We respect your privacy. We want to ensure that you get the information, content, and experiences that matter most to you. We are committed to protecting the privacy of our Users.

Please read this Privacy Policy carefully, to learn more about the ways in which when you participate in VidyaDaan, your personal information and data, is protected and used. This Privacy Policy covers the information collected from its user, whether or not you are Registered User.

By accessing https://vdn.diksha.gov.in and providing your information on https://vdn.diksha.gov.in, you consent to the collection and use of the information you disclose on https://vdn.diksha.gov.in in accordance with the Terms of Use and this Privacy Policy. If you do not agree with the contents of this policy, please do not use or access https://vdn.diksha.gov.in.

This Privacy Policy should be read in conjunction and together with the Terms of Use. Defined terms used but not defined herein shall have the meaning ascribed to them in the Terms of Use.

The terms "you", "your" hereinafter refer to any user of https://vdn.diksha.gov.in.

1. Permissions Required - By using https://vdn.diksha.gov.in and participating in the VidyaDaan program, you may be required to consent to provide permissions for the website to use the Microphone. A Registered User can choose to include a voice recording while creating Content and this is stored as part of the relevant Content.
2. Information Collected - When you use https://vdn.diksha.gov.in you may provide and/or may access, capture or store certain personal information or general information or data with respect to your activities or usage of https://vdn.diksha.gov.in, in accordance with the Terms of Use and this Privacy Policy. Note that https://vdn.diksha.gov.in does not knowingly collect data or personal information from or about children under 18 without the permission of parent(s)/guardian(s). If you believe that any information in violation of this Privacy Policy or any applicable laws might have been collected, please contact us at vdnsupport@teamdiksha.org and we will delete that information as quickly as possible.
   1. Registered User’s Information -
      1. Depending on your mode of registration, as a Registered User, the following information is collected about you:
         • Self-registration: user name, email address or mobile number, password, medium of instruction, board of interest, classes of interest, subjects of interest, state (self-declared) and district (self-declared)
         • Administrator led registration: user name, email address or mobile number, password, state teacher ID, school ID, medium of instruction, board of interest, classes of interest, subjects of interest, state (self-declared) and district (self-declared).
3. Location Policy
   1. Your IP address is collected once, when you become a Registered User for the limited purpose of ascertaining the State, City and District of origin.
   2. Your IP address is not stored at any time. When you access, register or log in to vdnsupport@teamdiksha.org, your IP address is obtained. This IP address is only collected temporarily and is used to determine your approximate location - State, City and District. This is a one-time activity, and once your State and District is determined, your IP address is promptly deleted permanently. While on our servers, your IP address is securely handled.
   3. The State, City and District determined through this process are then saved against your unique anonymised Device ID as part of your Registered User account. Registered Users are free to edit the State and District details at any time through their registered profile.
   4. The State and the District details are used for regional reporting on usage of vdnsupport@teamdiksha.org and remain anonymous at all times. All other terms and conditions set out in this Privacy Policy and the Terms of Use also apply to the collection of your IP address and determination of your location at the level of State, District and City.
4. Cookies Policy - Cookies or other similar data collection software to receive and store certain types of information may be used when you access vdnsupport@teamdiksha.org, in accordance with the Terms of Use and this Privacy Policy and you hereby consent to the same.
5. Data Policy
   1. Data collected -
      1. Personal information or general information of Registered Users (depending on the mode of registration)
      2. Telemetry data in relation to your usage and interactions on https://vdn.diksha.gov.in.
   2. Data Security -
      1. When you access https://vdn.diksha.gov.in using a device, the device ID of your device is encrypted and an anonymised device ID is created.
      2. Your phone number and email ID are encrypted and stored securely.
      3. Additionally, a variety of methods such as network and infrastructure security, encryption and manual security procedures are to secure your information and data against loss or damage and to help protect the accuracy and security of your personal information / general information / usage data and to prevent unauthorized access or improper use. If you think that any of your personal information / general information / usage data is not secure or that there has been unauthorized access to the website or your personal data, please contact vdnsupport@teamdiksha.org immediately.
      4. Rest assured, reasonable security measures as mandated under the (Indian) Information Technology Act, 2000 as amended and read with (Indian) Information Technology (Reasonable Security Practices and Procedures and Sensitive Personal Data or Information) Rules, 2011, are being used to safeguard and protect your data and information.
      5. Although there are measures in place to protect your personal information and data, there is no guarantee of the security of your data while it is being transmitted to its site; any transmission is at your own risk. Once your information is received, there are reasonable procedures and security features in place to reasonably endeavor to prevent unauthorized access in accordance with Indian law.
   3. Storage of your information or data - Your information or data will primarily be stored in electronic form however certain data may also be stored in physical form. There may be agreements with third parties to store and process your information or data. These third parties will follow security standards to safeguard your information or data and, on a reasonable basis, such third parties are required to adopt reasonable security standards to safeguard your information or data.
   4. Correct and updated information - You represent to us that the information or data you provide to on https://vdn.diksha.gov.in from time to time is and shall be correct, current and updated and you have all the rights, permissions and consents to provide such information or data to us. Your providing the information or data and the consequent storage, collection, usage, transfer, access or processing of the same in accordance with the Terms of Use and this Privacy Policy shall not be in violation of any third party agreement, laws, charter documents, judgments, orders and decrees.
   5. Information for which we are not responsible - There may have Content, webpages, cookies, files, software, data or other information or communication links that are originated, created or posted by third parties that may have the capability to collect, store or use your data or information. MHRD is not responsible for such data or information collected, stored or used by third parties even if such third parties use MHRD to collect, store or use such data or information. If you access https://vdn.diksha.gov.in through a web browser, MHRD is not responsible for the data or information collected by such third parties.
   6. Use of your information / data -
      1. One of the key purposes for us to collect your personal and general information or data is to provide you with a safe, efficient, smooth and customized experience, including, suggesting relevant Content based on your activity on https://vdn.diksha.gov.in, tracking your progress, contributions and issuing certificates that are provided by an Administrator.
      2. Your information to facilitate and provide various services on https://vdn.diksha.gov.in.
      3. Your information or data may also be needed to resolve disputes; troubleshoot problems; help promote safe and efficient usage of https://vdn.diksha.gov.in; measure interest in the services provided on https://vdn.diksha.gov.in; inform you as required; detect and protect you and us against error, fraud and other criminal activity; enforce our Terms of Use or other agreements between us; and as otherwise described to you at the time of collection.
      4. Multiple users may be looked at to identify problems or resolve disputes, and in particular may examine your information or data to identify users using multiple User IDs or aliases.
      5. Your information or data may be compared or reviewed for errors, omissions and for accuracy.
      6. You agree that your information or data may be used, to analyze the usage of https://vdn.diksha.gov.in, improve Content and offerings, and customize content, layout, and services. These uses improve https://vdn.diksha.gov.in and better tailor it to meet the needs for which it was created, so as to provide you with a smooth, efficient, safe and customized experience while using the site.
      7. You agree that your personal information may be used to contact you and deliver information to you with respect to administrative notices, and communications relevant to your use of https://vdn.diksha.gov.in and participation in VidyaDaan. By accepting the Terms of Use including the Privacy Policy, you expressly agree to receive this information.
      8. Third parties, that are referred to as internal service providers, may be engaged to facilitate or outsource one or more aspects of service operations that are provided to you on https://vdn.diksha.gov.in and therefore some of your information or data may be provided directly to these internal service providers. These internal service providers are subject to confidentiality and other legal restrictions that prohibit their use of the information provided to them for any purpose other than to facilitate specific website related operations.
      9. You understand, agree and acknowledge that the collection, storage and processing of your information or data is for a lawful purpose connected with your participation in VidyaDaan. You further understand, agree and acknowledge that your information or data which is classified as personal information as per applicable laws is considered necessary to provide various services on https://vdn.diksha.gov.in to you and for your usage of https://vdn.diksha.gov.in.
   7. Compliance with laws and law enforcement - MHRD cooperates with governments and law enforcement agencies or any third party by any order under law for the time being in force to enforce and comply with the law. MHRD will disclose any information about you to the government or law enforcement officials or private parties as, in its sole discretion, believes necessary or appropriate to respond to claims and legal process, to protect its property and rights or those of a a third party, to protect the safety of the public or any person, or to prevent or stop any illegal, unethical or legally actionable activity. Your information or data may also be provided to various tax authorities upon any demand or request from them. You acknowledge that https://vdn.diksha.gov.in maybe accessed from anywhere in the world and it will have users from all over the world and therefore governments, judiciaries or law enforcement authorities in various parts of the world may have or assume jurisdiction over it and it may be subject to the laws, rules, regulations and judgments of various countries, states, municipalities or provinces where it may not have a direct presence to store, process, collect, use or keep your information or data. You acknowledge that government or law enforcement authorities in the countries where your data or information is stored may have the right to decrypt, collect, monitor or access your data or information, which actions are completely out of MHRD’s control. MHRD does not take any responsibility for such actions.
   8. Deleting your information - If you wish to have the information or data that you have provided deleted, you can always do so by sending an email request to vdnsupport@teamdiksha.org. You may note that deletion of certain information or data may lead to cancellation of your registration and your access to https://vdn.diksha.gov.in. You also agree and acknowledge that certain data or information cannot be deleted or may be prohibited to be deleted as required under any applicable law, law enforcement requests or under any judicial proceedings. However, Content you have submitted and out into the public domain shall not be deleted by you.

VidyaDaan is a program of the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), Government of India for content sourcing and contributing for school/higher education and teacher education. VidyaDaan is leveraging the DIKSHA digital infrastructure and is accessible online through the VidyaDaan webpage https://vdn.diksha.gov.in. VidyaDaan is a program involving multiple stakeholders and multiple users. It is imperative therefore, in the interest of systematization and standardization to have a set of rules for all to follow. All Registered Users are expected to strictly comply with these rules and all Administrators are expected to strictly enforce these rules with respect to Content for the VidyaDaan program. Registered Users are requested not to look for loopholes or ways around these guidelines and respect the spirit in which they have been created.

Please read this Content Policy carefully, to learn more about the rules on appropriateness, accuracy, intellectual property rights and licensing that govern Content for the VidyaDaan program . This Content Policy should be read in conjunction and together with the Terms of Use.

This document highlights the framework with regards to Content to be followed by all participants, including Contributors, Reviewers, Administrators of Sourcing Organisation and Contributing Organisations/Individuals of the VidyaDaan program.

1. Definitions

   For the purposes of this Content Policy, the following terms have been defined. Defined terms used but not defined herein shall have the meaning ascribed to them in the Terms of Use.

   1. Administrator means any natural person, who is authorised to be an Administrator either by a Sourcing Organisation or a Contributing Organisation, on behalf of such a Sourcing Organisation or Contributing Organisation, as applicable, and is a Registered User.
   2. Content means and includes (but shall not be limited to), as the context requires, (i) any text, scripts, graphics, photos, sounds, music, videos, audio-visual combinations, interactive content, features and other materials that may be viewed, accessed or contributed through the VidyaDaan program (ii) all postings by Registered Users, and (iii) all types of learning material created, uploaded or made available by a Registered User, such as resources (like teaching or learning content consumed by teachers, parents or students), collections (i.e. sets of ordered resources bundled together to be consumed as a whole), books, e-books, courses, lesson plans, questions, assessments, quizzes, challenges and other types of teaching and learning materials.
   3. Contributing Organisation/Individual means a natural person, a body corporate (such as but not limited to a company, trust, partnership, society - for profit or non-profit), or a Sourcing Organisation and registered on https://vdn.diksha.gov.in as a Contributing Organisation/Individual in accordance with the requirements therein.
   4. Contributor means any natural person who is an individual contributor or who is assigned to be a Contributor either by a Sourcing Organisation or a Contributing Organisation/Individual, on behalf of such Sourcing Organisation or Contributing Organisation/Individual, as applicable, and is a Registered User.
   5. Sourcing Organisation means and includes MHRD, Education departments (of both, Central government and State/UT governments), National Council for Educational Research, any State Council for Educational Research (SCERT) and training statutory body, Government affiliated body, autonomous authority set up by the Government, School Boards and Councils of education, Schools, Universities, Deemed Universities, Autonomous educational institutions, Learning Centres or other such institutions or organisations (non profit, for profit) operating in the education domain.
   6. Registered Users are natural persons who register themselves individually or through their Sourcing or Contributing Organisations/Individuals as Registered Users on https://vdn.diksha.gov.in. in accordance with the requirements and credentials specified therein.
   7. Reviewer means any natural person who is assigned to be a Reviewer either by a Sourcing Organisation or a Contributing Organisation/Individual, on behalf of such a Sourcing Organisation or Contributing Organisation/Individual, as applicable, and is a Registered User.
2. Principles
   1. Content will be contributed by various content contributors across the country. The intent is to enable access to a wide range and diverse content from across the country so as to enable better contextualisation of content and wide access for end users.
   2. All content created and contributed for the VidyaDaan Program belongs to the creators of content be it individuals or organisations that have made content available for use by open learning platforms and applications; therefore, content creators are responsible for ensuring accuracy and appropriateness of content.
   3. VidyaDaan program follows principles of open access, open licensing for generation of open education resources and creative commons licensing framework.
   4. While Sourcing Organisations, can frame their own guidelines, criteria and frameworks for selection of content and for curation rules and processes, such guidelines, criteria and frameworks cannot override the Content Policies stated here, particularly the intent of open licensing, creation of open education resources and publication under the creative commons license framework.
   5. Contributors and Contributing Organisations are solely responsible for the accuracy, appropriateness of Content and for violations of any third-party rights including intellectual property rights with regards to the Content they contribute .
3. Content Contribution
   1. Content can be created and contributed for VidyaDaan only by Contributing Organisations/Individuals.
   2. The Contributing Organisation/Individual shall be responsible for creating and contributing Content that complies with policies and guidelines of the Sourcing Organisations and programs as declared from time to time and also this Content Policy and Privacy Policy. Contributing Organisations/Individuals shall have exercised reasonable diligence to satisfy themselves that the Content complies with this Content policy and is ready for public consumption prior to being submitted for review and use through the VidyaDaan program.
4. Content Review

   All content created and contributed through the VidyaDaan program shall be reviewed by the Reviewers of the Contributing Organisation/Individual as well as the Sourcing Organisation. Reviewers shall ensure that the Content they accept complies with this Content Policy and Privacy Policy as applicable from time to time and the policies and guidelines of the Sourcing Organisation and programs as declared from time to time.

5. Content Publishing

   All content created and contributed through the VidyaDaan program shall be published by Sourcing Organisations after review. The Sourcing Organisation will be responsible for ensuring that content they publish is accurate and appropriate for their purposes and complies with policies and guidelines of the Sourcing Organisations and programs as declared from time to time and also this Content Policy and Privacy Policy.

6. Accuracy and Appropriateness

   Registered Users must ensure that all Content created and contributed/ reviewed and published by them is appropriate and accurate and meets their pedagogical and usability requirements. Content identified as inappropriate or inaccurate, as per these guidelines, will not be published and can be unilaterally removed.

   1. Accurate Content - All Content for VidyaDaan must:
      1. Be factually correct, Use language in text, audio, video and interactive materials that is simple and easy to understand, and
      2. Be contextual and relevant to the needs of the intended user.
   2. Inappropriate Content includes, but is not limited to:
      1. Hate Speech - by words either written or spoken or by signs or by visible representation or otherwise promotes or attempts to promote feelings of enmity, hatred or ill-will against persons of a:
         • Caste
         • Class
         • Tribe
         • Race
         • Ethnicity
         • Sex, gender, or gender identity
         • National origin
         • Religious affiliation
         • Sexual orientation, or
         • Disabilities or diseases
      2. Sexually explicit content
         • Child/Adult Pornography
         • Explicit text/images/illustrations/sounds of sexual content
         • Descriptions of sexual acts
      3. Depiction of sexual violence and exploitation
         • Includes sexual exploitation of minors, and sexual assault
         • Photographs/ Illustrations/videos depicting incidents of sexual violence
         • Other than depiction which isn’t gratuitously graphic and is educational, documentary, scientific, or artistic - paintings, sculptures, and other art, which is posted for educational purposes. Providing context will help end users determine the purpose of the content/asset
      4. Depiction of nudity
         • Nudity in this context would mean displaying genitals, breasts or buttocks (clothed or unclothed) for the purpose of sexual gratification
         • Other than the depiction of body parts which isn’t gratuitously graphic and is educational, documentary, scientific, or artistic - paintings, sculptures, and other art that depicts nude figures, which is posted for educational purposes. Providing context will help end users determine the purpose of the content/asset
      5. Content that promotes violence, including
         • Promoting, encouraging, supporting, praising, or condoning violent actions, activities and behaviour - verbal, physical or emotional.
         • Threatening or inciting others to commit acts of violence
         • Expressing support or praise for groups, people that are involved in violent or criminal behaviour
      6. Content that promotes/depicts/reflects discrimination and bullying or encouraging such behaviour, including:
         • Targeting individuals with the intention of degrading or shaming them.
         • Illustrations or Images altered to degrade individuals
         • Photos or videos of physical or verbal bullying
         • Sharing personal information or harassing people
         • Repeatedly targeting other people with unwanted requests or messages.
      7. Comprises harmful or dangerous content
         • which intends to incite violence or encourage dangerous or illegal activities that have an inherent risk of serious physical harm or death.
         • Encourages dangerous or illegal activities for instance - money laundering, gambling, performing stunts, high risk activities, choking games, drug use, or other acts where serious injury or harm may result. Content that depicts dangerous acts may be allowed if the primary purpose is educational, documentary, scientific, or artistic (EDSA), and isn’t gratuitously graphic.
      8. Other possibilities:
         • Content which violates the law for the time being in force,
         • Content which infringes any trademark, copyright, or other intellectual property rights,
         • Content which deceives or misleads the user about the origin of such Content and conveys information which is grossly offensive or menacing,
         • Content which contains software viruses or any other computer code, files or programs designed to interrupt, destroy or limit the functionality of any computer resource,
         • Content which threatens the unity, integrity, defence, security or sovereignty of India, friendly relations with foreign states, or public order, or causes incitement to the commission of any cognisable offence or prevents investigation of any offence or is insulting any other nation,
         • Content involvings minors/ children in violence as victims or perpetrators or as forced witnesses to violence, or showing children as being subjected to any form of child abuse,
         • Content involving abuse or ridicule of people with disabilities (physical or mental),
         • Content involving cruelty to, or abuse of animals,
         • depiction of violence, cruelty and horror, scenes of violence primarily,
         • Content involving images/text/ illustrations have the effect of encouraging, justifying, glorifying, glamorising alcohol drinking, drugs and substance abuse; consumption of tobacco or smoking,
         • Content involving degrading or denigrating women in any manner,
         • Content involving vulgarity, obscenity or depravity,
         • Content involving dual meaning words as obviously cater to baser instincts,
         • Content involving visuals or words contemptuous of racial, religious or other groups,
         • Content involving visuals or words which promote superstition, communal, obscurantist, anti-scientific attitude, and
         • Content involving visuals or words involving defamation of an individual or a body of individuals.
7. Intellectual Property Rights -
   1. Registered Users shall be solely responsible for Content they have created, uploaded, sourced, linked, streamed, curated, reviewed, published for the VidyaDaan program on https://vdn.diksha.gov.in.
   2. Registered Users must ensure that Content that they create, upload, source, link, stream, curate, review or publish accurately reflects:
      1. Author
      2. Copyright holder
      3. Year of copyright
      4. Attributions to creators whose content has been relied on, used in, or referred to in the Content (if any) and sources and citations.
      5. The relevant License, as per the Licensing Policy below
   3. Contributors who have copyright in the Content they have contributed, consent to publication of their Content in accordance with the Terms of Use and this Content Policy.
   4. In relation to Content being contributed by Contributor who is not the copyright holder of the Content, such Contributor must ensure that they have the necessary authorisation, license, or permission to contribute and publish such Content in accordance with the Terms of Use and this Content Policy.
   5. If Content includes copyrighted materials, Contributors and Reviewers must ensure compliance with the license terms, proper attribution and any other third party intellectual property rights. Infringement of copyright or any other intellectual property right is not acceptable, the proper attributions and acknowledgement of authors and creators for the open education resource community and creative commons community must be respected and upheld at all times. Sourcing Organisations and/or administrators of https://vdn.diksha.gov.in will remove any Content if properly notified that such Content infringes on third party rights including another's intellectual property rights or violates this Content Policy and/or Privacy Policy.
   6. By submitting / uploading / creating/ publishing Content for the VidyaDaan program and following the open license frameworks adopted by the VidyaDaan program, Registered Users recognise and accept that the Content is placed in public domain will be accessed and used by any individual, institution or organisation through various platforms, portals and applications.
   7. It shall be the sole responsibility of Registered Users to ensure that proper and correct attributions, acknowledgements and sourcing references are given to the Content and individual(s)/ institution(s) that have been involved in the development and creation of Content and wherever Content has been quoted/used.
   8. It shall be the responsibility of Registered Users not to infringe upon any third party rights including but not limited to intellectual property rights such as copyrights or any other legal rights of individual(s)/organisation(s) with regards to Content contributed through the VidyaDaan program. For any legal matter arising out of infringement of such rights by the Registered User, such Registered User shall be solely responsible for any financial or other damages arising out of such violations and disputes.
   9. MHRD is not responsible for the violations of any third party rights including intellectual property rights by any Registered User.
   10. Any violations of third party rights including intellectual property rights will be the responsibility of the concerned Registered Users. Any disputes will be settled by the respective parties.
   11. MHRD and/or Sourcing Organisations do not endorse any Content published through VidyaDaan, or any opinion, recommendation, or advice expressed therein, and expressly disclaims any and all liability in connection with Content.
8. Open Licensing Policy - Creative Commons Framework
   1. VidyaDaan program follows principles of open access, open licensing and for the generation of open education resources. Registered Users must ensure that they follow these licensing terms, Content which does follow these licensing terms shall be rejected.
   2. Content must be made available through the Creative Commons Licence Framework, which allows content to be distributed, remixed, tweaked, and built upon, even commercially, as long as credit is given for the original creation.
   3. Creative Commons licenses shall mean and include the use of the following licences:
      1. CC BY4.0 (Attribution)
      2. CC BY-SA 4.0 (Attribution-ShareAlike)
      3. CC BY-NC 4.0 (Attribution-NonCommercial)
      4. CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 (Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike)
      5. CC BY-ND 4.0 (Attribution-Non-Derivative)
   4. As Contributors, Reviewers. Sourcing Organizations and Contributing Organisations/Individuals all Registered Users must ensure:
      1. That the Content submitted to be published specifies the relevant Creative Commons license under which such Content will be available.
      2. That the appropriate license terms as well as attributions relating to such Content are properly followed, including details of the creator and source / citations.
      3. That the licence options mentioned herein are followed in all cases, and that the relevant Creative Commons license should be compatible with the copyright license applicable to the original piece of content.
   5. As Contributors and Reviewers of Sourcing Organizations and Contributing Organisations/Individuals you acknowledge and accept that since the content provided herein follows open licensing norms such as creative commons licenses or other open licenses, the use of the Content shall not be limited to specific Sourcing Organizations and/or Contributing Organisations/Individuals that have sought the content and they shall be made available for discovery, access and use by any organisation, institution, platform, application and individual in general.
   6. Contributors and/or Contributing Organisations/Individuals recognise and accept that once Content is submitted and placed in the public domain for use they cannot unilaterally withdraw the Content or change the licensing terms.
9. Takedown Policy
   1. If a Registered User believes that certain Content published through VidyaDaan is in violation of this Content Policy or any applicable laws, please contact us at vdnsupport@teamdiksha.org and necessary action will be taken to review and / or remove such content as quickly as possible.
   2. Administrators of https://vdn.diksha.gov.in reserve the right to remove Content from the platform without any prior notice for any violation of the Content Policy, Privacy Policy , the Terms of Use. They may at their sole and absolute discretion delete, remove, disable access or otherwise deal with information, data or Content to comply with laws currently in force, including the Information Technology Act, 2000.