Privacy policy

This policy explains what the School Buddy app and website collect, why, who can see it, how long it is kept and how to delete it or withdraw consent. School Buddy is run by Rudraayaan AI Technologies Private Limited ("we").

Who decides about your data

Your school decides what student information goes into School Buddy and why. For student and class records the school is the data fiduciary and we process the data on the school's instructions under a written agreement (see School data terms). For your own login account we also act for the school.

What we collect

• Account details: your school, your username, your name as you or the school entered it, and a one-way hash of your password (we never store the password itself).
• Student records added by the school: student name, class and roll number, attendance marks, class diary entries (classwork and homework), leave requests and their reasons, and school notices.
• Consent records: the date a parent agreed to the school's use of their child's information, and the date it was withdrawn.
• Security records: an audit log of actions (for example "attendance submitted" or "login failed") with internal ID numbers, time, IP address and app or browser details. It never contains names, messages or passwords.
• Notifications: if you allow notifications, a push token from Apple or Google so we can tell you a school update is waiting.
• Reports you submit: what you write when you report content or a user in the app, what it is about, and your account's ID and role. It is stored encrypted, and your school's admin and principal and our review staff can read it. It stays with the school until the school stops using School Buddy, even if you delete your account.

We do not collect your location, contacts, photo library, advertising identifier, health data or Aadhaar numbers. The app has no advertising and no usage analytics or tracking tools, sends crash reports only (through Google Firebase Crashlytics), and does not use AI services. The app does not use your camera: an invite QR code is opened by your phone's own Camera app, or you can type the invite code instead.

Why we use it

• To sign you in and keep your account secure.
• To show parents their own child's attendance, diary, leave and notices, and to let teachers run their classes.
• To send a notification that says only that a school update is available. Notification text never contains a child's name, attendance, health or leave details.
• To keep the service secure and investigate misuse.

We do not sell data, share it for advertising, or use it to build profiles.

Who can see it

• A parent sees only the children linked to them by the school's invite.
• A teacher sees only the classes the school admin assigned to them.
• The school admin sees their own school only. Schools can never see each other's data; this is enforced in the database itself, not only in the app.
• Our staff access school data only to provide support the school asked for, or to review reports submitted in the app, and that access is recorded.
• Service providers that run the service for us: Hostinger (servers and encrypted backups) and, for notifications only, Apple Push Notification service and Google Firebase Cloud Messaging, and, for crash reports only, Google Firebase Crashlytics. They must protect data at least as well as this policy.

We disclose data to authorities only when Indian law requires it.

How we protect it

All traffic is encrypted (HTTPS). Student names, diary text, leave reasons and personal names are stored encrypted with a separate key for each school. Passwords are hashed with bcrypt. Accounts lock after repeated wrong passwords. The app keeps your last-seen screens in your phone's secure storage so they open quickly; they are tied to your account and erased when you sign out.

How long we keep it

• Your account: until you delete it, or the school removes it.
• Student records: for as long as the school uses School Buddy, or less if the school deletes them. When a school stops using School Buddy we delete its data within 90 days, unless the school asks for an export first.
• Backups: encrypted copies are kept on our server and on a secured company computer in India, and are deleted after 31 days. Data you delete leaves them within that time; we never restore it to the live service except to recover from a failure.
• Audit log: up to 2 years. It holds no names or content.

Your choices and rights

• Delete your account in the app: Profile → Delete my account. It is erased at once. Other ways to ask.
• Withdraw consent for a child in the app: Profile → the child → Withdraw consent. Your access to that child's records ends at once and the school is told. Records the school must keep stay with the school.
• Access or correct data: ask your school, or write to us and we will pass it to the school.
• You can turn off notifications at any time in your phone settings; the app keeps working and shows updates inside the app.
• Under India's Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 you may also nominate someone to act for you, and complain to the Data Protection Board of India if we do not resolve a grievance.

Children

School Buddy is used by parents and school staff. Children do not have accounts and do not use the app. A child's information enters School Buddy only from their school, and a parent sees it only after accepting the school's consent request. We do not process children's data for tracking, behavioural monitoring or advertising.

Grievance officer and contact

Grievance Officer, Rudraayaan AI Technologies Private Limited, H No. 14/964/64/A/1, Krishna Nagar Colony, Ameenpur, Ramachandrapuram, Medak, Telangana 502032, India. Email support@homeworkai.in (subject "School Buddy privacy"). We reply within 7 days and resolve within 30 days.

Changes

If we change this policy we will update the date below and, for important changes, tell you in the app.