UPSCPAPERS.com

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Privacy Policy

Last updated: August 1, 2026

1. Introduction

upscpapers ("we," "our," or "us") is committed to protecting your privacy. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard your information when you use our mobile application, website (upscpapers.com), and related services (collectively, the "Service").

By using the Service, you agree to the collection and use of information in accordance with this policy. If you do not agree, please do not use the Service.

2. Information We Collect

2.1 Information You Provide

  • Account Information: When you register, we collect your name, email address, and a password (stored as a one-way hash). If you sign in via Google or Apple, we receive your name and email from those providers.
  • Profile Information: You may optionally provide your UPSC optional subject, target examination year, number of previous attempts, preparation type (self-study/coaching), and a profile picture (avatar).
  • Payment Information: If you subscribe to Premium (₹799/year), the purchase is processed by Apple (App Store) or Google (Play Store) using their in-app purchase systems. We do not see or store your full card number. We receive a transaction identifier and subscription status to activate Premium.
  • Communications: Messages you send through our partner chat feature, squad messages, and any communications with our support team.
  • Referral Information: If you were referred by another user, we record the referral code used during signup.

2.2 Information Collected Automatically

  • Quiz Data: Every quiz attempt is recorded — your answers, correctness, time taken, score, and the questions attempted. This is core to providing weakness analytics and readiness scores.
  • Reading Activity: When you read articles or current affairs, we track scroll depth and active reading time to mark content as completed.
  • Streak and Points: Your daily streak, total points earned, quiz completions, and streak freeze usage are tracked to power the gamification features.
  • Competition Activity: If you join a squad, pod, or competition, your quiz scores, points earned, and pod membership are recorded and displayed on leaderboards.
  • Study Partner Data: If you participate in partner matching, your subject preferences, availability, activity consistency, and compatibility scores are used for matching. Profile details shared with matched partners are controlled by your privacy settings.
  • Device Information: We collect device type, operating system version, app version, and push notification token (for sending reminders).
  • Content Recall: If you use the spaced-repetition recall feature, your answers to recall questions are recorded to schedule future reviews.

2.3 Content You Create

  • Chat Messages: Messages sent to study partners or squad members are stored on our servers. We reserve the right to review messages reported as abusive.
  • Quiz Result Shares: When you share quiz results, we generate shareable links containing your score and username.

3. How We Use Your Information

  • Service Delivery: To provide daily missions, track streaks, calculate analytics, match study partners, and operate squad competitions.
  • Personalization: To recommend weakness-based readings, suggest study partners with compatible profiles, and tailor content to your subject preferences.
  • Analytics and Improvement: Aggregated, anonymized quiz performance data helps us improve question quality and identify content gaps. No individual user data is sold or shared with third parties for their own marketing.
  • Communications: To send push notifications (daily mission reminders, streak alerts, partner activity, referral bonuses), transactional emails (password reset, email verification), and service announcements.
  • Safety and Compliance: To detect and prevent fraud, abuse, cheating, or violations of our Terms; to comply with legal obligations.

4. How We Share Your Information

  • With Other Users: Your name, profile picture, optional subject, target year, streak, and quiz scores are visible to squad members, study partners, and on public leaderboards. Chat messages are visible to the intended recipients.
  • Service Providers: We use trusted third-party services to operate the Service:
    • Apple App Store / Google Play — process premium subscription payments. Their respective privacy policies apply to payment data.
    • Google OAuth / Apple Sign-In — for authentication. We receive only your name and email.
    • Firebase Cloud Messaging — for push notifications. Device tokens are shared with Firebase.
    • Database Hosting — your data is stored on servers managed by us.
  • Legal Requirements: We may disclose information if required by law, court order, or government regulation in India.
  • Business Transfers: In the event of a merger, acquisition, or asset sale, user data may be transferred. You will be notified before any such transfer.
  • With Your Consent: We will ask for explicit consent before sharing your information for any purpose not covered by this policy.

5. Data Retention and Deletion

  • Account Deletion: You may delete your account at any time from Profile → Account → Delete Account. We will permanently erase your personal data (name, email, avatar), quiz history, analytics, messages, and all associated records within 30 days. Anonymized, aggregated data may be retained for analytical purposes.
  • Auth Tokens: Authentication tokens expire after 7 days of inactivity and are automatically purged.
  • Inactive Accounts: We reserve the right to delete accounts that have been inactive for more than 24 months after providing reasonable notice.

6. Your Rights

Depending on your jurisdiction, you may have the following rights:

  • Access: Request a copy of your personal data we hold.
  • Correction: Update or correct inaccurate data through your Profile settings.
  • Deletion: Delete your account and all associated data (see Section 5).
  • Data Portability: Request your quiz history and analytics in a machine-readable format.
  • Withdraw Consent: Disable push notifications, revoke OAuth access, or stop using the Service.

To exercise these rights, contact us at privacy@upscpapers.com. We will respond within 30 days.

7. Children's Privacy

The Service is intended for users aged 13 and above. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If we discover that a child under 13 has provided us with personal data, we will delete it immediately. Parents or guardians who believe their child has provided us with personal information should contact us at privacy@upscpapers.com.

8. Cookies and Tracking

Our website uses essential cookies for authentication (httpOnly, secure) and session management. We do not use third-party tracking cookies, advertising cookies, or analytics cookies from external providers. Our mobile application does not use cookies but may store authentication tokens in device secure storage (Keychain on iOS, Encrypted Shared Preferences on Android).

9. Data Security

  • All data transmission between your device and our servers is encrypted using TLS (HTTPS).
  • Passwords are hashed using bcrypt (one-way cryptographic hash with salt). We cannot recover your plain-text password.
  • Authentication tokens are stored as httpOnly, Secure, SameSite=strict cookies on web, and in device secure storage on mobile.
  • Database access is restricted to authorized backend services only. No direct public access.
  • We implement rate limiting, input validation, and security headers (Helmet, HPP, CORS) to protect against common web vulnerabilities.

While we implement commercially reasonable security measures, no method of electronic storage or transmission is 100% secure. We cannot guarantee absolute security.

10. AI-Generated Content Disclosure

Some articles, practice questions, and study materials on upscpapers may be generated or assisted by artificial intelligence tools. All AI-generated content is reviewed by human editors before publication. However, we do not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or currency of any content — whether human-written or AI-assisted. Users should verify facts against official UPSC sources and standard reference materials. We explicitly label AI-assisted content where applicable.

11. International Data Transfers

Our servers are located in India. If you access the Service from outside India, your data will be transferred to and processed in India. By using the Service, you consent to this transfer. We comply with applicable data protection laws, including the Information Technology Act, 2000 and the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 (DPDP Act) of India.

12. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of material changes by email (to the address associated with your account), by in-app notification, or by posting a notice on our website at least 14 days before the changes take effect. Your continued use of the Service after the effective date constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

13. Contact Us

For privacy-related inquiries, data requests, or complaints:

Grievance Officer: Vignesh Shankar
Email: grievance@upscpapers.com