Client Confidentiality Policy

1. PURPOSE OF THIS POLICY

DScholar Research Consultancy and Analytics (OPC) Private Limited (“DScholar”, “Company”, “we”, “us”, or “our”) recognises that confidentiality is fundamental to the relationship between DScholar and its clients.

Clients may provide us with confidential research ideas, academic materials, manuscripts, datasets, business information, personal information, institutional information, unpublished results, project specifications, analytical requirements, intellectual property, and other sensitive information.

This Client Confidentiality Policy (“Policy”) establishes the principles and standards that DScholar follows in protecting such information. Our objective is to ensure that information supplied by clients is treated responsibly, securely, and confidentially and is not unnecessarily disclosed or made publicly available.

2. OUR CORE CONFIDENTIALITY COMMITMENT

DScholar maintains the following fundamental commitments:

• We do not sell client information: We do not sell, rent, lease, trade, or commercially exploit confidential client information or personal data.
• We do not publicly disclose client identities: We do not intentionally publish or publicly disclose the names or identities of our clients merely because they have registered with us, purchased a service, or engaged us for consultancy.
• We do not maintain a public client list: We do not intentionally publish a public list of our clients, including their names, contact details, institutions, project details, or other identifying information, unless the client has expressly authorised such publication or disclosure.
• We do not use client projects as publicity without permission: We will not intentionally use a client's confidential project, research work, manuscript, dataset, report, project title, institutional affiliation, or identifying information for advertising, marketing, portfolio presentation, testimonials, case studies, or promotional purposes without appropriate authorisation.
• Confidentiality applies to research and consultancy information: Information provided to us for research, analytics, consultancy, academic, professional, training, publication-support, or related services will be treated as confidential subject to this Policy and applicable law.

3. WHAT WE CONSIDER CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION

For purposes of this Policy, “Confidential Information” generally means non-public information provided to DScholar by or on behalf of a client in connection with an enquiry, account, purchase, consultation, project, service, engagement, or other business relationship.

Confidential Information may include:

• client names and identifying information; contact information; email addresses and telephone numbers; account information;
• research ideas and concepts; research proposals; research questions; unpublished research;
• manuscripts; theses and dissertations; articles and working papers; unpublished findings;
• datasets; statistical information; analytical models; research methodologies; survey instruments; questionnaires; interview materials; experimental information;
• business plans; business strategies; financial information; institutional information; project specifications; consultancy requirements;
• documents supplied by clients; files uploaded through the Website; correspondence and communications; quotations and commercial information; invoices and transaction information; service history; unpublished reports;
• intellectual-property-related information; passwords or access credentials provided for a legitimate service purpose, where applicable; personal information; and any other information that a reasonable person would understand to be confidential given the nature and circumstances of disclosure.

4. CLIENT IDENTITY CONFIDENTIALITY

DScholar understands that some clients may prefer not to have their association with our services publicly known. Accordingly, unless authorised by the client or required by law:

• we will not intentionally publish the client's name or photograph;
• we will not intentionally publish the client's contact details or institutional affiliation as a client reference;
• we will not intentionally publish the client's project title or research topic in a manner that identifies the client;
• we will not intentionally identify a person as a DScholar client on our Website or disclose a client's identity for promotional purposes.

Registration with DSCHOLARRESEARCH.COM does not automatically constitute permission to identify the registrant publicly as a client.

5. RESEARCH CONFIDENTIALITY

Research-related information may have significant academic, professional, commercial, or intellectual value. Accordingly, DScholar will take reasonable measures to maintain the confidentiality of client research information supplied to us for legitimate service purposes, including proposals, hypotheses, research designs, datasets, manuscripts, survey results, and analytical outputs. We will not intentionally publish or disclose such information publicly without appropriate authorisation.

6. DATASET AND INFORMATION CONFIDENTIALITY

Where a client provides datasets or other information for analysis, DScholar will use such information solely for the relevant authorised purpose. We will not intentionally sell or publish client-provided datasets. Clients should ensure that they have the necessary rights, permissions, consents, and lawful authority to provide any dataset or third-party information submitted to DScholar.

7. CLIENT DOCUMENTS AND FILES

Documents and files supplied by clients may be stored or processed through website systems, cloud storage, hosting infrastructure, communication platforms, and analytical software necessary to provide requested services. We take reasonable measures to restrict unauthorised access. However, clients acknowledge that no electronic system can be guaranteed to be completely secure against every conceivable cyberattack or technical failure.

8. ACCESS TO CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION

DScholar follows a need-to-know approach. Access to confidential client information is limited to personnel or service providers who reasonably require access for service delivery, technical administration, customer support, payment processing, legal compliance, quality control, or system maintenance. Authorized personnel are bound by confidentiality obligations.

9. THIRD-PARTY SERVICE PROVIDERS

DScholar may use third-party technology providers for website hosting, cloud infrastructure, email, security, analytics, and payment processing. Where a third party processes information on our behalf, we seek to use reasonable contractual, technical, and organisational safeguards appropriate to the nature of the information.

10. PAYMENT CONFIDENTIALITY

Payments on DSCHOLARRESEARCH.COM are facilitated via third-party services including SureCart, PayPal, and Razorpay. DScholar does not store complete payment-card credentials (full card numbers or CVV codes) on its own servers. We retain transaction metadata strictly for accounting, invoicing, tax compliance, refunds, and fraud prevention.

11. CONFIDENTIALITY OF CLIENT COMMUNICATIONS

We protect communications received via email, WhatsApp, contact forms, and account portals using reasonable measures. However, standard internet channels carry inherent risks; clients should avoid transmitting unnecessary passwords, credit card numbers, or authentication codes over unencrypted messaging tools.

12. NO UNAUTHORISED PUBLICATION

Unless expressly authorised or legally required, DScholar will not intentionally publish confidential client materials on our Website, social media channels, blogs, newsletters, promotional brochures, presentations, case studies, or portfolios.

13. TESTIMONIALS AND REVIEWS

Where a client voluntarily provides a testimonial, review, endorsement, or feedback that identifies them, DScholar uses it strictly in accordance with the permission provided. We will never fabricate client testimonials and offer options for anonymous feedback where practical.

14. DISCLOSURES REQUIRED BY LAW

Confidentiality obligations do not prevent DScholar from complying with mandatory legal mandates. We may disclose confidential details when required by Indian law, valid court orders, lawful governmental directions, regulatory authorities, or law-enforcement investigations.

15. EMERGENCY AND SECURITY DISCLOSURES

In limited emergency situations, disclosures may occur to mitigate serious cybersecurity threats, investigate fraud or unlawful activity, protect system stability, or prevent imminent harm to individuals or property.

16. CLIENT RESPONSIBILITIES

Confidentiality is a shared responsibility. Clients are advised to supply files via secure channels, maintain robust account password security, ensure they hold legal rights to submit datasets, and refrain from publicly posting restricted deliverables independently.

17. THIRD-PARTY INFORMATION PROVIDED BY CLIENTS

Clients providing data regarding research participants, survey respondents, students, or third parties must ensure proper legal consent and authority exist prior to submission. DScholar processes such data strictly to fulfill authorized project objectives.

18. PERSONAL DATA AND PRIVACY

This Policy works in conjunction with the DScholar Privacy Policy. While our Privacy Policy dictates general data collection and privacy rights under Indian law, this document details operational standards protecting proprietary client projects, research, and non-public materials.

19. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

Confidential disclosures do not grant or transfer intellectual property rights. Client-created documents, manuscripts, research concepts, and datasets remain client property unless otherwise stipulated in a separate written agreement.

20. USE OF CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION

Client Confidential Information is utilized solely to deliver requested services, process payments, provide support, maintain administrative records, ensure platform security, and satisfy statutory obligations.

21. INTERNAL SECURITY

We deploy technical and organizational measures such as access restrictions, secure connection protocols, password protections, restricted database access, routine security updates, and administrative logging to protect sensitive materials.

22. CONFIDENTIALITY AFTER COMPLETION OF A PROJECT

The conclusion, expiry, or termination of a client contract does not dissolve confidentiality. Non-public client records continue to be handled with strict confidentiality after project completion.

23. DATA RETENTION AND DELETION

We retain client materials only as long as required for service completion, legal compliance, tax accounting, or dispute defense. Obsolete information is securely deleted or anonymized in accordance with system backup cycles.

24. DATA BREACHES AND CONFIDENTIALITY INCIDENTS

If a security incident affecting confidential client data occurs, DScholar will investigate, contain the breach, take remedial actions, document findings, and notify affected parties or authorities where required by applicable laws.

25. INTERNATIONAL SERVICE PROVIDERS

Certain infrastructure, analytics, cloud, or payment services integrated into DSCHOLARRESEARCH.COM may route data across global servers. DScholar ensures such transfers align with applicable Indian cross-border data requirements.

26. EXCLUSIONS FROM CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION

Confidentiality protections do not apply to information that is already public without breach of this Policy, independently developed without using client records, lawfully received from non-restricted third parties, or legally mandated for disclosure.

27. NO UNAUTHORISED DATA COMMERCIALISATION

DScholar is not a data broker. We do not trade, sell, or rent client directories, research files, or contact databases to external marketing organizations.

28. LIMITATIONS OF CONFIDENTIALITY

Confidentiality cannot be absolute when legal demands compel disclosure, when data is publicly disclosed by the client themselves, or when disclosure is essential to mitigate severe system abuse or physical safety threats.

29. NO PUBLIC IDENTIFICATION OF CLIENTS

Registering on or purchasing services through DSCHOLARRESEARCH.COM does not give DScholar consent to display client identities in public marketing materials without written permission.

30. CONFIDENTIALITY OF ACADEMIC AND PROFESSIONAL CLIENTS

We respect the sensitive nature of academic standing. Researchers, scholars, students, consultants, and corporate clients are afforded equal identity protection regardless of their background or institutional status.

31. CONFIDENTIALITY AND ETHICAL RESEARCH PRACTICES

Nothing here authorizes unethical research conduct or copyright violations. Clients retain responsibility for obtaining necessary ethics clearances, human participant approvals, or institutional permissions before sharing research data.

32. SUBCONTRACTORS AND PROFESSIONAL ADVISERS

Where external experts, technical specialists, or legal consultants are required, disclosure is minimized strictly to necessary project segments, and contractors are bound by non-disclosure conditions.

33. CLIENT REQUESTS CONCERNING CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION

Clients may submit requests concerning data access, corrections, deletion, or confidentiality queries by contacting us directly. Identity verification may be performed prior to acting on requests.

34. GRIEVANCE AND CONFIDENTIALITY COMPLAINTS

If you suspect an unauthorized disclosure or security issue, please notify us immediately:

35. GOVERNING LAW

This Client Confidentiality Policy shall be governed by and interpreted in accordance with the laws of the Republic of India.

36. JURISDICTION

Subject to statutory consumer mechanisms, jurisdiction for legal matters arising under this policy resides with competent judicial courts in Agartala, Tripura, India.

37. RELATIONSHIP WITH OTHER AGREEMENTS

This Policy operates alongside our Privacy Policy, Terms & Conditions, and project NDAs. Where a custom, separately executed Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) provides stricter terms, the executed NDA prevails.

38. AMENDMENTS TO THIS POLICY

We reserve the right to revise this document to reflect operational, technology, or legal changes. Updates will be published directly on DSCHOLARRESEARCH.COM with an updated timestamp.

39. SEVERABILITY

If any clause is held invalid or unenforceable by law, all remaining sections continue in full force and effect.

40. NO WAIVER

Failure by DScholar to strictly enforce any section of this Policy at a given time does not constitute a waiver of our right to enforce it subsequently.

41. CONTACT INFORMATION

42. OUR CONFIDENTIALITY PROMISE

DScholar Research Consultancy and Analytics (OPC) Private Limited is committed to maintaining a professional relationship based on trust, confidentiality, privacy, integrity, and responsible handling of client information.

We understand that research ideas, unpublished academic work, datasets, consultancy requirements, business information, personal information, and professional projects may be highly sensitive.

Your information is provided to us for the purpose for which you engage our services. We do not sell your personal information or confidential project information, and we do not intentionally make our clients' names or identities publicly available merely because they use our Website or services.

DScholar Research Consultancy and Analytics (OPC) Private Limited
Agartala, Tripura, India