Effective Date: March 22, 2026

Data Controller: Abdillahi Aden Hassan, operating as Scholarship Guru

Jurisdiction: Galway, Republic of Ireland

Welcome to Scholarship Guru. As an EdTech platform dedicated to democratizing access to global educational funding, we recognize that to empower our users, we must first protect them. This comprehensive Privacy and Cookie Policy governs your interaction with www.scholarshipguru.com and outlines exactly how we collect, process, safeguard, and utilize your personal data. We operate under the strict mandate that your personal data is yours alone; we do not, and will never, sell your personal data to third-party marketers, external recruiters, or data brokers. By operating out of the Republic of Ireland, our data practices are strictly bound by the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and overseen by the Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC), ensuring your digital footprint is treated with the highest standard of international privacy law.

To provide a seamless, “app-like” search experience, we categorize the data we collect into two distinct streams: information you actively provide and information we collect automatically. When you choose to interact with our platform—such as subscribing to our scholarship alert newsletter or reaching out via our contact forms—we actively collect basic identification data, namely your name and email address. Conversely, as you navigate our database, we passively collect technical and usage data. This includes your IP address, browser type, device specifications, and interaction data, such as the specific academic filters (e.g., Degree Level, Host Country) you apply during your search. We are committed to the principle of data minimization, meaning we only collect the exact metrics required to deliver our search functionalities and nothing more.

Under GDPR, we cannot hold your data simply because we want to; we must have a documented legal foundation. We process your actively provided data (like your email) strictly on the basis of your Consent, allowing us to deliver the specific funding alerts you requested. We process your passive, technical usage data under the basis of Legitimate Interest. This allows us to analyze broad, anonymized search trends—such as noticing a high demand for Master’s programs in Germany—so we can prioritize sourcing those specific scholarships for our database. Furthermore, this processing is essential to monitor the technical health of our servers, prevent malicious database scraping, and continually optimize our advanced filtering architecture. Every piece of data we process is anchored to a strict, documented legal basis designed to improve your educational search experience.

To make our complex relational database load instantly and remember your search filters, Scholarship Guru utilizes cookies and similar tracking technologies. We deploy Strictly Necessary Cookies, which are legally permitted to run automatically as they are essential for our site’s core functions, such as operating the dependent dropdown menus securely. We also utilize Analytical and Functional Cookies powered by tools like SureRank and Google Analytics. These non-essential cookies help us measure site performance and remember your preferences for future visits. You retain absolute control over your digital footprint; you can accept, decline, or customize all non-essential analytical cookies at any time via the Cookie Settings portal located in our website’s footer.

While Scholarship Guru is an independent platform, we partner with world-class technical infrastructure providers to keep our website fast, secure, and operational. We share strictly necessary data with our trusted sub-processors, which include our secure web host (Hostinger), our analytics providers, and our email marketing service (e.g., Mailchimp or MailerLite). These providers act only on our explicit instructions and are legally bound by strict Data Processing Agreements. Because some of these technical partners operate servers outside the European Economic Area (such as in the United States), we ensure that any international data transfers are fully protected by implementing Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) approved by the European Commission, guaranteeing your data retains its GDPR-level protection regardless of where our servers are located.

We treat the security of your data with the same rigor we apply to our database engineering. All data transmitted between your browser and Scholarship Guru is encrypted using robust SSL protocols, and our backend architecture is fortified against unauthorized access. Regarding retention, we do not keep your information indefinitely. We retain your identifiable information only for as long as you actively engage with our services. If you unsubscribe from our alerts, your email is promptly purged from our active mailing lists. Anonymized, aggregated analytical data used for understanding site traffic is retained for a maximum of 24 months before being permanently deleted.

As a user residing in or accessing our platform from the EU/EEA, the law grants you powerful rights over your personal information. You possess the right to Access a comprehensive copy of the data we hold about you, the right to Rectify any inaccuracies, and the right to Erasure (often called the right to be forgotten), allowing you to request the complete deletion of your profile. Furthermore, you have the right to Object to specific types of processing and the right to Withdraw Consent for our newsletters at any time with a single click. Under the jurisdiction of the Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC), you possess absolute rights over your personal data, and we are legally obligated to facilitate these requests promptly and without charge.

The digital landscape and data protection laws are constantly evolving, and as Scholarship Guru introduces new features or user accounts, this policy will be updated to reflect those changes. We encourage you to review this page periodically. If you wish to exercise any of your GDPR rights, or if you simply have a question regarding how our database handles your information, please reach out directly.

• Contact the Founder: info@scholarshipguru.com
• Supervisory Authority: If you believe your data has been mishandled, you maintain the right to lodge a formal complaint with the Data Protection Commission (DPC) of Ireland at www.dataprotection.ie.