Privacy Policy — Global Degrees
This Privacy Policy describes Our policies and procedures on the collection, use and disclosure of Your information when You use the Service and tells You about Your privacy rights and how the law protects You.
We use Your Personal Data to provide and improve the Service. By using the Service, You agree to the collection and use of information in accordance with this Privacy Policy.
Interpretation and Definitions
Interpretation
The words of which the initial letter is capitalized have meanings defined under the following conditions. The following definitions shall have the same meaning regardless of whether they appear in singular or in plural.
Definitions
For the purposes of this Privacy Policy:
- Account means a unique account created for You to access our Service or parts of our Service.
- Company (“the Company”, “We”, “Us” or “Our”) refers to Global Degrees, No.28/14 and 28/15, 2nd floor, City Centre, Church St, Shanthala Nagar, Ashok Nagar, Bengaluru, Karnataka 560001.
- Cookies are small files placed on Your device by a website, containing details of Your browsing history among other uses.
- Personal Data is any information that relates to an identified or identifiable individual.
- Service refers to the Website, accessible from https://globaldegrees.in/
- Service Provider means any natural or legal person who processes data on behalf of the Company.
- UK GDPR means the retained EU law version of the General Data Protection Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2016/679) as it forms part of the law of England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, read together with the UK Data Protection Act 2018.
- You means the individual accessing or using the Service, or the entity on whose behalf that individual is acting.
Collecting and Using Your Personal Data
Types of Data Collected
Personal Data. While using Our Service, We may ask You to provide certain personally identifiable information, including but not limited to: email address; first and last name; phone number; and Usage Data.
Usage Data. Collected automatically when using the Service — e.g. IP address, browser type and version, pages visited, time and date of visit, time spent on pages, and other diagnostic data, including equivalent identifiers when the Service is accessed via a mobile device.
Tracking Technologies and Cookies. We use Cookies and similar technologies (beacons, tags, scripts) to track activity on the Service. See our Cookies Policy for the categories of cookies used and how to manage Your preferences.
Lawful Basis for Processing Your Personal Data
Under the UK GDPR, We only process Your Personal Data where We have a valid lawful basis to do so. The basis We rely on depends on the purpose for which the data is used:
- Performance of a contract: where processing is necessary to provide the study-abroad counselling, application, visa-support and related services You have requested from Us.
- Consent: where You have given clear, affirmative consent — for example, to receive marketing communications, or where a Cookie is not strictly necessary for the Service to function. You may withdraw this consent at any time (see “Right to Withdraw Consent” below).
- Legitimate interests: where processing is necessary for Our legitimate interests in operating, securing and improving the Service, understanding how it is used, and preventing fraud — provided those interests are not overridden by Your rights and freedoms.
- Legal obligation: where processing is necessary for Us to comply with a legal or regulatory obligation, including obligations owed to educational institutions, visa and immigration authorities, or law enforcement.
- Vital interests: in rare cases, where processing is necessary to protect someone’s life.
Where We rely on legitimate interests, You may ask Us for further details of the balancing test We have carried out by contacting Us using the details in “Contact Us” below.
Automated Decision-Making and Profiling
We do not make any decisions about You based solely on automated processing, including profiling, which produce legal effects concerning You or similarly significantly affect You. Where automated tools are used on the Service (for example, to suggest universities or courses that may match Your profile), a human is always involved in any decision that has a material effect on the services provided to You, and You may request a manual review of any automated output by contacting Us.
If this changes in the future — for example, if We introduce fully automated eligibility or credit-related decisions — We will update this Privacy Policy to explain the logic involved, the significance and envisaged consequences of the processing, and how You can request human intervention, express Your point of view, or contest the decision.
Use of Your Personal Data
The Company may use Personal Data for the following purposes:
- To provide and maintain our Service, including to monitor its usage.
- To manage Your Account and Your registration as a user of the Service.
- For the performance of a contract: the development, compliance and undertaking of the services You have requested from Us.
- To contact You by email, phone, SMS or other electronic means regarding updates or informative communications, including security updates.
- To provide You with news and offers about services similar to those You have purchased or enquired about, unless You have opted out.
- To manage Your requests to Us.
- For business transfers in connection with a merger, divestiture, restructuring or similar transaction.
- For other purposes: data analysis, identifying usage trends, and evaluating and improving the Service.
We may share Your personal information with Service Providers, Affiliates, business partners, and, with Your consent, other third parties, as well as in connection with business transfers, as described above.
Retention of Your Personal Data
The Company retains Personal Data only for as long as is necessary for the purposes set out in this Privacy Policy, applying the following criteria to determine the appropriate retention period for each category of data: the length of time We have an ongoing relationship with You and provide the Service to You; whether there is a legal, regulatory, tax, accounting or reporting obligation that applies; the statute of limitations under applicable law within which claims might arise; and whether retention is advisable in light of Our legal position (such as in regard to applicable statutes of limitations, litigation or regulatory investigations).
Our current retention schedule is as follows:
- Account and enquiry data (name, contact details, service requests): retained for 5 years from the date of Your last interaction with Us, or for as long as Your Account remains active, whichever is longer.
- Application, admissions and visa-support records: retained for 10 years from completion of the relevant service, to reflect record-keeping obligations owed to partner institutions, visa authorities, and applicable Indian and destination-country regulation.
- Financial and transaction records: retained for 10 years as required for tax and accounting purposes.
- Usage Data and cookie data: retained for a shorter period, typically 24 months, except where it is needed to strengthen security, improve the functionality of the Service, or We are legally required to retain it for longer.
- Marketing consent records: retained for as long as You remain subscribed, and for 10 years afterwards as evidence that consent was obtained or withdrawn.
Where We no longer need Your Personal Data for the purposes above, We will securely delete or anonymise it. In some cases We may not be able to fully delete data before that point, in particular where it is stored in backup archives — in that case We will securely store and isolate that data from further use until deletion is possible.
International Transfer of Your Personal Data
Your Personal Data may be processed at the Company’s operating offices in India and, where relevant to the services You have requested (for example, submitting an application or visa documentation to an overseas university, government or visa-processing authority, or using third-party service providers whose servers are located outside Your country), it may be transferred to, stored in, and processed in countries outside the United Kingdom, including countries that may not have data protection laws equivalent to the UK GDPR.
Where such international transfers occur, We take steps to ensure Your Personal Data receives an adequate level of protection, by relying on one or more of the following safeguards as appropriate:
- transferring data to a country that the UK Government has confirmed has an adequate level of data protection (an “adequacy regulation”);
- putting in place a UK Government-approved contract with the recipient — such as the International Data Transfer Agreement (IDTA) or the UK Addendum to the EU Standard Contractual Clauses — that requires the data to be protected to UK standards; or
- transferring data to organisations that are part of another valid cross-border transfer mechanism recognised under UK GDPR.
This applies in particular to any special category data We may process (for example, health information disclosed in support of a visa application). You may contact Us using the details below to request further information about the safeguards We have put in place for a specific transfer.
Your Data Protection Rights under UK GDPR
If You are located in the United Kingdom, You have the following rights in relation to Your Personal Data under the UK GDPR. These rights are not absolute and are subject to certain exemptions and conditions set out in law:
- Right of access: You can ask Us to confirm what Personal Data We hold about You and to provide a copy of it.
- Right to rectification: You can ask Us to correct any Personal Data We hold about You that is inaccurate or incomplete.
- Right to erasure: You can ask Us to delete or remove Your Personal Data in certain circumstances, for example where it is no longer necessary for the purpose We collected it.
- Right to restrict processing: You can ask Us to suspend the processing of Your Personal Data in certain circumstances, for example if You want Us to establish its accuracy or the reason for processing it.
- Right to object: You can object to Us processing Your Personal Data where We are relying on a legitimate interest, or to processing for direct marketing purposes.
- Right to data portability: You can ask Us to transfer the Personal Data You have given Us to another organisation, or to You, in a structured, commonly-used, machine-readable format, where the processing is based on consent or contract and carried out by automated means.
- Rights related to automated decision-making: see “Automated Decision-Making and Profiling” above.
You will not have to pay a fee to exercise any of these rights. However, We may charge a reasonable fee, or refuse to comply with the request, if it is clearly unfounded, repetitive or excessive. We may need to request specific information from You to help Us confirm Your identity and ensure Your right to access the data (or exercise any of Your other rights). We aim to respond to all legitimate requests within one month; occasionally it may take Us longer than a month if Your request is particularly complex or You have made a number of requests, in which case We will notify You and keep You updated.
To exercise any of these rights, please contact Us using the details in “Contact Us” below.
Right to Withdraw Consent
Where We rely on Your consent as the lawful basis for processing (for example, for marketing communications or certain non-essential cookies), You have the right to withdraw that consent at any time. Withdrawing consent will not affect the lawfulness of any processing We carried out before You withdrew it.
You can withdraw consent by using the unsubscribe link in any marketing communication, adjusting Your cookie preferences through Your browser or Our cookie banner, updating Your Account settings, or contacting Us using the details in “Contact Us” below.
Right to Lodge a Complaint with the ICO
If You are not satisfied with the way We have handled Your Personal Data or responded to a request You have made, You have the right to lodge a complaint at any time with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the UK supervisory authority for data protection issues.
We would, however, appreciate the chance to deal with Your concerns before You approach the ICO, so please contact Us in the first instance using the details in “Contact Us” below.
- ICO website: https://ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint/
- ICO helpline: 0303 123 1113
- Postal address: Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF, United Kingdom
Delete Your Personal Data
You have the right to delete or request that We assist in deleting the Personal Data that We have collected about You. You may update, amend, or delete Your information at any time by contacting Us, subject to Our right to retain certain information where We have a legal obligation or lawful basis to do so, as set out in “Retention of Your Personal Data” above.
Disclosure of Your Personal Data
Business Transactions
If the Company is involved in a merger, acquisition or asset sale, Your Personal Data may be transferred. We will provide notice before Your Personal Data is transferred and becomes subject to a different privacy policy.
Law Enforcement
Under certain circumstances, the Company may be required to disclose Your Personal Data if required to do so by law or in response to valid requests by public authorities.
Other Legal Requirements
The Company may disclose Your Personal Data where it believes in good faith that this is necessary to comply with a legal obligation, protect and defend the rights or property of the Company, prevent or investigate wrongdoing in connection with the Service, protect the personal safety of users or the public, or protect against legal liability.
Security of Your Personal Data
The security of Your Personal Data is important to Us. We use appropriate technical and organisational measures designed to protect Your Personal Data against unauthorised access, alteration, disclosure or destruction, including [describe key measures actually in place, e.g. encryption in transit, access controls, staff training]. However, no method of transmission over the Internet, or method of electronic storage, is 100% secure, and We cannot guarantee its absolute security.
Children's Privacy
Our Service does not address anyone under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personally identifiable information from anyone under the age of 13. If You are a parent or guardian and are aware that Your child has provided Us with Personal Data, please contact Us. If We become aware that We have collected Personal Data from anyone under the age of 13 without verification of parental consent, We take steps to remove that information from Our servers.
Links to Other Websites
Our Service may contain links to other websites that are not operated by Us. We strongly advise You to review the privacy policy of every site You visit; We have no control over and assume no responsibility for the content or privacy practices of any third-party sites.
Changes to this Privacy Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify You of material changes by posting the new Privacy Policy on this page and updating the “Last updated” date, and, where appropriate, via email or a prominent notice on the Service before the change takes effect.
Contact Us
If You have any questions about this Privacy Policy, or wish to exercise any of Your rights, You can contact Us:
- By email: info@globaldegrees.in
- By visiting: https://globaldegrees.in/contact-us/
- By phone: +91 7036373839
