Privacy Policy

1 Scope & Roles Covered

This Privacy Policy governs the collection, processing, and storage of data across the Select School mobile application (Google Play: com.selectschool.app), the desktop portal, and the web platform hosted at https://select-school.in.

Our services are deployed strictly for authenticated educational institutions and their affiliated stakeholders:

• School Leadership & Administrators: Institutional metrics, timetables, fee collection ledger, staff management, and notifications.
• Teachers & Faculty: Digital attendance marking, classroom schedules, gradebook registers, and parent communications.
• Parents & Guardians: Student academic records, real-time attendance alerts, fee invoice settlements, and live school bus tracking.
• Transport Drivers & Logistics Staff: Real-time route navigation, student boarding verification, and vehicular location broadcasting.

2 School Bus Transport & Location Telemetry Policy

The Application includes a real-time School Bus Fleet & Transit Coordination System engineered for student commuting safety. This section details how geographic location data is accessed, transmitted, and retained.

A. Location Data Collection from Transport Personnel (Drivers & Bus Attendants)

When an authorized driver logs into the transport module and starts an active transit run:

• Precise GPS Coordinates: We access high-accuracy latitude, longitude, transit speed, heading, and GPS timestamp to plot vehicle movements on authorized school route maps.
• Foreground & Background Location Disclosure: The application requests ACCESS_FINE_LOCATION and ACCESS_BACKGROUND_LOCATION permissions on driver devices. Continuous location collection operates when the app is actively open, running in the background, minimized, or when the mobile device screen is locked.
• Why Background Location is Essential: Continuous background tracking is strictly necessary to maintain unbroken vehicle route tracking and send timely stop-proximity alerts to parents while the driver navigates roads or when the device screen automatically sleeps during transit.
• Strict Trip-Boundary Limit: Background location transmission begins only when the driver taps "Start Trip" and immediately terminates the instant the driver clicks "End Trip". We do not track drivers during personal hours.

B. Location Data on Parent & Guardian Devices

• Approximate Location Access: The app may request foreground coarse location on a parent's device solely to display their relative distance to the designated bus stop on the map.
• Zero Location Upload: Parent device location is processed purely on the local device client. Parents' locations are never transmitted to drivers, other parents, or external servers.

C. Student Transit Information

The system records designated pickup/drop-off stop names, assigned bus route IDs, and student boarding confirmation timestamps to notify parents when their child boards or departs the vehicle.

3 Institutional & Academic Data Collection

To deliver administrative and academic functions, Select School processes information supplied directly by educational institutions or user accounts:

Camera & QR Code Attendance Scanning

The application requests access to the device camera (android.permission.CAMERA) solely for real-time QR code attendance verification of students and staff.

4 Fee Settlements & Financial Transactions

Select School facilitates digital tuition and bus fee settlements between parents and verified school bank accounts:

• PCI-DSS Compliant Payment Processors: Online fee payments are processed through RBI-authorized payment gateways (e.g., Cashfree, Razorpay, Easebuzz, PhonePe).
• Zero Sensitive Financial Storage: Select School never collects, views, or stores credit/debit card numbers, CVVs, expiration dates, UPI PINs, or net banking passwords on its servers. All payment handling takes place within encrypted gateway webviews.
• Receipt Records: We store only non-sensitive transactional receipts (Transaction Reference ID, amount, payment timestamp, and settlement status) for administrative reconciliation.
• Multi-Factor Authentication: High-privilege administrative payout and bank gateway configuration workflows enforce Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) with emergency freeze protocols.

5 Notifications & Communication Channels

A. Push Notifications (Firebase Cloud Messaging)

We utilize unique device push tokens generated through Firebase Cloud Messaging (FCM) to deliver high-priority alerts (such as daily absence notifications, school circulars, bus proximity alerts, and exam timetables). Users can configure notification permissions in device settings.

B. WhatsApp Business Cloud API Communications

Select School integrates with the WhatsApp Business Cloud API to deliver institutional circulars and fee receipts to verified parent telephone numbers:

• Messages are strictly transactional and school-approved.
• We maintain a strict zero-marketing and zero-spam policy.
• Parents can opt out of automated messages at any time by replying STOP directly in the WhatsApp message thread.

6 Google API Services & OAuth 2.0 User Data Policy

Select School provides Google OAuth 2.0 Single Sign-On ("Continue with Google") across our mobile application (com.selectschool.app), web platform, and desktop application. This section explicitly outlines our collection, utilization, storage, and protection of data accessed through Google APIs in accordance with Google's verification standards.

A. Google User Data Accessed & Collected

When you choose to authenticate using Google Sign-In, we request access strictly to standard, non-sensitive identity scopes (openid, profile, and email). We access and collect the following specific data elements:

• Google Account Identifier: A unique cryptographic ID issued by Google to maintain your authenticated session.
• Email Address: Your verified Google account email address, used to look up and link your institutional profile.
• Full Name & Given Name: Your display name, used to personalize your institutional dashboard, gradebooks, and communications.
• Profile Picture URL: Your public Google avatar image, utilized solely as an in-app visual indicator for your user account.

B. Specific Purpose & Utilization of Google Data

We access Google user data strictly to deliver essential educational platform functions:

• To authenticate your identity and issue secure session tokens without requiring password management.
• To match your verified email address against institutional records provisioned by school administration (e.g., verifying whether you are an authorized Principal, Teacher, Parent, or Staff member).
• To deliver relevant academic alerts, student attendance notices, and official school circulars to your verified email address.

C. Strict Non-Sharing, Non-Sale & Anti-Monetization Guarantees

We treat Google user data with the highest ethical and confidentiality standards:

• No Commercial Sale: We do not sell, rent, lease, monetize, or trade Google user data to data brokers, commercial advertisers, or aggregators under any circumstances.
• No Third-Party Advertising: Google user data is never shared with third-party advertising platforms or marketing networks, nor used for targeted advertising or user profiling.
• No AI Model Training: We do not use Google user data to train, fine-tune, or develop generalized artificial intelligence (AI) or machine learning (ML) models.
• No Unauthorized Human Review: No human employees or contractors inspect raw Google user profile data, except where required by law, with your explicit authorization for troubleshooting, or to protect security.

D. Storage, Retention & Security of Google User Data

Data received via Google OAuth is encrypted in transit using TLS 1.3 and encrypted at rest using AES-256. Access is strictly constrained by PostgreSQL Row-Level Security (RLS) policies to ensure data is accessible only by authorized members of your specific educational institution. Google ID tokens are validated cryptographically against Google's public keys on each sign-in.

E. Access Revocation & Account Deletion

Users have complete control over their Google data permissions at all times:

• Revoking Access via Google: You can disconnect Select School from your Google Account at any time by visiting Google Account Security & Third-Party Apps.
• Requesting Account & Data Deletion: You can request immediate and permanent deletion of your Select School account and all associated Google user profile records by emailing our Data Grievance Officer at support@select-school.in. All associated Google user records will be purged within 30 days.

7 Data Security & Enterprise Architecture

We treat educational records with the highest grade of technical defense:

• Row-Level Security (RLS): PostgreSQL database policies enforce mathematical data isolation between different schools. No school, parent, or educator can view data belonging to another campus.
• Data Encryption: All communications between client devices and our backend utilize TLS 1.3 encryption (HTTPS / WSS). Data stored in our database is encrypted at rest using AES-256 standards.
• Offline-First Security: Locally cached operational data (powered by Dexie.js) is quarantined within the application's sandboxed local storage on the user’s device and is not accessible to other third-party apps.
• No Third-Party Data Sale: We do not sell, rent, monetize, or barter student or institutional data to advertisers, data aggregators, or commercial marketing firms under any circumstances.

8 Children's Privacy Protection

Safeguarding the safety and digital privacy of minors is central to our mission:

• Adult-Operated Platform: The Application is designed for operation by adult educators, verified parents/guardians, school administrators, and verified drivers.
• No Unsupervised Registration: Minors cannot independently register accounts on the platform. All student profiles are provisioned directly by verified institutional administrators with parental consent obtained during school admission.
• No Targeted Profiling: We do not create behavioral profiles, display third-party advertisements, or commercialize student activities.

9 Data Retention & Account Deletion Rights

In accordance with global data protection frameworks and Google Play Developer policies, users and educational partners retain complete sovereignty over their data:

• Retention Schedule: Academic and fee records are retained for the duration of the institution’s active subscription and required regulatory academic auditing cycles. Historical vehicle tracking telemetry is purged on a rolling basis.
• Right to Rectification & Access: Parents and staff may review and correct their contact information directly through their user profile or by contacting their campus administration.
• Account & Data Deletion: Users wishing to delete their account credentials and associated personal data may submit an official deletion request by emailing support@select-school.in with their registered mobile number and institution details. Requests are verified and fulfilled within 30 days.

10 Policy Modifications

We may periodically update this Privacy Policy to reflect enhancements to our platform features or updates in applicable statutory standards. Any modifications will be published directly on this page with an updated revision date.