Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains how Spardha AI (“Spardha AI”, “we”, “us”, “our”), operated by Tushar, an individual based in Sangamner, Ahmednagar, Maharashtra, India (currently unregistered as a formal business entity — this page will be updated with registration details if/when Spardha AI is incorporated), collects, uses, discloses, and protects personal data of users (“you”, “user”, “student”) of the website and app at spardhaai.in (the “Service”).

We built Spardha AI for MPSC/Police/Talathi aspirants across Maharashtra and we take the privacy of your study data seriously. This policy is written to comply with India's Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 (DPDP Act) and other applicable Indian law. By using the Service, you consent to the practices described here.

1. What personal data we collect

a) Account & profile data (given by you)

• Email address and password (your password is hashed and managed by our authentication provider, Supabase — we never see or store your plaintext password).
• Display name, district in Maharashtra, target exam categories (e.g. MPSC Rajyaseva, Police Bharti, Talathi), preparation level, and preferred language (Marathi/English) — all self-selected in Settings/Onboarding.

b) Content you submit for AI features

• Doubt-solver questions and the AI's answers.
• Mains answer text (typed or extracted from a photo) that you submit for AI evaluation, and the resulting Band score and feedback.
• Photos of handwritten answers submitted for OCR (photo-to-text): the image is sent to our AI vision provider to extract text and is not permanently stored as a file by us — only the extracted text and the evaluation result are saved to your account.
• Daily quiz answers, scores, streaks, and any question you flag as “incorrect” via the report feature.

c) Referral & leaderboard data

• Referral codes you use or share, and the number of friends you refer.
• Your district and quiz score, if you appear on a district/state leaderboard (display name only, never your email or phone).

d) Payment data

• Your subscription plan, payment status, order ID, and amount paid.
• We do not collect or store your card number, UPI ID, or bank details — these are entered directly into Razorpay's secure checkout and never pass through our servers.

e) Technical & usage data (collected automatically)

• IP address and basic device/browser information — used only for security, abuse/rate-limit prevention, and aggregate usage statistics.
• In-app usage events (e.g. which feature you opened, quiz completed, paywall viewed) recorded in our own analytics — we do not use third-party advertising trackers or sell this data.
• Local device storage (localStorage) for your login session and a short-lived cache of the exam calendar, so the app loads faster on slow connections.

2. Why we collect it (purpose of processing)

• To create and operate your account, and to show quiz/calendar content relevant to your selected exams and district.
• To generate AI doubt-solving answers, quiz questions, and Mains answer evaluations.
• To process subscription payments and apply the correct usage limits for your plan.
• To prevent abuse (e.g. rate limits on AI queries), keep the Service secure, and investigate reported errors.
• To improve the product — e.g. understanding which features are used, where users drop off, and which quiz questions are reported as wrong.
• To send you service-related communication (e.g. over WhatsApp/email if you contact support) — we do not send marketing spam.

3. Who we share data with (sub-processors)

We do not sell your personal data. To operate the Service we rely on the following categories of trusted service providers, who process data strictly on our instructions:

• Supabase — database, authentication, and secure storage of your account and study data.
• Anthropic (Claude) — AI evaluation of Mains answers, doubt-solving, and OCR/handwriting recognition. Text and images you submit for these features may be sent to Anthropic's API.
• Google (Gemini API) — AI-generated quiz questions and some doubt-solving responses.
• Sarvam AI (an Indian company) — Marathi translation and text-to-speech.
• Razorpay — payment processing for subscriptions (PCI-DSS compliant; handles your payment details directly).
• Vercel and Railway — hosting infrastructure for our website and backend servers.
• Upstash — caching infrastructure (currently minimal/no personal data stored here).

We may also disclose data if required by Indian law, a valid court order, or government request, or to protect the rights, safety, or property of Spardha AI, our users, or the public.

4. AI-generated content — please read

Spardha AI uses large language models (AI) to generate quiz questions, explanations, doubt answers, and Mains answer evaluations. AI-generated content can contain mistakes. Band scores and feedback are indicative study guidance only — they are not an official prediction of your exam result, not issued or endorsed by MPSC/UPSC or any government body, and not a substitute for the official answer key. We label each response as “verified” (checked against a curated source) or “ai_generated” so you know its confidence level. Always cross-check exam dates and factual content with the official source link shown in the app before making irreversible decisions.

5. How long we keep your data

• Account and study data (quiz history, evaluations, streaks) is retained for as long as your account is active, so you can track your progress over time.
• Payment records are retained as required under Indian tax and accounting law.
• If you request account deletion, we delete your personal data within 30 days, except information we are legally required to retain (e.g. payment/tax records) or need to retain briefly to prevent fraud or abuse.

6. Your rights

Under the DPDP Act, 2023 and as a matter of our own policy, you can at any time:

• Access — ask us what personal data we hold about you.
• Correct — update incorrect profile data yourself via Settings, or ask us to fix it.
• Erase — request deletion of your account and personal data.
• Withdraw consent — stop using AI features at any time; note this may limit what the Service can do for you.
• Nominate — nominate another individual to exercise these rights on your behalf in the event of your death or incapacity, by writing to us.
• Grievance redressal — raise a complaint about how your data is handled (see Grievance Officer contact below).

To exercise any of these rights, contact us via WhatsApp or email below. We will acknowledge your request within 48 hours and resolve it within 15 business days.

7. Age requirement

Spardha AI is intended for users who are at least 18 years old — consistent with the minimum age eligibility for MPSC, Police Bharti, and Talathi recruitment itself. We do not knowingly collect personal data from anyone under 18. If we learn that we have inadvertently collected data from a minor, we will delete it promptly — please write to us if you believe this has happened.

8. How we protect your data

• Passwords are hashed (never stored in plain text) by our authentication provider.
• Data is transmitted over encrypted (HTTPS) connections.
• Access to production data is restricted to the founder and limited to what is necessary for operating and debugging the Service.
• No system is 100% secure; if a data breach occurs that affects you, we will notify you and the relevant authorities as required by law.

9. Cookies & local storage

We use essential local storage/cookies for login sessions and to cache the exam calendar for faster loading. We do not currently use third-party advertising or tracking cookies. If this changes (e.g. when we run ad campaigns), we will update this policy and request consent where required.

10. Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy as the Service evolves. We will post the updated version here with a new “अद्ययावत” (last updated) date. Continued use of the Service after changes means you accept the revised policy.

11. Grievance Officer

In accordance with the DPDP Act, 2023, the Grievance Officer for Spardha AI is:

• Name: Tushar (Founder, Spardha AI)
• Location: Sangamner, Ahmednagar, Maharashtra, India
• WhatsApp: +91 99231 26680
• Email: spardhaai.help@gmail.com

We acknowledge grievances within 48 hours and aim to resolve them within 15 business days.