Privacy at Shodhs

Draft. This is a plain-language draft that describes what the app does today. It has not been reviewed by a lawyer. Items in [brackets] must be filled in before public launch.

What Shodhs does

You give us your resume (or a short text). We read it, suggest professors and programmes that fit your aim, and help you draft emails and statements of purpose. Professors' details come from public pages; every email address we show has a source link.

What we keep, and when

• Your resume and profile: saved automatically, under a random ID that your browser keeps (it stands in for a login until sign-in exists). When you come back on the same device your work is there. A different device or cleared browser data starts fresh.
• Drafts, deadlines and sent mail: the draft, subject, recipient, date and reply status of every email sent through the app, plus your deadlines and the scholarships you track, are stored under the same ID.
• If you ask to unlock more or ask for a human review: your email or phone and the text you send for review.
• Counts: how many free drafts you have used.
• To improve the app (while it is free): if you tick the agreement box, we may keep your resume text, your drafts and the emails you send through the app, and read them to make matching, drafting and checking better. We do not sell them and do not show them to other students. You can delete all of it at any time from the Profile page ("Delete everything about me").

Who sees your resume text

To read your resume and write drafts, the text is sent to the AI service the app owner has set up (for example Groq, Google Gemini, OpenRouter, Cerebras or Anthropic) [list the service actually used]. We send only what is needed for that step. Those services have their own privacy terms [add links].

Sending email

Nothing is sent without your confirmation. Emails go only to addresses we hold with a public source. If you sign in with Google, we store your Google email address and name, and a Gmail permission that can only send mail (it cannot read your inbox). Each student's mail goes out from their own Gmail. Sign out or delete your data at any time. The Gmail permission is stored encrypted. [Before public launch: have a lawyer review this page.]

Professors' information

We show names, research text and email addresses that professors or their institutions have published, with the source page. A professor can ask to be removed at any time using the opt-out request in the app or by writing to bansiwalshubham5@gmail.com; we then stop showing them and stop using their address.

Your choices

• Delete your saved copy or delete everything we hold about you from the Profile page, at any time.
• Ask us to correct or send you what we hold: bansiwalshubham5@gmail.com.

Mentor requests and your Application profile

If you send a mentor or counselling request, we keep the contact and note you typed so we can reply. To have it removed, contact us at bansiwalshubham5@gmail.com. The Application profile, your saved scholarships and your ticked steps are stored only in your own browser; we never receive them.

Protection

Pages that carry personal data are not cached by your browser. Access to the database is limited to the operator. No system is perfectly secure, and we will tell affected people if something goes wrong [define the process with your lawyer].

What we do not do

• We do not sell your data or your resume.
• We do not send email for you without your confirmation.
• We do not claim that a draft will raise your chances of admission.

Who is responsible

shodhs, run by Shubham. Contact: bansiwalshubham5@gmail.com. [postal address and grievance officer details still to be added]. Governing law and your statutory rights (for example under India's DPDP Act or the GDPR for users in the EU) [to be confirmed with a lawyer].