Privacy Policy

1 Information We Collect

We collect information that you voluntarily provide when you:

• Register an account — name, email address, phone number, college name, and educational details
• Apply for an internship — domain preference, batch selection, and prior experience
• Make a payment — payment reference numbers and transaction screenshots (we do not store credit/debit card numbers)
• Submit projects — project files, GitHub links, and submission notes
• Contact us — name, email, and message content via the contact form

Automatically collected data: When you visit our website, we may automatically collect your IP address, browser type, operating system, referring URLs, and pages viewed. This data is used solely for analytics and security purposes.

2 How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect for the following purposes:

• To create and manage your InternShift account
• To process internship applications and assign courses
• To verify payments and activate your internship plan
• To issue verified digital certificates upon program completion
• To send important updates about your internship progress, deadlines, and announcements
• To respond to your inquiries and support requests
• To improve our website, services, and user experience
• To detect and prevent fraud or unauthorized access

3 Data Security

We implement industry-standard security measures to protect your personal information, including:

• Passwords are hashed using secure algorithms — we never store passwords in plain text
• Session tokens are used for authentication with automatic expiration
• Content Security Policy (CSP) headers to prevent cross-site scripting (XSS) attacks
• HTTPS encryption for all data transmitted between your browser and our servers
• Access controls ensuring that only authorized personnel can access student data

While we strive to use commercially acceptable means to protect your personal data, no method of transmission over the Internet is 100% secure.

4 Cookies & Tracking

Our website uses cookies to enhance your experience:

• Session cookies — keep you logged in during your browsing session
• Preference cookies — remember your settings and preferences
• Analytics cookies — understand how visitors interact with our website to improve performance

You can choose to disable cookies through your individual browser settings. However, disabling cookies may limit your ability to use certain features of our website.

5 Data Retention

We retain your personal data for as long as necessary:

• Account data — retained for the duration of your account and up to 2 years after deletion
• Certificate records — retained indefinitely to support verification by employers
• Payment records — retained for 5 years as required by Indian tax and financial regulations
• Contact form messages — retained for 1 year after resolution

You may request deletion of your personal data at any time. Certain records may be retained as required by law.

6 Your Rights

You have the following rights regarding your personal data:

• Right to Access — request a copy of the personal data we hold about you
• Right to Correction — request correction of inaccurate or incomplete data
• Right to Deletion — request deletion of your personal data, subject to legal retention requirements
• Right to Withdraw Consent — withdraw consent for data processing at any time
• Right to Object — object to the processing of your data for certain purposes

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us using the details provided below.

7 Third-Party Services

Our website may contain links to third-party services, including:

• Google Fonts — for typography (subject to Google's privacy policy)
• Unsplash — for stock images (no user data is shared)
• Payment gateways — for processing transactions (we do not store card details)

We are not responsible for the privacy practices of third-party websites or services.

8 Children's Privacy

Our services are intended for individuals aged 16 and above. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children under 16. If we discover that a child under 16 has provided us with personal information, we will delete it immediately.

9 Changes to This Policy

We may update our Privacy Policy from time to time. Any changes will be posted on this page with an updated revision date. Continued use of the website after changes constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.