Privacy Policy – Acharya Technologies

This Privacy Policy explains what information Acharya Technologies Pvt. Ltd. collects through our website, the AEIMS school management platform and the AEIMS mobile apps, how we use it, who we share it with and the choices you have. We wrote it to be read, not skimmed past: if anything is unclear, please ask us.

Who we are

Acharya Technologies Pvt. Ltd. ("Acharya Technologies", "we", "us") is a software company based in Kalanki-14, Kathmandu, Nepal. We build and operate AEIMS, a school management system used by schools and educational institutions.

We handle information in two different roles:

For our own website and enquiries, we decide how your information is used and are responsible for it.
Inside AEIMS, each school decides what information about its students, parents and staff is recorded and why. We store and process that information on the school's behalf and only to provide the service to that school. If you are a student, parent or staff member, your school is your first point of contact for questions about your records.

What this policy covers

Our website, including the contact and demo request forms, the newsletter and the AI chat assistant.
The AEIMS web platform used by school administrators, teachers and accounts staff.
The AEIMS mobile apps: the Teacher and Staff App, the Parent and Student App, the Biometric Attendance App and the Canteen Ordering App.
Implementation, training and support services we provide to schools.

Websites, payment pages and apps run by other companies, even when linked from AEIMS, have their own privacy policies.

Information we collect

When you visit our website

Demo and contact requests: your name, school name, phone number, email address, school address, school size and your message.
Newsletter: your email address, if you subscribe.
AI chat: the questions you type and the answers you receive. Each visitor is given an anonymous identifier kept in your browser session; we do not ask for your name to chat.
Technical information: your IP address, browser and device type, the pages you visit and when, collected in our server logs to keep the site secure and working.

When a school uses AEIMS

Depending on the modules a school uses, AEIMS may hold:

Student records: name, date of birth, gender, photo, class and section, roll number, guardian details, admission documents, academic history, marks, grades and results.
Attendance: daily attendance marked by teachers and, where a school uses biometric devices, fingerprint templates or card numbers used to record entry and exit.
Fees and accounts: fee structures, invoices, payments, dues, scholarships, receipts and the school's accounting records.
Staff records: profiles, qualifications, documents, leave, attendance and payroll details.
Parents and guardians: names, phone numbers, email addresses and their link to a student.
Transport: bus routes, stops, the students assigned to them and the live GPS location of school vehicles.
Library, canteen and inventory: books issued and returned, canteen purchases and balances, and stock movements.
Files and messages: documents, notes and e-books uploaded by the school, and the SMS, email and app notices it sends.

When you use our mobile apps

Your sign-in details and the role your school gave you.
Your device model, operating system and app version, used for support and to fix problems.
A notification token, so the school can send you push notifications. You can turn these off in your phone's settings.
Photos or files you choose to upload, such as assignments or leave documents. The apps use your camera or storage only when you ask them to.

The Parent and Student App shows the location of the school bus. It does not track the location of your phone.

How we use information

To provide AEIMS and its apps to schools, and to show each user the information their role allows.
To respond to demo requests and enquiries, and to arrange demonstrations, setup, data migration and training.
To send service messages, such as security notices, updates and support replies.
To send our newsletter, only if you subscribed. Every newsletter has a way to unsubscribe.
To keep the service secure, detect misuse, and diagnose and fix problems.
To improve AEIMS, using usage statistics that do not identify individual students or parents.
To meet our legal obligations, including tax and accounting rules.

We do not sell personal information, and we do not use school data for advertising.

Students and children

Most information about students in AEIMS is about children. Schools collect it as part of running the school and are responsible for having the consent or other lawful basis they need, including from parents and guardians. We use student information only to provide AEIMS to that school, never to market to students or parents.

Our website is meant for school leaders and staff. We do not knowingly collect information from children through our website forms or AI chat.

Biometric attendance

Where a school uses fingerprint attendance, the devices store a fingerprint template: a set of measurements used for matching, not a photograph of the fingerprint. Templates are used only to record attendance for that school. They are not shared with anyone else and are deleted when the person is removed from the device or the school stops using the service. The school is responsible for informing students, parents and staff and obtaining any consent required before enrolling them.

AI features

AEIMS includes AI tools such as the question generator, lesson planner, smart assistant and performance analytics, and our website has an AI chat assistant.

When staff use the smart assistant, it answers from that school's own data and only within the permissions of the person asking. One school's data is never used to answer another school's questions.
Questions and answers are processed by our AI service and stored as chat history so you can return to a conversation.
The website chat answers general questions about AEIMS and has no access to any school's data.
Please do not type passwords, payment details or sensitive personal information into a chat.

Payments

Online fee payments are processed by payment providers such as eSewa, Khalti and banks. You enter your wallet or bank details on the provider's own page. AEIMS receives a confirmation of the payment, such as the amount, date and reference number, but never your wallet PIN, password or card details.

Your school: information in AEIMS belongs to and is visible to the school, according to the roles it sets up.
Service providers that help us run AEIMS: cloud hosting, SMS gateways (such as Sparrow and Aakash), email delivery, push notification services, payment providers and our AI service. They may use the information only to provide their service to us or to the school.
Government bodies: when a school asks us to export data it must submit, such as reports to the Ministry of Education, or when Nepali law, a court or a regulator requires it.
A future owner of our business: if Acharya Technologies is merged or sold, information may pass to the new owner, who must continue to protect it under this policy. We will tell schools before that happens.

Where information is stored and how we protect it

A school chooses whether AEIMS runs on our secure cloud hosting or on a server at the school. To protect information, we:

encrypt connections between your browser or app and AEIMS (HTTPS);
give every user only the modules and records their role allows, and keep an audit trail of financial changes;
keep regular backups and restrict access to production systems to authorised staff;
apply security updates as part of our continuous updates.

No system connected to the internet is perfectly secure. If we become aware of a breach affecting your information, we will inform the affected school, and you where appropriate, without undue delay.

How long we keep information

School data is kept while the school uses AEIMS. When a school leaves, it can export its data, after which we delete it from our systems within 90 days, except where the law requires us to keep it longer. Backups are overwritten in their normal cycle.
Demo and contact requests are kept for up to two years so we can follow up and serve you, unless you ask us to delete them sooner.
Newsletter subscriptions are kept until you unsubscribe.
Website chat history and server logs are kept only as long as needed to provide and secure the service.

Your rights

Under Nepal's Individual Privacy Act, 2075 (2018) and other applicable laws, you can ask to see the personal information held about you, to have it corrected, and in some cases to have it deleted. You can also withdraw consent you have given, for example to the newsletter.

For information in AEIMS, such as student records, results or fees, please contact your school first. We will help the school answer your request.
For information you gave us directly through our website, contact us using the details below.

We may need to confirm your identity before acting on a request, and we will respond within a reasonable time.

Cookies and similar technologies

Our website uses only the cookies it needs to work: a session cookie and a security token that protects our forms. The AI chat stores a small identifier in your browser so your conversation continues as you move between pages. We do not use advertising cookies. You can clear cookies and site data in your browser settings at any time.

Links to other websites

Our website and AEIMS may link to other sites, such as payment providers, app stores or social media. We are not responsible for how those sites handle your information, so please read their privacy policies.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy as AEIMS and the law change. The date at the top of this page shows when it last changed. If a change significantly affects how we handle school data, we will tell the schools we work with before it takes effect.

Contact us

For any question or request about privacy, please contact:

Acharya Technologies Pvt. Ltd.
Kalanki-14, Kathmandu, Nepal
Email: [email protected]
Phone: +977 9845365219