Privacy Policy

1. Who We Are

Excellence Academy is an engineering education institute in Trivandrum, Kerala, India. We have been running since 2012. We offer BTech (KTU) tuition, GATE coaching, LET exam coaching, technical coaching for government and PSU exams, and final year project and internship support. We teach both in classrooms and online.

Under this privacy policy, we are the "Data Fiduciary". This means we are responsible for the personal data you share with us.

2. Information We Collect

We collect only the information we need to answer your questions and deliver our courses.

Information you give us:

• Enquiry details: your name, phone number, email address, the course you are interested in and your message, when you fill in a contact or enquiry form, call us or message us on WhatsApp.
• Admission details: student name, contact details, college, branch, semester or year of study, and parent or guardian details where needed, when you enrol in a course.
• Job application details: your name, contact details, résumé and any other information you include, when you apply through our Careers page.
• Results and testimonials: your name, photo, exam, rank or score and feedback, only when you agree to let us publish them.

Information we collect when you visit our website:

• Device and usage data such as browser type, device type, pages visited, time spent on pages and the website that referred you.
• Approximate location based on your IP address.
• Cookies and similar technologies, described in the "Cookies and Analytics" section.

3. How We Use Your Information

We use your information to:

• Reply to your enquiries and share course, batch, fee and admission details.
• Process admissions and provide classes, study materials, tests and academic support.
• Send important updates about classes, schedules, exams, results and new batches by phone, SMS, email or WhatsApp.
• Review job applications and contact shortlisted candidates.
• Publish results and testimonials, only with your consent.
• Understand how visitors use our website so we can improve it.
• Prevent misuse of our website and services, and meet our legal obligations.

We will ask you first before we use your information for any other purpose.

4. Cookies and Analytics

Our website uses cookies and similar tools. They keep the site working and show us how it is used. We may use Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, Meta Pixel and Microsoft Clarity. These tools collect details such as the pages you visit, clicks and scrolling, your device and your rough location. They help us count visits, improve pages and see which ads bring students to us.

These providers handle data under their own privacy policies. You can block or delete cookies in your browser settings. If you do, some parts of the website may not work as expected.

5. How We Share Your Information

We do not sell or rent your personal information.

We share information only when needed:

• With service providers who help us run our website, host our data, send messages or analyse traffic. They may use the information only to provide these services to us.
• With learning platforms we use to deliver online classes, such as the Crack It App and KTU Online Study, when you enrol in an online course. These platforms have their own privacy policies.
• With faculty and staff who need it to teach, mentor or support you.
• When required by law, a court order or a government authority, or to protect the rights, safety and property of our students, staff or the public.

6. Phone, SMS and WhatsApp Communication

When you share your phone number with us, you agree that we may call you or send you SMS or WhatsApp messages about your enquiry or course. If you do not want promotional messages, reply "STOP" on WhatsApp or contact us using the details below. We will still send messages that you need for a course you have joined.

7. How Long We Keep Your Information

We keep personal information only as long as we need it for the purposes in this privacy policy:

• Enquiry details: up to 2 years after our last contact with you.
• Student records: for the duration of the course and as long as needed afterwards for certificates, results and legal or accounting requirements.
• Job applications: up to 1 year, so we can consider you for future openings, unless you ask us to delete them earlier.

After this, we delete the information or make it anonymous.

8. How We Protect Your Information

We take reasonable care to keep your information safe from unauthorised access, loss or misuse. We use secure (HTTPS) connections and password-protected admin systems. Only staff who need your data can see it. No way of storing or sending data online is fully secure, so we cannot promise complete security.

9. Your Rights

Under the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023, you have the right to:

• Ask what personal information we hold about you and how we use it.
• Ask us to correct, complete or update your information.
• Ask us to delete your information when it is no longer needed, unless the law requires us to keep it.
• Withdraw your consent at any time. This does not affect anything we did before you withdrew it.
• Raise a complaint with us, and if it is not resolved, with the Data Protection Board of India.
• Nominate another person to exercise these rights for you in case of death or incapacity.

To use any of these rights, contact us using the details at the end of this page. We will respond within a reasonable time.

10. Students Under 18

Most of our students are adults, but some may be under 18. For a student under 18, we collect and use personal information only with the consent of a parent or legal guardian. Parents or guardians can contact us at any time to review, correct or delete their child's information.

11. Links to Other Websites

Our website links to other websites and apps, such as our learning platforms, YouTube and social media pages. We are not responsible for how these sites handle privacy. Please read their privacy policies before you share information with them.

12. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we do, we will change the "Last updated" date at the top of this page. Please check this page regularly. Continuing to use our website or services after changes means you accept the updated privacy policy.