Privacy Policy

Who we are

Vaidra Education is a Washington State nonprofit corporation that provides free educational audiobooks, courses, and research-paper explainers in Indian regional languages, primarily serving learners in India. This policy explains what personal data we collect, why, and the choices you have. Questions and requests: contact@vaidra.org.

What we collect

Account data: when you create an account we store your name, email address, optional profile photo, preferred interface language, and your role on the platform (student, speaker, teacher). If you sign in with Google, we receive your name, email, and profile photo from Google.

Learning data: listening progress, course progress, and bookmarks, so you can resume where you left off.

Volunteer applications: if you apply to become a speaker, we collect the information you submit in the form (name, email, languages, experience, availability) solely to evaluate your application.

Analytics: only if you accept analytics in our consent banner, we use Vercel Analytics and Google (Firebase) Analytics to understand aggregate usage. If you reject, these tools are not loaded. You can change your choice anytime via "Privacy choices" in the footer.

How we use data

We use your data to operate the platform (authentication, saving progress, showing your profile), to review volunteer applications, to keep the service secure, and, with your consent, to measure aggregate usage. We do not sell personal data, and we do not use it for advertising.

Where data is stored and who processes it

Data is stored on Google Firebase (Authentication, Firestore, Cloud Storage) and our website is hosted on Vercel; interface translations use the Google Translate API. These providers process data on our behalf under their own security and privacy commitments, and data may be stored on servers outside India (primarily the United States).

Children

Vaidra is an educational service used by students. We collect only the minimal data needed to provide the service, we show no advertising, and analytics run only with consent. If you are under 18, please use Vaidra with the knowledge of a parent or guardian; if you are a parent who believes a child provided us personal data without appropriate consent, contact us at contact@vaidra.org and we will delete it.

Your rights and choices

You can view and correct your profile information on your profile page, change your analytics choice via "Privacy choices" in the footer, and delete your account and associated data yourself from your profile page. Account deletion removes your authentication account, profile document, learning progress, and bookmarks.

For any other access, correction, or deletion request, including requests under India's Digital Personal Data Protection Act (DPDP Act, 2023), contact our grievance contact at contact@vaidra.org. We aim to respond within 30 days.

Retention and security

We keep your data while your account exists. When you delete your account, the data described above is deleted promptly; residual copies in backups expire on Google's standard schedules. Access to personal data is restricted by Firebase security rules and server-side role checks.

Changes

If we materially change this policy we will update this page and the date above. Continued use after changes means you accept the updated policy.