Legal
Privacy Policy
Last updated: 1 July 2026 · Effective: 1 July 2026
1. Who we are
This Privacy Policy explains how Rajeev Sangwan, trading as Student Help UK ("we", "us", "our"), collects and uses your personal data when you visit wehelpstudents.com or use our services.
For the purposes of the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018, we are the data controller of the personal data we collect about you.
Contact: privacy@wehelpstudents.com
Postal address: TODO — replace with your correspondence address (UK).
ICO registration: TODO — replace with your ICO registration number (e.g. ZA123456) once registered.
2. Personal data we collect
We collect the following categories of data:
- Account data when you register or sign in with Google: name, email address, Google account identifier, profile picture URL.
- Communications: messages you send us by email or through social channels, including any information you choose to share (e.g. CV, visa status, university).
- Booking data: when you book a mentorship session, payment and scheduling are handled by Topmate. We do not receive or store your card details.
- Usage data (only if you accept analytics cookies): pages viewed, referrer, device type, approximate location (city level), collected via Google Analytics 4 with IP anonymisation.
- Technical data: IP address, browser type, and server logs required to operate and secure the site.
We do not knowingly collect data from children under 13. We do not process special category data (e.g. health, race, religion). Please do not share such data with us.
3. How we use your data & lawful bases
Under UK GDPR we must have a lawful basis to process your personal data. The bases we rely on are:
| Purpose | Lawful basis |
|---|---|
| Providing you with an account and responding to your enquiries | Performance of a contract (Art. 6(1)(b)) |
| Sending you service emails (account, security, transactional) | Performance of a contract / our legitimate interests (Art. 6(1)(f)) |
| Measuring how the site is used (Google Analytics 4) | Consent (Art. 6(1)(a)) — you can withdraw at any time |
| Securing the site, preventing fraud, keeping legally required logs | Legitimate interests / legal obligation (Art. 6(1)(f) / (c)) |
| Complying with tax, accounting or other legal duties | Legal obligation (Art. 6(1)(c)) |
We do not use your data for automated decision-making or profiling that produces legal effects concerning you.
4. Who we share your data with
We only share your data with the service providers we need to run the site. These are our processors under Article 28 UK GDPR:
- Google Ireland Ltd — sign-in (OAuth), Fonts, Analytics 4 (only with consent). Data may be transferred to Google LLC in the United States under the EU–US Data Privacy Framework.
- Topmate — booking, scheduling, and payments for mentorship sessions. Their own privacy policy applies to that transaction.
- YouTube (Google) — embedded videos on the site set cookies once you play a video.
- Our hosting provider (Laravel Cloud / equivalent, UK/EU region where possible) — stores site content and logs.
- Job data aggregators — we pull sponsorship job listings from third-party APIs. No personal data of yours is shared with them.
We do not sell your personal data and we do not share it for third-party advertising.
5. International transfers
Some of the processors above are based in or transfer data to countries outside the UK/EEA, principally the United States. When this happens we rely on one of the safeguards under UK GDPR Article 46:
- UK adequacy regulations or the UK Extension to the EU–US Data Privacy Framework, where available; or
- the UK International Data Transfer Agreement (IDTA) or the EU Standard Contractual Clauses with the UK Addendum.
6. How long we keep your data
- Account data: for as long as you keep your account, plus up to 12 months after deletion in secure backups.
- Email correspondence: up to 24 months from your last message.
- Analytics data: retained by Google Analytics 4 for 14 months.
- Server access logs: up to 90 days.
- Accounting records (where required): 6 years to meet UK HMRC rules.
7. Your rights
Under UK GDPR you have the right to:
- Access the personal data we hold about you (Article 15).
- Request rectification of inaccurate data (Article 16).
- Request erasure ("right to be forgotten") where applicable (Article 17).
- Request restriction of processing (Article 18).
- Receive your data in a portable format (Article 20).
- Object to processing based on our legitimate interests (Article 21).
- Withdraw consent at any time where processing is based on consent (Article 7(3)) — this does not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before withdrawal.
To exercise any of these rights, email us at privacy@wehelpstudents.com. We aim to respond within one month, as required by law.
If you are unhappy with how we have handled your data, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the UK Information Commissioner's Office (ICO): ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint · Helpline: 0303 123 1113.
9. Security
We apply reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect your data: HTTPS everywhere, hashed passwords (never stored in plain text), role-based access to the admin area, and regular backups. No online service is 100% secure — you share information at your own risk.
10. Changes to this policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. The "Last updated" date at the top will always reflect the current version. Material changes will be notified by email or a site notice.
11. Contact
Data protection questions: privacy@wehelpstudents.com. General questions: hello@wehelpstudents.com.