1. GENERAL

www.mentortogether.org (hereinafter, the “Website”)  is owned and operated by Mentor Together (“Trust”), a Trust registered under the Indian Trusts Act 1882, having its registered office at 530, 1st Floor, 24th Main, HSR Layout, Sector 2, Bangalore 560102, India.

You are advised to read and understand this Privacy Policy carefully as moving past the home page, or using any of the services shall be taken to mean that You have read and agreed to all of the policies, which constitute a legally binding agreement between You and the website. This Privacy Policy is to be read along with the Terms of Service and any other policies on the Website.

This document is an electronic record published in accordance with the provisions of the Information Technology (Intermediaries guidelines) Rules, 2021 that require publishing the Rules and Regulations, Privacy Policy and Terms of Service for access or usage of the website. Being generated by a computer system, it does not require any physical or digital signatures. This Privacy Policy is in compliance with the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 (“DPDPA”) and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) where applicable, and any and all provisions that may read to the contrary shall be deemed to be void and unenforceable as of that date.

For the purpose of this Privacy Policy, along with any amendments to the same, and wherever the context so requires “You”, “Your” or “User” refer to the person visiting, accessing, browsing through and/or using the Website at any point in time. The term “We”, “Us”, “Our” shall mean and refer to the Website and/or the Trust, depending on the context.

The headings of each section in this Policy are only for the purpose of organising the various provisions under this Policy in an orderly manner. These headings shall not be used by either party to interpret the provisions contained under them in any manner. Further, the headings have no legal or contractual value.

In order to provide You with Our uninterrupted use of services, We may collect and, in some circumstances, disclose information about you with your permission. To ensure better protection of Your privacy, We provide this notice explaining Our information collection and disclosure policies, and the choices You make about the way Your information is collected and used. If you do not agree with the terms of our Privacy Policy, including in relation to the manner of collection or use of your information, please do not use or access the Website. If you have any questions or concerns regarding this Privacy Policy, you can e-mail us at support@mentortogether.org.

2. COMPLIANCE WITH DPDP ACT 2023

1. “Personal Data” means any data about an individual who is identifiable by or in relation to such data, as defined under the DPDPA.
2. “Data Principal” refers to the individual to whom the personal data relates.
3. “Data Fiduciary” refers to the entity (Mentor Together) that determines the purpose and means of processing personal data.

Insofar as you have given us consent to process personal data for specific purposes, Sec. 4 (1)(a) of the DPDP Act 2023 serves as the legal basis for the processing of personal data. Consent given can be revoked by you at any time. Please note that the revocation is only effective for the future. Processing that took place before the revocation is not affected.

All Data processing is carried out in compliance with the principles of purpose limitation, data minimization, and lawful basis under the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023. All third parties processing personal data on our behalf shall also adhere to data protection obligations in accordance with the DPDPA. Where applicable, personal data may be transferred outside India only to countries or entities that provide equivalent data protection as India, and with appropriate safeguards in place, in accordance with the rules under DPDPA.

As per the DPDPA, you as a Data Principal have the right to:

• Access your personal data;
• Correct or update inaccuracies in your data;
• Erase your data (subject to legal obligations);
• Nominate an authorized individual in case of incapacity;
• Withdraw consent where processing is based on consent;
• Register grievances with our Data Protection Officer (DPO).

In accordance with Section 13 of the DPDPA, 2023, You may contact Us to address any complaints or concerns related to your personal data.

Email:dataprotection@mentortogether.org

Address: 530, 1st Floor, 24th Main, HSR Layout, Sector 2, Bangalore 560102, India

Response Timeline: Within 7 working days

3. INFORMATION WE COLLECT

We are committed to respecting Your online privacy. We further recognize Your need for appropriate protection and management of any personal data You share with us.

We may collect the following information:

1. Personal data such as, but not limited to, Name, Date of Birth, Location, , Email ID, Address, Mobile Number, etc.
2. Tracking Information, such as but not limited to, the IP address of your, device ID, device type, and browser details when connected to the Internet. [This information may include the URL that you just came from (whether this URL is on the Website or not), which URL you next go to (whether this URL is on the Website or not), your computer browser information, and other information associated with your interaction with the Website.] This information is collected by our web servers, such as Nginx and Apache, and through external tools like Google Analytics. This data helps us understand user behavior, improve our services, and troubleshoot issues.
3. Financial Information including payment data, such as card/bank details provided through secure third-party gateways for donations
4. Any career related information like your CV, and other related details provided through secure third-party hiring integrations

This Privacy Policy also applies to data we collect from Users  including but not limited to, browsing behaviour, pages viewed etc. We also collect and store personal information provided by you from time to time on the Website.

In principle, we collect and use your personal data only insofar as it is necessary to provide a functional Website, as well as our content and services offered on the Website, including:

1. To enable the provision of services opted for by you;
2. To communicate necessary service-related information from time to time;
3. To allow you to receive quality customer care services;
4. To comply with applicable laws, rules and regulations.

Where any service requested by you involves a third party, such information as is reasonably necessary by the Trust to carry out your service request may be shared with such third party. We do not process personal data in a manner that is incompatible with the purposes for which it was collected unless required under law or with your express consent.

We also do use your contact information to send you relevant offers based on your interests and prior activity. The Company may also use contact information internally to direct its efforts for service improvement, but shall immediately delete all such information upon withdrawal of your consent for the same through an email to be sent to support@mentortogether.org

We collect and store your search details on the website, which includes the keywords and search parameters, the usage of the website and the features and time you have used the website for. This is for us to better understand the user behavior and take decisions to enhance our content to better cater to your interests.

Further, you may from time to time choose to provide payment related financial information (credit card, debit card, bank account details, billing address etc.) via our third-party secure gateways . We are committed to keeping all such sensitive data/information safe at all times and ensure that such data/information is only transacted over secure approved payment gateways which are digitally encrypted and provide the highest possible degree of care available under the technology presently in use. Such information is stored in the secure servers of our third-party gateways. The Trust will not use your financial information for any purpose other than to complete a transaction with you. To the extent possible, we provide you the option of not divulging any specific information that you wish for us not to collect, store or use. You may also choose not to use a particular service or feature on the Website and opt out of any non-essential communications from the Website.

Further, transacting over the internet has inherent risks which can only be avoided by you following security practices yourself, such as not revealing account/login related information to any other person and informing our team about any suspicious activity or where your account has/may has been compromised.

 At every stage prior to, during or after information collection, you have the right to access all personally identifiable information provided, rectify or alter all personally identifiable information provided, restrict the level of information to be retained as per your sole discretion and object to the retention, use and potential disclosure of the personally identifiable information.

4. OUR USE OF YOUR INFORMATION

The information provided by You shall be used to

1. Contact You when necessary and is also used for targeted mentorship program campaigns, to conduct surveys, learn more about You, and analyzing the data with the help of analytics service providers;
2. Improve and develop new products, services, and features;
3. Analyze purchase, usage and traffic data.

For more details about the nature of such communications, please refer to our Terms of Service. Further, Your personal data and Sensitive Personal data may be collected and stored by Us for internal records.

We use Your tracking information such as IP addresses, and Device ID to help identify you and to gather broad demographic information. We do not sell, license or trade Your personal information. We will not share your personal information with others unless they are acting under our instructions, or we are required to do so by law.

Information collected via Our server logs includes users’ IP addresses and the pages visited; this will be used to manage the web system and troubleshoot problems. We also use third-party analytics, tracking, optimization, and targeting tools to understand how users engage with our website so that we can improve it and cater personalized content according to their preferences.

5. HOW INFORMATION IS COLLECTED

Before or at the time of collecting personal information, we will identify the purposes for which information is being collected. If the same is not identified to you, you have the right to request the Company to elucidate the purpose of collection of said personal information, pending fulfilment of which you shall not be mandated to disclose any information whatsoever.

 We will collect and use your personal information solely with the objective of fulfilling those purposes specified by us, within the scope of consent of the individual concerned or as required by law. We will only retain personal information as long as necessary for the fulfilment of those purposes. We will collect personal information by lawful and fair means and with the knowledge and consent of the individual concerned.

 Personal data should be relevant to the purposes for which it is to be used, and, to the extent necessary for those purposes, should be accurate, complete, and up to date.

6. COOKIES

We use data collection devices such as “cookies” on certain pages of our Websites. “Cookies” are small files on your hard drive that assist us in providing customized services. We also offer certain features that are only available through the use of a “cookie”. Cookies can also help us provide information, which is targeted to your interests. Cookies may be used to identify registered users. Our Website uses session cookies to ensure that you have a good experience. These cookies contain a unique number, your ‘session ID’, which allows our server to recognise your computer and ‘remember’ what you’ve done on the Website. The benefit of this is that Our server can distinguish between your computer and other Users, so You can see the information that You have requested.

You can choose to accept or decline cookies by modifying your browser settings if You prefer. This may prevent You from taking full advantage of the Website. We also use various third-party cookies for usage, behavioral, analytics and preferences data. The following are the different types of Cookies used on the Website:

1. Authentication cookies: To identify the User and share the content that You requested for.
2. Functionality cookies: For customized User experience and resuming past course progress.
3. Tracking, optimization and targeting cookies: To capture usage metric on device, operating system, browser etc. To capture behavioral metrics for better content delivery. To cater and suggest most suited products and services.

7. GOOGLE ANALYTICS

We use Google Analytics to help us to understand how you make use of Our content and work out how we can make things better. These cookies follow your progress through our website, collecting anonymous data on where you have come from, which pages you visit, and how long you spend on the Website. This data is then stored by Google in order to create reports. These cookies do not store your personal data.

 The information generated by the cookie about your use of the Website, including your IP address, may be transmitted to and stored by Google on servers in the United States. Google may use this information for the purpose of evaluating your use of the website, compiling reports on website activity for us and providing other services relating to website activity and internet usage. Google may also transfer this information to third parties where required to do so by law, or where such third parties process the information on Google’s behalf. Google will not associate your IP address with any other data held by Google. By using this website, you consent to the processing of data about you by Google in the manner and for the purposes set out above.

 The Google website contains further information about Analytics and a copy of Google’s privacy policy pages.

8. EXTERNAL LINKS ON THE WEBSITE

The Website may include hyperlinks to other websites, applications, content or resources. We have no control over any websites or resources, which are provided by companies or persons other than Us. You acknowledge and agree that We are not responsible for the availability of any such external websites or resources, and do not endorse any advertising, services/products or other materials on or available from such websites or resources. You acknowledge and agree that We are not liable for any loss or damage which may be incurred by you as a result of the availability of those external websites or resources, or as a result of any reliance placed by you on the completeness, accuracy or existence of any advertising, products or other materials on, or available from, such websites or resources. These external websites and resource providers may have their own privacy policies governing the collection, storage, retention and disclosure of Your Personal Information that You may be subject to. We recommend that You enter the external Website and review their privacy policy. If you require a list of third-party links on our Website, please write to us at support@mentortogether.org and we will provide you with the same.

9. CONFIDENTIALITY

You further acknowledge that the Website may contain information which is designated confidential by Us and that you shall not disclose such information without our prior written consent. Your information is regarded as confidential and therefore will not be divulged to any third party, unless if legally required to do so to the appropriate authorities. We will not sell, share, or rent your personal information to any third party or use your e-mail address for unsolicited mail. Any emails sent by us will only be in connection with the provision of agreed services, and you retain sole discretion to seek for discontinuation of such communications at any point of time.

10. OTHER INFORMATION COLLECTORS

Except as otherwise expressly included in this Privacy Policy, this document only addresses the use and disclosure of information we collect from you. To the extent that you disclose your information to other parties, whether they are on our Websites or on other websites throughout the Internet, different rules may apply to their use or disclosure of the information you disclose to them. As stated above, all third parties processing personal data on our behalf shall adhere to data protection obligations in accordance with the DPDPA.

Since we do not control the privacy policies of the third parties, you are subject to ask questions before you disclose your personal information to others. We disclaim any liability for the collection, use, or disclosure of your Personal Data by such third-party services.

11. OUR DISCLOSURE OF YOUR INFORMATION

Due to the existing regulatory environment, we cannot ensure that all of your private communications and other personally identifiable information will never be disclosed in ways not otherwise described in this Privacy Policy. By way of example (without limiting and foregoing), we may be forced to disclose information to the government, law enforcement agencies or third parties. Therefore, although we use industry standard practices to protect your privacy, we do not promise, and you should not expect, that your personally identifiable information or private communications would always remain private. We do, however, assure you that any and all disclosure of your personally identifiable information shall be personally intimated to you through an email sent to your provided email address.

As a matter of policy, we do not sell or rent any personally identifiable information about you to any third party. However, the following describes some of the ways that your personally identifiable information may be disclosed:

1. External Service Providers: There may be a number of services offered by external service providers that help you use our Websites. If you choose to use these optional services, and in the course of doing so, disclose information to the external service providers, and/or grant them permission to collect information about you, then their use of your information is governed by their privacy policy.
2. Law and Order: We cooperate with law enforcement inquiries, as well as other third parties to enforce laws, such as: intellectual property rights, fraud and other rights. We can (and you authorize us to) disclose any information about you to law enforcement and other government officials as we, in our sole discretion, believe necessary or appropriate, in connection with an investigation of fraud, intellectual property infringements, or other activity that is illegal or may expose us or you to legal liability.

12. ACCESSING, REVIEWING AND CHANGING YOUR PROFILE

You can review and change the information on your profile, except Email ID. An option for facilitating such change can be availed by emailing support@mentortogether.org.  If You change any information, We may or may not keep track of Your old information. We will not retain in our files information you have requested to remove for certain circumstances, such as to resolve disputes, troubleshoot problems and enforce our terms and conditions. Such prior information shall be completely removed from our databases, including stored ‘back up’ systems. If you believe that any information we are holding on you is incorrect or incomplete, or to remove Your profile so that others cannot view it, the User needs to remediate and promptly correct any such incorrect information.

13. SECURITY

We treat data as an asset that must be protected against loss and unauthorized access. We employ many different security techniques to protect such data from unauthorized access by members inside and outside the Trust. We follow generally accepted industry standards to protect the Personal Information submitted to Us and information that we have accessed.

14. SEVERABILITY

Each paragraph of this privacy policy shall be and remain separate from and independent of and severable from all and any other paragraphs herein except where otherwise expressly indicated or indicated by the context of the agreement. The decision or declaration that one or more of the paragraphs are null and void shall have no effect on the remaining paragraphs of this privacy policy.

15. AMENDMENT

Our Privacy Policy may change from time to time. The most current version of the policy will govern our use of your information and will always be at the Website.

16. AUTOMATED DECISION MAKING

As a responsible company, we do not use automatic decision-making or profiling.

17. CONSENT WITHDRAWAL, DATA DOWNLOAD & DATA REMOVAL REQUESTS

To withdraw your consent, or to request the download or delete your data with us for any or all our products & services at any time, please email support@mentortogether.org from your registered email address.

18. CONTACT US

If you have any questions or concerns regarding this privacy policy, you should contact us by sending an e-mail to support@mentortogether.org