scholastiar.com · Legal
Privacy Policy
Scholastiar helps students from West Africa and beyond study at universities in Russia. To do that we handle personal documents that matter a great deal to you: your passport, your school results, your medical certificates. This policy explains what we collect, why, who sees it, and the control you have over it.
We have written it in plain language. If anything is unclear, write to us at support@scholastiar.com and we will explain.
01Who we are
"Scholastiar", "we", "us" and "our" refer to Scholastiar Limited, a company registered in Nigeria under registration number RC 9518616, with its registered office at Block C9, Chimaobi Plaza, 13 Ogui Rd, Achara, Enugu, Enugu State, Nigeria.
We are the data controller for the personal information described in this policy. That means we decide how and why it is used, and we are responsible for protecting it.
We provide an international education and workforce mobility service. Our main service is a done-for-you admission process: we advise you on programmes, prepare and submit your university application, help obtain your invitation letter, support your student visa application, and help with travel and arrival arrangements.
02Scope of this policy
This policy covers personal information we collect when you:
- visit scholastiar.com or any page on it, including the university Apply page;
- contact us by WhatsApp, email, phone, social media or web form;
- sign up for, pay for or use our admission and relocation services;
- act as a parent, guardian or sponsor of a student we support;
- respond to our advertisements or join one of our community groups;
- work with us as an agent, partner or supplier.
It does not cover the websites or processes of universities, embassies, airlines or other organisations we link to or deal with on your behalf. They have their own privacy policies.
03Information we collect
What we collect depends on how far you go with us. Someone asking a question on WhatsApp shares very little. A student we take through admission and visa processing shares much more, because universities and immigration authorities require it.
Information you give us
| Category | Examples |
|---|---|
| Identity and contact | Full name as on passport, date and place of birth, sex, nationality, phone and WhatsApp number, email address, home address, photographs (passport-style) |
| Travel documents | Passport number, issue and expiry dates, scanned passport data page, previous visas and travel history where required |
| Education records | WAEC, NECO, WASSCE or equivalent results, school certificates and transcripts, degree certificates, language test results, recommendation letters, CV, statement of purpose |
| Programme preferences | Preferred city, level (Bachelor's, Master's, PhD, preparatory year), study language (Russian-track or English-taught), field of study and budget |
| Health records | Medical certificates, HIV test certificates and other health documents that Russian universities or immigration authorities require for admission and visas |
| Family and sponsor details | Names and contact details of parents, guardians or sponsors, and proof of funds where requested |
| Payment information | Amounts paid, payment dates, invoices, transaction references and the name on the paying account. Card details are handled by our payment processor, not stored by us. |
| Communications | Messages, voice notes, emails and call notes between you and our team |
Information we collect automatically
When you use our website we may collect your IP address, device and browser type, approximate location (country or city level), pages viewed, the link or advertisement that brought you to us, and the date and time of your visit. See section 9.
Information from other sources
- Universities: admission decisions, invitation letter status, enrolment confirmation and fee information.
- Advertising and social platforms: when you respond to one of our ads (for example a lead form on Facebook or Instagram), the platform passes us the details you entered.
- Agents and referrers: partners who introduce you to us may share your name, contact details and interest.
- Parents or sponsors: may provide information about you when arranging your application.
04How we use your information
We only use your information where the law allows it. The table sets out each purpose and the legal basis we rely on.
| Purpose | What this involves | Legal basis |
|---|---|---|
| Answer enquiries | Replying to questions, sending programme and fee information, arranging consultations | Steps at your request before a contract; legitimate interests |
| Deliver our admission service | Matching you with programmes, preparing and submitting applications, obtaining invitation letters, supporting visa applications, arranging translation and notarisation, coordinating travel and arrival | Performance of our contract with you |
| Handle health documents | Collecting and submitting medical certificates required for admission and visas | Your explicit consent |
| Take payments and keep accounts | Issuing invoices, confirming payments, refunds, tax and accounting records | Contract; legal obligation |
| Keep you updated | Status updates on your application, deadlines, document requests, pre-departure information | Contract |
| Improve our service | Understanding which programmes and cities students choose, website analytics, service quality reviews | Legitimate interests |
| Marketing | News about programmes, intakes, scholarships and offers | Consent, or legitimate interests for existing clients where local law allows. You can opt out at any time. |
| Share success stories | Using your name, photo, video or testimonial in our content | Your explicit consent only |
| Legal and safety | Preventing fraud, including forged documents, resolving disputes, responding to lawful requests from authorities | Legal obligation; legitimate interests |
We do not sell your personal information. We do not use it for automated decisions that have legal or similarly significant effects on you. Admission decisions are made by universities, and visa decisions by the relevant authorities, not by us.
05Passport, health and other sensitive records
Some documents we handle are especially sensitive. Health information is a special category of data under most data protection laws, and passport details can be misused if they fall into the wrong hands. We apply extra care:
- We ask for health documents only when a university or authority requires them, and only at the stage they are needed.
- We ask for your explicit consent before collecting health documents, and you can withdraw it. If you do, we may not be able to complete your visa or admission, and we will tell you so.
- Access is limited to the team members working on your file.
- We share these documents only with the university, the translator or notary preparing them, and the authorities processing your visa or registration.
- We delete or return them within the periods in section 11.
07International transfers
Our service is international by nature. Your information will be transferred from the country where you live to the Russian Federation, because that is where the universities and authorities processing your admission and visa are. It may also be stored on servers in other countries used by our technology providers, including the European Union and the United States.
Data protection laws in these countries may differ from the laws where you live. Where we transfer your information abroad we rely on one or more of the following:
- the transfer is necessary to perform our contract with you, which you entered to study abroad;
- your consent, given after we have explained the transfer;
- contractual safeguards with our service providers, where available;
- adequacy decisions or other mechanisms recognised by the law that applies to you.
Russian universities and authorities process your information under Russian law, including Federal Law No. 152-FZ "On Personal Data".
08The university Apply page
Our Apply page lets you filter Russian universities by city, programme and tuition fee, then contact a university directly. When you type your name and email and press Apply, the page opens an email in your own email app, addressed to the university and pre-filled with a message in Russian.
- That email is sent from your account, by you, directly to the university. The university receives your name and email address and handles them under its own privacy policy.
- We [do not store / store] the name and email you type on this page. [If you store them, say where, why, and for how long.]
- University details on the page come from public sources. Check fees and deadlines on the university's own website before you apply.
10Messages and marketing
We communicate mainly through WhatsApp, email and social media. If you join one of our WhatsApp groups or communities, other members can see your phone number and profile name. Do not post personal documents in group chats.
We send marketing messages only where you have agreed or where the law allows. You can stop them at any time by replying STOP, using the unsubscribe link in any email, or writing to us. Service messages about an active application will continue while your application is open.
We publish content on platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube and LinkedIn. When you interact with us there, the platform's own privacy policy also applies.
11How long we keep it
We keep information only as long as we need it for the purpose it was collected, then delete or anonymise it.
| Information | Retention period |
|---|---|
| Enquiries that did not become clients | Up to 24 months after our last contact |
| Client application file | Duration of the service plus 3 years, so we can support you through your studies and handle any dispute |
| Scanned passport and health documents | Deleted within 12 months of your arrival and enrolment, or of the end of our service if you do not travel |
| Payment and accounting records | As long as tax law requires, usually 6 years |
| Marketing preferences | Until you unsubscribe, then kept only as a suppression record so we do not contact you again |
| Website analytics | Up to 26 months |
We return original physical documents to you. We may keep information longer where the law requires or to defend legal claims.
12Security
We use technical and organisational measures to protect your information, including:
- encrypted connections (HTTPS) on our website;
- password-protected accounts with two-step verification on our business tools;
- access limited to staff who need it for your file;
- confidentiality commitments from staff and partners;
- regular review of who has access to shared folders.
No system is perfectly secure. If a breach puts your information at risk, we will inform you and the relevant regulator as the law requires.
13Your rights
Depending on where you live, you have some or all of these rights:
- Access: get a copy of the information we hold about you.
- Correction: have inaccurate or incomplete information fixed.
- Deletion: ask us to delete your information where we no longer need it.
- Restriction: ask us to limit how we use it while a concern is resolved.
- Objection: object to use based on our legitimate interests, and to direct marketing at any time.
- Portability: receive the information you gave us in a common format.
- Withdraw consent: where we rely on consent, withdraw it at any time. This does not affect what we did before.
- Complain: to a data protection authority (see section 17).
To use any of these rights, contact us at support@scholastiar.com. We may ask you to confirm your identity. We respond within 30 days, and it is free unless a request is clearly unfounded or excessive.
If you ask us to delete information while your application is in progress, we may be unable to continue the application. Information already submitted to a university or authority is held by them, and we will tell you how to contact them.
14Applicants under 18
Many students apply straight after secondary school, and some are under 18. For applicants under 18, we require a parent or legal guardian to agree to our service and to the processing of the applicant's information, including health documents. The parent or guardian can exercise the rights in section 13 on the applicant's behalf.
Our website is not aimed at children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect their information.
15Third-party sites
Our website and messages link to university websites, government portals and social platforms. We do not control those sites and are not responsible for their privacy practices. Read their policies before sharing information with them.
16Changes to this policy
We may update this policy as our service or the law changes. We will post the new version on this page and change the "Last updated" date. If a change significantly affects how we use your information, we will tell clients directly by email or WhatsApp before it takes effect.
17Contact and complaints
Please contact us first so we can try to fix the problem. You also have the right to complain to the data protection authority where you live, for example:
- Nigeria: Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC), under the Nigeria Data Protection Act 2023
- Ghana: Data Protection Commission, under the Data Protection Act, 2012 (Act 843)
- Rwanda: National Cyber Security Authority (NCSA), under Law No. 058/2021 on the protection of personal data and privacy
- Russia: Roskomnadzor, under Federal Law No. 152-FZ
- European Union / UK: your national supervisory authority, or the Information Commissioner's Office in the UK