Privacy Policy

Welcome to VaidyaGuru, accessible at https://vaidya-guru.vercel.app. VaidyaGuru is a free Ayurvedic educational platform developed and maintained by D D Patel, a BAMS scholar at Government Ayurveda College Junagadh, Gujarat, India.

This Privacy Policy explains what personal information VaidyaGuru collects from users, how that information is used, stored, and protected, and what rights you have over your own data. We are committed to full transparency and to handling your data with integrity and responsibility.

This Privacy Policy applies to all users of the VaidyaGuru web application and website — including registered users, guest users, and visitors to any of our static pages (about.html, resources.html, contact.html, etc.). It applies to data collected through the web app, the installed PWA (Progressive Web App) version, and any future mobile applications.

This policy does not apply to information collected by third-party services integrated into VaidyaGuru (such as Google Firebase or Google Drive), which are governed by their own privacy policies. Links to those policies are provided in Section 8 of this document.

By accessing and using VaidyaGuru, you confirm that you have read, understood, and agree to this Privacy Policy. If you do not agree to any part of this policy, please stop using VaidyaGuru immediately.

We believe in being completely transparent. Here is the precise data we collect, organized by category, along with the reason for each item:

VaidyaGuru follows a strict Zero Database Policy for all Parikshan (MCQ exam) activity and personal health-related test data. This means:

• Your individual exam answers, selected options, and per-question responses are processed entirely on your device and are never sent to or stored on our servers.
• Only your final exam score (a single number) may be stored in the Firestore database under the exam's results object — solely to display leaderboard standings and your personal score history. No answer details are stored.
• Any personal notes, custom annotations, or private data you create within the app is stored either locally in your device's browser storage or, if you enable the backup feature, in your own personal Google Drive account — not on VaidyaGuru's servers.

This architecture is a deliberate privacy-first design choice. We believe that the details of your learning progress and test performance belong exclusively to you.

We use the data we collect only for the specific purposes described below. We do not use your data for any purpose not listed here without first obtaining your explicit consent:

• To provide the VaidyaGuru service: Authenticating your identity, loading your profile, displaying personalized content in your chosen language and role, and maintaining your session.
• To improve the platform: Understanding in aggregate (not individually) which features are most used so we can improve the app. We do not track individual user behavior for this purpose.
• To ensure platform security: Identifying and preventing abuse, spam, or unauthorized access to the platform.
• To communicate with you: If you contact us via email, we use your email address to respond to your inquiry. We do not send unsolicited marketing emails.

We do not: sell your data to third parties, share your data with advertisers, use your data for targeted political advertising, or use your data for any automated individual decision-making that has legal or significant effects on you.

All personal data stored by VaidyaGuru is held in Google Firebase — a cloud infrastructure service provided by Google LLC. Firebase is one of the world's most trusted and secure cloud platforms, used by millions of applications globally. Firebase data centers are protected by enterprise-grade physical and digital security measures, including encryption at rest and in transit (TLS/SSL).

Within Firebase, we implement the following security measures:

• Firestore Security Rules that ensure each user can only read and write their own data — no user can access another user's personal information
• Firebase Authentication handles all login security — including token management, session expiry, and brute-force protection
• Admin-only data (audit logs, blacklists, admin permissions) is protected by server-side security rules that only authorized admin accounts can access

VaidyaGuru offers an optional Google Drive backup feature that allows you to back up your app data — including AI chat history, book highlights & notes, your personal Study Timetable, and Parikshan results — to your own personal Google Drive account. This feature is completely optional and disabled by default. It can be enabled or disabled at any time from Settings → Auto-Sync & Backup.

When you enable Google Drive backup, the following applies:

• VaidyaGuru requests permission to read and write files in a specific, dedicated hidden "appData" folder within your Google Drive only. We do not request access to any other files or folders in your Drive.
• Once enabled, the app automatically re-syncs your data to this folder approximately every 6 hours while the app is open, in addition to letting you trigger a manual "Backup Now" or "Restore from Drive" at any time from Settings.
• All backup files are created and owned by your Google account — not by VaidyaGuru. You can view, download, edit, or delete these files directly from your Google Drive at any time.
• VaidyaGuru cannot access your Google Drive backup files without your active authorization. If you revoke Google Drive access permissions (through your Google Account settings), VaidyaGuru will immediately lose all access to your Drive data.
• Google Drive data is governed by Google's Privacy Policy and Terms of Service.

VaidyaGuru uses standard web technologies — including browser cookies, localStorage, and sessionStorage — to provide a functional and personalized experience. Here is exactly what we store on your device:

• Firebase Authentication Token: A secure token stored in localStorage that keeps you logged in between sessions. This is a standard and necessary part of any authenticated web application. It does not contain your password.
• Language Preference: Your chosen language (Gujarati/Hindi/English) is stored in localStorage so it is remembered between visits.
• Theme Preference: Your chosen theme (Light/Dark/System) is stored in localStorage.
• Daily Shloka Cache: Today's daily Ayurvedic shloka is cached in localStorage for 24 hours to reduce unnecessary API calls and improve app performance.

You can clear all localStorage and cookie data at any time through your browser's settings. Note that clearing these will log you out of VaidyaGuru and reset your locally stored preferences.

VaidyaGuru integrates with several trusted third-party services to deliver its functionality. Each of these services has its own independent Privacy Policy. We encourage you to read them:

VaidyaGuru is not responsible for the privacy practices of these third-party services. Any data you provide directly to these services (e.g., your Google account data used for Google Sign-In) is governed by their respective policies.

Under the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 (DPDP Act) of India and relevant provisions of the IT Act 2000, and consistent with principles of the EU GDPR, you have the following rights regarding your personal data:

• Right to Access: You may request a copy of all personal data we hold about you. We will respond within 30 days of receiving a verified request.
• Right to Correction: You may update or correct your profile information at any time directly within the VaidyaGuru app (Profile page → Edit). For data you cannot edit yourself, contact us.
• Right to Erasure (Right to be Forgotten): You may request complete deletion of your account and all associated data. You can initiate this from Settings → Account Deletion, or by emailing us. We will process deletion requests within 30 days. Note: some data may be retained in anonymized, non-identifiable form for fraud prevention and legal compliance.
• Right to Withdraw Consent: You may withdraw consent for optional data processing (e.g., Google Drive backup) at any time through the Settings menu.
• Right to Data Portability: You may request an export of your personal data in a commonly used format. Contact us to make this request.
• Right to Grievance Redressal: Under the DPDP Act 2023, you have the right to raise a grievance with us regarding our handling of your personal data. Please contact us at the email below. We will acknowledge your grievance within 48 hours and resolve it within 30 days.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at: vaidyaguru.official.740@gmail.com

VaidyaGuru is an educational platform primarily intended for university students and adult learners (18 years and above). The platform may also be used by students between 13 and 18 years of age for legitimate educational purposes, with appropriate parental or guardian awareness.

We do not knowingly collect personal data from children under the age of 13. If you are under 13, you must not create a VaidyaGuru account or provide any personal information to us. If a parent or guardian believes that their child under 13 has provided personal information to VaidyaGuru without consent, please contact us immediately at vaidyaguru.official.740@gmail.com. We will promptly delete any such information from our records upon verification.

VaidyaGuru implements all reasonable and technically feasible security measures to protect your personal data. However, we expressly disclaim liability for:

• Data breaches, unauthorized access, or data loss resulting from security vulnerabilities in third-party infrastructure (Google Firebase, Vercel, etc.) that are outside our control
• Data loss resulting from user-initiated deletion, failure to maintain personal backups, or loss of device access
• Unauthorized access to your account resulting from compromised login credentials, shared passwords, or device theft
• Interception of data transmitted over unsecured public Wi-Fi networks or compromised internet connections that are outside VaidyaGuru's control

Our total liability for any data-related claims shall not exceed the amount you have paid to use VaidyaGuru in the 12 months preceding the claim — which, given VaidyaGuru is a completely free service, is zero. Nothing in this clause limits our liability where it cannot be limited under applicable Indian law, including the DPDP Act 2023.

We reserve the right to update or modify this Privacy Policy at any time to reflect changes in our data practices, legal requirements, or app features. When we make material changes to this policy, we will update the "Last Updated" date at the top of this page. For significant changes that materially affect how we handle your data, we will make reasonable efforts to notify registered users — for example, by displaying a notice within the VaidyaGuru app upon your next login.

Your continued use of VaidyaGuru after any changes to this Privacy Policy become effective constitutes your acceptance of the updated policy. If you do not agree to the updated policy, please stop using VaidyaGuru and, if desired, request deletion of your account.

If you have any questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or our data practices, please contact us:

• Email: vaidyaguru.official.740@gmail.com
• Platform: vaidya-guru.vercel.app/contact.html
• Developer: D D Patel, BAMS Scholar, Government Ayurveda College Junagadh, Gujarat, India

We take all privacy inquiries seriously and will respond within 48 hours on working days.