SATHEE Privacy Policy
Effective date: 16 October 2026 · Last updated: 17 October 2026
SATHEE is an initiative of the Ministry of Education, Government of India, in association with IIT Kanpur, that provides free guidance for competitive exams. This policy explains what information the SATHEE mobile app (Android and iOS) and the SATHEE website collect, how it is used, who it is shared with, how long it is kept, and how you can delete your account and data.
1. Information we collect
When you register in the app we collect your name, mobile number, email address, date of birth, gender, state, district, city, school name and type, target exam and class.
When you use the app we store your learning activity (for example test and quiz attempts, scores and progress), the doubts and questions you ask, and files you choose to upload (for example a profile picture or a photo of a question). We also collect app usage events, crash reports and basic device information (device model, operating system and app version).
When you use AI features (for example the doubt solver or a performance analysis) the text of your request and any study data it contains are sent to the SATHEE AI service together with your user id, a device id, the device model and your IP address.
When you visit the website we log, for statistical purposes, your server's address, the top-level domain from which you access the Internet, the type of browser you use, the date and time of your visit, the pages you accessed and documents downloaded, and the previous Internet address from which you linked to the site. Questions typed into the website chat are stored together with the answer, without an account id.
"Personal Information" in this policy means any information from which your identity is apparent or can be reasonably ascertained.
2. How we use information
- to create and run your account and sign you in;
- to provide courses, tests, practice, live classes, progress tracking and AI study help;
- to send notifications you can control in your device settings;
- to understand how the app is used, fix crashes and protect the service against abuse.
We do not sell your personal data, and the app contains no advertising. We will not identify users or their browsing activities, except when a law enforcement agency exercises a warrant or where disclosure is otherwise required by law.
3. Third-party services and data sharing
SATHEE uses the following services to run the app. Each receives only what it needs for the purpose shown.
| Service | Provider | What it receives | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Firebase Authentication, Google Sign-In, Sign in with Apple | Google; Apple | email or phone number, sign-in identifiers | signing you in |
| Cloud Firestore, Firebase Storage, Cloud Functions | your profile and learning data, files you upload | storing your account and progress | |
| Firebase Analytics | app usage events; for users aged 18 and over also an account id; for users under 18 only non-identifying academic properties. The app does not collect the device advertising ID | understanding how the app is used | |
| Firebase Crashlytics | crash reports, device model, operating system version and, when signed in, your user id | fixing crashes | |
| Firebase Cloud Messaging, Remote Config, App Check | a device token, app version, an app-integrity check | notifications, feature settings, abuse protection | |
| Microsoft Clarity | Microsoft | screen interactions and session recordings | improving app usability |
| Agora | Agora | your audio, video and display name while you are in a live class | live classes |
| YouTube and Vimeo embedded players | Google; Vimeo | your device's IP address and player data, as with any embedded video | playing lecture videos |
| Google Play Install Referrer | the campaign or link that led to the install | measuring where installs come from | |
| ipify | ipify.org | your device's public IP address | network checks |
| Speech-to-text and text-to-speech | your phone's built-in speech service (Google on Android, Apple on iOS) | the audio you speak to the app | voice input and read-aloud |
| Translation | Google Translate | text you choose to translate | translating content |
| D2M broadcast receiver (Android) | runs on your device | broadcast signals received by the device | receiving educational content over broadcast |
| SATHEE AI service | operated for SATHEE on Oracle Cloud | the questions and study data you send to AI features, with your user id, device id, device model and IP address | answering AI-feature requests |
| AI model providers used by the SATHEE AI service | Google (Vertex AI in India and the Gemini API); OpenRouter (USA), which routes to models from Anthropic, Google and OpenAI; MiniMax; LongCat; NVIDIA | the text of the request (your question and any study data in it) — not your name or contact details | generating AI answers |
Text you type into an AI feature is sent as you wrote it, so please do not include personal details you do not want processed. Approximate location for AI-service logs is worked out on our own server; no third party receives your IP address for that.
4. Children and users under 18
SATHEE is used by school students, many of them under 18. In line with India's Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023:
- When your date of birth shows you are under 18, the app asks you to register with the permission of your parent or guardian and to confirm that your parent or guardian agrees to your registration.
- Some features also need verifiable consent from a parent or guardian. The app asks for your parent's or guardian's email address and sends them a request to approve. This covers personalised AI study profiles and appearing on leaderboards.
- Until a parent or guardian approves, personalised AI features use academic data only, usage analytics are collected without linking them to your identity, and your leaderboard display follows your parent's or guardian's choice.
- A parent or guardian can withdraw consent, or ask for the child's data to be deleted, by emailing sathee@iitk.ac.in.
5. How long we keep data
| Data | Where | How long |
|---|---|---|
| Your profile | SATHEE app database | until you delete your account |
| Your sign-in record | Firebase Authentication | until you delete your account (see section 6) |
| Uploaded files and parental-consent records | SATHEE app database and file storage | until you delete your account (see section 6) |
| Learning activity and progress (test and quiz attempts, scores, videos watched, coins, feature usage) | SATHEE app database | while your account exists; when you delete your account they are kept only as anonymised statistics that cannot identify you (see section 6) |
| Anonymised deletion record (date of deletion, exam, class, state and district) | SATHEE app database | kept for reporting on the scheme; it contains no name, contact details or account id |
| Logs of AI-feature requests (request and response text, user id, device id, device model, IP address, approximate city/region) | SATHEE AI service | 30 days, then deleted automatically |
| Which quiz questions you have already seen | SATHEE AI service | 30 days, then deleted automatically |
| Web-server access logs (IP address, time, page requested, browser) | SATHEE AI service | about 15 days |
| Questions asked in the website chat and the answers (no account id attached), and website-chat request logs (IP address, browser, time) | SATHEE AI service | no fixed expiry at present |
| Analytics, crash reports and session recordings | Google Firebase, Microsoft Clarity | according to each provider's retention setting |
6. Deleting your account and your data
In the app: open Profile → Settings → Delete Account and confirm Delete (also reachable from Profile → Edit Profile → the red delete icon). This permanently deletes your account and your personal information: your profile (name, contact details, date of birth, school details), your photo and other files you uploaded, your personal content (such as support requests, chats with study tools and saved notes), your parental-consent records and your sign-in record. It also marks your account as deleted with the SATHEE backend and signs you out.
What is kept, and why: SATHEE is a free scheme of the Government of India, and we must be able to report how it is used. So we delete your personal information, and keep anonymised usage statistics that cannot identify you: your learning records (for example test attempts, scores, videos watched and coins earned) are separated from your identity, every name, contact detail and account id is removed from them, and they are stored under a random code that is not linked to you. We also keep one anonymised record of the deletion (its date and your exam, class, state and district) so that the scheme's reports stay accurate.
Content you shared with other people stays visible to them: messages and posts in community, group and chat spaces remain, but your name and photo are removed from them. Also not deleted: groups or classes you created, your past entries on shared leaderboards until they are next recalculated, and records kept to prevent fraud and abuse of rewards. Email us (below) to have content you shared removed. AI-service logs are deleted automatically within 30 days, and website-chat questions carry no account id.
Without the app, or if an older version of the app does not offer the full deletion above: email sathee@iitk.ac.in from the email address or with the mobile number linked to your account, with the subject "Account deletion request". We will confirm by email when the deletion is complete.
7. Email
Your email address will only be recorded if you provide it (for example at registration) or choose to send us a message. It will only be used for the purpose for which you provided it, will not be added to a mailing list, and will not be disclosed without your consent, except as described in this policy or where required by law.
8. Changes to this policy and contact
We may update this policy when our services change. The new version will be posted on this page with a new "Last updated" date. Questions about this policy, or requests about your data, can be sent to sathee@iitk.ac.in.