Privacy Policy

1. Introduction & Scope

Welcome to FreeCourse.io. FreeCourse.io is an educational aggregator based in India. We curate, search, and list free online courses, coupons, educational resources, guides, and job opportunities available publicly or via partner educational networks.

Please note that FreeCourse.io does not host, stream, or sell any educational courses directly. Instead, we redirect users to third-party providers (such as Udemy, Coursera, edX, etc.) where courses reside. We only act as a facilitator of educational content discovery. This policy governs data collected directly on FreeCourse.io. It does not apply to external websites you may visit after leaving our platform.

2. Personal Data We Collect

We collect information to deliver a personalized, secure, and intuitive search experience. The categories of information we collect include:

3. Purposes & Lawful Basis of Processing

Under the Indian DPDP Act, 2023, and corresponding global frameworks, we process your personal data under the following lawful bases:

• Consent: When you register an account, sign in via Google OAuth, choose to subscribe to our newsletter, or submit custom coupon postings. You may withdraw this consent at any time.
• Legitimate Performance: For necessary site configuration, routing courses, optimizing search latency via Meilisearch, and resolving broken coupon reports.
• Legal & Security Obligations: Safeguarding servers from DDoS attacks, checking logs for malicious activity, complying with Indian CERT-In reporting timelines, and preventing spam.

4. Cookies & Tracking Technologies

FreeCourse.io uses functional, authentication, and analytical cookies. We distinguish three tiers of cookie usage:

You can reject, clear, or control cookies directly through your web browser configuration. Note that blocking essential cookies will disable profile authentication features. For more details, see our Cookie Policy.

5. Data Sharing & Third-Party Disclosures

We never sell your personal information. We only share personal data with external partners in the following instances:

• Google Cloud & OAuth: When registering via Google, profile pictures, display names, and Google IDs are processed securely to form your local account footprint.
• Transactional Email Providers: Acumbamail delivers system notifications, OTP verification emails, and newsletter updates. We only share recipient names and emails for this purpose.
• Partner Redirections: When you click on external coupon codes or job applications (e.g., Udemy), you redirect directly to their services. Affiliate networks may use tracking tokens (without passing your name, password, or email).
• Legal Enforcement: If required by Indian law enforcement, statutory courts, or government bodies under the Information Technology Act, 2000.

6. Children's Privacy Guidelines

FreeCourse.io is structured for adult professionals, students, and job seekers. The site is intended solely for individuals aged 13 or older (or the applicable minimum age under local law). We do not knowingly compile or verify profiles of minor children. If we discover that personal data has been gathered from a minor, we will erase it immediately. Parents or legal guardians may send erasure requests directly to our support desk.

7. International Data Transfers

Our databases are hosted primarily in India. Because we serve a global audience (including the EU, UK, US, Canada, Australia, and Singapore), server caching, content delivery networks (CDNs), and analytics queries may traverse servers located internationally. By accessing FreeCourse.io, you acknowledge that your information may be processed globally under appropriate security safeguards.

8. Data Retention & Erasure Standards

We retain personal data only as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes of processing or to comply with law:

9. Your Legal Rights & Choices

Depending on your jurisdiction (e.g. India's DPDP Act, EU GDPR, UK GDPR), you hold several personal rights:

• Right of Access & Portability: You may request a breakdown of the personal data we hold about you or request its transfer.
• Right of Correction & Completion: You can update inaccurate display names, bios, or preferences under your profile settings page.
• Right of Erasure ("Right to be Forgotten"): You can completely close and delete your account, deleting all associated details.
• Right to Withdraw Consent: You can choose to withdraw consent for email communications or profile visibility at any time.

To execute these choices, log into your Settings panel, or submit an email to our data helpdesk.

10. Security Safeguards

We deploy multi-tiered security protocols to secure your accounts, including:

• Encryption: Mandatory HTTPS transport protocols, TLS 1.3 encryption, and bcrypt password hashing (we never store plain-text passwords).
• Access Control: Least-privilege server access configurations, protected Bearer API authorization verification, and route guards.
• Defense-in-depth: API rate limiting, firewall gating, and transaction security logs.

While we utilize industry-standard practices, no web transmission is completely secure. We cannot guarantee absolute security. In the event of a security breach, we follow statutory notifications rules in alignment with CERT-In directives.

11. Affiliate Relationships & Sponsored Content

Some links routing users to external platforms (such as Udemy) may contain affiliate tracking codes. If you purchase a premium course or resource after following an affiliate link, FreeCourse.io may receive a referral commission. This commission does not increase the price you pay. Affiliate networks process tracking codes to attributes referrals. This does not involve sharing your name, email, or profile passwords.

12. Course & Job Aggregate Gating

Our index collects listings from public web directories or partner feeds.

• Jobs: Applications are processed entirely on third-party employer sites. We do not receive, store, or forward job resumes.
• Courses: All educational material remains the property of the respective publisher. Coupon codes or free access limits may expire dynamically without warning.

13. AI & Automation Technologies

FreeCourse.io may utilize automated software, algorithms, or artificial intelligence to moderate blog comments, check for broken URLs, detect duplicate coupon codes, rank search results, and secure servers from DDoS scripts. We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal information to third parties for AI model training or data broker profiles.

14. User Security Responsibilities

Keeping your account safe requires your participation:

• Credential Security: Do not share your password or sign-in credentials with any other person.
• Authentic Data: Provide accurate emails during OTP verification.
• Acceptable Behavior: Do not use scripts, scrapers, or other automated tools to pull data from our systems excessively.

15. Legal Jurisdiction & Compliance

Operated from India, FreeCourse.io complies primarily with India's Information Technology Act, 2000, and the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023. Any legal disputes or claims arising out of this Privacy Policy will be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the competent courts in India.