commercial purpose.

4. Legal Basis for Processing (DPDPA / GDPR)

We process personal data on the following legal grounds:

• Contract: Processing necessary to provide the Service you have signed up for.
• Consent: Where we obtain your explicit consent, including parental consent for minors under 18 as required under the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 (India).
• Legitimate interests: To operate, improve, and secure the Service, where such interests are not overridden by your rights.
• Legal obligation: Where required to comply with applicable law.

5. Sharing & Disclosure of Information

We do not sell your personal data. We may share information in the following circumstances:

• Within the platform: Parent dashboard data is shared with the associated parent/guardian account. Teacher and school admin accounts can access student progress data for their assigned classes.
• Service providers: Trusted third-party vendors who process data on our behalf (e.g., cloud hosting, payment processing, email delivery, analytics). These providers are contractually bound to protect your data and may not use it for their own purposes.
• School institutions: If your account is linked to a school, certain data (student name, grade, progress) may be visible to teachers and administrators at that school.
• Legal requirements: We may disclose information if required by law, court order, or government authority, or to protect the rights, property, or safety of our users or the public.
• Business transfers: In the event of a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets, your data may be transferred to the acquiring entity, subject to the same privacy protections.

6. Children's Privacy (COPPA & DPDPA)

We are deeply committed to protecting children's privacy. Our policies reflect the requirements of the U.S. Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), the Indian Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 (DPDPA), and other applicable laws.

• Children under 13 may only use the Service through an account created and managed by a verified parent or legal guardian.
• We collect only the minimum personal data necessary to provide the educational service (name, grade level, and learning progress).
• We do not display behavioural advertising to students of any age.
• We do not knowingly allow children to post publicly visible content.
• Parents may review, correct, or request deletion of their child's personal data at any time by contacting legal@homeworkpractice.com.
• If we discover we have inadvertently collected personal data from a child under 13 without verifiable parental consent, we will delete it promptly.

For users in India aged 13–17, verifiable parental or guardian consent is required before account creation, in accordance with the DPDPA 2023.

7. Data Retention

We retain personal data for as long as necessary to:

• Provide the Service and maintain your account.
• Comply with legal obligations (e.g., financial records for tax purposes — typically 7 years under Indian law).
• Resolve disputes and enforce our agreements.

When you delete your account, we will delete or anonymise your personal data within 90 days, except where we are required to retain it by law or for legitimate business purposes (e.g., fraud prevention records).

Anonymised and aggregated data (which cannot identify you) may be retained indefinitely for product improvement and research.

8. Data Security

We implement industry-standard technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data, including:

• Encryption of data in transit using TLS/HTTPS.
• Encryption of sensitive data at rest (e.g., passwords are hashed using scrypt; student PINs are never stored in plaintext).
• Role-based access controls ensuring staff access only the data necessary for their function.
• Regular security audits and vulnerability assessments.
• Incident response procedures for data breaches, with notification as required by law.

No system is completely secure. If you believe your account has been compromised, please contact us immediately at legal@homeworkpractice.com.

9. Cookies & Tracking Technologies

We use the following types of cookies and similar technologies:

• Essential cookies: Required for authentication, session management, and core platform functionality. Cannot be disabled.
• Preference cookies: Store your settings such as theme (light/dark mode) and language preferences.
• Analytics cookies: Help us understand how users interact with the Service (e.g., which features are used most). We use privacy-conscious analytics tools and do not use Google Analytics for student data.
• Age-gate cookies: Store your confirmation that you meet the minimum age requirement.

You can control non-essential cookies through your browser settings. Disabling essential cookies may prevent the Service from functioning correctly.

We do not use third-party advertising cookies or behavioural tracking technologies that profile users for advertising purposes.

10. Your Rights & Choices

Depending on your location, you may have the following rights regarding your personal data:

• Access: Request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
• Correction: Request correction of inaccurate or incomplete data.
• Deletion: Request deletion of your personal data (subject to legal retention requirements).
• Portability: Receive your data in a structured, machine-readable format.
• Objection / Restriction: Object to or request restriction of certain processing activities.
• Withdrawal of consent: Where processing is based on consent, withdraw it at any time without affecting prior lawful processing.
• Grievance: File a complaint with our Grievance Officer (see Section 14) or with the Data Protection Board of India.

To exercise any of these rights, contact us at legal@homeworkpractice.com. We will respond within 30 days. We may need to verify your identity before processing certain requests.

11. International Data Transfers

Our primary servers are located in India. Where we transfer personal data outside India (e.g., to cloud infrastructure providers), we ensure adequate safeguards are in place in accordance with the DPDPA 2023 and applicable cross-border data transfer regulations. We only transfer data to countries or entities providing equivalent levels of data protection.

12. Third-Party Links

The Service may contain links to third-party educational resources (e.g., NCERT, Khan Academy, BBC Bitesize). These sites operate independently and have their own privacy policies. We are not responsible for their privacy practices. We encourage you to review the privacy policy of any third-party site you visit.

13. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of material changes by updating the “Effective date” and, where appropriate, sending an email notification. We encourage you to review this page periodically.

14. Contact & Grievance Officer

For privacy-related concerns, data requests, or to reach our Grievance Officer as required under Indian law:

If you are not satisfied with our response, you have the right to escalate to the Data Protection Board of India once established, or to any other supervisory authority with jurisdiction over your location.