1. Who we are
Speshul is operated by Chhavi Goyal, sole proprietor, trading as Speshul ("Speshul", "we", "us"). We decide how and why your personal data is used, which makes us the Data Fiduciary under India's Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 (DPDP Act).
Speshul helps parents find and book verified educators, therapists, coaches and assessors for their children, through the Speshul website and app at speshul.in. A "Verified" badge means we have checked the credentials and documents a professional submitted, at a point in time. It is not a guarantee of their conduct, competence or results (see the Terms).
This policy applies to everyone who uses Speshul: parents and guardians, the children they create profiles for, and professionals who offer sessions. It should be read with the Speshul Terms & Conditions for Parents and the Terms & Conditions for Professionals. Where those Terms mention personal data, this policy gives the detail.
Business | Chhavi Goyal, trading as Speshul |
Address | Vaswani Reserve Apartment, B-1101, B1201, Kadubeesanahalli, Bangalore -560103 |
Privacy contact | support@speshul.in |
Grievance Officer | Chhavi Goyal, chhavi@speshul.in |
Child-safety concerns | support@speshul.in |
We never sell your data or your child's data, and we do not show advertising.
2. What data we collect
We collect only what we need to match families with professionals, run bookings and keep the platform safe.
Who | What we collect | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
Parents and guardians | Name, relationship to the child, email, mobile number, password (stored encrypted), WhatsApp reminder preference, bookings, what you choose to share with each professional and any note you add, cancellations and refund requests, no-show, safety and other concerns raised with us, ratings and reviews you publish | You, at sign-up and while using Speshul |
Children (entered by a parent) | Name, age, class, curriculum, type of schooling; what you have noticed about your child; what the school has asked for; past assessments and their findings; current support; the support you are looking for; school notes, assessment reports and other documents you upload; notes and suggestions a professional writes after a session | The parent or guardian only. We do not collect data directly from children |
Professionals | Name, photo, role, city, qualifications, Aadhar number, RCI CRR number, certificates and other uploaded documents, years of practice, age groups and areas supported, methods, curricula and languages, session format, session address and locality, fees, availability, bank account or UPI details and PAN (for payouts and tax deducted at source), session outcome notes; records of complaints about them, investigations, suspensions and removals | The professional, at onboarding and while using Speshul; complaint records come from parents and from our own reviews |
People named by others | A professional's reference (name, email, relationship); parents a professional invites to give feedback (phone or email) | The professional who names them |
Payments | Amount, payment method type, transaction ID and status | Our payment partner. We do not see or store your full card, UPI PIN or netbanking details |
Technical data | Device and browser type, IP address, log-in times, app errors | Automatically, when you use Speshul |
Information about a child's development, learning difficulties, therapy and assessments is especially sensitive. We treat it as such throughout this policy.
3. Children's data and parental consent
Speshul is used by adults. Children do not create accounts. Every child profile is created and controlled by a parent or lawful guardian.
Consent. Before you add a child's details, we ask you to confirm that you are the child's parent or lawful guardian and that you consent to us processing their data for the purposes in this policy. You confirm this again each time you book, when you choose what to share with that professional (Section 5).
No tracking or targeted advertising. We do not track children's behaviour, build profiles for advertising, or show ads to anyone on Speshul.
No sale. We never sell or rent a child's data.
Professionals see only what you choose. Section 5 explains how you control what each professional can see.
You stay in control. You can view, correct or delete your child's profile at any time (Section 8).
If we learn that a child's data was added without a parent's or guardian's consent, we will delete it.
4. Why we use your data
We use each type of data only for the purposes below. If we ever want to use it for something new, we will ask you first.
Purpose | Data used |
|---|---|
Create and secure your account, including sign-in OTPs | Name, email, mobile number, password |
Help you search for and compare professionals. Results are suggestions to help you search, not an assessment of whether a professional suits your child; choosing is your decision (see the Parent Terms) | Child's age, schooling, curriculum, what you've noticed, the support you seek, the area and filters you search with |
Book, reschedule and cancel sessions, and process refunds | Booking details, payment status |
Share the details you choose with the professional you book | Only the categories you switch on (Section 5) |
Verify that professionals are qualified, including contacting their reference [and, if used, a credential-check provider] | Qualifications, RCI number, certificates, reference's name, email and relationship |
Show professional profiles to parents | Professional's public profile: name, photo, role, qualifications, experience, areas supported, languages, locality, fees, availability, ratings |
Feature professional profiles in Speshul's marketing, as licensed in the Professional Terms | Professional's public profile content only. Never parent or child data |
Publish ratings and reviews | Your rating and review text, shown with your first name / initials. |
Pay professionals and deduct Speshul's commission, and deduct or collect tax where the law requires (for example TDS) | Session records, bank or UPI details, PAN |
Send booking confirmations, reminders and service updates by SMS, WhatsApp or email | Name, mobile number, email, booking details |
Handle complaints, no-show concerns and disputes; investigate safety, conduct and misrepresentation concerns; suspend or remove accounts; and enforce the Terms, including the no-circumvention clauses | Booking records, messages, session notes, concerns reported to us, verification records |
Keep Speshul safe and working, and meet legal duties | Technical data, transaction records |
We send WhatsApp messages only if you opt in, and you can switch them off at any time. We will not send marketing messages unless you separately agree to them.
5. How sharing with professionals works
A professional sees your child's details only after you book them, and only the details you choose to share.
You pick what to share. Before you pay for each booking, you choose from four categories: Basics, What you've noticed, Documents and Current support. You can set defaults in your profile and change them for each booking. You can also add a short note for the professional.
Access is limited to that booking. The professional can see the shared details to prepare for and run the session.
You can stop access at any time. Your profile shows every professional who can currently see your child's details, what they can see, and when access ends. Tap Stop access to end it immediately.
What the professional sends back. After a session, the professional may write a note on how it went. That note is shared with you and kept in your child's record.
Professionals agree, in the Professional Terms, to use your child's details only to provide the session you booked, to keep them confidential and secure, and not to copy, keep or share them once that purpose is over. They must not use details from Speshul to contact you or your child outside Speshul, except as needed for a booked session. Notes a professional writes about a session are different (Section 7).
Documents professionals upload for verification are seen only by our verification team, never by parents.
In-person sessions. Some professionals show only their locality until a session is booked. Once you book an in-person session with them, we show you the full session address.
What the professional sees about you. When you book, the professional sees your name, so they can run the session.
6. Who else receives data
We use a small number of service providers (Data Processors) to run Speshul. Each receives only the data it needs for its task, under a contract that requires it to protect that data.
Provider type | What they do | Data they receive |
|---|---|---|
SMS and WhatsApp messaging ([MSG91]) | Send OTPs, booking confirmations and reminders | Mobile number, message content |
Email delivery ([Resend / Brevo]) | Send account and booking emails | Email address, message content |
Business email ([Zoho Mail]) | Our support inbox | Whatever you write to us |
Payment gateway ([PhonePe]) | Take payments, process refunds, pay professionals | Amount, payment details you enter with them, professional payout details |
Cloud hosting ([Google/Digital Ocean]) | Store and run the app | All app data, stored encrypted |
Video calls for online sessions ([Google Link]) | Run the online session when you tap Join | Names shown in the call; audio and video in real time. [We do not record sessions.] |
Credential checks ([ IDA]) | Help us verify professionals' credentials, as the Professional Terms allow | Professional's name, qualifications, RCI number, certificates |
We may also disclose data:
When the law requires it , for example a valid request from a court, the police or a regulator.
To protect a child or anyone else from serious harm, including reporting to the police where the law requires, for example under the POCSO Act, 2012.
Misrepresentation and misconduct. If a professional submits false credentials or misconduct is confirmed, we may tell the relevant professional body (for example, the Rehabilitation Council of India) and the families who booked that professional, sharing only what they need to know, as the Terms allow.
If the business changes hands , for example when Speshul becomes a company. The new owner must follow this policy, and we will tell you before that happens.
7. How long we keep data, and deleting your account
We keep data only as long as we need it for the purposes in Section 4, or as long as the law requires.
Data | How long we keep it |
|---|---|
Child profile and uploaded documents | Until you delete them or your account, then removed within [30] days |
A professional's access to your child's details | Ends when the session is closed or when you stop access, whichever comes first |
Session notes, bookings, payment and refund records | [8] years, for tax and accounting law; anonymised where possible |
Professional verification documents | While the professional is listed, plus [1] year |
Professional bank or UPI details and PAN | While the professional is listed, then as long as tax law requires [8 years] |
Records of safety complaints, investigations, suspensions and removals | As long as needed to protect children and to stop a removed professional from re-joining or as long as the Law requires. |
Inactive accounts | Deleted after [3] years without a sign-in, after we warn you by email or SMS at least [48 hours] before |
Technical logs | [180] days |
Deleting your account. You can delete your account from your profile or by writing to us. We will delete your profile, your children's profiles and their documents, and end every professional's access. We keep only the records the law requires us to keep, such as payment records, and nothing else. Professionals can close their account at any time; bookings already made must still be honoured or cancelled and refunded, as the Professional Terms say.
Session notes a professional has written may also be kept in that professional's own records, as their professional obligations require. These notes are the only thing a professional may keep. They may not keep the child details you shared with them.
8. Your rights
You can exercise these rights for yourself and, as a parent or guardian, for your child:
Access: get a summary of the data we hold about you and who we have shared it with.
Correction: fix anything that is wrong or out of date.
Erasure: ask us to delete your data or your child's data.
Withdraw consent: at any time, as easily as you gave it. Bookings already made are not affected, but we may not be able to provide some services without the data.
Nominate someone: name a person to exercise these rights for you if you die or can no longer do so yourself.
Complain: raise a grievance with us, and escalate it to the Data Protection Board of India if you are not satisfied.
How to ask. Most changes can be made directly in your profile: correcting details, deleting your child's profile or your account, and stopping a professional's access. For anything else, including a summary of your data or nominating someone, write to [support@speshul.in] or our Grievance Officer. We will reply within 30 days.
Grievance Officer. Chhavi Goyal, chhai@speshul.in. We acknowledge complaints within 5 business days and resolve them within 30 days.
9. Security, storage, cookies and changes
Security. Data is encrypted in transit and at rest. Passwords are hashed, not stored in readable form. Uploaded documents are visible only to the people allowed to see them. Only a few named people at Speshul can reach personal data, and only when their work needs it.
If something goes wrong. If a breach affects your data, we will tell you and the Data Protection Board of India as the law requires, explaining what happened and what we are doing about it.
Where data is stored. [In India.] If any provider stores data outside India, we will name the country here and make sure it is a country Indian law permits.
Cookies. We use only the cookies and similar storage needed to keep you signed in and make Speshul work. We do not use advertising or cross-site tracking cookies.
Changes to this policy. If we change how we use your data in a way that matters, we will tell you by email or in the app before the change takes effect, and ask for fresh consent where the law requires. This applies even though the Terms say that continued use means you accept changes to the Terms: for how we use personal data, we rely on notice and, where required, fresh consent, not on continued use.