1. Overview
This Privacy Policy explains how SMARTICKS (smarticks.in) collects, uses, stores, and protects information when you visit the website, create an account, practise papers, upload content, or use platform features.
By using the Service, you acknowledge this Policy. If you disagree, please do not use the platform. For questions, contact us via the Contact page.
2. Authentication and session data
When you register or log in, we process your email address, password (stored in hashed form by our authentication provider), and profile details such as name, phone number, semester, and college.
We use essential session cookies and similar storage mechanisms to keep you signed in, protect routes that require approval, and maintain security during exam practice. These cookies are necessary for the Service to function and are not used for advertising.
Session data may include your user identifier, approval status, and role (for example, student or admin). Signing out clears active session state in your browser; server-side records may be retained as described below.
Payment verification may require a screenshot upload at registration. That image is stored securely and accessed only for manual approval and fraud prevention.
3. Platform usage and analytics
We collect usage information needed to operate features you use: papers opened, attempt progress, grading submissions, credit consumption, leaderboard participation, chat activity, and dashboard interactions.
The platform tracks engagement metrics such as session activity, daily login bonuses, XP and level progression, and time-on-site heartbeats for signed-in approved users. These metrics help display progress, rankings, and gamification — not third-party ad targeting.
We may aggregate anonymised statistics (for example, popular papers or feature adoption) to improve reliability and plan content. We do not sell personal data to advertisers.
Technical logs — including IP address, browser type, device information, and error reports — may be retained briefly for security, rate limiting, and debugging.
4. Uploaded notes, resources, and user content
If you submit notes-sharing links, chat messages, answer uploads, or other user-generated content, we store and process that material to provide the relevant feature.
Notes-sharing entries may include titles, descriptions, Google Drive or external URLs, and moderation metadata. Chat content is stored to display conversation history and support moderation.
Answer sheets and images submitted for practice or AI grading are processed to score your attempt and show results in your progress dashboard. Do not upload content you are not permitted to share.
Administrators may review flagged or reported content. Content that violates our Terms of Service may be removed without notice.
5. AI evaluation data
When you use intelligent subjective evaluation, your submitted answers (including text and images) may be sent to automated grading systems along with the question context and rubric for that paper.
AI outputs — including marks, feedback, and confidence indicators — are stored with your attempt record so you can review results and track improvement over time.
Grading is automated and indicative. AI results are not shared with your university and do not replace official examination marking.
We may retain submission and grading records for progress charts, retakes, dispute resolution, and service improvement. Admins may access submissions when investigating abuse or technical issues.
6. How we use your information
We use collected data to authenticate users, approve accounts, deliver exam practice, run rankings, moderate chat, grant credits, send platform updates, respond to contact messages, and maintain security.
We may contact you by email regarding account approval, warnings, maintenance, or important policy changes.
We do not use your personal information for unrelated marketing without consent.
7. Sharing and retention
We use infrastructure providers (including Supabase for database, authentication, and file storage) to host the Service. These providers process data on our behalf under their own security and privacy terms.
We may disclose information if required by law, to protect rights and safety, or to investigate fraud, abuse, or violations of our Terms.
We retain account and activity data while your account is active and for a reasonable period afterward where needed for legal compliance, dispute resolution, or backup integrity.
8. External links disclaimer
The Service may link to third-party websites, Google Drive folders, YouTube videos, or other external resources — especially in notes sharing and eResources libraries.
SMARTICKS does not control third-party sites and is not responsible for their privacy practices, content accuracy, availability, malware risk, or copyright compliance.
When you follow an external link, that site’s own privacy policy and terms apply. Review them before submitting personal information elsewhere.
9. Your choices and security
You can update certain profile details through support requests. You are responsible for keeping your password confidential.
We apply access controls, approval gates, and rate limits to reduce misuse. No online system is completely secure; use the Service at your own risk.
You may request account-related assistance through the Contact page. Where applicable law grants additional rights, we will honour them.
10. Changes to this Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. The “Last updated” date at the top reflects the latest version.
Continued use after changes take effect constitutes acceptance of the revised Policy. Material changes may be communicated via the website or dashboard notices.