Privacy Policy

Marshian Guru (https://marshianguru.com.au) is an independent tutoring service operated by Richa Pandey, located at 236 Stonehill Drive, Maddingley, Bacchus Marsh VIC 3340, Australia.

This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store, and disclose personal information when you visit our website or use our tutoring services. It is written in accordance with the Australian Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs).

By using this website or contacting us, you consent to the practices described in this policy.

We collect personal information in the following ways:

2.1 Information You Provide Directly

• Contact form submissions — your name, email address, and message content when you complete the enquiry form on our website.
• Email and WhatsApp enquiries — any personal information you include when contacting us directly.
• Enrolment details — student name, year level, subject, school year, and parent/carer contact details when booking tutoring sessions.

2.2 Information Collected Automatically

• Usage data — pages visited, time spent, browser type, device type, and general geographic location (city/region level) via Google Analytics.
• Cookies — small files placed on your device by Google Analytics and Google reCAPTCHA. See Section 6 for details.
• IP addresses — collected by Google Analytics in anonymised form. We do not store raw IP addresses.

2.3 Information About Students (Minors)

Where tutoring services are provided to students under the age of 18, we collect personal information from a parent or legal guardian. We do not collect more information about students than is necessary for delivering tutoring services. We do not use student information for marketing purposes without explicit written consent.

We use collected information for the following purposes:

• Responding to enquiries and booking tutoring sessions
• Delivering and improving tutoring services
• Sending session reminders, progress updates, and scheduling communications
• Processing payments (where applicable)
• Complying with our legal obligations
• Improving website performance and user experience via analytics data

We do not use your personal information for automated decision-making or profiling. We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal information to third parties for marketing purposes.

Our website uses the following third-party services that may collect or process data independently under their own privacy policies:

Google Analytics IP anonymisation: We have enabled IP anonymisation in Google Analytics. Your full IP address is never stored or transmitted to Google's servers.

Google reCAPTCHA: By submitting our contact form, your interaction is subject to Google's Privacy Policy and Terms of Service. reCAPTCHA collects hardware and software information (such as device and application data) to verify you are not a bot.

Cookies are small text files stored on your device when you visit a website. This website uses cookies for the following purposes:

• Analytics cookies (Google Analytics) — to understand how visitors use our website. These cookies collect anonymised information and do not identify you personally.
• Security cookies (Google reCAPTCHA) — to distinguish humans from automated bots when you submit our contact form.

We do not use advertising cookies, tracking pixels, or third-party marketing cookies.

You can control or disable cookies through your browser settings. Disabling cookies may affect the functionality of the contact form. For instructions, visit aboutcookies.org.

Personal information you submit via the contact form is transmitted securely using HTTPS and delivered to our inbox via EmailJS. We retain enquiry information for up to 12 months, after which it is deleted unless an ongoing tutoring relationship exists.

Tutoring client records (name, year level, subject, session notes) are retained for the duration of the tutoring engagement and for up to 2 years after the last session, in accordance with standard educational record-keeping practice.

We take reasonable steps to protect personal information from misuse, loss, and unauthorised access. We do not store payment card details — payments are handled directly through agreed channels (bank transfer or cash).

Our website is hosted via static site infrastructure. We do not operate a database of student or parent records on the website itself.

We do not disclose personal information to third parties except in the following circumstances:

• With your explicit consent
• Where required or authorised by Australian law (e.g. mandatory reporting obligations)
• To service providers who assist in operating our website (Google Analytics, EmailJS) — subject to their own privacy policies listed in Section 4
• In the event of a serious and imminent threat to a person's health or safety

We do not disclose any information about students to their school, employer, or any other party without explicit written consent from the student's parent or guardian (if under 18) or the student themselves (if 18 or older).

Many of our students are under 18 years of age. We are committed to protecting the privacy of children in accordance with the Australian Privacy Act 1988 and our professional obligations under the VIT Code of Conduct.

• Enrolment for students under 18 requires consent from a parent or legal guardian.
• We do not collect more personal information about students than is necessary to deliver tutoring services.
• We do not publish photographs, names, school names, or academic results of students without explicit written consent from parents/guardians.
• We do not contact students under 18 via social media or personal messaging platforms outside of scheduled tutoring sessions.
• Student outcomes described on this website are anonymised — no student is identified by name, school, or any information that could identify them.

Under the Australian Privacy Principles, you have the right to:

• Access — request a copy of the personal information we hold about you
• Correction — request that inaccurate or outdated information be corrected
• Deletion — request that your personal information be deleted, subject to our legal retention obligations
• Opt-out of analytics — install the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on to prevent your data from being collected by Google Analytics
• Withdraw consent — withdraw consent to our use of your personal information at any time (noting this may affect our ability to provide services)

To exercise any of these rights, contact us at info@marshianguru.com.au. We will respond within 30 days.

If you believe we have breached the Australian Privacy Principles, you may lodge a complaint with us by emailing info@marshianguru.com.au. We will acknowledge your complaint within 5 business days and resolve it within 30 days.

If you are unsatisfied with our response, you may escalate your complaint to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC):

• Website: oaic.gov.au
• Phone: 1300 363 992
• Post: GPO Box 5218, Sydney NSW 2001

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, technology, legal requirements, or for other operational reasons. The date of the most recent update is shown at the top of this page.

Continued use of our website after any update constitutes your acceptance of the revised policy.

For any privacy-related questions, requests, or concerns:

• Business: Marshian Guru
• Operator: Richa Pandey
• Address: 236 Stonehill Drive, Maddingley, Bacchus Marsh VIC 3340, Australia
• Email: info@marshianguru.com.au
• Phone: 0469 740 394