This Privacy Policy explains how the Eco Clubs mobile application and associated web services (collectively, the “App” or “Service”) collect, use, store, share, and protect your information. The App enables registered schools and educational institutions to record environmental activities, plantation drives, and awareness campaigns, and to access participation certificates and reports.
The App is intended for use by school administrators, coordinators, faculty/teachers, and education officials. By creating an account or using the App, you agree to the practices described in this policy. Please read it carefully.
Contents
- Information We Collect
- Device Permissions
- How We Use Information
- Legal Basis & Consent
- How We Share Information
- Third-Party Services
- Data Storage & Security
- Data Retention
- Children’s Privacy
- Your Rights & Choices
- Account & Data Deletion
- No Financial Features
- Cookies & Similar Tech
- Changes to This Policy
- Contact & Grievance Officer
1.Information We Collect
We collect the following categories of information to operate the Service. The exact data collected depends on your role (administrator, school coordinator, faculty/teacher, or official).
1.1 Account & Profile Information
- Full name of the coordinator, teacher, or official
- Email address and mobile number
- Role / designation (e.g., Principal, Head Master, Faculty, Administrator)
- Language and text-to-speech voice preferences
1.2 School & Institutional Information
- School name and UDISE+ code (the school’s official Government of India identifier)
- School type and management category (Government / Private / Aided, etc.)
- Address, locality, PIN code, educational block, and rural/urban classification
- State and district
- School contact email and mobile number
1.3 Authentication & Security Information
- Passwords (stored only as irreversible, salted hashes — never in plain text)
- One-Time Passwords (OTP) sent to your registered mobile number for login/verification
- Login session tokens and account activation tokens
- CAPTCHA responses used to prevent automated abuse
- A limited password history (to prevent reuse of recent passwords)
1.4 Photos, Videos & Location
- Activity photos and videos uploaded to document plantation drives, awareness events, seminars, site visits, water-recharge structures, and similar activities
- GPS location (latitude/longitude) attached to uploaded activity photos to verify where an activity took place
- User-provided captions and descriptions for photos and videos
1.5 Activity & Event Data
- Event name, type, theme/sub-theme, and dates
- Implementation mode (digital/physical) and whether technology was used
- Number of participants, recorded by age band only (e.g., 3–10, 10–15, 15–18, 18+)
- Trees planted, plantation/quality metrics, and impact descriptions
We collect participant counts by age band for reporting. We do not collect the names or individual personal details of student participants through the App.
1.6 Device, Session & Usage Information
- IP address and approximate location (country/region/city) derived from your IP
- Device type, operating system, browser/user-agent, screen resolution, and time zone
- Login and logout timestamps, session duration, and login method (password or OTP)
- Audit logs of key account and administrative actions for security and compliance
- Certificate generation and download records
2.Device Permissions
To provide certain features, the App may request the following permissions on your device. You may grant or deny these at any time through your device settings; some features may not work without them.
| Permission | Why we use it |
|---|---|
| Camera | To capture photos and videos of eco-club activities for upload |
| Photos / Storage | To select existing images/videos to upload and to save certificates |
| Location (GPS) | To tag activity photos with the location where the activity occurred |
| Network access | To sync data with our servers and deliver the Service |
3.How We Use Information
- To create and manage your account and authenticate your logins
- To register, verify, and report eco-club activities and plantation drives
- To generate participation/completion certificates and reports
- To produce aggregated statistics at school, district, state, and national levels for programme reporting
- To send transactional communications (OTPs, account, and activity notifications)
- To maintain the security, integrity, and proper functioning of the Service, and to detect and prevent fraud or abuse
- To comply with applicable legal and governmental reporting obligations
We do not sell your personal information, and we do not use it for third-party advertising.
4.Legal Basis & Consent
We process your information based on your consent (given when you register and upload content), to perform the Service you request, to pursue the legitimate public-interest objectives of the programme, and to comply with applicable law, including the Information Technology Act, 2000 and the rules made thereunder, and the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023. You may withdraw your consent at any time as described in the Your Rights section.
5.How We Share Information
We share information only as necessary to operate the Service and fulfil the programme’s objectives:
- Within the programme: with authorized education officials for verification, monitoring, and reporting.
- Service providers: with trusted third-party processors who help us run the Service (cloud storage, email, SMS/OTP delivery) — see Third-Party Services.
- Legal compliance: where required by law, regulation, legal process, or governmental request.
- Aggregated / anonymized data: we may publish aggregated statistics (e.g., total trees planted in a state) that do not identify any individual.
6.Third-Party Services
The App relies on the following third-party services to function. Each processes data only as needed for its stated purpose:
| Service | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Microsoft Azure (Blob Storage) | Secure hosting of uploaded photos, videos, and files |
| SendGrid / email delivery | Sending account and notification emails |
| Government SMS gateway (sms.gov.in) | Delivering OTPs and SMS notifications to your mobile number |
| UDISE+ (udiseplus.gov.in) | Verifying school details against official Government of India records |
| Language services (translation / text-to-speech) | Multilingual support across Indian languages |
These providers are bound to use the data only to provide their services to us and to keep it secure.
7.Data Storage & Security
- Data is stored on secure infrastructure located in India.
- Connections are encrypted in transit using HTTPS/TLS.
- Passwords are stored only as salted, one-way hashes.
- Access to personal data is restricted to authorized personnel on a need-to-know basis, with session controls, audit logging, and security headers (including HSTS).
While we apply reasonable safeguards, no method of transmission or storage is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.
8.Data Retention
We retain your information for as long as your account is active and as long as needed to fulfil the purposes described in this policy, including programme reporting, certificate issuance, and legal or audit requirements. When data is no longer required, we delete or anonymize it. You may request deletion as described below.
9.Children’s Privacy
The App is designed for use by adult school staff, coordinators, faculty, and officials — not by children. We do not knowingly allow children to create accounts or to provide personal information directly through the App. Participant data is collected only as aggregate counts by age band.
Activity photos uploaded by authorized school staff may depict students participating in environmental activities. Such content must be uploaded only by authorized adults and in accordance with the consent and child-protection norms of the school and applicable guidelines. If you believe a child’s personal information has been provided to us improperly, please contact us so we can remove it.
10.Your Rights & Choices
Subject to applicable law, you may:
- Access and review the personal information we hold about you
- Request correction of inaccurate or incomplete information
- Request deletion of your account and associated personal data
- Withdraw consent for optional processing (this may limit certain features)
- Manage device permissions (camera, location, photos) through your device settings
To exercise these rights, contact us using the details in the Contact section.
11.Account & Data Deletion
You may request deletion of your account and personal data at any time by emailing us at help.ecoclubs-edu@gov.in from your registered email address, with the subject line “Account Deletion Request — Eco Clubs”.
Upon verifying your identity, we will delete your account profile, contact details, and uploaded content, except where we are required to retain certain records (such as aggregated programme reports and certificates already issued, or information we must keep to meet legal, audit, or security obligations). We will complete verified deletion requests within a reasonable period, typically within 30 days.
12.No Financial Features
The Eco Clubs App does not provide any financial features. It does not process payments, handle money transfers, offer loans, credit, investments, insurance, or any other financial products or services, and it does not collect bank account, card, or other financial information from users.
13.Cookies & Similar Technologies
Our web services use strictly necessary cookies and similar technologies (such as session tokens) to keep you signed in, maintain security, and remember your preferences. We do not use cookies for third-party advertising. You can control cookies through your browser settings, though disabling them may affect functionality.
14.Changes to This Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or for legal reasons. We will revise the “Last updated” date at the top of this page and, where appropriate, notify you within the App. Your continued use of the Service after changes take effect constitutes your acceptance of the revised policy.
15.Contact & Grievance Officer
If you have questions, requests, or grievances regarding this Privacy Policy or your data, please contact us:
General enquiries: info.ecoclubs-edu@gov.in
Contact & grievances: contact.ecoclubs-edu@gov.in
Support & help: help.ecoclubs-edu@gov.in
In accordance with the Information Technology Act, 2000 and applicable rules, a Grievance Officer is available to address concerns relating to the processing of your personal data. Grievances sent to the email above will be acknowledged and addressed within the timelines prescribed by law.