Privacy Policy

SKILL-LYNC PRIVACY POLICY

1. INTRODUCTION

1. EpowerX Learning Technologies Private Limited (along with its subsidiaries, the “Company”, “Skill-Lync”, “us”, “we”, or “our”) understands and recognizes your right (as defined in the Terms) to confidentiality and is committed to protecting and preserving your privacy. 

2. Pursuant to such commitment, the Company has developed this Privacy Policy for the handling of your Information, as defined and provided hereunder. 

3. This Privacy Policy applies to our Users, employees and consultants and governs the use of the Company’s Services on its Website and Platform and at its Offline Centres as defined in the Skill-Lync terms and conditions available at (https://skill-lync.com/terms) (the “Terms”)and any new feature or tool which may be added to the current Website and Platform.

4. Subject to the provisions of this Privacy Policy, the applicable Terms and all applicable laws, the Company may collect, receive, store, deal in, handle and/or share Personal Information (as defined hereinafter) including Sensitive Personal Data (as defined hereinafter) and Non-Personal Information (as defined hereinafter) pertaining to the Users online and/or offline use of the Services. This Privacy Policy outlines the Information the Company may process and/or use to improve the User experience while using the Services. 

5. You must be in a position to provide informed consent prior to providing any Information required for the use of the Services. You agree that by purchasing our Services, accessing our Website and Platform or attending Courses at our Offline Centres, you consent to us collecting, receiving, storing, possessing, dealing with, sharing and/or handling your Information in accordance with the terms of this Privacy Policy. Accordingly, you are required to read and understand this Privacy Policy, along with such other Terms, as may be applicable to your use of the Services, before submitting any Information. Please note that your access to the Services is conditional upon your consenting to this Privacy Policy.

6. The Services are intended only for individuals aged 18 (eighteen) years or above. We do not knowingly collect Personal Information from anyone below that age; if we learn that we have, we will delete it, subject to applicable law.

7. We process Personal Information in accordance with applicable law, including the Information Technology Act, 2000 and the rules under it and, as its provisions come into force, the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 and the rules under it.

2. DEFINITIONS 

For the purposes of this Privacy Policy, unless the context otherwise requires:

1. “Account” shall mean the online account created on the Platform by the User for use of the Services (as defined below).

2. “Course” shall mean our programs offered remotely through either our Platform, pre-recorded multimedia and audio-visual content, live streamed classes on third party applications and/or our programs offered physically at our Offline Centres.

3. “Course Material” shall mean the information provided by Skill-Lync to accompany a Course as part of the Services which is available on our Platform and includes assessment tests and examinations.

4. “Force Majeure Event” shall mean any event that is beyond the reasonable control of the Company and shall include, without limitation, sabotage, fire, flood, explosion, act of God, civil commotion, pandemics, strikes or industrial action of any kind, riots, insurrection, war, acts of government, computer hacking, unauthorized access to your mobile or storage device, crashes, breach of security and encryption, power or electricity failure or unavailability of adequate power or electricity, or any unauthorized act of third party service provider engaged by the Company in accordance with this Privacy Policy.

5. “Information” shall mean collectively Non-Personal Information (as defined below) and Personal Information (as defined below).

6. “Non-Personal Information” shall mean and include:

1. the type of device used by the User;
2. the website that referred you to the Platform and the exit page; and
3. unique identifiers, which are used to collect and store information about an app or device, such as preferred language, time zone, screen size, browser and other settings.

7. “Offline Centre” means a physical premises operated by the Company to deliver offline classes.

8. “Personal Information” means any information relating to the Users which, either directly or indirectly, in combination with other information available or likely to be available with the Company, is capable of identifying such Users, and includes Sensitive Personal Data (as defined below) of the User. Personal Information shall include, for example, name, mobile number, the internet protocol address and/or geographic location of the User, any files consisting of audio, visual, and/or audio-visual information provided by the User to the Company, or which the Company gains access to pursuant to or in connection with the User using the Services.

9. “Platform” means the Website and any other feature or tool provided and operated by Skill-Lync, including any application that may be launched by Skill-Lync.

10. “Services” means the provision of the Course and/or the Course Material together with such other services as agreed from time to time and purchased by you and availed remotely through either our Platform, pre-recorded multimedia and audio-visual content, live streamed classes on third party application and/or physically at our Offline Centres. 

11. “Sensitive Personal Data” means such personal information relating to passwords, financial information such as bank account or credit card or other payment instrument details, physical, mental or physiological health condition, sexual orientation, medical records and history, biometric information, etc. 

12. “Third Party” means any person or entity other than you, or the Company.

13. “User” (or, “you”, “your”, and “yourself”) means any individual who is a natural person aged 18 (eighteen) years or above, and who is competent and capable of contracting within the meaning of the Indian Contract Act, 1872 and accesses our Website and/or purchases the Services. 

3. INFORMATION COLLECTION

1. When Do We Collect Information and What Types of Information do we Collect.

1. The Company obtains the Information (including Personal Information) when you purchase, download, register for, access or use any of the Services provided by the Company. When you visit our Website or Offline Centres or access our Platform and you voluntarily fill one of our contact forms, via an in-person,      chat or phone session, or as part of a purchase of one of our Courses or register on our Website, you generally provide: 

1. your name, gender, date of birth, email address, phone number and mailing address;  
2. information about your business, such as company name, company size, business type;  
3. your Skill-Lync account details which may include billing information, and account password; and 
4. other information you may provide at our Offline Centres, or enter or upload into our system when using the Platform. 

The above-mentioned information is necessary to allow the Company to operate the Platform, deliver Courses at our Offline Centres and provide the Services to Users. Without it, we may not be able to provide you with all the requested Services, which could result in you not being able to use the Platform or avail our Services (or any part thereof). 

2. In addition, the Platform may collect certain Information automatically, including, but not limited to:

1. the type of handheld device used; 
2. the handheld device’s unique device ID;  
3. the IP address of such handheld device;
4. such handheld device’s operating system; and  
5. the type of internet browsers you use.

3. We may collect usage information about your use of our Services, including but not limited to:

1. the number of tests, Courses you have attempted on the Platform and/or at our Offline Centres; 
2. the number of videos you have viewed;  
3. the Courses you participate in; and  
4. the amount of time spent to complete a Course on the Platform and/or at our Offline Centres; and
5. video playback and security events, such as the device and network used and signals of attempts to download or copy Course Material.

This enables us to better tailor educational experiences that are most appropriate for you.

4. Your Content and recordings. We collect what you create, submit or say while using the Services (“Your Content”, as defined in the Terms), including assignments, projects, code, quiz and assessment answers, forum and chat posts and feedback, and audio, video, screen and chat recordings and transcripts of live classes, group sessions, mentoring and doubt-clearing sessions, mock interviews, and calls or chats with our support, counselling and sales teams. Recordings may capture your voice, image and likeness. Where a session or call is recorded, we tell you at its start.

2. What Information is Collected through Third Parties?

1. We also obtain data from third parties. We protect data obtained from third parties according to the practices described in this Privacy Policy, plus any additional restrictions imposed by the source of the data. These third-party sources vary over time, but have included: 

1. data brokers from which we purchase demographic data to supplement the data we collect;  
2. social networks when you grant permission to make your data public on these networks including permission to access your data on one or more of these networks;  
3. enterprise customers where you are an employee availing our Services;  
4. existing or past Users;  
5. service providers that help us determine a location based on your IP address in order to customize certain products to your location;  
6. partners with which we may offer co-branded services or engage in joint marketing activities; and 
7. publicly available sources such as open government databases or other data in the public domain. 

2. We may also receive Personal Information about you from other sources like postal mail, telephone or fax. We may add this information to the information we have already collected from you via the Platform or at our Offline Centres in order to improve the products and Services we provide.

3. Technologies we may use.

1. In order to provide a personalized learning and high-quality experience for our Users, we may use various technologies that automatically record certain technical information from the browser or device that you use when you visit or access the Platform, read our emails, use our Services or otherwise engage with us. This information is typically collected through a variety of tracking technologies, including cookies, web beacons, flash objects, log files, and similar technology (collectively, “Tracking Technologies”). These Tracking Technologies collect information about how you use the Services (such as the pages viewed, the links clicked, and other actions taken on the Services). We may collect analytics data, or use third party analytics tools, to help us measure traffic and usage trends for the Platform and to understand more about the demographics of our Users. We may also work with third party partners to employ technologies that assist us in providing the Services and enhance the User experience. Any third-party services used by the Company shall be governed by their respective terms of use and privacy policy, as well as any applicable laws.  
2. When you use the Services, any Information you provide may be sent to the Company, and such Information collected by the Company may be stored by the Company on its servers or any cloud-based platform operated by any third party, in accordance with applicable laws and their privacy policy. 

4. COOKIE POLICY

1. What are Cookies? 

A cookie is a small file which asks permission to be placed on a computer’s or device’s hard drive. Once you agree, the file is added and the cookie helps analyze web traffic or lets you know when you visit a particular site. Cookies allow web applications to respond to you as an individual. The web application can tailor its operations to your needs, likes and dislikes by gathering and remembering information about your preferences.

2. How do we Use Cookies? 

1. We use traffic log cookies to identify which pages are being used. This helps us analyze data about webpage traffic and improve the Platform in order to tailor it to customer needs. We only use this information for statistical analysis purposes, except as described in (iii) below, and then the data is removed from the system.
2. Overall, cookies help us provide you with a better Platform, by enabling us to monitor which webpages you find useful and which you do not. A cookie in no way gives us access to your computer or any device or any Information about you, other than the data shared with us. You can choose to accept or decline cookies. 
3. Your visit history and enquiries. As you browse our websites, your browser keeps a short record, on your own device, of the pages you viewed in the last 30 days, the time you spent on them, buttons you used (such as “Download syllabus”), and how you first reached us (for example a search engine, an advertisement or a link). We do not receive this record unless you submit an enquiry. If you do, it is sent with your enquiry, and a cookie (sl_lead, kept up to 13 months) links your later visits to our websites to that enquiry. We use this only so our counsellors understand what you are interested in, and to learn which pages and campaigns help learners. We do not sell it. You can remove it at any time by clearing your browser’s cookies and site data, or ask us to delete it by writing to [email protected].

3. How to Manage Cookies?

Most web browsers automatically accept cookies, but you can usually modify your browser setting to decline cookies, if you prefer. Please refer to your web-browser provider or system guide for detailed information on disabling cookies. However, in case you choose to disable the cookies, you may be prevented from taking full advantage of the Platform.

5. PURPOSES OF COLLECTING, STORING AND USING YOUR INFORMATION AND THE MANNER OF SUCH USAGE

The Company uses, stores, and processes Information, including Personal Information, about you for the following purposes:

1. to use the Information to provide, develop, enhance and improve the Services, conduct relevant research, create internal guidelines for content creation, and record and register geographic influences of the Services and to offer targeted advertisements to you and to create publicity material to be shared with third parties.

2. the Information collected is used for internal operational purposes such as responding to customer service requests, administering your account, enforcing content license restrictions, determining preferred language and providing and improving the Services.

3. to offer Users personalized content based on the search history, and key words used in navigating the Platform, as well as usage history of the Platform.

4. to facilitate your transactions with other Users when you use our Service(s) and perform statistical analyses of User behavior and characteristics at an aggregate level in order to measure interest in and use of the various areas of the Platform.

5. to provide Information collected on the Platform and/or at our Offline Centres, to third parties, including those who are working with the Company (i) to operate (including analyzing data), improve and enhance the features and experiences on the Services, including providing relevant government-approved certificates, and financial assistance to Users, and (ii) for relevant research and analytics on the Services or in connection with the services provided by such third parties, which may be by way of providing access to the Information on the Company’s server located in India and/or transferring the Information to the servers of such third parties located in India.  

Further, notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained herein, you may at any time choose to provide a written notice to the Company to revoke the consent given by you to share information with third parties who are working with the Company. Upon receipt of such notice, we may not be able to continue to provide you with the Services (or any part thereof). Please note that the Company shall not be responsible or liable in any manner whatsoever for any actions of any third parties that receive the Information. 

6. we may contact you via tele-call, email, SMS, or other forms of communication for, inter alia, informing you of new service/ product offerings, offering you targeted advertisements of our Services, and collecting feedback in relation to the Platform and the use of the Services, or sharing information with you about certain promotions or features in relation to the Platform and our Services. You may receive such communication when you have registered as a User on the Platform or at our Offline Centres. By agreeing to this Privacy Policy, you give us explicit permission to do so. Irrespective of the fact if you have also registered yourself under DND or DNC or NCPR service, you still authorize us to give you a call for the above-mentioned purposes. 

7. if we are involved in a merger, acquisition, due diligence, reorganization, bankruptcy or liquidation where the Company’s business will not continue as a going concern, receivership, sale of the Company’s assets, or transition of the Services to another provider, then your Information may be transferred as part of such a transaction as permitted by applicable laws and/or contract. The use of your Information following any of these events will be governed by the policies in effect at the time the applicable Information was collected.

8. to develop, train, fine-tune, test and improve our products and services, including artificial intelligence and machine-learning models and systems (such as AI tutors, grading assistants, search and recommendations), using Your Content, recordings and usage information, including through third-party service providers acting on our behalf. Before such use we remove or mask information that directly identifies you (such as your name, email address and phone number) where reasonably practicable. We will use your identifiable voice, face or likeness to train artificial intelligence models only with your separate consent, which you may give or refuse without affecting your access to the Services, and may withdraw at any time as described in Clause 9(c).

9. to review recordings and Your Content for quality assurance, the training of our staff, instructors and evaluators, keeping a record of what was discussed or agreed, resolving disputes, and preventing fraud, misuse and the unauthorised copying of Course Material.

10. where your access to the Services is provided by your employer or another organisation, our contract with that organisation may further limit how we use your Information and Your Content, including for artificial intelligence training, and we will follow those limits.

6. HOW WE STORE AND PROCESS YOUR INFORMATION

1. Your Information will primarily be stored in electronic form. However, certain data may also be stored in physical form.  

2. We may enter into agreements with third parties (within or outside of India) to store or process your Information, subject to applicable laws. These third parties may have their own security standards to safeguard this Information and we will, on a commercially reasonable basis, require such third parties to adopt reasonable security standards to safeguard this Information, as per the requirements of applicable laws. Please note that by agreeing to this Privacy Policy, you hereby agree to and permit the sharing your Information with such third parties for storage and processing purposes. 

3. Currently, we plan to retain User Information while an Account is active and for such time period thereafter as is reasonably required for the purposes for which the Information may lawfully be used or is otherwise required under applicable laws for the time being in force. We may alter this practice according to legal and business requirements. For example: we retain User information for a period of 180 (One Hundred and Eighty) days after cancellation or termination of such User accounts to comply with applicable laws. Recordings and Your Content may be kept for as long as reasonably required for the purposes in Clause 5. Information that has been de-identified so that it can no longer reasonably identify you, and models and other outputs derived from it, may be kept indefinitely.

7. WHO WE SHARE AND DISCLOSE YOUR INFORMATION TO

1. You hereby unconditionally agree and permit that the Company may transfer, share, disclose or part with all or any of your Information, within and outside of India to (i) various group entities, third party service providers (without any reference to persona or identity), general public and the National Skills Development Corporation, for one or more of the purposes set forth in Clause 5, (ii) government agencies upon directions of such agency, or (iii) to any other third party as may be required under applicable laws. In case of any Personal Information so transferred, shared, disclosed or parted with, we will seek to, as may be required under applicable laws, contractually require the receiving parties of the Information to ensure the same level of data protection adopted by the Company is adhered to by the receiving party, subject to applicable laws. 

2. You acknowledge and agree that, to the extent permissible under applicable laws, it is adequate that when the Company transfers your Information, in accordance with the provisions of this Privacy Policy, to any other entity within or outside your country of residence, the Company will seek to place contractual requirements on the transferee, which will oblige the transferee to adhere to the provisions of this Privacy Policy. 

3. You acknowledge and agree that the Company may transfer/disclose/share Information (other than Sensitive Personal Data) to third parties who support our business, including such as providing technical infrastructure, cloud and artificial intelligence services, analyzing how our Services are used, measuring the effectiveness of advertisements, providing customer /buyer services, facilitating payments, conducting academic research and surveys, or your employer/Skill-Lync authorized training partner who pays for your subscription. The Company will seek to place contractual requirements on such transferees to adhere to confidentiality obligations consistent with this Privacy Policy.  

4. You acknowledge and agree that the Company may also transfer/disclose/share information with other third parties such as non-banking financial institutions, banks, credit facility providers, payment gateways and/or aggregators, digital lending apps/platforms, lending service providers, financial services intermediaries and / or any other entity facilitating financing and/or payment related services, in order to facilitate the provision of monetary assistance to Users. The Company will seek to place contractual requirements on such transferees to adhere to confidentiality obligations and security measures consistent with this Privacy Policy. 

5. The Company may also disclose Personal Information with such third parties, or otherwise to enforce this Privacy Policy, or when the Company believes it is necessary to do so in order to investigate, prevent, or take action regarding illegal activities, suspected fraud, situations involving potential threats to the physical safety of any person, including any User’s, violations of various terms and conditions or our policies, including this Privacy Policy.  

6. We reserve the right to disclose your Information when required to do so by applicable laws or regulations, or under any legal obligation or order under applicable laws, or in response to a request from a law enforcement or governmental agency or judicial, quasi-judicial or any other statutory or constitutional authority, or to protect our rights, safety and property, or establish or exercise our legal rights or defend against legal claims.

8. HOW WE SECURE YOUR INFORMATION 

1. Security Practices in place. 

The security of your Personal Information is important to us. The Company strives to ensure the security of this Personal Information and to protect it against unauthorized access or unauthorized alteration, disclosure, loss, misuse or destruction. The Company adopts reasonable security practices and procedures, including physical, managerial, operational and technical security measures, as mandated under applicable laws for the protection of your Personal Information. Provided that your right to claim damages shall be limited to the right to claim only statutory damages under the Information Technology Act, 2000 and you hereby waive and release the Company and all the Company’s entities from any claim of damages under contract or under tort, to the extent permissible under applicable laws. If we become aware that your Personal Information has been accessed or disclosed in a manner not in accordance with this Privacy Policy, we will use reasonable efforts to notify you of the nature and extent of such access or disclosure (to the extent we know of such access or disclosure) as soon as reasonably possible and as permitted by, and in accordance with, applicable laws.

2. Limitation of Access to Information.  

The Company limits access to Information to those employees, agents, contractors and other third parties on a need-to-know basis, i.e., those who need the access in order to fulfill the tasks and duties relating to Service provision. All service providers are permitted to process the Information based on the Company’s instructions, and they are subject to a duty of confidentiality and are required to be compliant and demonstrate compliance with applicable data protection laws.  

3. Confidentiality Obligations.  

Information shared by the Company with third parties are subject to confidentiality agreement which, inter alia, provides that such third parties shall not disclose the Information further unless such disclosure is for the purposes set forth in Clause 5. However, the Company is not responsible for any breach of security or for any actions of any third parties that receive your Personal Information.

4. Limitation of our Liability. 

1. Notwithstanding anything contained in this Privacy Policy or elsewhere, to the extent permissible under applicable laws, the Company shall not be held responsible for any loss, damage or misuse of your Personal Information, if such loss, damage or misuse is attributable to a force majeure event.
2. While we will endeavor to take all reasonable and appropriate steps to keep secure any Personal Information which we hold and prevent unauthorized access or disclosures, you acknowledge that the internet or computer networks are not fully secure and that we cannot provide any absolute assurance regarding the security of your Personal Information.

9. YOUR RIGHTS 

You may exercise any of the rights described in this section by sending an email to [email protected]. . Please note that we may ask you to verify your identity before taking further action on your request. 

1. Rectification of Inaccurate or Incomplete Information.

You may contact us at the email address provided above to review your Personal Information and/or update, correct or amend inaccurate, deficient or incomplete Personal Information, and we will make reasonable efforts to update the same (to the extent feasible for the Company). 

Please note that while you have the right to ask us to correct inaccurate, deficient or incomplete Personal Information concerning you (and which you cannot update yourself within your Account), you are responsible for keeping your Personal Information up-to-date, to the extent you can update the same within your Account.

2. Data Retention and Erasure. 

If you no longer want the Company to use your Personal Information to provide the Services (or any part thereof) to you, or you wish to close your Account, you can request that we erase this Personal Information and close your Account. Provided, however, any requests for erasure, or closure of Account, will be acted upon in accordance with applicable laws and may adversely impact the Company’s ability to provide the Services to you. You hereby agree and acknowledge that a mere request for erasure does not guarantee an immediate erasure of Personal Information, and all such requests will be acted upon in accordance with applicable laws.  

Please note that if you request the erasure of your Personal Information: 

1. we may retain some of your Personal Information as necessary for protecting our legitimate business interests, such as fraud detection and prevention and enhancing safety. For example, if we suspend an Account for fraud or safety reasons, we may retain certain information from that Account to prevent that User from opening a new Account in the future.
2. we retain User information for a period of 180 (One Hundred and Eighty) days after cancellation or termination of such User accounts to comply with applicable laws.
3. we will not be required to delete any information which has been de-identified or disassociated with personal identifiers such that it can no longer be used to reasonably identify a particular individual.
4. the Company will not be able to provide you with the Services (or any part thereof) and you should cease and desist from using the Services. 

3. Consent; Withdrawing Consent and Restriction of Processing.

In the event you do not consent to sharing your Personal Information with us for provision of the Services (or any part thereof), we reserve the right to restrict or deny the provision of such Services (or any part thereof).

Where you have provided your consent to the processing of your Personal Information by the Company you may withdraw your consent by sending a communication to our email address at [email protected] specifying in reasonable detail the consent you are withdrawing. Please note that the withdrawal of your consent does not affect the lawfulness of any processing activities based on such consent before its withdrawal. If you withdraw your consent and restrict processing of any Personal Information, the Company may not be able to provide you with the Services (or any part thereof) and you may be required to cease to use the Services (or any part thereof). 

You may withdraw your consent to the use of your identifiable voice, face or likeness for artificial intelligence training at any time by writing to [email protected]. After we receive it we will not use them for new training. Withdrawal does not affect training carried out before it, de-identified information, or your access to the Services.

Please note that if you withdraw your consent to process your Personal Information in accordance with the Privacy Policy, we will not be required to delete any such information which has been anonymized, de-identified or disassociated with personal identifiers such that it can no longer be used to reasonably identify a particular individual.

10. LINKS TO THIRD PARTY APPS AND WEBSITES

The Platform and any communication sent to you may contain/display third party advertisements, contents, applications, and links to other websites/mobile applications of interest. However, once you have used any of these links to, or through any other means leave the Platform, you should note that we do not have any control over that other website(s)/mobile application(s). You agree and acknowledge that these websites/mobile applications are operated by third parties and are not controlled by, or affiliated to, or associated with us unless expressly specified. We are not responsible for any form of transmission, whatsoever, received by you from any such third party. Accordingly, we do not make any representations concerning the privacy practices or policies of such third parties or terms of use of such websites or mobile applications, nor do we control or guarantee the accuracy, integrity, or quality of the information, data, text, software, music, sound, photographs, graphics, videos, messages or other materials available on such websites or mobile applications. Therefore, we cannot be responsible for the protection and privacy of any information, which you provide whilst visiting such websites/mobile applications and this Privacy Policy does not govern such websites/mobile applications. You should exercise caution and look at the privacy statement applicable to the website(s)/mobile application(s) in question. The information provided by you to such third-party websites/mobile applications shall be governed in accordance with the privacy policies of such websites/mobile applications and it is recommended that you review the privacy policy on any such websites and/or mobile applications prior to using such websites/mobile applications.

11. GRIEVANCE OFFICER 

1. If you find any discrepancies or have any grievances in relation to the Services, or the collection, processing, storage, use, disclosure and transfer of your Personal Information under this Privacy Policy or any other applicable terms and conditions or policies of the Company, as may be applicable, please contact the following:

Name: Mohamed Hasheem

E-mail: [email protected].  

Working Days:  Mon - Fri

Working Hours: 10 am - 6 pm

2. We will strive to address your feedback and concerns in a timely and effective manner and within the time period prescribed under applicable law. The details of the grievance officer may be changed by us from time to time by updating this Privacy Policy.