1. What we collect
If you just browse: almost nothing. Basic technical logs (IP address, browser type, pages visited) are processed by our hosting provider to keep the site running and secure. We don't run advertising trackers.
If you create an account: your email address and a password. Passwords are stored hashed by our authentication provider — we can't read them. Your saved scholarships and preferences are stored with your account.
If you book a ticket: the information the application itself needs, and only that —
- your full name and contact details
- date of birth, nationality (and second nationality, if you have one), and address
- education history, grades/GPA, and language certificates
- the documents the scholarship requires: transcripts, certificates, and identity document details
- your story and goals, gathered in our essay conversation with you
If you pay: your card or wallet details go directly to our payment processor ([Stripe / Paymob]). We never see or store them. We receive only a confirmation that payment succeeded, the amount, and a reference number.
We will never ask you for more than the application in front of us requires. If we're asking for something and you don't see why, ask us — you're entitled to an answer.
2. Why we use it
- To run the site — accounts, saved lists, keeping things secure.
- To deliver the ticket service — building your CV, developing your essay, and assembling your application package requires the information above. This is the entire reason we collect it.
- To communicate with you — about your booking, your documents, and your questions. We don't send marketing spam.
- To meet legal obligations — payment and tax records, where the law requires.
3. What we never do
- We never sell your information. To anyone. Ever.
- We never share your documents or details with other companies for their marketing.
- We never show ads or run advertising trackers.
- We never reuse your essay or story for another student.
4. Who ever sees your information
Only what's necessary, only where it's necessary:
- Supabase — the platform that stores our database and handles account login.
- Cloudflare — hosts the website and provides basic security and traffic logs.
- [Stripe / Paymob] — processes payments; they receive your payment details directly from you, not from us.
- The scholarship application itself — this is the point of the service. Your documents and details go into the application package that is submitted to the provider, with your knowledge, for the scholarship you chose. We never send your information to a provider you didn't book.
- The law — if a valid legal order requires disclosure, we comply, and we tell you unless the law forbids it.
Inside Beacon, access to your documents is limited to the team members actually working on your application.
5. Where it's stored
Our database and hosting providers may store data on servers outside Egypt (for example, in the EU or US, depending on the provider's region). Wherever it lives, it's encrypted in transit, protected by access controls, and covered by this policy.
6. How long we keep it
- Account data: for as long as your account exists. Close your account and it goes.
- Application materials (documents, CV, essay): deleted within [90] days after your package is delivered — sooner if you ask, or longer only if you ask us to keep them for another booking.
- Payment records: kept as long as tax and accounting law requires, then deleted.
7. Your rights
At any time, you can ask us to:
- show you everything we hold about you
- correct anything that's wrong
- delete your information (we'll confirm when it's done)
- stop processing you've previously agreed to
Email [contact email] from the address on your account. We respond within [30] days, and usually much faster. These requests are free.
8. If you're under 18
Students under 18 should use Beacon — and especially book a ticket — with a parent or guardian's knowledge and consent. Parents and guardians can contact us directly to see, correct, or delete their child's information, and we treat those requests with priority.
9. Security
Connections to Beacon are encrypted (HTTPS). Data is protected with access controls at the database level, payments are handled entirely by our payment processor, and documents are accessible only to the people working on your application.
We'll also be honest: no system on the internet is perfectly secure. If a breach ever affects your personal data, we will notify you promptly, tell you plainly what happened, and tell you what we're doing about it.
10. Cookies and local storage
Beacon uses only what's needed to keep you signed in and remember your session — essential storage, set by our authentication provider. There are no advertising or cross-site tracking cookies. If that ever changes (for example, adding analytics), this policy will say so before it happens.
11. Changes to this policy
If this policy changes, the new version appears here with a new effective date, and we note the change on the site. We will never quietly expand what we do with information you already gave us — meaningful changes apply going forward, with notice.
12. Contact
Privacy questions, access requests, deletions, or a parent who wants to talk to a human:
[Legal name / Beacon]
[City], Egypt
[Contact email]