Privacy Policy

Samjhao Buddy ("Samjhao Buddy", "we", "us") is an AI learning service for young children, operated by Samjhao Buddy by Kiara Astro ABC Private Limited. This policy explains what personal data we collect through our website samjhaobuddy.tech, the parent console and the Samjhao Buddy app, why we collect it, and the choices you have. We process personal data in line with the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 and other applicable Indian laws.

Samjhao Buddy is used by children only through an account created and managed by a parent or legal guardian. Please also read our Children's Privacy notice.

1. Data we collect

Parent account

• Your name, mobile number and email address, used to create your account, sign you in and send verification codes.
• Your password, stored only in a securely hashed form that we cannot read.
• A record of the consent you gave when creating the account, with its date.

Child profile

• Your child's first name and class.
• Whether Buddy should address your child as a girl or a boy, which is needed for correct Hindi grammar.
• Learning preferences such as language and voice, and the stars your child earns.

Learning material you upload

• Photos or PDF files of textbook pages, class notes and homework, and the text our system reads from them.
• Lessons, revision parts and practice questions prepared from that material.

Revision, tests and report cards

• Your child's answers to revision questions, practice tests and the weekly surprise test, with the marks, so that Buddy can suggest what to practise next.
• A monthly report card made from this activity. It is shown in the parent console and emailed to the parent with a private link. Anyone who has the link can open that report card, so please share it only with people you trust.
• Spoken test answers are converted to text to check them. We do not keep the voice recordings.

Questions and answers

• The text of questions your child asks and the answers Buddy gives. Parents can review them in the parent console. If a child tells Buddy something sensitive, for example about health, fear, sadness or home, that conversation is not shown in the parent console or to the school. It is seen only by the Samjhao Buddy team, so that children can speak freely and stay safe.
• Voice questions are converted to text to answer them. We do not keep the voice recordings.

What Buddy remembers

• After a question is answered, our system may note down a few short facts that the child has shared, such as a favourite subject, a hobby or what the child finds hard, so that Buddy can teach in a more personal way. A child can have up to 40 such everyday notes, and a new note on the same topic replaces the old one.
• Notes about sensitive matters are kept separately. They are never used in Buddy's answers and are seen only by the Samjhao Buddy team.
• You can ask us at any time to show, correct or delete what Buddy remembers about your child.

Safety alerts

• If a child says something that suggests the child may be in danger or being harmed, the Samjhao Buddy team receives an alert with the child's words and the conversation, so that a person can look at it quickly.
• We may then contact the parent or the child's school. Where the law requires it, for example under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012, we will inform the appropriate authorities.

Learning and wellbeing notes for our team

• Our team can see a summary of what Buddy noticed about each child, with dates: days of use, subjects that need practice, how often Buddy could not hear a question, and any sensitive or serious things the child shared. It is not a medical or psychological test, it is not shared with anyone outside Samjhao Buddy, and it is used only to help and protect the child.

Daily time on Buddy

• The app counts the minutes it is open on the screen each day, so that parents can see the time used and choose a daily limit.

Technical data

• A session cookie that keeps you or your child signed in. We do not use advertising or tracking cookies.
• Your IP address, used briefly in memory to protect sign-in and pairing from misuse.
• Usage counts such as the number of questions per day, used for daily limits and service costs.

We do not collect your child's photograph, location, contacts or advertising identifiers. Please do not upload photos that show your child's face or other personal documents.

Partner schools

• If you choose your child's school and the school confirms your child, the school can see your child's first name, class, section, lessons completed, revision progress, test marks, points, recent questions asked (except sensitive conversations) and monthly report cards in Samjhao Buddy, and your name and mobile number.
• The school shares class material, exam dates and a class leaderboard, which shows first names and points of students in the same class.
• A partner school can also create your parent account and add your child. You then receive an email with your sign-in details, and you should change the password after you sign in.
• You can remove the school link at any time by editing your child's profile.

2. How we use the data

• To teach lessons, answer your child's questions and prepare quizzes from your uploaded material.
• To show parents their child's questions and answers and let them correct any answer.
• To remember a few everyday things about your child, so that Buddy can teach in a more personal way.
• To alert our team when a child may be in danger, and to act on it as described above.
• To count the daily time on Buddy and apply the limit you choose.
• To apply daily limits, keep the service secure and prevent misuse.
• To send verification codes, a welcome email and important service messages. We do not send marketing emails without your permission.
• To respond to your support requests. Our team may sign in to your account to add or fix material for you, or to solve a problem you report. We do not use your account for anything else.

We do not sell personal data, we do not show advertisements, and we never use your child's data for advertising or marketing. The notes Buddy keeps about a child are used only to teach the child and to keep the child safe.

3. Legal basis and consent

We process personal data on the basis of the consent that the parent or guardian gives by ticking the consent box when creating the account, and for purposes permitted under law. You may withdraw consent at any time by deleting the child profile or your account, as described on our Delete Your Account page. Withdrawal does not affect processing that took place before it.

4. Service providers

We share data only with providers who help us run the service, and only as much as each one needs:

• OpenAI processes page images, questions and lesson text to read pages, generate explanations, convert speech to text and produce Buddy's voice. Under OpenAI's API data usage policy, data sent through its API is not used to train its models by default.
• Hostinger hosts our servers in India and our email.
• Payment gateway: when paid plans are introduced, payments will be handled by a licensed payment gateway. We will not store your card or bank details.

Some providers may process data outside India. We use such providers only where the transfer is permitted under Indian law.

5. How long we keep data

We keep your data while your account is active. When you delete a child profile, its books, lessons, questions and answers are removed from our live systems straight away. When you ask us to delete your account, we complete the deletion within 30 days. Our server keeps a backup of the database every night for 14 days, and any offline backup copy kept by our team is deleted within 30 days. Copies in secure backups are therefore removed within 30 days of deletion. We may keep limited records longer only where the law requires it.

6. Security

• All connections to our website and app are encrypted with HTTPS.
• Passwords are stored as secure hashes.
• Uploaded pages and voice files are available only to the signed-in family they belong to.
• Access to our servers is limited to authorised personnel.
• The database is backed up every night. Backups are kept on our server and in private storage that only our team can open.

No method of storage or transmission is completely secure, but we work to protect your data and will inform you and the authorities of a data breach as required by law.

7. Your rights

As a parent or guardian you can:

• Access the data we hold about you and your child.
• Correct or update inaccurate data. Most details can be changed directly in the parent console.
• Ask us to erase your data and withdraw your consent.
• Nominate another person to exercise these rights in case of death or incapacity.
• Raise a grievance with our Grievance Officer, and if you are not satisfied, with the Data Protection Board of India.

To use any of these rights, write to support@samjhaobuddy.tech. We aim to respond within 30 days.

8. Grievance Officer

9. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy as the service grows, for example when we add payments or notifications. We will post the new version on this page with a new date, and tell you about important changes in the app or by email.