Privacy Policy

Last updated: 5 November 2026

1. Who we are

Bustan e-Learning (“Bustan”, “we”, “us”) is responsible for the personal data described on this page (the “data controller”, or “data fiduciary” under Indian law). You can reach us through the Contact section of this website, or by post at Bustan e-Learning, HiLite Business Park, Olavanna, Kozhikode 673014, Kerala, India. The same address handles all privacy questions and complaints.

This policy covers this website, the Bustan platform, and the Bustan e-Learning apps for Android, iPhone and computers. On Google Play and the App Store, the app is listed under the developer name Mercowis Solutions, the technology company that develops, updates and manages the software for us and publishes the app. Bustan alone decides how your data is used, and this policy applies to the app there too. Mercowis Solutions does not use your data for its own purposes, and reaches it only where needed to run, update or fix the software, on our instructions.

We are based in India, and the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 applies to us. Where we teach families in the European Economic Area, Switzerland or the United Kingdom, the GDPR and the UK GDPR also apply.

2. What we collect

Registration details — the parent's or guardian's name, email address and phone number, and the child's name, date of birth, gender, nationality, address and languages, with the subjects, level and class times you choose.
Learning records — attendance, work and scores, homework (which may include photographs and voice recordings, and a picture sent automatically to the teacher when a child presses Done: the sheet's own image, or else a picture of what the app shows, or a frame from a screen share the child has already allowed on a computer), recordings of live classes, teacher notes, messages, voice messages and attachments on the platform, the name a child picks or types on a class or homework link, and practice records such as attempts, points, badges and daily-routine ticks.
Account and payment details — your sign-in details, a profile picture if you add one, and records of fees paid. We never receive your full card or bank details.
Technical information — sign-in records, your IP address and the general area our servers estimate from it, device model, operating system, app version, time zone and connection quality, to keep accounts secure and classes working. Our computer apps also send processor, memory, disk and graphics details, class join, leave, audio and video events, and, when something goes wrong, diagnostic logs and crash details. And, if you allow notifications in our app, a notification token for your device, so we can send you messages and class reminders.
App usage — when you are signed in on the web, phone or computer apps: the pages and screens opened and the time spent on them, the buttons, links and tiles tapped, when the app is opened and closed, and whether a notification reached you and was opened, dismissed or acted on, with your account, role, platform, app version and type of device. Administrators can see one person's timeline. We never record what you type, message content, file contents or passwords.
On your device — your phone or computer asks your permission first. The microphone is used only when you record a voice message, homework or a voice note. The camera is used when you choose to take a photo to send; the photos and files you choose are read when you attach them. Our computer apps also use the camera and microphone for video classes. Your phone's approximate location is used only to work out local prayer times for My Day reminders, and we do not receive it. You can turn any of these off in your device's settings, and only that feature stops working.
Website and enquiries — what you send us through the forms or the chat on this site, and visit statistics as described in section 7.
Staff and job applicants — application details, including your CV, qualifications and contact details; and, once you work with us, identity documents and the records needed to employ and pay you.

We need the registration details to enrol and teach a student; without them we cannot provide the classes.

If you choose to sign in with your Google account, Google shares only your name, email address and profile picture with us. We do not see your Google password or anything else in your Google account.

We use this only to sign you in to your Bustan account and to show your name and picture inside the platform. We do not use it for advertising, we do not sell it, and we do not use it to train artificial-intelligence models. It is kept as part of your account and deleted with it, or sooner if you ask (section 10). You can disconnect Bustan at any time in your Google account settings.

Bustan's use and transfer to any other app of information received from Google APIs will adhere to the Google API Services User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements.

If you choose Sign in with Apple in our iPhone app, Apple shares with us an identifier for your Apple ID and, if you allow it, your name and email address. If you choose to hide your email, Apple gives us a private relay address instead, which forwards to your real one. We do not see your Apple password or anything else in your Apple account.

We use this only to recognise you when you sign in and to connect it to your existing Bustan account, on the same terms as Google sign-in above: no advertising, no selling, no training of artificial-intelligence models, and it is deleted with your account or sooner if you ask (section 10). You can turn it off in the app (More, then Sign in with Apple) or stop using it in your Apple account settings.

4. Children

A parent or legal guardian registers the child and gives consent on the child's behalf. We do not knowingly accept a registration made by a child. Children have no sign-in of their own; they use the platform under a parent's account, or through a class or homework link from the teacher, where they pick or type their name and their work and answers are recorded.
We do no targeted advertising and no tracking or profiling of children for advertising or commercial purposes, and we add no advertising or analytics software to our apps. Embedded YouTube videos and video classes are run by those providers, under their own policies. We keep the learning records and app-usage records in section 2 to teach your child, report progress to you and run the service. App usage is recorded against the parent's account, so it can include what a child does while using that account.
Leaderboards: to encourage practice, families using the platform can see the top 20 of weekly and monthly boards, for the batch and the school, showing a child's first name, last initial, batch, rank and points. Staff see full names. You may object (section 10), and we will tell you what we can do.
A parent may see, correct or delete their child's data, and withdraw consent, at any time (section 10).
Live classes are recorded so that a child can catch up on a missed class. If you would rather your child were not recorded, tell us and we will discuss the options with you.

5. Why we use it, and our legal basis

To teach students, run accounts and take fee payments — to perform our contract with you.
To record classes, review teaching quality, keep accounts secure and fix technical problems — our legitimate interests, which you may object to.
To see how our apps are used, whether notifications arrive and what to improve, and to show leaderboards — our legitimate interests, which you may object to.
To assess job applications and employ staff — steps towards, and performance of, a contract.
To keep accounting, tax and employment records — legal obligation.
Website statistics beyond a basic visit count — your consent, which you can withdraw at any time.

We do not sell your data, use it for advertising, or send you marketing unless you opt in. No decision about you or your child is made by automated means alone.

We do not sell personal data. We share it only with service providers that help us run Bustan, such as hosting, file-storage, video-class, payment, email, messaging, IP-location and push-notification providers, under contracts that limit them to acting on our instructions; and where the law requires it or it is needed to protect a child. Some of these providers are outside India. Where data from the EEA, Switzerland or the UK is transferred, we use the European Commission's Standard Contractual Clauses (and the UK Addendum). Notifications reach your phone through Apple or Google and a notification service, and their text can include the sender, your child's name and the start of a message.

Inside the platform, a child's teacher and the school's staff see the information they need; staff can read family messages; a family's second parent sign-in sees the same children; others in a batch can see and hear a child in live classes and their recordings, and see their name on class name lists; and leaderboards show what section 4 describes. Families cannot message each other.

7. Cookies

This website uses cookies that are necessary for it to work, such as remembering your cookie choice and keeping spam out of our forms. It uses visit-statistics cookies only if you agree. The Bustan platform uses necessary cookies to keep you signed in, and a few to remember your preferences. We use no advertising cookies.

You can change your choice at any time from at the foot of any page.

8. Security

We protect personal data with appropriate technical and organisational measures, including encryption in transit and access limited to the staff who need it. No system is completely secure, so please keep your sign-in details private.

9. How long we keep it

We keep personal data only for as long as we need it to teach, to run your account, and to meet our legal and accounting obligations, and then we delete it. You can ask us how long we keep a particular record, or ask us to delete it sooner (section 10).

Detailed app-usage records are kept for 30 days by default and then deleted. Daily totals by role, platform, page and feature, which do not name anyone, are kept for longer.

10. Your rights

You can ask us to:

give you a copy of the personal data we hold about you or your child
correct it, or delete it
restrict or object to how we use it
give it to you, or someone else, in a portable form
withdraw any consent you have given
record someone who may exercise these rights for you if you die or become unable to

Deleting your account. Accounts are created by the school, not in the apps. To delete your account and its data, ask us through the Contact section or the chat on this website. We will close the account, delete your and your child's data, and tell you what was deleted. We will also tell you what we must keep and why, such as accounting records, which are deleted when that period ends. Removing an app from your phone doesn't delete your account or data.

If you are not satisfied, you may complain to the Data Protection Board of India; in the EEA or Switzerland, to your local data protection authority; or in the UK, to the Information Commissioner's Office.

11. Changes to this policy

We will post any change here with a new date at the top, and tell you directly about any significant change.

12. Contact us

📧 info@bustanonline.com, or the Contact section of this website
🌐 https://www.bustanonline.com