Privacy Policy

This policy applies to everyone who uses Skouted. We treat users in two groups, because the law gives extra protection to minors:

• Minors (14–17): heightened, privacy-protective defaults apply automatically. We design these experiences around the best interests of the child, consistent with the UK Children's Code and the California Age-Appropriate Design Code.
• Adults (18–19): standard protections apply, with the same baseline of data minimization and no behavioral advertising.

Skouted is not intended for, and may not be used by, anyone under 14. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13 (as defined by COPPA). If we learn that we have collected data from a child under 14, we delete it promptly. We ask for date of birth at sign-up solely to apply the correct age-based protections and to keep underage users off the platform.

We practice data minimization: we collect only what we need to operate a profile and let you apply to opportunities.

What we collect

• Account data: email address and, if you sign in with Google, the basic profile fields Google returns (name, email, profile picture). We never receive your Google password.
• Profile data you choose to add: name, username, school, bio, skills, and optional links (portfolio, GitHub, LinkedIn). These fields are optional and under your control.
• Activity needed for the service: opportunities you save, applications you submit, and events you register for.
• Organization group chat messages: if you join an organization, messages you post in its group chat are stored and shown to that organization's members.
• Minimal technical data: security and session cookies required to keep you logged in, plus basic logs needed to keep the service secure and running.

What we explicitly do NOT collect

• No precise geolocation (GPS coordinates or continuous location).
• No biometric identifiers (no facial recognition, fingerprints, or voiceprints).
• No government identifiers for minors (no SSN, passport, or ID numbers).
• No advertising or cross-site tracking identifiers, and no third-party ad/analytics trackers that build behavioral profiles.
• No device contact lists, photos library, microphone, or camera access beyond a profile picture you deliberately upload.
• No private 1:1 messages — Skouted has no private DMs; organization chat is group-only and visible to all members of that org.

We use data only for the limited purposes below:

• To create and operate your account and profile.
• To show you relevant opportunities and let you save and apply to them.
• To deliver your application to the specific organization you apply to.
• To send necessary transactional emails (e.g., sign-up confirmation, application status). We do not send behavioral marketing to minors.
• To keep the platform safe, prevent abuse, and meet legal obligations.

We do not profile minors to predict behavior, and we do not use any user's data to power third-party advertising.

Your age determines how visible your profile is, by default:

• Users 14–17 — private by default. Your profile is not publicly accessible and is not indexed by search engines. We apply noindex directives and exclude minor profiles from public, unauthenticated pages and from our sitemap, which shields them from search engines and automated web scrapers. A minor's profile is only visible to a verified organization in the context of an application the minor chooses to submit.
• Users 18–19 — standard default. You may choose to make your profile publicly discoverable. You can switch it back to private at any time in settings, and changing this setting takes effect immediately.

We do not use "dark patterns" (manipulative design) to push minors toward weaker privacy settings. Privacy-protective options are the default and are presented neutrally.

How your data reaches an organization

Data flows to an organization only when you choose to apply. When you submit an application:

• We share only the specific fields tied to that application (for example, the profile details and answers you submit) with the single organization you applied to.
• Applying is the affirmative act that authorizes that disclosure. Browsing or saving an opportunity never shares your data with anyone.
• Organizations must be verified by Skouted before they can view applicant profiles or post listings (see our guardian and verification practices).
• Once an organization receives your application, its own handling of that data is governed by its privacy practices. We require organizations to use applicant data only to evaluate your application.

Service providers (sub-processors)

We rely on a small set of vetted vendors that process data on our behalf under contract. They may not use your data for their own purposes:

• Supabase — secure database, authentication, and hosting.
• Google — optional "Sign in with Google" authentication.
• Resend — delivery of transactional emails.

We never sell your personal information, and we never share it for cross-context behavioral advertising. We may disclose data if required by law, to protect someone's safety, or as part of a business transfer — and if a transfer ever involves minor data, we will provide notice and honor the protections in this policy.

This is a firm commitment, especially for minors:

• No targeted or interest-based advertising to any user.
• No behavioral profiling — we do not build profiles of you to predict or influence your behavior.
• No third-party ad networks or tracking pixels embedded in the product.
• No selling or "sharing" of personal information as those terms are defined under California law.
• The only cookies we set are strictly necessary for login and security.

We do not collect precise geolocation from any user. Opportunities may show a general location (such as a city) that an organization typed into a listing, but we never track where you are. Location-based device permissions are not requested, and for minors any location-related signals are off and cannot be turned on.

Minors generally cannot enter binding contracts. Where the law requires it, we obtain verifiable parental or guardian consent for a minor's use of Skouted, and a parent or guardian accepts our Terms on the minor's behalf. The level of consent we seek scales with the user's age and the data involved.

A parent or guardian of a user under 18 may, at any time:

• Review the personal information we hold about their child.
• Request that we correct or delete it.
• Withdraw consent and ask us to stop further collection or use.

To exercise these rights, contact us using the details in Section 14. We may need to verify the relationship before acting on a request.

Depending on where you live, you may have the right to:

• Access the personal data we hold about you and get a copy.
• Correct inaccurate data.
• Delete your account and associated data.
• Port your data to another service.
• Object to or restrict certain processing, and withdraw consent where processing is based on consent.

EU/UK (GDPR & UK GDPR): you may lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority (in the UK, the ICO). We rely on consent and our legitimate interest in operating the service as our legal bases, depending on the activity.

California (CCPA/CPRA): you have rights to know, delete, and correct, and to limit the use of sensitive personal information. Because we do not sell or share personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising, there is nothing for you to opt out of on that front — but you may still exercise your other rights. We will not discriminate against you for doing so.

To make a request, email us at yuvrajsarda9@gmail.com. You can delete your account directly from your dashboard settings at any time.

We keep personal information only as long as reasonably necessary for the purpose it was collected. When you delete your account, we delete or irreversibly anonymize your profile data, retaining only the minimum required for legal, security, or fraud-prevention reasons, and only for as long as needed. Applications already delivered to an organization are retained by that organization under its own policies.

We maintain a written information security program with administrative, technical, and physical safeguards appropriate to the sensitivity of the data we hold. These include encryption in transit, access controls, row-level database security, and the principle of least privilege. No system is perfectly secure, but we work to protect your information and will notify affected users and regulators of a qualifying breach as required by law.

Skouted and our service providers may process data in countries other than your own. When we transfer personal data internationally, we use appropriate safeguards (such as Standard Contractual Clauses) so your data keeps an equivalent level of protection.

We may update this policy as the product or the law evolves. If we make a material change that affects minors, we will provide prominent notice and, where required, obtain renewed consent. The "last updated" date at the top always reflects the current version.

Questions, requests, or concerns about your privacy? Reach us at yuvrajsarda9@gmail.com and we'll respond within a reasonable time.