Last updated 13 November 2026
This notice explains what personal information GradNode keeps, why, and the choices you have. Questions or requests: info@gradnode.com.
What we keep
- Account: your name, email address, your GradNode ID (like GN-7K4Q2M, given once every required document is uploaded, so our team can find your file) and when you created the account. Your password is stored only as a secure one-way hash, never as the password itself. If you sign in with Google, we receive your name, email address and Google account ID from Google.
- Profile details you choose to add: phone number and city.
- Your answers and plans: profile check answers (such as Class X, Class XII and degree marks, English test scores and work experience), your shortlist, application tracker and visa checklist. Profile check answers are saved to your account as you type, so you can carry on from another device; unfinished answers are deleted when you finish the check, choose "Start again" or delete your account.
- Documents you upload, such as passport copies, marksheets and test results, and what our document check found in them (see below).
- Find courses details: if you search courses without an account, we ask your name, mobile number and email address, and keep them with your search answers (destination, course, level and intake) and whether you confirmed the email and mobile with a one-time code. If you allowed optional cookies and came from one of our ads or posts, we also keep which one. Codes are stored only in a scrambled form and expire after 10 minutes. Our team keeps a short note about your enquiry, where it stands (for example contacted or call booked) and a date to follow up.
- Free call requests: the phone number, preferred time, topic and note you give us, and our team's notes about the call.
- Feed posts: the posts, comments, Admit / Reject results, votes, reactions, saves and reports you make in the Feed. Other students see your first name and last initial, never your email address.
- Invoices: if you pay GradNode for a service, the invoice (your name, what you bought, the amount and the date), kept for as long as tax law requires.
- Feedback you choose to give (a star rating and an optional comment).
- Reports of a wrong value you send from a course page: which value and your note, kept with your account until our team has checked it.
- Page use: which GradNode pages you open and when, so we can see how many students use each page. Kept for up to 400 days.
- Security records: login sessions, and short-lived records of failed logins and similar attempts with the network address they came from, used to block attacks.
Why we use it
- To run your account and show you your own shortlist, answers, tracker and documents.
- To compare your answers with course requirements.
- To send account emails, such as confirming your email address and resetting your password.
- To confirm the email address and mobile number you give on Find courses, and to contact you about your course search by email, phone or WhatsApp. Every such email has a link to stop them, and you can ask us to stop at any time.
- To prepare a course match for your adviser: our team compares your Profile check answers (English score, budget, study level, subjects, intake) with published course requirements and sorts courses into Safe, Target and Ambitious. Only the GradNode team sees it. It is not shared with universities and no decision is made about you automatically.
- To arrange the free call you asked for.
- To check a value you reported on a course page and correct it if the university's page says otherwise.
- To show your Feed posts to other signed-in students, and to remove posts that break the rules.
- To verify a shortlisted course when you ask: our team checks your documents and answers against that course and marks it verified, or not eligible with the reason. Once verified, Apply now adds the course to your Applications and opens the university's application page.
- To check your documents before we help with an application (see below). Our team sees a list of students with their name, email, mobile number, GradNode ID and which documents are uploaded.
- To answer your questions in the GradNode Assistant.
- To understand which pages are used, so we can improve them.
- To keep the site and your account secure.
We use your information because you asked us to provide this service and agreed to this notice. We don't sell your information, and we don't use it for advertising.
Who else handles it
- Amazon Web Services hosts the site and sends our emails, from its data centre in Mumbai, India.
- Google, only if you choose to sign in with Google.
- An SMS company sends the one-time code to your mobile on Find courses (it gets your number and the code only). We will name it here once mobile codes are switched on.
- Anthropic runs the AI we use. When you use the GradNode Assistant, your messages in that chat are sent to Anthropic to write the answer (not your name, email, profile answers or documents). In an AI consultant call, the words of the call and your first name are sent to Anthropic. When our team checks your documents, each document is sent to Anthropic once to read it. Anthropic may process this outside India, under its commercial terms, and does not use it to train its models.
- Plivo carries AI consultant phone calls (only if you ask for one): it gets your phone number and the call, and keeps the call record (number, time, length) as phone companies must.
- Sarvam AI turns speech into text and text into speech during an AI consultant call, in India. We set it to delete call data after 1 day and not to train its models on it.
We don't share your information with universities, lenders or anyone else unless you ask us to, or the law requires it.
Document check
When our team looks at your file, an AI reads each document you uploaded and notes what it shows: your name, date of birth, dates, marks, English scores and similar. It then checks that these match across your documents and your Profile check answers, and lists anything missing or out of date. For passport and other ID numbers we keep only the last 4 characters. From your answers and the check we also work out a profile score out of 100 (marks, English, documents, consistency, experience), and compare it, without names, with other GradNode students. The check and the score help our team spot problems early and advise you; they don't decide anything about you on their own, they are not a prediction of admission, and a person always reviews them. What it found is deleted when you delete the document or your account. Our team can download a two-page summary of your file (with your photo, study preferences and shortlist) and your documents as a ZIP to work on your application; both are made when needed and not kept on our server. Where your documents spell your name differently, the summary uses the spelling most of them share.
GradNode Assistant
The Assistant is an AI. Its answers can be wrong, so check fees, dates and requirements on the university's own page before you decide. We don't keep your chats on our server: they stay in your browser tab and are cleared when you close it or log out. We only record the time and cost of each answer. Please don't type passwords, passport numbers, bank details or other private documents into the chat.
AI consultant calls
When you book a call you can tick "Call me sooner with GradNode's AI consultant". Only then, an AI assistant phones you (between 10am and 8pm India time) in the language you chose, says it is an AI, and puts you through to a GradNode counsellor whenever you ask. The call is not recorded and the conversation is not kept. During the call your voice goes to Sarvam AI (speech to text and back) and the words go to Anthropic (the AI that answers). After the call the AI writes a short summary for our counsellors (what you want to study, intake, budget, English test, next step), which is kept with your call request and deleted with your account. You can untick the box or cancel the call at any time.
How long we keep it
We keep your information until you delete your account. When you delete a Feed post or comment, its words are removed straight away; an empty "[deleted]" placeholder may stay so replies keep their place. Deleting your account removes your details, answers and documents straight away. Copies held in our backups are removed as older backups are replaced. Failed-login records are kept for a short time only. Find courses details are kept for up to 12 months, or 7 days if the email address was never confirmed; deleting an account with the same email address deletes them too.
Your choices and rights
- See and correct your details on Your profile.
- Download or delete your documents on Documents.
- Delete your whole account in Account settings.
- Ask us to delete your Find courses details or to stop contacting you at info@gradnode.com.
- Ask us for a copy of your information, or raise a concern, at info@gradnode.com.
- Take back your agreement at any time, by deleting your account or writing to us. This does not change what was done before.
Contact and complaints
For privacy questions or complaints, write to info@gradnode.com. GradNode is being registered as a private limited company in India; its registered name, address and grievance officer will be added here once the registration is complete.
Security
Connections to GradNode are encrypted. Your documents can only be downloaded by you and, when they work on your application, by GradNode's administrator; every such view and download is logged. Passwords are hashed, and login attempts are limited to stop guessing. If a security problem affects your information, we will tell you and the authorities as the law requires.
Children
Accounts are for people aged 18 or over. If you are under 18, a parent or guardian must agree to this notice for you.
Cookies
See our Cookie policy.
Changes
If we change this notice in an important way, we will ask you to agree again when you next log in.