Privacy Policy

Last updated: 11 April 2026

This Privacy Policy explains how Shoo In Stars ("we", "our", "us") collects, uses, stores, and protects your personal information when you visit shooinstars.com, use our Shoo In Stars MHT-CET Engineering Admission Counseling mobile application, or interact with our services. We are committed to protecting your privacy and complying with the Indian Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act 2023.

1. Who we are

Shoo In Stars is an MHT-CET Engineering admission counseling service operated by Kalpesh Hiwase, based in Maharashtra, India. We help students and their parents understand the Maharashtra CAP (Centralised Admission Process) rounds, choose the right colleges for their MHT-CET percentile, and build optimal preference lists for the B.E./B.Tech admission process.

2. What information we collect

2.1 Information you give us

Contact details — name, phone number, email address, city, and date of birth when you sign up on our app or website, register for a free webinar, or contact our support team.
Academic information — MHT-CET percentile, JEE score (if applicable), category, gender, and home university details you enter into our College Predictor or Preference List tools.
Payment information — for paid programs, payment is processed by our payment gateway (Razorpay / Cashfree / similar). We do not store your card or bank details on our servers.

2.2 Information we collect automatically

Usage data — pages you visit, buttons you click, time spent on the site, referral source, and similar analytics data.
Device information — device type, operating system, browser, screen size, and IP address (used for security and fraud prevention).
Cookies and similar technologies — see Section 4 below.

3. How we use your information

To provide our MHT-CET counseling services, including the College Predictor, Preference List Builder, and personalised recommendations.
To deliver the free webinar you registered for and send you related updates.
To process payments for our paid programs and deliver program content.
To respond to your support queries.
To measure the effectiveness of our advertising and improve our website and app.
To detect and prevent fraud, abuse, and security incidents.
To comply with legal and regulatory obligations.

4. Advertising & analytics tracking

We use third-party analytics and advertising tools to understand how visitors use Shoo In Stars and to show relevant ads on other platforms. These tools are:

4.1 Google Analytics & Google Ads

We use Google tag (gtag.js) to measure page views, button clicks, and app install referrals. Google may set cookies to recognise returning visitors. You can opt out at https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout.

4.2 Meta Pixel (Facebook & Instagram)

We use the Meta Pixel to measure the effectiveness of our Facebook and Instagram ads and to show relevant ads to people who have visited this website. The Meta Pixel collects information about your visit (pages viewed, buttons clicked, device and browser type) and sends it to Meta Platforms, Inc.

4.3 Automatic Advanced Matching

When you voluntarily submit information on our website (such as your name, email address, phone number, city or date of birth in a form or sign-up), the Meta Pixel automatically converts that information into a secure, irreversible code (a hashed string using SHA-256) in your browser, before it leaves your device. The hashed code is sent to Meta so that Meta can match your visit to your Facebook or Instagram account and show you relevant ads. Your plain-text personal information is never transmitted to Meta by this process — only the hashed, one-way code. Meta uses this matching to improve ad attribution and audience quality.

4.4 Your choices

You can:

Turn off personalised ads on Facebook/Instagram at https://www.facebook.com/settings?tab=ads
Install a tracking-prevention browser extension (e.g. Privacy Badger, uBlock Origin)
Use your browser's "Do Not Track" or "Global Privacy Control" settings — we honour these signals
Email us at info@shooinstars.com to request deletion of any data we hold about you

5. Legal basis for processing (DPDP Act 2023)

We process your personal data on the basis of your deemed consent under Section 7(b) of the DPDP Act 2023 (fair and reasonable purpose connected with providing our service) and our legitimate business interest in operating and improving Shoo In Stars. By continuing to use this website after being shown our cookie notice, you consent to the processing described above.

For sensitive operations (such as processing payments or sharing your data with counselors), we rely on your explicit consent, which you provide at the time of sign-up or purchase.

6. Who we share your information with

We do not sell your personal information. We share it only with:

Service providers who help us operate the service (hosting, analytics, payment processing, email, WhatsApp OTP verification via AiSensy). These providers are contractually bound to protect your data.
Advertising partners (Google, Meta) — as described in Section 4 above.
Law enforcement or regulatory authorities when required by law, court order, or to protect our rights.

7. Data retention

We keep your personal information only for as long as we need it for the purposes described above, or as required by Indian law. Specifically:

Account information: kept while your account is active, and for up to 3 years after you stop using the service.
Analytics data: 26 months (Google Analytics default), 180 days (Meta Pixel default).
Payment records: 7 years, as required by the Income Tax Act.
Communications: 2 years after the last interaction.

8. Your rights under the DPDP Act 2023

As a Data Principal under the DPDP Act 2023, you have the right to:

Access the personal data we hold about you
Request correction of inaccurate data
Request erasure of your data (subject to legal retention requirements)
Nominate another person to exercise your rights in case of your death or incapacity
Make a grievance about how your data is handled

To exercise any of these rights, email info@shooinstars.com with the subject line "DPDP Rights Request". We will respond within 30 days.

9. Children's privacy

Shoo In Stars serves students aged 16 and above who are preparing for the MHT-CET examination. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 16. If we learn that we have collected such information, we will delete it promptly. Parents or guardians who believe their child has provided us with personal information should contact us at info@shooinstars.com.

10. Data security

We use reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data against loss, misuse, unauthorised access, and alteration. These include HTTPS encryption on the website, access controls on our internal systems, and contractual commitments from our service providers. However, no method of transmission over the internet is 100% secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

11. International data transfers

Some of our service providers (Google, Meta) may store or process data outside India. When this happens, we rely on the standard protections those providers offer under applicable data protection laws. You can review Google's and Meta's own privacy policies for more detail.

12. Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we do, we will update the "Last updated" date at the top of this page. For material changes, we will notify you via email (if we have your email address) or a prominent notice on the website.

13. Data controller & contact

The data controller for Shoo In Stars is:

Shoo In Stars
Operated by Kalpesh Hiwase
Maharashtra, India
Email: info@shooinstars.com

For any data protection queries, grievances, or to exercise your DPDP rights, please email the address above.