Privacy Policy

Who we are

StudyGate (studygatehq.com) is a free study-abroad information site for Pakistani students. It is operated by Basit Ali (Etrat), an individual, in Lahore, Pakistan. Contact: reports@studygatehq.com; for privacy requests, privacy@studygatehq.com.

The short version

• No accounts. We do not ask for your name, email or phone number to use the site.
• Your profile, shortlist and notes stay in your own browser. We do not receive them.
• We set no cookies and show no ads or tracking tools. We count visits with Cloudflare Web Analytics, which does not use cookies.
• We do not sell your data.
• The site is not aimed at children under 13.

What stays on your device

Your profile (degree, grades, test scores), shortlist, plan, notes and settings are saved in your browser (IndexedDB and local storage). They are not uploaded. You can download or delete them any time from the Your data menu (Delete my data, or Clear my details in the profile panel to remove only your profile). We cannot recover them if you clear your browser.

Hosting, analytics and fonts

• Hosting: Cloudflare Pages serves the site and processes normal request data (IP address, browser type, pages requested) to deliver pages and block attacks.
• Analytics: we use Cloudflare Web Analytics to count visits and see which pages are popular. It uses no cookies and does not track you across sites or build a profile of you.
• Cookies: StudyGate sets no cookies, so there is no cookie banner.
• Document scanner: the optional Scan transcript or certificate tool runs entirely in your browser. Its reading software (Tesseract.js and pdf.js) is served from our own site and loaded only when you use the scanner, so no third-party service is contacted. The file you choose is not uploaded and we never receive it or the text read from it.
• Fonts: our font is served from our own site. Your browser does not contact Google Fonts or any other font service.

Anonymous search words (optional, off by default)

If you tick Help improve search in the Your data menu, we receive only the words you searched (tidied, at most 80 characters) and the number of results. No profile, ID or IP address is stored with it, and text that looks like an email, web address or long number is removed on your device. We use the counts to improve search and add missing programmes. Untick the box to stop.

Emails and WhatsApp

If you email reports@studygatehq.com or privacy@studygatehq.com, we receive your address and message and use them only to reply and to fix the reported issue. We keep them for 12 months, then delete them. If you follow our WhatsApp channel, WhatsApp (Meta) handles your number under its own policy. The Share on WhatsApp button only opens WhatsApp with a text message that you can read, change and choose whether to send, and to whom. We receive nothing when you use it; WhatsApp (Meta) handles the message under its own policy.

Why we use data (legal basis)

Where the GDPR or UK GDPR applies: optional search logging relies on your consent; hosting security and basic traffic counts rely on our legitimate interest in running a safe, working site; replying to emails relies on your request and our legitimate interest.

We do not sell your data

We do not sell personal data. We share it only with the service providers named above (Cloudflare, WhatsApp), which process it to run the site and channel.

Your rights

In the EU, EEA and UK you can ask to see, correct or delete personal data we hold, object to processing, withdraw consent, and complain to your data protection authority. In Pakistan we act in line with the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act, 2016 and other applicable law. We hold very little about you; for requests email privacy@studygatehq.com. We reply within 30 days.

International transfers

Cloudflare operates worldwide, so request data may be processed outside Pakistan and outside your country, under its own safeguards.

Children

StudyGate is for students planning university study. It is not directed at children under 13 and we do not knowingly collect their data. If you think a child sent us data, email us and we will delete it.

Retention

Cloudflare keeps request and analytics data under its own policies. Search counts hold no personal data. Emails sent to reports@studygatehq.com or privacy@studygatehq.com are kept for 12 months, then deleted.

Other sites

Programme pages link to official university, DAAD, HEC and government sites. Their privacy policies apply there.

Changes

If we ever add ads, cookies or paid plans, we will update this policy first and post the new date here.

Effective date

Effective date: 1 November 2026