Institutional Privacy Policy & Admissions Notice
St. Columbus International School respects the privacy of students, parents, guardians, prospective families, website visitors, and other individuals who interact with us. This policy details our rigorous data-protection standards across website interactions, campus visits, and Meta Lead Generation campaigns.
Admissions Purpose
Data is collected solely to process admission inquiries, share official prospectuses, provide fee schedules, and schedule campus tours.
No Sale of Information
We never sell, rent, or commercially trade parent/guardian admission enquiry information to third-party marketing agencies or ad networks.
Consent & DND Override
Submitting an enquiry grants explicit permission for school counselors to contact you via Phone, WhatsApp, SMS, or Email, even if on DND/NDNC.
Opt-Out At Any Time
Parents can withdraw consent or stop communications at any time by emailing info@stcolumbus.org or contacting our admissions hotline.
1. Who We Are
St. Columbus International School (“School”, “we”, “us”, or “our”) is an educational institution located at:
The School is responsible for managing admission enquiries and related communications submitted through its website and other approved admission channels. The School's approved admission contacts and website/admission routes are identified in the supplied admissions material.
2. Information We Collect
Depending on how you interact with us, we may collect the following information:
Parent / Guardian Information
- Full name
- Mobile / telephone number
- WhatsApp number
- Email address
- City, town, district, state, country, or general location
- Preferred method of communication
- Preferred time for a call or counselling session
Student / Admission Information
- Student's full name
- Current class / grade
- Intended or target class / grade
- Academic session for which admission is being considered
- Boarding interest (Day Scholar / Weekly / Residential)
- Preferred boarding arrangement, where applicable
- General admission requirements or questions
- Information voluntarily provided during an admission enquiry
Enquiry and Communication Information
- Date and time of enquiry
- Source of enquiry
- Admission campaign or advertisement source
- Communication history
- Counselling status
- School-visit or campus-tour status
- Application status
- Admission outcome, where applicable
- Communication preferences and opt-out requests
3. Purpose of Collection
We collect and use personal information primarily for legitimate admission-related purposes, including:
- •Processing and responding to admission enquiries;
- •Sharing the School prospectus and admission information;
- •Sharing applicable fee information;
- •Providing boarding information;
- •Scheduling counselling calls;
- •Arranging school visits and campus tours;
- •Responding to questions regarding the School;
- •Following up on an admission enquiry;
- •Understanding student intended class and boarding needs;
- •Communicating application or admission-related next steps;
- •Maintaining appropriate admission enquiry records;
- •Managing enquiries generated through advertising campaigns; and
- •Complying with applicable legal, regulatory, security, and administrative requirements.
4. Consent and Communication
By submitting an admission enquiry form, the parent/guardian acknowledges that they are requesting admission-related information or assistance and may be contacted by the School's authorised admissions team.
- Telephone calls;
- SMS;
- WhatsApp;
- Email; or
- Other communication channels voluntarily provided by the parent/guardian.
Where applicable and permitted by law, the School may contact the number provided even where it is registered under a DND/NDNC preference, based on the consent provided through the admission enquiry and subject to applicable telecommunications rules.
Parents/guardians may withdraw their consent or request that further admission-related communication be stopped at any time. The School's admission process provides for respecting communication preferences and stopping repeated follow-ups when a family declines further communication.
5. Data Storage and Access
Admission information may be stored in secure databases, CRM systems, school admission-management systems, forms platforms, communication systems, or other authorised technology used to manage admission enquiries.
Where Meta or other lead-generation platforms are used, enquiry information may be processed through those platforms before being received or managed by the School.
Access to personal information is restricted to authorised personnel who require access for legitimate School purposes, including:
- School admission staff;
- Admission counsellors;
- Relevant School management;
- Authorised administrative personnel; and
- Other authorised personnel involved in the admission process.
6. Data Retention and Opt-Out
Admission enquiry information will generally be retained for the duration of the relevant active admission cycle and for as long as reasonably necessary to complete or manage the enquiry.
Information may be retained for longer where necessary to:
- Complete an admission process;
- Maintain appropriate administrative records;
- Resolve disputes;
- Prevent fraud or abuse;
- Meet legal or regulatory obligations; or
- Establish, exercise, or defend legal claims.
When information is no longer required, it may be securely deleted, anonymised, or otherwise disposed of.
Request Immediate Cessation of Admission Contacts
Parents/guardians may request that the School stop sending admission-related communications at any time. Simply use either channel below:
7. GDPR — European Union / European Economic Area
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) has applied since 25 May 2018. The GDPR may apply to organisations outside the European Union where the organisation offers goods or services to individuals in the EU or monitors their behaviour there.
Where the GDPR applies to our processing, we will process personal information using an applicable lawful basis, which may include consent, legitimate interests, steps requested before entering into an agreement, or compliance with a legal obligation.
- Right to Access;
- Right to Rectification;
- Right to Erasure (“Right to be forgotten”);
- Right to Restriction of processing;
- Right to Data portability;
- Right to Object to certain processing;
- Right to Withdrawal of consent; and
- Other rights provided by applicable data-protection law.
GDPR requests may be sent to: info@stcolumbus.org
8. CalOPPA — California
The California Online Privacy Protection Act (CalOPPA) applies to certain commercial websites and online services that collect personally identifiable information from California residents.
Where applicable, this Privacy Policy provides information concerning:
- Categories of personal information collected;
- Purposes for which information is collected;
- Categories of third parties with whom information may be shared;
- How users may contact us regarding their information;
- How material changes to this Privacy Policy may be communicated; and
- The effective date of this Privacy Policy.
9. CCPA / CPRA — California Privacy Rights
Where applicable, California residents may have additional rights under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), as amended by the California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA). These may include rights to:
- Know what personal information is collected;
- Request access to personal information;
- Request deletion, subject to applicable exceptions;
- Request correction of inaccurate personal information;
- Opt out of the sale or sharing of personal information where applicable;
- Limit certain uses or disclosures of sensitive personal information; and
- Exercise applicable privacy rights without unlawful discrimination.
10. COPPA — Children Under 13
The Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) applies to certain websites and online services that collect personal information online from children under 13.
Parent/Guardian Submission: The School's admission enquiry process is primarily intended for parents and legal guardians. Parents or legal guardians should submit admission enquiries on behalf of students where appropriate.
Where COPPA applies, the School will take appropriate steps required by applicable law concerning parental notice, consent, collection, use, disclosure, retention, and deletion of children's personal information.
At the initial enquiry stage, parents/guardians should provide only information necessary to enable the School to respond to the admission enquiry.
11. Children's and Student Information
Because the School provides educational services, admission enquiries may relate to children and students. We seek to minimise the amount of student information collected during the initial enquiry stage.
The initial enquiry process should not ordinarily be used to submit:
- Medical records;
- Identity documents;
- Passports;
- Financial documents;
- Examination certificates;
- Detailed educational records; or
- Other sensitive student documents,
unless the School specifically requests such information through an appropriate formal admission process. The supplied admission strategy specifically recommends avoiding child-document collection at the initial enquiry stage.
12. Third-Party Services and Meta
The School may use third-party technology and service providers to operate its website and manage admission enquiries. These may include:
- CRM systems;
- Online forms;
- Cloud services;
- Email providers;
- Communication services;
- WhatsApp-related services;
- Meta lead-generation and advertising tools;
- Website analytics services; and
- Security and technical service providers.
14. International Data Transfers
Because some technology and service providers may operate in countries outside India, personal information may in some circumstances be processed or stored outside India.
Where applicable law imposes requirements concerning international transfers, the School will seek to implement the safeguards required by that law.
15. Data Security
The School takes reasonable organisational and technical measures to protect personal information against:
- Unauthorised access;
- Unauthorised disclosure;
- Loss;
- Misuse;
- Alteration;
- Destruction; and
- Other reasonably foreseeable security risks.
16. No Sale of Personal Information
St. Columbus International School does not sell, rent, or commercially trade parent/guardian admission enquiry information to unrelated third-party marketing agencies, lead brokers, or advertising networks.
Authorised technology providers may process information where necessary to provide services supporting the School's admission process.
17. Your Privacy Requests
Depending on the law applicable to you, you may request:
- Access to your personal information;
- Correction of inaccurate information;
- Deletion of information;
- Restriction of processing;
- Withdrawal of consent;
- Cessation of admission-related communications; or
- Other rights available under applicable privacy law.
Requests should be sent to: info@stcolumbus.org
We may request reasonable information to verify the identity of the person making a privacy request.
18. Third-Party Websites
Our website may contain links to third-party websites, platforms, or services. Those third parties have their own privacy policies and terms. The School does not control and is not responsible for the privacy practices of third-party websites that it does not operate.
19. Changes to This Privacy Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in:
- Applicable law;
- School admission processes;
- Technology;
- Communication channels;
- Third-party service providers; or
- Data-handling practices.
The updated policy will be published on the School's website together with its revised effective date.
20. Contact Us
If you have questions about this Privacy Policy, wish to exercise a privacy right, want to withdraw consent, or want to stop receiving admission-related communications, please contact us.