Privacy Policy

We collect information that you provide directly to us when you create an account, customize your admissions preferences, draft academic documents, or connect third-party communication channels:

• Account & Profile Information: Full name, email address, password hash, phone number, WhatsApp contact details, target degree levels (Bachelor's, Master's, PhD), intended fields of study, and target destination countries (e.g., Canada, USA, UK, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Sweden).
• Academic Materials & Document Studio Content: Statements of Purpose (SOP), personal statements, cover letters, research proposals, CV drafts, and notes you create, edit, or store within our Document Studio.
• Application Tracking Data: Saved scholarships, university deadlines, prospective professor contacts, and application checklist statuses.
• Connected Integrations: Telegram Chat ID and username when pairing our 24/7 AI Admissions Bot; Google OAuth profile details when logging in with Google.
• Voice & Audio Notes: Temporary audio voice recordings sent to the Telegram bot or web platform for real-time speech-to-text transcription via our local speech recognition service.
• Technical & Log Data: IP address, browser type, operating system version, referring URLs, timestamps, and interaction telemetry to monitor platform stability and performance.

We use the data collected strictly to provide, optimize, and secure SmartApply services:

• Personalized Scholarship & University Matching: Recommending funding opportunities that align with your degree, field, and eligibility profile.
• Document Structuring & AI Coaching: Providing intelligent critique, grammar adjustments, structure recommendations, and tailored draft ideas for your application documents.
• Outreach & Deadline Notifications: Sending critical deadline reminders, scholarship alerts, and status updates via Email, Telegram, or WhatsApp (with your consent).
• Account Administration & Security: Authenticating user sessions, verifying pairing codes, preventing fraudulent activity, and providing technical support.
• Platform Reliability: Diagnosing errors, tracking server latency, and improving user experience across mobile and desktop.

SmartApply incorporates state-of-the-art Large Language Models (including OpenAI, Google Gemini, and Grok) and speech-recognition engines. We hold a strict stance regarding user intellectual property and privacy:

We implement industry-grade technical and organizational safeguards to protect your personal information:

• Encryption in Transit & at Rest: All data transmitted between your browser and our servers is secured with modern Transport Layer Security (TLS 1.3 / HTTPS). Database storage utilizes encrypted PostgreSQL partitions.
• Access Control: Strict role-based permissions prevent unauthorized employee access to user documents and credentials.
• Data Retention: We retain your documents and account information for as long as your account is active or needed to provide services. You can delete individual documents or request full account termination at any time.

We do not sell, rent, or monetize your personal information to third parties or advertisers. We share minimal necessary data only with trusted service providers supporting our infrastructure:

• Authentication & Database Infrastructure: Supabase and PostgreSQL for secure identity authentication and encrypted document storage.
• Communication Providers: Resend for transactional emails; Meta WhatsApp Business API for opted-in scholarship alerts; Telegram Bot API for admissions chat assistant.
• AI Model Providers: OpenAI API, Google Cloud Vertex / AI Studio, and xAI APIs under strict commercial non-retention agreements.
• Hosting & Content Delivery: Cloudflare and Vercel for web delivery, DDoS protection, and SSL encryption.

We use essential cookies and local storage tokens to maintain your authenticated login session, remember your UI theme preferences (light/dark mode), and support Progressive Web App (PWA) offline caching via our Service Worker.

You can control or disable cookies via your browser settings. Note that disabling essential session cookies will prevent you from signing in to your SmartApply dashboard.

Depending on your location, you have statutory rights regarding your personal information, including:

• Right to Access & Portability: You can request a copy of the personal data and documents we hold about you.
• Right to Rectification: You can update and correct your profile information at any time in your Settings.
• Right to Erasure ("Right to be Forgotten"): You can request the permanent deletion of your account, saved documents, and application records.
• Right to Withdraw Consent: You can opt out of WhatsApp alerts or Telegram bot pairing at any time with a single click.

To exercise any of these rights, please email us at privacy@marcalyx.com.

SmartApply serves students globally. Your information may be transferred to and processed in servers located outside your country of residence (such as the United States or European Union). We ensure that standard contractual clauses and rigorous data protection measures are in place to safeguard all international data transfers.

SmartApply is designed for students seeking undergraduate and postgraduate higher education opportunities. Our platform is not intended for individuals under the age of 16. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children under 16. If we become aware that a child under 16 has registered with us, we will promptly delete the account and associated records.

If you have any questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or our data practices, please reach out to our Data Protection & Privacy Team: