ETS recognizes the importance of protecting your privacy. This Privacy Notice describes our practices related to personal information privacy and security. ETS has a global privacy program to protect all “Personal Information.”

For the purposes of this Policy, unless defined hereunder, all capitalized terms shall have the meaning ascribed to them under the Terms of Use available at Terms & Conditions.

This Privacy Notice describes our practices with respect to Personal Information with regard to collection, recording, organizing, structuring, using, holding, storing, adapting, altering, retrieving, processing, aligning, combining, structuring, indexing, organizing, transferring, restricting, erasing, destroying, disclosing, disseminating or otherwise making available (collectively “process”) your personal information in accordance with the Information Technology Act, 2000 (the “Act”) and the accompanying rules and regulations (collectively “Indian Data Law”). We collect such information via “Websites.” The term “Website” includes all ETS websites, platforms and applications that collect Personal Information from you. It also describes our practices with respect to Personal Information collected in other ways, such as when you register the UK-India TOEFL Scholarship or other scholarship or funding opportunities (the “Scholarships”) and take ETS tests, or when we receive information from a school or test center administrator. If you are a test taker, additional information about privacy and security is included in many of the ETS Test Bulletins.

By using an ETS Website or otherwise providing us with Personal Information, you agree to our privacy terms. If you do not agree with the terms of this Policy, do not use the Website. You can contact us at any time with questions or concerns about privacy by sending an email to etsinfo@ets.org or by writing to us at the addresses in the Contact section below.

To increase educational quality and equity by offering legitimate and fair tests, research, and related services. We support education and professional development for all individuals throughout the world with our products and services, scholarship and funding opportunities offered offered by us (“Products & Services”), which measure knowledge and skills, encourage learning, and improve performance.

By accessing or using the Websites, you confirm that you are not a minor i.e., are of 18 (eighteen) years of age or above at the time of using the Website and are competent to contract. If you are a minor, then you confirm that you have obtained requisite consent and authorization in this regard from your parent or legal guardian, who along with you, have read, understood, and agreed to the terms and practices outlined in this Policy.

You hereby consent to our collection, use, sharing, and disclosure of your Personal Data and Sensitive Data as described in this Policy. We reserve the right to change, modify, add or delete portions of the terms of this Policy and/or our data handling or consent practices or procedures, at our sole discretion, at any time, and any continued use of the Website by you, following any such amendments to the Policy, will be deemed as an implicit (or express, if consent has been obtained from you, as the case may be) acceptance of the Policy in its amended form. If you are accessing or using the Website from an overseas location, you do so at your own risk, and shall be solely liable for compliance with any applicable local laws.

We may collect and process one or more of the following information pertaining to you. The types of information that we collect about you will depend on our relationship with you, the circumstances of collection and the type of service you request from us. For instance, if you apply for the Scholarships, we may request additional information regarding your profile and achievements.

However, we would like you to note that certain information would be required for performing one or more services. For example, we may need to collect information pertaining to your educational background to process your Scholarships applications. We are also required to collect certain personal information as required under applicable laws. In case you would not like to provide your personal information, then you may not be able to avail such Products & Services. We will only process your Personal Data and Sensitive Data lawfully and for purposes, details of which we have provided in the below section.

Personal Data collected from you

Personal Information is any information that relates to you which, directly and indirectly, in combination with other information available (or likely to be available), that we can use to identify you (such as your name, username or identification number) or contact you (such as your email address or telephone number). Personal Information includes other types of information (such as test scores or demographic data) when that information is associated with your Personal Information. The following are the types of personal data pertaining to you that we may collect:

Contact Information

1. Full name;
2. E-mail address;
3. Mailing Address and Phone Numbers;

Relationship & Transactional Data

4. Gender;
5. Date of birth;
6. Passport, citizenship and national identity information;
7. Languages spoken;
8. Professional credentials or affiliations;
9. Biometric data, when you arrive at test centres;
10. Details of Products & Services requested (i.e., Order Information);
11. Purchase history;
12. Payment and related details (However, we do not collect payment card instrument details as part of the payment details);
13. Such other Personal Data as may be required from time to time.

Information for processing Scholarships applications

14. Test scores for TOEFL or other examinations attempted in the past;
15. Prior education and training details, including certificates, scores and other information;
16. Resume or profile, enlisting academic, professional and other achievements;
17. Bank account or other information for processing disbursement of sum eligible under the Scholarships;
18. Writing samples, essays or other notes you may upload in support of your Scholarships applications;

Additional data based on your choices

19. If you request accommodation from us, we may collect personal data relevant to your request;
20. If you request a fee waiver, we may collect additional information relating to your financial status etc.;

(collectively “Personal Data”)

Sensitive Data collected from you

The existing law and SPDI Rules define sensitive personal data or information (“Sensitive Data”) as information about a person relating to passwords, financial information such as bank account, credit, debit card or other payment instrument details, physical, physiological or mental health conditions, sexual orientation, medical records or history and biometric information. We may collect the following Sensitive Data from you:

1. When you arrive at the test center, we may collect your biometric data, as it is required for identity verification when you arrive to the test center. 
2. Additionally, we may collect your bank account or other information needed by us to disburse amount for Scholarships, should the candidate be selected for the same.

(collectively “Sensitive Data”)

We do not collect any sensitive personal data from you through the Website. However, when you arrive at the test center, we may collect your biometric data, as it is required for identity verification when you arrive to the test center.  

You may refuse to provide us with such Sensitive Data, however, we may not be able to provide you with our Services in such case. The personal data as above, other than the Sensitive Data indicated above, is not sensitive personal information. We wish to share that it is possible that the Government of India may categorize some of the other types of personal information as sensitive personal data. In such cases, we will inform you of the same and obtain your consent as, and if required.

We may collect and process your Personal Data and Sensitive Data for the purposes set out below and disclose the same to our service providers and the Institutions. These purposes include:

1. To provide you with our Products & Services;
2. To contact you with regard to your request for Products & Services;
3. To enable your access to the Website to search and request for available Products & Services;
4. To increase educational quality and equity by offering legitimate and fair tests, research, and related services;
5. To enable you to transmit your scores and test results to higher educational institutions, government agency, organization or entity that receives your scores (“Score-Recipient”);
6. To enable you to initiate requests for Products & Services;
7. To operate and improve the Website in order to foster a positive user experience and to improve our business as a whole, and for related research;
8. For non-targeting reasons such as frequency capping, compliance, billing, ad reporting or delivery, market research or product development purposes;
9. To comply with applicable laws;
10. To conduct audits and quality assessment procedures for the Website and Products & Services;
11. To analyse the use of our resources, troubleshooting problems and improving our Products & Services;
12. For providing a system and processing applications received for Scholarships, funding and other opportunities;
13. For making and creating, including using automated means, candidate profiles for the purpose of assessment of applications for Scholarship;
14. For contacting you regarding our Products and Services, including for eligibility, marketing, registration and other purposes;
15. To analyse data, tracking trends, building algorithms, creating databases for rating systems, recommendation engines, feedback mechanisms, etc.;
16. To investigate, prevent, or take action regarding illegal activities, suspected fraud, situations involving potential threats to the safety of any person, violations of our Terms, or as otherwise required by law;
17. To respond to any queries that you may have, and to communicate information to you, including notifications of any promotions or alerts, any changes/updates to the Website; or
18. To contact you, by way of SMS, email and phone calls, from time to time to record your valuable feedback on our Website, and/or any potential changes or improvements that may be offered in the future to the Website or to our Products & Services.

Where required by applicable law, we will obtain your express consent prior to collecting or using your Sensitive Data, where required. The request for your consent will be clear and specific and you may provide your express consent for processing in a clear and transparent manner. Your consent is voluntary and may always be revoked, for example, by contacting our representative in the manner indicated in later sections. As mentioned before, where your consent is required, and you do not give your consent, it may not be possible for us to provide you with such specific products or services.

Legal Basis for processing

Your Personal Data and Sensitive Data may be processed by us under different circumstances and under different lawful basis. The same is provided below for your information:

• Consent: We may use and process your Personal Data and Sensitive Data where you have consented to such processing by means of this Privacy Policy. We will obtain express consent with validation and authentication of your identity, if required by applicable law, when we process your Sensitive Data. Once you give your consent, we may also process your Personal Data for purposes incidental to or connected with the specific purposes for which you have consented.
  You may withdraw your consent at any time. You can let us know by contacting us at the contact details mentioned below. We may require your Personal Data for contacting you.
• Vital Interest in emergent situations: We may use your Personal Data to reach to you if there are any urgent notices or other communications required to be made to you.
• Compliance with applicable laws: We may process your Personal Data or Sensitive Data wherever applicable law mandates us to process certain data for compliance or other legal purposes, or where your Personal Data, Sensitive Data or associated information is solicited by the Government or authorized agencies under applicable law.

If you wish to opt out of receiving non-essential communications such as promotional and marketing-related information regarding our Products & Services, please email us at the details provided below in the contact section.

Third-party links

Through the use of the Website, you may access certain third-party links to other services, which may, for example, require transmission of Personal Data or Sensitive Data to third parties. We are not responsible for the collection or use of such Personal Data or Sensitive Data in such applications or services provided by a third-party and recommend that you carefully review applicable terms for (and any integrity policy related to) such applications or services before you use them. If you have questions concerning a certain third party’s use of your Personal Data or Sensitive Data, please contact the third party directly.

We may disclose your Personal Data and Sensitive Data, as the case may be, to third parties in the manner and for the purposes specified below:

1. To our affiliates or group companies for the purposes described in this Policy;
2. To Score-Recipients which you have selected, for the purpose of transmitting your scores and Personal Data to such Score-Recipients;
3. To our third-party service providers who provide services such as website hosting, email delivery, accommodation, auditing, fraud detection and other services;
4. To our partners in assessment of your candidature for Scholarships, funding and other purposes, such as judges, support staff, software and website developers etc.;
5. To third parties, to permit them to send you marketing communications, data analysis, research and development purposes consistent with your choices if you have opted into such sharing; and
6. Such data available in reports and other materials provided by you and/or your company may be shared pursuant to an engagement with another business partner and/or a supplier.

We may also use and disclose your Personal Data and Sensitive Data as we believe to be necessary or appropriate:

1. To comply with applicable law, which may include laws outside your country of residence, to respond to requests from public and government authorities, which may include authorities outside your country of residence, to cooperate with law enforcement or for other legal reasons;
2. To enforce our Terms;
3. To enforce or protect our contractual or other legal rights or to defend or bring legal proceedings, threats or notices of legal proceedings thereof; and
4. To protect our rights, privacy, safety or property, and/or that of our affiliates, contractors, agents or other users.

You consent to our use, disclose or transfer of your Personal Data and Sensitive Data, to a third party in the event of any reorganization, restructuring, merger, sale, joint venture, assignment, transfer or other disposition of all or any portion of our business, assets or stock (including in connection with any bankruptcy or similar proceedings).

Cookies and tracking technologies

We may also collect certain Personal Data and non-personal information through cookies while you access the Website. Cookies are text files to identify your internet browser, store your preferences, and to improve your experience on the Website. We use cookies in order to improve our services provided to you. Please note that, some cookies we use are essential for some services to work, others are used to collect information on the use of the Website so that the Website can be more convenient and useful for you.

You are free to opt-in or op-out to the use of cookies when you first visit the Website. Consent, once provided, can be withdrawn at any time by altering your cookie preferences in our Website. The retention period of cookies is limited and differs per cookie. Please be informed that disabling cookie collection through the Website or changing your consent may result in some features of the Website not functioning properly and we may not be able to send customized and relevant communication or promotional messages to you. Alternatively, you also have a choice to disable and delete certain types of cookies by using appropriate options in your browser settings.

Retention of Personal Data and Sensitive Data

We will only retain your Personal Data and Sensitive Data for as long as it is necessary to fulfil the purposes outlined in this Policy or the purposes of which you have otherwise been informed. While the exact period may vary, this means that when you have consented to our processing of your Personal Data and Sensitive Data, we may retain your Personal Data and Sensitive Data for as long as we process and deliver our Products & Services, until you withdraw your consent or is otherwise legally required. If you have revoked your consent, we may nevertheless retain certain Personal Data and Sensitive Data for the period required in order for us to meet our legal obligations and defend ourselves in legal disputes.

If we collect your Sensitive Data, we will redact or delete your Sensitive Data upon completion of the Products & Services, however, may retain your personal data, which does not include Sensitive Data, in accordance with this Privacy Policy. We may redact or delete your Sensitive Data, if provided by you inadvertently or otherwise, if the same is not required for provision of our Products & Services. If you withdraw your consent, unless required to be retained by applicable law, we may redact or delete your Sensitive Data unless required or permitted to be retained by law, however, we may not be able to provide you with our Products & Services. If we have not received your consent for Processing, the Personal Data will only be retained to the extent we are permitted to do so by law.

Our Data Centres may not be located in India. You consent to the transfer or sharing of your Personal Data or Sensitive Data with third parties or affiliates situated in countries outside India that may have differing data protection laws. However, we will make best efforts to ensure that the transfer your Personal Data or Sensitive Data is made to a country or with such appropriate safeguards necessary to secure the same level of data protection afforded under Indian law.

In the event that we may transfer your Sensitive Data outside India, you acknowledge and provide your express consent for such transfer and processing of your Sensitive Data with affiliates or third parties located outside India in jurisdictions or to entities which ensure a same or similar level of data protection adhered to under Indian law.

If you live anywhere in India, the law has various rights bestowed on you in relation to your Personal Data or Sensitive Data. We will have to confirm your identity, wherever applicable, to ensure that your rights are being exercised appropriately. To exercise these rights, you will have to write to us on the contact details given below.

Except in exceptional circumstances, we will respond to your request within 30 (thirty) days from the date we receive your email. We may charge a minor sum to comply with your exercise of these rights to aid the cost we incur for this compliance. You will be informed of these charges once you write to us. Please be informed that you have the following rights under applicable laws in your country. In rare cases, we may not be able to comply with your directions of exercise of your rights due to some practical or legal reasons. We will inform you appropriately if such a situation occurs.

1. Accessing Your Personal Data: You have the right to access a copy of your Personal Data and Sensitive Data that we hold in a standard form that will be easy and understandable. In rare occasions, we may not be able to provide you with a copy of your information in which case we will convey you this message with appropriate reasons.
2. Verify and rectify: Accuracy is an important principle of data protection and you have the right to verify your Personal Data and Sensitive Data with us and ask us to rectify it if it is inaccurate or outdated. You can correct, complete and update Personal Data or Sensitive Data you provide to us.
3. Withdrawing Your consent or opt-out: You can always withdraw your consent you have given us. We will stop collecting or processing your Personal Data and Sensitive Data we collect from you solely on basis of your consent. We are legally permitted to continue collecting or processing your Personal Data if we can rely on grounds other than consent to process your Personal Data. Also, you may opt-out from providing your Sensitive Data to us, however, we may not be able to provide you with certain Products & Services (such as testing services, if you fail to provide consent for collection of biometric data) if you do not provide us with such information.
4. Erasing your Personal Data: You have the right to get your Personal Data and Sensitive Data erased from our systems. Unless there is a reason that the law allows us to use your Personal Data and Sensitive Data for longer, we will make reasonable efforts to comply with your request.

We strive to work towards the security, integrity and privacy of your Personal Data and Sensitive Data and to protect your Personal Data and Sensitive Data against unauthorized disclosure, access or destruction to the extent reasonably possible by us. We are in compliance with the reasonable security standards as prescribed by the applicable laws. Notwithstanding anything contained in this Policy or elsewhere, we are not responsible for any loss, damage, or misuse of your Personal Data and Sensitive Data, if such loss, damage, or misuse takes place as a result of a Force Majeure Event (as defined below).

A “Force Majeure Event” shall mean any event that is beyond our reasonable control and shall include, without limitation, fire, flood, explosion, acts of God, civil commotion, strikes, insurrection, war, epidemic, pandemic, acts of government, computer hacking, software failure and storage device, computer crashes etc.

Breach of Personal Data

We will promptly and in compliance with applicable law report appropriate authorities about breach of any Personal Data and Sensitive Data processed by us, in accordance with applicable law. We will take necessary directions and remedial measures directed by such authority to prevent further loss of information or mitigate harm, as may be specified. We may also contact you to report such breaches to you based on directions issued by authorities under applicable law.

We reserve the right to change this Policy at any time, so please visit the Website regularly to review our privacy statement. Any continued use of the Website by you, following any such amendments to the Policy, may be deemed as an implicit acceptance of the Policy in its amended form.

Grievance Redressal

If you have any questions about this Policy, the practices of the Company or your dealings with the Website, you can contact us using the information given here under to our Grievance Officer. We shall undertake all reasonable efforts to address your grievances/concerns and communicate to you with necessary steps at the earliest possible opportunity and at the latest within 1 (one) month from the date of receipt of your communication. You also note that you have a right to approach any authority empowered by law to make complaints of contraventions under applicable law.

Name of the Grievance Redressal Officer: Salil Sharma

Email Address: salil.sharma@etsindia.org