Last updated: 8 October 2026
Brahma Vidya Mandir ("the School", "we", "us") operates the Brahma Vidya Mandir mobile and web app (the "App") for its students, coordinators and Acharyas. This policy explains what information the App collects, how it is used, how long it is kept, and how you can have your data removed.
Information we collect
The App collects only what it needs to run the School's classes, camps and communications for its own members:
- Account details — your name, and either an email address or phone number used to sign in.
- Profile details you choose to add — date of birth, gender, your nakshatra (birth star), an emergency contact, and an optional profile photo.
- Learning activity — which lessons you've watched or bookmarked, and your attendance at classes.
- Camp participation — registration and travel details, room and travel assignments, and (for staff) logistics and expense records for camps you help organise. If you choose to give them, this includes health information: medical or mobility notes, whether you need an easy-access room, and any documents the camp asks for (such as an ID card or medical certificate). These are seen only by the camp's organisers.
- Questions & answers — questions you ask on a lesson and the Acharya's answers, including a voice recording if you choose to record instead of typing.
- Albums — photos of the School's occasions, added by the Acharya and coordinators, which may show you. Their location and camera details are removed before they're stored. Every member of the School can see them, and save or share them.
- Push notification token — a device identifier used only to deliver in-app notifications (new lessons, class reminders, announcements).
- Crash reports (iPhone, iPad and Android app) — if the App crashes or hits an error, a technical report (what went wrong, device model and system version) is sent to Firebase Crashlytics so we can fix it. It does not include your name, contact details or anything you've entered.
We do not use advertising or analytics trackers, and we do not collect any information beyond what's listed above.
How we use this information
Strictly to operate the App for the School's own community: showing you your lessons and progress, recording attendance, running camp sign-ups and logistics, answering your questions, and sending you notifications about classes, announcements and (with your consent) your birthday or star birthday.
Who we share it with
We do not sell or share your personal data with advertisers or other third parties. The App runs on Google's Firebase platform (hosting, sign-in, database, file storage and push notifications) and embeds YouTube for lesson videos — both process data only as needed to provide those underlying services, under their own privacy terms.
Camp organisers can optionally ask Google's AI (Gemini, through Google Cloud's Vertex AI, via the App's own server) to suggest room and transport arrangements. The AI is given only anonymous labels (such as "P1"), each party's size, age and gender group, and the yes/no or "share a room with" choices from the camp form. For those suggestions it is never given anyone's name, contact details, notes or pickup address. Organisers review every suggestion before anything is saved.
If you choose "Fill from my ticket" in a camp's travel details, a picture or PDF of your ticket is sent once, through the App's own server, to Google's AI (Gemini, through Google Cloud's Vertex AI) to read the journey: the type of travel, its number, the boarding and arrival stations, the date and time, and the passengers' names so you can check who the ticket covers. The AI is told to return nothing else (not ages, booking numbers, phone numbers, seats or fares). We do not keep the picture or anything read from it. Only the journey details you then check and save are kept, as part of your camp registration. If the ticket also covers other participants of the same camp, you can choose to give them the same journey; each of them is told. Camp staff can do the same for someone they are filling in for. This is used only when you choose it, and we can switch it off at any time.
The App uses YouTube API Services to show lesson videos. By using the App, you're also agreeing to be bound by the YouTube Terms of Service. Google's own handling of the data associated with that is described in the Google Privacy Policy.
How long we keep your data
We keep data only as long as it's useful, then reduce it automatically:
- Raw per-class attendance records are rolled up into a monthly summary and cleared after 90 days.
- Notifications and announcements are cleared after 90 days (the underlying Q&A questions and answers are kept, since they remain useful to the batch). When the Acharya removes a question, a private copy of it (what was asked, who asked it, who removed it and when) is kept for the Acharya's own records.
- A camp's detailed registration, logistics and expense records are summarised into a single report 7 days after the camp ends, and the detailed records are cleared 90 days after the camp ends.
- Albums are kept as the School's record of its occasions, until the Acharya or a coordinator removes them. If you're in a photo and want it removed, report it in the App (Report this photo) or email us.
Children's privacy
The App is intended for the School's own registered students, who sign up via a batch coordinator, and is not directed at children under 13. We do not knowingly collect data from children under 13; if you believe a child's data has been added in error, contact us and we will remove it.
Security
Access to your data is restricted by Firebase security rules to your own account and the School's staff — for example, only your batch's coordinators and the Acharya can see your attendance or camp records.
Changes to this policy
If this policy changes, the updated date at the top of this page will change accordingly.
Contact us
Questions about this policy, or a request to access or delete your data, can be sent to bvmprabandhakah@gmail.com.