1. Who we are and what this policy covers
This policy explains how your personal data is handled when you register for, or take part in, the S Chand–CENTA National Talent Search for Teachers of Secondary Science and Mathematics 2027 (NTST-SSM).
CENTA (Centre for Teacher Accreditation (CENTA) Private Limited) runs the Website, registration, payments, the Examination, proctoring and results. CENTA is the Data Fiduciary for your data and decides how it is used.
S Chand (S. Chand and Company Limited) is the co-organiser. S Chand receives only the limited data described in section 6, for the purposes stated there.
This policy covers https://schand-ntst.centa.org and all Competition communications. For other CENTA services, CENTA’s general Privacy Policy applies. Words like “Candidate”, “Examination” and “Slot” mean the same as in the NTST-SSM Terms and Conditions.
2. Personal data we collect
| Category | What it includes |
|---|---|
| Identity and contact | Full name, email address, WhatsApp mobile number |
| Professional | School name, city and state, subject(s) and classes you teach, confirmation that you teach Classes 9–10 |
| Registration | Chosen subject and Slot, registration route (individual or school), School Coordinator details, Ticket number |
| Payment | Transaction ID, amount, status and GST invoice details. Card, UPI and bank credentials go to our payment partner and are not seen or stored by us |
| Examination | Your answers, time taken per question, scores, ranks, scorecard |
| Proctoring | Webcam video and audio, photographs of you (and your ID if requested), screen activity, browser and device events, IP address, flags raised and the reviewer’s findings (section 5) |
| Award winners | PAN, bank account details, address, passport and visa details for the trip, photograph and a short profile for publicity and books |
| Technical | Device and browser type, IP address, log data, and the cookies described in section 9 |
| Communications | Messages you send us and our replies |
We do not ask for sensitive details such as religion, caste, health or Aadhaar number. Please do not show your Aadhaar number if you are asked to show an ID. Mask it, or use another ID.
3. How we collect it
- From you, when you register, pay, take the Examination, claim an award or contact us.
- From your school, if a School Coordinator registers you. The school must tell you before sharing your details and confirm you agree. You will also be asked to accept this policy before you start the Examination.
- Automatically, from your device during the Examination and while you use the Website.
- From our service providers, such as the payment partner (payment status) and WhatsApp (number verification).
4. Why we use it
We process your data on the basis of the consent you give at registration, or where the DPDP Act allows it without consent (for example, to comply with tax law). Each purpose is listed below.
| Purpose | Data used | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Register you, take payment, issue invoice and Ticket | Identity, contact, professional, registration, payment | Consent; tax law for invoicing |
| Verify your mobile number and send Competition messages | Contact | Consent |
| Deliver and proctor the Examination, and investigate misconduct | Examination, proctoring, technical | Consent |
| Score, rank, issue certificates and scorecards | Examination, identity | Consent |
| Share your scorecard with your school (school registrations only) | Identity, Examination | Consent |
| Publish winners and deliver awards | Identity, professional, rank, award-winner data | Consent; tax law for TDS |
| Improve the Examination (question quality, difficulty) and produce research and reports | Examination data, de-identified or aggregated | Consent |
| Send news and offers about other CENTA or S Chand programmes | Name, email, mobile, subject, school | Separate, optional consent |
| Keep the Website secure and fix problems | Technical | Consent; legitimate uses under the DPDP Act |
| Meet legal duties and handle disputes | Any relevant data | Compliance with law |
We do not sell your personal data. We do not use your proctoring recordings or photographs to train AI models.
5. Online proctoring
The Examination is remotely proctored to keep it fair for everyone. For the whole session, we record video and audio from your camera and microphone and your screen activity. We may also photograph you and your ID.
- Automated flags, human decisions. Software flags possible issues, such as another face, no face, a voice or a tab switch. A trained CENTA reviewer looks at every flag. No one is disqualified by software alone, and you can respond before a decision is made (Terms, clause 7.3).
- Who sees it. Only CENTA’s proctoring reviewers and the proctoring technology provider, for this purpose only. Recordings are never shared with S Chand, your school or the public, unless required by law or a court.
- Your environment. The camera may capture your room and anyone who enters it. Take the Examination somewhere private and keep others out of view.
- How long we keep it. Recordings are deleted 90 days after results are announced, unless they are needed for an open misconduct case or dispute. In that case, they are deleted once it is closed.
6. Who we share your data with
We share only what each recipient needs for the purpose shown.
| Recipient | What they receive | Why |
|---|---|---|
| S Chand (co-organiser) | All Candidates: registration counts, by school and region, with no individual names.Award winners: name, contact, school, address, PAN and bank details, travel documents, photo and profile.Only if you opted in: name, email, mobile, subject and school | Revenue-share reporting; delivering prizes, trips, the author meeting and book inclusion; marketing only with your consent |
| Your school (school registrations only) | Your scorecard, and your results within the school’s performance report | Teacher development planning, as agreed at registration |
| Payment partner | Name, email, mobile, amount | Taking payment and handling refunds |
| Messaging providers (WhatsApp/Meta, email and SMS services) | Name, mobile, email, message content | Verification and Competition messages |
| Proctoring technology provider | Proctoring data (section 5) | Delivering and proctoring the Examination |
| Cloud hosting and security providers | All data we store, held securely on our behalf | Running the Website and platform |
| Travel, visa and voucher partners | Winners’ names, contact and travel documents | Delivering the international trip and Amazon vouchers |
| Government, tax authorities, courts, police | What the law requires | Tax deduction, legal requests, preventing fraud |
Service providers act as our Data Processors. They work under written contracts, may use your data only on our instructions, and must protect it. If CENTA is merged or acquired, your data may pass to the new owner under this policy.
7. What is made public
- Award winners: name, photograph, school, city, subject and rank may appear on the Website, social media, press releases, award events and, for the top 20, in S Chand books. You can ask us not to use your photograph, or to leave you out of book publication, by writing to us before results are announced.
- Everyone else: your scores, rank and scorecard are confidential. They are shared only with you, and with your school if it registered you.
- Certificate verification: anyone with a certificate number can confirm the name, award and date on it.
8. How long we keep your data
We keep data only as long as we need it, then delete it or make it anonymous.
| Data | Kept until |
|---|---|
| Proctoring recordings and photos | 90 days after results, or until a misconduct case or dispute is closed |
| Travel documents (passport, visa) | 30 days after the trip |
| Registration and contact details | 1 year after results, then deleted unless you consented to marketing |
| Answers, scores, ranks and certificate records | 5 years after results, so certificates can be verified. After that, kept only in anonymised form |
| Payment, invoice and tax (TDS) records, including winners’ PAN and bank details | As long as tax and accounting law requires (currently up to 8 years) |
| Marketing consent and contact details | Until you withdraw consent |
| Security and access logs | 1 year |
We may keep data longer if the law requires it or if it is needed for a legal claim.
9. Security, storage outside India and cookies
Security. We use encryption in transit (HTTPS) and at rest, access controls limited to staff who need the data, logging and regular reviews of our providers. If a breach affects your personal data, we will tell you and the Data Protection Board of India as the DPDP Act and its Rules require.
Storage outside India. Some of our providers, such as hosting, content delivery, messaging and proctoring services, may store or process data on servers outside India. We transfer data only to countries the Government of India has not restricted, and our contracts with these providers require them to protect it to the same standard.
Cookies. The Website uses only essential cookies, needed for login, registration and security. If we add analytics cookies, we will ask for your consent first and update this section.
10. Your rights
Under the DPDP Act, you have the right to:
- Access: get a summary of the personal data we hold about you and who we have shared it with.
- Correction: correct inaccurate or incomplete data. Name changes for certificates are allowed until 15 February 2027 (Terms, clause 4.4).
- Erasure: ask us to delete your data once it is no longer needed for the Competition. Data we must keep by law, such as tax records, is not deleted.
- Withdraw consent: at any time, as easily as you gave it. Withdrawing marketing consent does not affect your participation. Withdrawing consent to proctoring or results processing before the Examination means you cannot take part, and the fee is not refunded (Terms, clause 5.5).
- Nominate someone to exercise these rights for you if you die or become unable to act.
- Grievance redressal: complain to us (section 11), and if you are not satisfied, to the Data Protection Board of India.
To use any of these rights, email us from your registered email address. We may need to verify your identity. We will respond within 30 days.
11. Contact, grievances and changes
Grievance Officer
- Designation: Grievance Officer, CENTA
- Email: team@centa.org (please use the subject line “NTST-SSM Privacy”)
We acknowledge complaints within 48 hours and aim to resolve them within 30 days.
Changes to this policy. If we change this policy in a way that affects how your data is used, we will email you and post the new version on the Website at least 7 days before it takes effect. Where the change needs your fresh consent, we will ask for it.