🔒 Your Privacy, Our Responsibility

Privacy
Policy

This document explains exactly what data we collect, why we collect it, and what rights you hold over it — written to be read, not buried.

📅 Effective 14 Oct 2025 🔄 Updated 14 Oct 2025 📍 India (DPDP Act) 🕐 ~6 min read
🛡️ Our Data Promises
✓
We never sell your personal data — to anyone, ever.
✓
The platform is ad-free. No advertisers see your data.
✓
You can delete your account and all data anytime.
✓
Payment details are handled by Razorpay — we never see your full card number.
✓
You can withdraw consent for optional data use at any time.
✓
All data is encrypted in transit via TLS.
📋 This Privacy Policy is effective from 14 October 2025 Applies to all The Aspirant News services — website, app, PWA, and customer support.
🏢
Section 01

Who We Are & Scope

This Privacy Policy applies to personal data processed by The Aspirant News in connection with our services — including free and paid features, newsletters, test series, answer review, and customer support.

It does not cover third-party websites, payment gateways, or apps that we link to but do not operate. For those services, their own privacy policies apply.

RoleDetail
Data ControllerThe Aspirant News
Registered Address1109, St. No.21, Guru Amardass Nagar, Ludhiana — 141012
Support Emailsupport@theaspirantnews.com
Grievance Officer (IN)Ajit Singh Jasdhol, CEO — CEO@theaspirantnews.com
In Short
This policy covers everything you do on The Aspirant News. If you click a link to an external site (like Razorpay), their privacy policy governs from that point.
📂
Section 02

Data We Collect

We collect only what we need to provide a good experience. Here's a clear breakdown of the three types:

You Provide
Name, email, phone number
Password (stored as a hash — we never see your actual password)
Profile photo / display name
Billing address, GSTIN if applicable
Payment tokens via Razorpay (not full card numbers)
Support tickets, survey responses
Comments, notes, uploaded content
Collected Automatically
IP address, browser, operating system
Device identifiers, timestamps
Pages viewed, session duration, referrer URL
Approximate location (from IP — not GPS)
Cookie and SDK events (analytics, performance)
From Third Parties
Payment status & masked card digits from Razorpay
Name, email, photo from SSO provider (if you use sign-in via Google etc.)
Campaign attribution from marketing partners
In Short
We collect your signup info, usage data, and payment tokens. We never receive your full card number — Razorpay handles that. Location data is approximate (city-level), not your GPS.
⚙️
Section 03

How We Use Your Data

🚀
Provide the Services
Account creation, login, access control, content delivery, payments, and customer support.
Legal basis: Contractual necessity
📈
Improve & Personalise
Content recommendations, A/B tests, UI performance improvements, and bug fixes.
Legal basis: Legitimate interests
📨
Communications
Transactional emails and SMS (receipts, OTPs, security alerts). Service update notifications.
Legal basis: Contractual necessity / Legal obligation
📣
Marketing (with consent)
Newsletters, offers, and referral programmes — only where you have consented. Opt out anytime.
Legal basis: Consent
🛡️
Safety & Compliance
Fraud prevention, enforcing our Terms of Service, legal obligations, and platform security.
Legal basis: Legal obligation / Legitimate interests
In Short
We use your data to run the platform, fix issues, and communicate with you. Marketing emails require your consent, and you can opt out at any time from any email we send.
⚖️
Section 04

Legal Bases & Consent

Depending on your region and context, we rely on one or more of these legal bases to process your personal data:

BasisWhen We Use It
Contractual NecessityWhen processing is required to deliver the services you signed up for — account access, content delivery, billing.
Legitimate InterestsTo secure, improve, and market our services in ways that don't override your fundamental rights.
ConsentFor optional cookies, marketing emails, and any processing where applicable law requires consent. You can withdraw consent at any time.
Legal ObligationTo comply with tax, accounting, regulatory, and court-ordered requirements under Indian law.
In Short
We always have a lawful reason before using your data. For optional things like marketing, we ask for your consent first — and you can withdraw it anytime, no questions asked.
🍪
Section 05

Cookies, SDKs & Tracking

We use cookies and similar technologies to keep the platform working and to understand how it's being used. You can manage preferences via our Cookie Settings banner.

TypePurposeStatus
Strictly Necessary Authentication, security, session management, load balancing. Always On
Analytics / Performance Aggregated usage data to improve content quality and platform features. Optional
Functional Remember your preferences — language, theme, notification settings. Optional
Advertising Personalised or contextual ads where applicable and permitted by law. Optional
💡
Your browser or device also offers controls to block or delete cookies independently of our settings. You can reset advertising IDs in your device's privacy settings.
In Short
Essential cookies cannot be turned off — the site won't work without them. Analytics, functional, and ad cookies are optional — you choose via our Cookie Settings.
🤝
Section 06

When We Share Data

🚫
We do not sell your personal data. If we ever run interest-based advertising, it will be based on your consent or opt-out choices as required by applicable law.
🖥️
Service Providers & Processors
Hosting, CDNs, email delivery, analytics, payment processing, and customer support — all under data protection contracts that limit use to our instructions only.
🔄
Business Transfers
In the event of a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets, your data may transfer to the successor entity — subject to this same Privacy Policy.
⚖️
Legal & Safety
To comply with court orders, legal obligations, enforce our Terms, protect users' rights, or prevent fraud and abuse.
🔗
With Your Direction or Consent
When you link a third-party account (e.g., Google sign-in) or submit a public testimonial — only what you choose to share.
In Short
We never sell your data. We share it only with vendors who help us run the platform (under strict contracts), when legally required, or when you explicitly direct us to.
🗓️
Section 07

Data Retention

We keep your personal data only as long as necessary for the purposes described in this policy — including any legal, accounting, or reporting requirements that apply to us.

Data TypeRetention Period
Account & Profile DataRetained while your account is active and for a reasonable period after closure to handle any pending queries.
Billing & Transaction RecordsRetained per applicable Indian tax and accounting laws (typically 7 years).
Analytics DataStored in aggregated or pseudonymised form wherever feasible — no longer linked to you personally.
Support TicketsRetained for a period necessary to resolve disputes and improve support quality.
In Short
We delete your data when we no longer need it. Transaction records stay longer because Indian tax law requires it. Analytics data is anonymised, not tied to you.
🔒
Section 08

Security

We use administrative, technical, and organisational security measures appropriate to the sensitivity of the data we process. These include:

🔐
Encryption in Transit
All data exchanged between your device and our servers travels over TLS (HTTPS). No plaintext transmission.
💾
Encryption at Rest
Sensitive data (passwords, tokens) is encrypted at rest. Passwords are stored as salted hashes — we cannot read your password.
🛂
Access Controls & Logging
Internal staff access to personal data is role-restricted and fully logged. Only those who need access to do their job have it.
⚠️
No system is 100% secure. Use a strong, unique password for your account and enable two-factor authentication if available. If you suspect unauthorised access, contact us immediately.
In Short
We use industry-standard security: TLS encryption, hashed passwords, access controls. We can't guarantee perfect security, but we take it seriously. Use a strong password on your end.
🙋
Section 09

Your Rights

Subject to identity verification and applicable law, you have the following rights over your personal data:

👁️
Access
Request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
✏️
Correction
Ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete data on your account.
🗑️
Deletion (Erasure)
Request deletion of your data in certain circumstances — including account closure.
⏸️
Restriction & Objection
Object to or restrict certain processing, including direct marketing.
📤
Portability
Receive your data in a machine-readable format, where technically feasible.
↩️
Consent Withdrawal
Withdraw consent at any time for processing based on consent — with immediate effect.
🇮🇳
India (DPDP Act) users: You may nominate a person to exercise your rights in case of death or incapacity. You may also approach our Grievance Officer (details in Section 13) for any unresolved privacy concern.

To exercise any right, email legal@theaspirantnews.com or use in-app account settings. We may request proof of identity to protect your account.

In Short
You have real control over your data — access it, fix it, delete it, or take it with you. Email legal@theaspirantnews.com and we'll respond within 30 days.
🌐
Section 10

International Transfers

We may process or store data in countries other than India — for example, when using cloud hosting services or CDNs with servers outside India. Where required by applicable law, we implement safeguards such as:

📋
Standard Contractual Clauses
Data processing agreements that require the recipient to apply equivalent privacy protections.
✅
Adequacy Certifications
Where applicable, we use certified frameworks that ensure comparable protection to Indian data law standards.
In Short
Some of our infrastructure (like cloud servers) may be outside India. When that happens, we require the same privacy protections to apply via formal contractual safeguards.
👧
Section 11

Children

Our Services are not directed at children below the applicable digital consent age under Indian law. We do not knowingly collect or process personal data from such children.

If you believe a child has created an account or provided their data on our platform, please contact us at legal@theaspirantnews.com and we will promptly delete the data and close the account.

In Short
This platform is for adult UPSC aspirants. If a child has signed up, email us and we'll remove their account and data immediately.
🔄
Section 12

Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy to reflect changes in our products, legal requirements, or data practices. When we make material changes, we will:

📅
Update the “Last Updated” Date
Visible at the top of this page, so you always know when the policy was last revised.
📢
Provide Additional Notice for Material Changes
Via an in-app banner, email notification, or both — depending on the significance of the change.
ℹ️
If there is any conflict between this Policy and a product-specific privacy notice, the product-specific notice prevails for that product feature.
In Short
We'll tell you when we make meaningful changes — via email or an in-app notice. Check the “Last Updated” date at the top to see when this was last revised.
📬
Section 13

Contact & Grievance Officer

For any privacy-related query, right exercise, or complaint, reach us through the contacts below. Under India's DPDP Act, you may also formally escalate to our Grievance Officer.

RoleContact Detail
Privacy / Legallegal@theaspirantnews.com
General Supportsupport@theaspirantnews.com
Grievance Officer (IN) Ajit Singh Jasdhol, CEO
CEO@theaspirantnews.com
Phone: +91 7009-313-295
Postal: 1109, St. No.21, Guru Amardass Nagar, Ludhiana — 141012
Business HoursMon – Sat, 10:00 – 16:00 IST
💬
If your query is not resolved within 48 hours of contacting support, you can WhatsApp the Grievance Officer directly at +91 7009-313-295. Every privacy concern is taken seriously.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q Do you sell my personal data? ▾
No — never. We do not sell, rent, or broker personal data to advertisers or any third party. We use service providers who process data strictly on our behalf, under contracts that prohibit independent use of your data.
Q How do I unsubscribe from marketing emails? ▾
Every marketing email we send includes a one-click Unsubscribe link at the bottom. You can also update your notification preferences in Account → Settings at any time. Note: transactional emails (receipts, OTPs, security alerts) will still be sent as they are necessary to the service.
Q How do I delete my account and all my data? ▾
Email legal@theaspirantnews.com from your registered email address, or use the in-app account deletion option (Settings → Delete Account). We will confirm once processed — typically within 30 days. Note: billing records are retained as required by Indian tax law even after account deletion.
Q Which cookies are essential and cannot be turned off? ▾
Authentication and session cookies (which keep you logged in), basic security cookies (CSRF protection), and performance cookies required for the site to load correctly. These cannot be disabled — without them the platform will not function. All other cookies (analytics, functional, advertising) are optional.
Q Can I see what data you hold about me? ▾
Yes — you have a right of access. Email legal@theaspirantnews.com with your registered email and we will provide a summary of the personal data we hold about you within 30 days. We may ask for identity verification to protect your account security.
Your Privacy is Not an Afterthought

Questions about how we handle your data? Our team responds within 48 hours. You also have the right to reach our Grievance Officer directly.

✉ Email Privacy Team 💬 WhatsApp CEO 📋 Terms & Conditions
← Home Terms & Conditions Refund Policy Platform Updates FAQ Legal Contact