Privacy Policy
Last updated: May 2026 · Leaders Desk – Career Counselling Platform
📄 Overview
Leaders Desk ("we", "our", or "the Platform") is a student-focused career guidance platform that helps school-leaving students in India make informed decisions about higher-education pathways. We combine psychometric assessments (MBTI and SWOC analysis), AI-assisted personalised report generation, counselling packages, and college/course discovery tools.
This Privacy Policy explains what personal information we collect, how we use it, with whom we share it, and the rights you have over your data. It applies to our mobile application, web platform, and any related services (collectively, the "Services").
By registering or using our Services, you agree to the practices described in this Policy. If you are a student under 18 years of age, please review this Policy with a parent or guardian before using the Platform.
ℹ️ This Policy is governed by the Information Technology Act, 2000, the IT (Reasonable Security Practices and Procedures and Sensitive Personal Data or Information) Rules, 2011, and India's Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 (DPDPA) to the extent applicable.
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📥 1 · Data We Collect
We collect only the data necessary to deliver and improve our Services.
1.1 Information you provide directly
- Identity: full name, date of birth, gender, profile photo
- Contact: mobile number, email address
- Academic: school/institution name, board, stream, subject marks, extra-curricular activities
- Preferences: preferred college locations, preferred colleges/courses, quota category, languages known
- Assessment responses: answers to MBTI and SWOC psychometric questionnaires
- Counselling: appointment details, session notes created by counsellors, feedback and ratings
- Payments: transaction records (we do not store card or bank credentials — payments are processed by a third-party gateway)
- Communications: messages or emails you send to our support team
1.2 Information collected automatically
- Device & app: device model, OS version, app version, device token (for push notifications)
- Usage: pages/screens visited, features used, time spent, crash reports
- Network: IP address, approximate location (derived from IP, not GPS)
- Log data: server request logs retained for security and debugging
1.3 Sensitive Personal Data (SPDI)
Psychometric assessment responses (MBTI, SWOC) may constitute Sensitive Personal Data under Indian law. We collect these only with your explicit consent and use them solely to generate your career guidance report.
⚙️ 2 · How We Use Your Information
| Purpose | Legal Basis |
|---|---|
| Create and manage your account | Performance of contract |
| Deliver psychometric assessments and generate personalised career guidance reports | Performance of contract / Consent (for SPDI) |
| Match you with suitable colleges, courses, and counsellors | Performance of contract |
| Schedule and manage counselling appointments | Performance of contract |
| Process payments and issue receipts | Legal obligation / Performance of contract |
| Send transactional notifications (appointment reminders, report ready, OTPs) | Performance of contract |
| Send promotional communications (only with your consent) | Consent |
| Improve the Platform, run analytics, and train AI models using anonymised data | Legitimate interest (anonymised data) |
| Detect fraud, abuse, and ensure platform security | Legitimate interest / Legal obligation |
| Comply with applicable law and respond to lawful requests | Legal obligation |
⚠️ We do not sell your personal data to third parties. We do not use your psychometric responses or career guidance data for advertising profiling.
🔗 3 · Sharing & Disclosure
We share your data only in the circumstances described below.
- Counsellors on the Platform: Your profile, academic data, and assessment reports are shared with counsellors you book sessions with so they can provide personalised guidance.
- Payment processors: We use a PCI-DSS compliant third-party payment gateway. We share only the minimum data required to process transactions; we do not store card details.
- SMS / notification providers: Your mobile number is shared with an authorised SMS gateway (e.g., MSG91) solely to deliver OTPs and transactional alerts.
- Cloud infrastructure providers: Our servers and databases are hosted on secure cloud infrastructure. Providers act as data processors under appropriate data processing agreements.
- AI/ML services: Assessment responses may be processed by AI services to generate career reports. Data is pseudonymised before transmission where possible.
- Legal & regulatory: We may disclose data when required by law, court order, or lawful request by government authorities.
- Business transfers: In the event of a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets, your data may be transferred to the successor entity, subject to the same privacy protections.
🗓️ 4 · Data Retention
We retain your personal data only for as long as necessary for the stated purposes or as required by law.
| Data Category | Retention Period |
|---|---|
| Account and profile data | Until account deletion + 30 days |
| Assessment responses and career reports | Duration of subscription + 1 year, or until deletion request |
| Counselling session records | 3 years from session date |
| Payment and financial records | 8 years (as required by Indian financial regulations) |
| Server and security logs | 90 days |
| Backup copies | Purged within 90 days of deletion |
When you request account deletion, we deactivate your account immediately and permanently delete your personal data within 30 days, except where retention is required by law.
🔒 5 · Security
We implement industry-standard technical and organisational measures to protect your data, including:
- TLS 1.2+ encryption for all data in transit
- Encryption at rest for sensitive database fields
- Role-based access control — only authorised personnel can access personal data
- OTP-based mobile verification for authentication
- Regular security reviews and vulnerability assessments
- Audit logs for all administrative data access
⚠️ No system is completely secure. If you believe your account has been compromised, contact us immediately at admn.leadersdesk@gmail.com.
🎓 6 · Students & Minors
Leaders Desk is designed for school-leaving students, many of whom may be under 18 years of age. We take additional care with data belonging to minors.
- Students under 18 should use the Platform with the knowledge and consent of a parent or guardian.
- We do not knowingly collect data from children under 13. If we become aware that a child under 13 has registered, we will delete the account.
- Psychometric assessment data of minors is treated with heightened confidentiality and is not used for any purpose other than generating the student's own career report.
- Parents or guardians may contact us to request access to, or deletion of, data belonging to a minor in their care.
⚖️ 7 · Your Rights
Under applicable Indian data protection law, you have the following rights regarding your personal data.
To exercise any of these rights, email us at admn.leadersdesk@gmail.com. We will respond within 30 days. We may need to verify your identity before processing requests.
🍪 8 · Cookies & Tracking Technologies
Our web platform uses cookies and similar technologies to enable core functionality and improve your experience.
- Essential cookies: required for authentication and session management. These cannot be disabled.
- Analytics cookies: used to understand how the platform is used. You may opt out via your browser settings.
- Push notification tokens: stored on your device and our servers to deliver timely alerts. You can revoke permission in your device settings at any time.
Our mobile application does not use browser cookies but may use equivalent device identifiers for session management.
🔔 9 · Changes to This Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we make material changes, we will notify you via in-app notification or email at least 7 days before the changes take effect.
The "Last updated" date at the top of this page will always reflect the most recent revision. Your continued use of the Platform after the effective date constitutes acceptance of the updated Policy.
✉️ 10 · Contact & Grievance Officer
For privacy-related queries, data requests, or complaints, please contact our Grievance Officer as required under the IT (Intermediary Guidelines) Rules:
Leaders Desk – Grievance Officer
We aim to acknowledge your request within 48 hours and resolve it within 30 days.