Privacy Policy
Effective 12 June 2026 · Published under the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 (DPDP Act)
AURA is an academic ERP platform operated on behalf of the educational institutions that use it. Your institution is the Data Fiduciaryunder the DPDP Act; AURA processes personal data on its behalf. This policy explains what is collected, why, how long it is kept, and the rights you can exercise at any time from your portal's Privacy & Data page.
1. What We Collect
- Identity data — name, date of birth, photograph, roll/employee number, contact details.
- Academic data — enrolment, attendance, internal assessment (CIA) and examination marks, promotions.
- Financial data — fee structures, payments (processed by Razorpay; card details never touch AURA), salaries for staff.
- NFC card identifiers — the serial number of your campus ID card, used only for attendance. No fingerprint, face or other biometric template is stored.
- Medical data — infirmary visit records, only where your institution enables that module and you consent.
- Technical data — IP address and browser identifier recorded alongside consent actions, as proof of consent.
2. Why We Process It
Personal data is processed solely to deliver educational services: maintaining academic records, recording attendance, collecting fees, paying salaries, issuing certificates and meeting statutory reporting duties (NAAC, NIRF, AISHE, UGC). It is never sold and never used for third-party advertising.
3. Consent
On first sign-in you are asked for consent that is free, specific, informed and unambiguous. Each consent is recorded with a timestamp and can be reviewed or withdrawn at any time from your portal. The consents we capture:
| Platform Terms of Userequired | I agree to AURA's terms of use for accessing my institution's portal. |
| Processing of Personal Datarequired | I consent to my institution processing my personal data (identity, academic, attendance and fee records) to provide educational services. |
| Updates & Announcements | I would like to receive non-essential updates and event announcements from my institution. |
| NFC Card Attendance | I consent to my NFC ID card identifier being used to record my attendance on campus. |
| Medical Records | I consent to the campus infirmary maintaining my medical visit records. |
| Photo Usage | I consent to my photograph being used on ID cards, notice boards and institutional reports. |
Withdrawing an optional consent stops that processing immediately. The two required consents are necessary to operate your account — to withdraw those, submit a data erasure request instead.
4. Your Rights
- Access — view the personal data held about you through your portal.
- Correction — ask your institution's office to correct inaccurate data.
- Withdrawal — withdraw any optional consent at any time from Privacy & Data.
- Erasure — request deletion of your personal data. Requests are resolved within 72 hours; where law requires data to be retained (e.g. financial records), the refusal and its reason are documented and shown to you.
- Grievance — escalate to the Grievance Officer below, and thereafter to the Data Protection Board of India.
5. Data Retention
| Data category | Kept for | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Financial records (fees, payments, salaries, expenses) | 7 years after the financial year they belong to | Income Tax Act 1961 & GST record-keeping requirements |
| Academic records (marks, results, promotions, hall tickets) | Duration of enrolment + 7 years (transcripts permanently) | UGC record-retention norms; alumni transcript & verification requests |
| Attendance records (NFC + manual) | 3 years after the academic year ends | NAAC/UGC audit window for attendance-linked eligibility |
| Medical & infirmary records | 5 years after the last entry | Standard medical record-keeping practice for minors and adults |
| Identity & profile data (name, DOB, contact, photos) | While the account is active; erased on approved erasure request | Required to provide the service; DPDP right to erasure applies |
| NFC card identifiers (no fingerprint/face data is stored) | Until the card is deactivated or consent is withdrawn | Consent-based (biometric_nfc); deactivated immediately on withdrawal |
| Consent & erasure request logs | 3 years after account closure | Proof of DPDP compliance — demonstrating consent existed is itself a legal obligation |
| In-app notifications & alerts | 1 year after creation | Transient operational alerts (fee/leave/attendance/results) — not a system of record; the underlying records are retained under their own policy |
| Prospective applicant data (admission enquiries & applications) | 3 years after the admission cycle; converted applicants migrate to identity-profile | Lead nurturing and audit of the admission process; data of applicants who enrol becomes part of their student identity record (identity-profile) |
| Notice board announcements | Until expiry; then up to 1 year for reference | Institutional announcements (minimal personal data — only the poster's id). Auto-expire via expires_at; retained briefly for reference |
| Parent accounts & parent-student links | While the linked child is enrolled; erased on approved erasure request | Parent/guardian contact for academic communication and fee notices; DPDP right to erasure applies |
| Student feedback & faculty ratings (anonymous) | 5 years after the academic year | NAAC Criterion 2.6 (student satisfaction) & teaching-quality evidence. Responses store NO student identity; the participation ledger (feedback_submissions) records only that a student submitted, never linked to their answers |
| IQAC meeting & action-taken records | Retained permanently as part of the institutional governance record | NAAC Criterion 6.1 evidence (IQAC meetings, agendas, minutes & action-taken reports) required across accreditation cycles; minimal personal data (staff references only) |
| SaaS subscription & billing records (plans, subscriptions, invoices) | 7 years after the financial year they belong to | Income Tax Act 1961 & GST record-keeping for the platform's own SaaS revenue (plans hold no personal data; invoices link to the institution, not an individual) |
| Industry MOUs & partnership activity records | Retained permanently as part of the institutional partnership record | NAAC Criterion 7.1 (Institutional Values & Social Responsibility) evidence and ongoing/renewable partnership history; contact details retained while the MOU is on record |
| E-learning records (study materials, assignments & submissions) | Duration of enrolment + 3 years after the academic year | Internal-assessment evidence (NAAC Criterion 2.5) and re-evaluation window; uploaded student submission files are a record of assessed work |
| Online examination records (attempts, answers & integrity logs) | Duration of enrolment + 3 years after the academic year | Internal-assessment evidence (NAAC Criterion 2.5) and re-evaluation/integrity-dispute window; anti-cheating violation logs support fair-conduct audits |
| Certificate & document requests (bonafide, TC, experience letters, etc.) | 7 years after issuance | Issued certificates are official institutional records subject to verification requests; UGC/NAAC document-retention norms |
| Transport records (vehicles, drivers, routes & student allocations) | While the vehicle/route is in service; allocations kept for the academic year + 1 year | Operational fleet management and student safety/boarding records; driver contact details are retained only while the driver is engaged |
| Staff daily attendance records | 5 years (payroll & LOP audit window) | Payroll accuracy / Loss-of-Pay computation, leave reconciliation and NAAC Criterion 2.4 teacher-attendance evidence |
| Research records (projects, publications & grants) | Retained permanently as part of the institutional research record | NAAC Criterion 3 (Research, Innovation & Extension) & NIRF reporting; publications are a permanent academic-output record |
| Disciplinary & anti-ragging records (incidents & committee actions) | 7 years after resolution; anonymous reports store no complainant identity | UGC anti-ragging regulations (2009) & NAAC Criterion 6.2 grievance/disciplinary evidence; anonymous reports never store the reporter's identity |
| Grievance redressal records (complaints & resolutions) | 7 years after resolution; anonymous grievances store no complainant identity | NAAC Criterion 6.2 (grievance redressal mechanism evidence) & UGC norms; anonymous submissions (harassment/ragging) never store the complainant's identity |
| Scholarship records (schemes, applications & proof documents) | 8 years after disbursement | Government scholarship audit requirements (central/state scheme reconciliation) & financial-aid record-keeping |
| Placement records (companies, drives & student registrations) | Duration of enrolment + 5 years | NIRF Criterion 5.2 (Student Progression) reporting & placement verification requests |
| Staff appraisal records (self-appraisals, scores & activity proofs) | 7 years after the appraisal period | NAAC Criterion 2.4 (faculty performance evidence) & UGC career-advancement / promotion record-keeping |
| Alumni records (graduate directory & batch announcements) | Retained while the alumni relationship is active; erased on approved erasure request | Ongoing alumni engagement, transcript/verification requests and institutional development (NIRF/NAAC alumni-outcome evidence); DPDP right to erasure applies |
| Staff career lifecycle records (joining, promotions, increments, transfers, offboarding) | Retained permanently as part of the institutional service record | NAAC Criterion 2.4 (faculty stability evidence), service-record/pension verification, and statutory record-keeping for promotion/increment audit trails |
| Staff recruitment data (job postings & applicant CVs) | 3 years after the hiring cycle; hired applicants' contact data migrates to identity-profile | Audit trail for hiring decisions (equal-opportunity compliance, NAAC Criterion 2.4 faculty quality evidence); hired staff data becomes part of the staff identity record |
6. Security
Data is stored in Supabase (PostgreSQL) with row-level security isolating every institution's data, encrypted in transit (TLS) and at rest. Payment webhooks are HMAC-verified, payment card data is handled entirely by Razorpay (PCI-DSS), and access to records is role-restricted (admin / HOD / staff / student).
7. Children's Data
For students under 18, the DPDP Act requires verifiable parental consent. Institutions collect this consent during admission, and AURA records it in the same consent ledger. Personal data of minors is never used for tracking, behavioural monitoring or targeted advertising.
8. Grievance Officer
Each institution designates its own Grievance Officer for data protection matters — contact your institution's administrative office. Platform-level concerns can be raised with the AURA data protection team via the contact details published on your institution's portal. Complaints are acknowledged within 72 hours.