Cookie Policy

What Are Cookies

Cookies are small text files placed on your device (computer, tablet, or smartphone) when you browse a website. They allow the website to operate efficiently, preserve your security tokens, remember educational preferences, and supply aggregated analytical metrics to website owners.

Similar technologies such as web beacons, pixels, and browser local storage serve comparable purposes and are covered by this policy wherever we refer to 'cookies'.

Statutory Compliance (DPDPA 2023 & GDPR)

techcadd operates in strict accordance with the Digital Personal Data Protection Act (DPDPA 2023, India) and international benchmarks including the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA/CPRA).

Under Section 6 of the DPDPA 2023, consent must be free, specific, informed, unconditional, and unambiguous with a clear affirmative action. techcadd guarantees that non-essential cookies are never set without your prior explicit affirmative consent, that consent is unbundled across discrete categories, and that you may review or revoke your consent at any time via the 'Cookie Settings' link in the footer.

Every consent selection automatically generates an immutable audit trail token (consisting of a unique anonymized consent ID, epoch timestamp, and policy version) stored securely on your browser to prove statutory compliance without identifying your personal identity.

Dual Storage Mechanism & Retention Limits

To prevent consent loss across browsing sessions while adhering to web standards, techcadd stores your preferences using dual synchronized storage:

1. Real Browser Cookie: The key 'techcadd_cookie_consent' is written directly to document.cookie with an explicit 365-day maximum retention period (max-age=31536000), SameSite=Lax protection, and Secure encryption flags over HTTPS.

2. LocalStorage Sync: The identical preference payload is mirrored to window.localStorage to protect your preferences even when aggressive browser cleaning extensions flush temporary caches.

After 365 days, stored consent automatically expires, and you will be prompted with a fresh consent notice.

Cookie Categorisation & Technical Specifications

We categorize all cookies used on techcadd into four distinct levels:

1. Strictly Necessary Cookies (Always Active): Essential for basic website navigation, form submission, and CSRF security. Excluded from consent requirements under DPDPA Section 5(2). Examples include 'techcadd_cookie_consent' and session security tokens (Retention: 1 Year / Session).

2. Performance & Analytics Cookies (Optional): Enable anonymized traffic measurement, page load metrics, and educational interest reports through Google Analytics. These metrics are processed in aggregate without recording personal identities (Retention: 13 Months).

3. Functional Cookies (Optional): Remember your selected course filters, calculator inputs (e.g. CGPA to percentage preferences), and interface themes so you don't have to re-enter them on every visit (Retention: 6 Months).

4. Marketing & Attribution Cookies (Optional): Measure the effectiveness of educational partnership announcements and social campaigns. techcadd enforces a strict zero-data-sale guarantee and will never sell your contact details to third-party ad brokers (Retention: 90 Days).

Managing & Revoking Consent at Any Time

You have full ownership of your data. You can reopen the interactive preferences drawer at any time by clicking 'Cookie Settings' in the footer of any page on techcadd.

You may also manage or clear cookies through your browser settings:

• Google Chrome: Settings > Privacy & Security > Cookies and other site data.

• Mozilla Firefox: Settings > Privacy & Security > Enhanced Tracking Protection & Cookies.

• Apple Safari: Settings > Safari > Advanced > Privacy > Block all cookies.

• Microsoft Edge: Settings > Cookies and site permissions > Manage and delete cookies.

Third-Party Services & Embedded Content

Where techcadd embeds educational media (such as YouTube course walk-throughs), we strictly utilize privacy-enhanced modes (youtube-nocookie.com) that do not store tracking cookies until you actively click to play the media.

External links to recruitment portals, tools (such as AI Interview Prep), or partner universities operate under their respective privacy policies.

Contact the Data Grievance Officer

If you have questions regarding our cookie practices or wish to exercise your statutory data rights under the DPDPA 2023, please contact our Data Grievance Officer:

techcadd Mohali, Plot No. F-547, 3rd Floor, Industrial Area 8A, Sector 75, Sahibzada Ajit Singh Nagar (Mohali), Punjab 160055.

Official Email: info@techcadd.com | Phone: +91 98881 22442