Privacy Policy

1. About Global Scholar AI

Global Scholar AI is an opportunity-discovery platform designed to help students, researchers, professionals, and other users discover scholarships, fellowships, grants, research funding, internships, academic opportunities, and related programs.

2. Information we collect

When you use Global Scholar AI, we may collect information that you provide directly to us, including your email address, account information, profile details, educational background, interests, preferences, saved opportunities, application tracking information, reminder settings, and other information you choose to provide.

We may also collect technical and usage information associated with your use of the service, including pages or features you interact with, opportunity-sharing activity, referral or campaign information, and diagnostic or security information where such functionality is enabled.

3. Analytics and browser storage

Global Scholar AI uses first-party analytics to understand how people use the platform and to improve features and subscription flows. For this purpose, the service may create a randomly generated anonymous identifier and store it in your browser's local storage.

When you arrive through a link containing campaign or referral parameters, such as UTM source, medium, or campaign values, Global Scholar AI may temporarily store that attribution information in your browser's session storage. Analytics events may include the anonymous identifier, the page or feature involved, an opportunity identifier where relevant, and applicable campaign attribution information.

4. How we use information

We use information to operate and improve Global Scholar AI, provide account features, personalize opportunity discovery, maintain saved opportunities and preferences, support application tracking and reminders, process Premium subscriptions, deliver requested communications, protect the security of the service, troubleshoot problems, and understand how the platform is used.

5. Payments and Premium subscriptions

Premium subscription payments are processed through Stripe. Payment-card information is entered through Stripe's hosted payment experience and is processed by Stripe under its own terms and privacy practices. Global Scholar AI does not directly store your full payment-card number or card security code.

Global Scholar AI may retain information needed to manage your subscription, such as Stripe customer and subscription identifiers, the applicable subscription price, subscription status, renewal period information, and cancellation status. Your email address may also be provided to Stripe when creating a billing customer associated with your account.

6. AI-assisted application features

If you use AI-assisted application features, such as application assistance or application review, the instructions, draft text, review focus, and relevant opportunity or application context needed to fulfill your request may be sent to OpenAI for processing. OpenAI processes this information as a service provider supporting the requested AI functionality.

You choose whether to use these AI features and what text to provide. You should avoid including passwords, financial account information, government identification numbers, or other sensitive personal information that is not necessary for the application assistance you request.

Global Scholar AI may maintain usage information needed to operate, secure, and enforce limits on AI features. AI-generated content may contain errors and should be reviewed before it is used in an application.

7. Authentication, communications, and service providers

Global Scholar AI relies on third-party service providers to operate parts of the service. These may include providers for authentication and database infrastructure, website hosting, payment processing, email delivery, and other operational or security functions. These providers may process information as necessary to provide their services to Global Scholar AI.

If you enable or use email-based features, we may use your account email address to send account messages, opportunity alerts, reminders, or other communications associated with the service.

8. Opportunity providers and external websites

Global Scholar AI provides information and links relating to opportunities offered by universities, governments, funding agencies, foundations, companies, research institutions, and other third parties.

When you follow a link to an external website, that website is governed by its own privacy practices and policies. Global Scholar AI does not control how third-party websites collect or use your information.

9. Information sharing

We do not sell your personal information. We may share information with service providers that help us operate Global Scholar AI, when necessary to protect the service or its users, when required by law, or in connection with a legitimate business transaction such as a merger, acquisition, or transfer of the service.

10. Data security

We use reasonable technical and organizational measures intended to protect information associated with Global Scholar AI. However, no online service or method of electronic storage can guarantee absolute security.

11. Data retention

We may retain information for as long as reasonably necessary to provide the service, maintain legitimate business records, comply with legal obligations, resolve disputes, prevent fraud or abuse, and protect the security and integrity of the platform. Different categories of information may be retained for different periods depending on their purpose.

You can request account deletion. Successful automatic deletion removes account-owned profile, saved-opportunity, application, preference, reminder, alert, and AI usage records. Analytics events retain their other fields with the account user identifier removed. Billing-linked accounts and administrator or reviewer records require support review; deletion does not cancel subscriptions or automatically erase review audit events or records held by service providers.

12. Your choices

You may choose not to provide optional profile information and may update certain account, profile, saved-opportunity, application-tracking, and preference information through available account features.

Browser controls may allow you to clear locally stored information. Clearing local or session storage may reset the anonymous analytics identifier or campaign attribution stored in that browser. You may also contact Global Scholar AI regarding requests concerning your personal information.

13. Children

Global Scholar AI is not intended to knowingly collect personal information from children in violation of applicable law. If we learn that personal information has been collected in a manner that requires parental consent and such consent was not obtained, we may take appropriate steps to remove it.

14. Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy as Global Scholar AI evolves. When we make changes, we may update the effective date shown on this page and provide additional notice when appropriate.

15. Contact

Questions about this Privacy Policy or the handling of personal information may be directed to Global Scholar AI at support@globalscholarai.com.