Privacy policy.

Who we are

Career Arc is an independent career-guidance initiative founded by Purwanchal Educational Trust, Varanasi. Until Career Arc is registered as a body of its own, the Trust is the organisation responsible for your personal data (the data fiduciary under the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023). The Trust also runs BITE, BIPE and BIP; they are partner institutions of Career Arc and receive your information only as described under “Who sees your information”.

What we collect

• Registration: name, date of birth, gender (optional), class, board and stream, school, village and district, the student’s and a parent or guardian’s mobile numbers, preferred language, and where the registration came from (a poster, a leaflet, a school session).
• The Student Profile Form: studies, family circumstances (income band and category are optional), goals and exam awareness, self-ratings and work values, and the help you want from us.
• The interest inventory: your answers to 24 questions and the result.
• Guidance records: notes of guidance conversations, session attendance, and messages you send us.
• Consent records: who consented, how (signature or OTP), when, and which version of this policy applied.

We do not store Aadhaar numbers (it is shown at the campus gate and not copied), and we do not ask about religion.

Why we use it

• Career guidance: your profile and interest result shape your group session, your 1:1 conversations and your printed report.
• Messages: the exam and admission calendar, reminders and session details on WhatsApp (through our messaging platform, DoubleTick) and SMS, and occasional prompts asking whether you want a 1:1 or help. We call only those who say yes.
• Partner-institution information: course and admission information from Career Arc’s partner institutions, only if you ticked that box at registration.
• School reporting: your progress shared with your school, only if you ticked that box. Schools otherwise receive aggregate numbers only.
• Running and improving the programme, including statistics that do not identify you.

Who sees your information

• The Career Arc team: the coordinator, the guides, and help and support.
• Sort String Solutions LLP, our technology partner, which processes data only on our instructions.
• Partner institutions, only with your consent (box 2). Today these are BITE, BIPE and BIP; any institution that joins later does so on the same terms.
• Your school, only with your consent (box 3).
• Public authorities, when the law requires it.

We never sell or rent personal information, and we do not use it for targeted advertising to children.

Children and parental consent

If the student is under 18, a parent or guardian gives consent: by signing the paper form, or online by confirming an OTP sent to the parent’s mobile together with a declaration that they are an adult parent or guardian. We record who consented, how and when. Students aged 18 or over consent for themselves. Messages to students under 16 go to the parent’s number.

How long we keep it

Until one year after the student leaves Class 12, or until you ask us to delete it, whichever comes first. Registrations with no contact for 18 months are deleted. Paper forms are destroyed 90 days after their data is entered.

Your rights

• See the information we hold about you, and have mistakes corrected.
• Withdraw any consent, including the partner-institution and school boxes, at any time.
• Stop messages by replying STOP, or by asking us.
• Have your record deleted. A withdrawal or deletion is completed within 7 days; the record is deleted, not merely flagged.

Security and breaches

We use reasonable safeguards: encrypted connections, access by role, activity logs, and the least access each role needs. If a breach of personal data affects you, we will tell you without delay and notify the Data Protection Board of India as the law requires. No transmission over the Internet is ever completely secure.

Website analytics

careerarc.academy uses Google Analytics to count visits and pages. Nothing from your registration or profile is sent to it.

Changes

Changes are posted here with a new effective date and version. If a change affects how we use information you have already given, we tell you on WhatsApp before it takes effect.

Contact and grievances

For any question, request or complaint about your information, contact Career Arc Help & Support: WhatsApp or call 91518 07551, or write to Career Arc, BITE Campus, Babatpur, Varanasi 221204. We respond within 7 working days. If you are not satisfied, you may approach the Data Protection Board of India.

© 2026 CAREER ARC · Effective November 2026 · Version 2026-11