🧾 Privacy Policy for Group Study Timer

Last Updated: September 2026

Effective Date: September 2026

1. Introduction

Welcome to Group Study Timer ("we", "us", "our") — available at groupstudytimer.com. We provide an online collaborative study platform designed to help students track study sessions, maintain focus, collaborate in study rooms, compete on leaderboards, and access AI-assisted study support. Your privacy and data sovereignty are fundamental to us. This Privacy Policy details what information we collect, how it is processed and secured, the third-party processors we utilize, and your legal rights under applicable data protection regulations. By using Group Study Timer, you consent to the practices described in this document.

2. Information We Collect

We collect and process only the information necessary to provide our features safely, reliably, and effectively.

(a) Information You Provide Directly

Account Authentication: When you create an account or sign in, authentication is securely managed through Google Firebase Authentication:
- Google Sign-In: If you authenticate with Google, we receive your account identifier, verified email address, display name, and avatar/profile picture provided by Google.
- Email & Password / Magic Links: If you sign up using an email address and password, or use passwordless email sign-in links (magic links), we store and verify your email address. Passwords are never stored in plain text; they are cryptographically hashed and managed through Firebase Authentication.
Study & Session Data: Your recorded study sessions, active timer duration, subject tags, personal study notes, goals, streaks, and milestones are saved in our databases and cached locally in your browser storage.
Onboarding Profile Details: Country, state/city, education level, current grade/status, academic stream, coaching status, exam categories (e.g., JEE, NEET, UPSC), target exams, and primary goals.
User-Uploaded Images & Avatars: Profile avatars and custom images uploaded to the platform are hosted in Cloud Storage for Firebase (Google Cloud). Uploaded media is scanned to detect and prevent harassment, copyright infringement, and malicious or abusive content.
Voice Notes & Microphone Audio: If you choose to send audio messages in study rooms or group chats, your browser requests permission to access your microphone. Audio recordings (up to 90 seconds for free users, up to 300 seconds for Premium users) are re-encoded and uploaded to Cloud Storage for Firebase. We only access your microphone while you are actively holding or recording a voice note; we never listen, monitor, or record audio in the background. Recorded voice notes are stored strictly to facilitate peer communication and are subject to the same community standards, automated moderation, and deletion standards as text messages.
Group Chat & Community Messages: Chat messages posted in study rooms and group channels are stored to facilitate real-time peer collaboration. Messages may undergo automated moderation to detect harassment, hate speech, spam, and platform abuse.
AI Interactions: Study queries and questions sent to our built-in AI tutor are processed via Google's Gemini API to produce instant study feedback. We retain temporary interaction logs solely to monitor for abuse and misuse; your AI interactions are never utilized for third-party commercial profiling.
Payment Information: For Premium memberships, transactions are conducted via Unified Payments Interface (UPI). We store only payment transaction IDs or verification receipts submitted for manual approval; we never collect or hold your bank account passwords, card numbers, or UPI PINs.

(b) Information Collected Automatically

Device & Network Data: IP address, browser type, operating system version, device identifiers, and language preferences.
Usage & Telemetry: Feature interaction, click paths, session durations, scroll behavior, heatmaps, and session replays collected via Microsoft Clarity and Google Analytics (GA4).
Bot Protection & Security Telemetry: Hardware, interaction patterns, and device signals analyzed via Google reCAPTCHA v3 to verify human users and prevent bot automation.
Local Storage: Browser localStorage is used to preserve timer state, active room configurations, offline study logs, and UI preferences.

3. What We Do NOT Collect

❌ Precise real-time GPS location tracking.
❌ Financial credentials, payment card numbers, or banking passwords.
❌ Sensitive personal categories such as racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious beliefs, or health data.

4. How We Use Your Data

We utilize the collected information for the following lawful purposes:

Providing, operating, and personalizing the Group Study Timer platform.
Synchronizing study sessions, timers, rankings, and group leaderboards in real time.
Facilitating study groups, chat communications, and accountability partnerships.
Enabling AI study tools and generating monthly analytical study performance reviews.
Detecting fraud, cheating, bot attacks, spam, and unauthorized account access.
Analyzing website traffic and usage patterns to optimize user experience and site performance.
Sharing aggregated, anonymized, or licensed data with academic, educational, or commercial partners for research, insights, and service improvements as outlined in Section 6.

5. Data Storage, Processors & Security

We implement industry-standard administrative and technical safeguards to secure your personal data:

Google Firebase & Google Cloud: Realtime Database, Firestore, and Firebase Authentication hosted in secure Google data centers with HTTPS encryption in transit and at-rest encryption.
Supabase: Scalable PostgreSQL cloud database infrastructure used to store user profile data, rankings, telemetry, and platform records.
Cloud Storage for Firebase: Google-operated storage used to host and deliver user profile avatars, chat attachments and uploaded graphics.
Google Gemini API: Cloud AI services used for processing study assistance queries and analytical reports.
Data Breach Notification: In the event of a security breach compromising your personal data, we will notify affected users promptly via direct notification in the app inbox and/or registered email, adhering to applicable legal notification timelines.

6. Data Sharing & Third-Party Disclosures

We partner with trusted third-party providers who process data strictly under our instructions:

Google Firebase & Cloud: Authentication, cloud hosting, and database operations.
Supabase Inc.: Cloud database management, data queries, and storage services.
Google LLC (Gemini API & reCAPTCHA v3): Natural language AI processing and anti-bot threat prevention.
Google Analytics (GA4) & Microsoft Clarity: Aggregated audience analytics, interaction telemetry, and session heatmaps.
YouTube API Services: Group Study Timer uses YouTube API Services to provide focus audio, ambient background sound streams, and video search functionality. By using our music and audio features, you are agreeing to be bound by the YouTube Terms of Service. Please review the Google Privacy Policy for information on how Google collects and handles user data when interacting with YouTube services. You can revoke this application's access to your data via the Google Security Settings page.
Spotify (Spotify AB): Group Study Timer incorporates Spotify embedded web players and the Spotify IFrame API to provide focus music, binaural audio, and study playlists. When you interact with Spotify audio, Spotify may collect device information, IP address, and playback telemetry according to the Spotify Privacy Policy. Group Study Timer does not collect or access your Spotify account credentials.

Third-Party Educational & Commercial Data Partnerships

By using Group Study Timer, you acknowledge and agree that we may share, license, or provide certain educational, profile, and study data with educational partners, research institutions, and commercial organizations for academic analysis, educational insights, and platform optimization:

Eligible Data: Onboarding profile data (country, state, education level, stream, target exams) and study metrics (session lengths, active hours, study totals, streaks).
Excluded Data: We NEVER sell or share your private chat logs, passwords, auth tokens, or AI conversation content.
Opt-Out Right: You may opt out of the commercial sharing or licensing of your personal profile data at any time by emailing us at groupstudytimer@gmail.com.

7. Cookies and Tracking Technologies

We and our service partners use cookies and browser storage technologies to operate the site and evaluate performance:

Essential Cookies & Local Storage: Required for authentication sessions, timer persistence, and core site functionality.
Google Analytics (GA4): Analyzes page traffic, user journey, and engagement metrics.
Microsoft Clarity: Captures behavioral metrics, scroll maps, and session replays to identify UI bugs and improve usability.
Google reCAPTCHA: Deploys cookies and collects hardware/software data to protect against automated spam and attacks.

You can configure your browser to reject cookies or notify you when cookies are being sent. Note that disabling essential storage may affect timer accuracy and authentication.

8. Cross-Border International Data Transfers

Our servers, databases, and third-party vendors (such as Google and Supabase) operate globally. By using Group Study Timer, your information may be transferred to and processed in countries other than your country of residence (including the United States, India, and the European Union), where privacy laws may differ. We take reasonable contractual and technical steps to ensure your data receives adequate protection wherever processed.

9. Your Legal Rights (GDPR, CCPA & Indian DPDP Act)

Depending on your jurisdiction, you have specific privacy rights regarding your personal information:

Right of Access & Portability: You may request a copy of the personal data we hold about you in a machine-readable format.
Right to Rectification: You can edit inaccurate or outdated profile information at any time within your profile settings.
Right to Erasure ("Right to be Forgotten"): You may request permanent deletion of your account, profile, and associated study records.
Right to Restrict or Object: You can object to or restrict certain types of processing, including third-party data licensing.
Right to Withdraw Consent: Where processing is based on consent, you may withdraw your consent at any time without affecting prior lawful processing.

To exercise any of these rights, email us at groupstudytimer@gmail.com. We will respond within 30 days.

10. Children’s Privacy (COPPA & Global Standards)

Group Study Timer is strictly intended for individuals who are at least 13 years of age (or 16 years of age in applicable jurisdictions like the EU). We do not knowingly collect or solicit personal information from children under 13. If we become aware that we have inadvertently collected personal data from a child under 13 without verified parental consent, we will promptly delete that information from our servers. If you believe a child under 13 has provided us personal data, please contact us immediately at groupstudytimer@gmail.com.

11. Data Retention

We retain your personal data for as long as your account remains active or as needed to provide our services, resolve disputes, enforce agreements, and comply with legal requirements. Upon a verified account deletion request, your identifiable records and uploaded files in Firebase (including Cloud Storage) and Supabase will be erased or irreversibly anonymized within a reasonable period.

12. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may periodically update this policy to reflect platform updates, technology evolution, or regulatory adjustments. Significant changes will be announced with an updated "Last Updated" date at the top of this document. Continued use of Group Study Timer following any modifications signifies acceptance of the revised policy.

13. Contact Us

If you have questions, feedback, grievance inquiries, or privacy requests, contact us at:
📩 groupstudytimer@gmail.com