1. Who We Are

Monsoon Academy is an online learning platform operated by Sustainability Transitions Research (OPC) Private Limited (hereinafter referred to as “Transition Research”), a social science research collective based in Goa, India.

Our mission is to build India’s green workforce through cohort-based fellowships and capacity-building programmes for public sector officials, fresh graduates, and professionals in transition.

When this Policy refers to “we”, “us”, “Transitions Research” or “Monsoon Academy”, it refers to Sustainability Transitions Research (OPC) Private Limited in relation to the Monsoon Academy platform, including the website monsoon.academy and associated programmes, services, and communications.

2. What Information We Collect

2.1 Information You Give Us Directly

We may collect information that you provide directly to us, including:

• your name, email address, and contact details when you register for, apply to, or enquire about a programme;
• professional information, such as your designation, organisation, department, sector, and work experience, when you apply for a fellowship, course, or capacity-building programme;
• responses submitted through course activities, assessments, surveys, and feedback forms; and
• communications you send to us via email, contact forms or other communication channels.

2.2 Information Collected Automatically

When you visit our website or participate in our programmes, we may automatically collect certain technical and usage information, including:

• basic usage data, such as pages visited, time spent on the website, referring pages, browser type, device type and operating system via standard web analytics
• IP address and approximate location, such as country or city-level location;
• course enrolment, progress, attendance, participation and completion data when you are enrolled in a programme; and
• information collected through cookies or similar technologies, where applicable.

2.3 Information from Partner Organisations

Where participants are nominated or enrolled through government bodies, public authorities, academic institutions, employers, development partners, or other institutional partners, we may receive participant information from them for enrolment and programme administration.

This may include the participant’s name, designation, organisation or department, official contact details, eligibility information, nomination details, and other information required to deliver the programme.

We will process such information only for enrolment, programme delivery, communication, reporting, monitoring, evaluation, certification, and related administrative purposes.

Data sharing with partner organisations will be governed by written agreements, MoUs, programme agreements, data-sharing agreements, or equivalent arrangements, which will set out the purpose of sharing, data categories, roles and responsibilities, confidentiality, security safeguards, retention requirements, and restrictions on further use or sharing.

3. How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect to:

• Enrol and manage your participation in Monsoon Academy programmes
• Communicate about your cohort, schedule, and learning materials
• Assess learning progress and issue certificates of completion
• Send programme-related updates and, where you have opted in, news about upcoming cohorts
• Improve our courses, platform, and learning design
• Conduct aggregate research on climate workforce capacity (no individual identification)
• Meet our legal and reporting obligations

We do not use your data for advertising, and we do not sell it to third parties.

4. How We Share Information

4.1 With Programme Partners

Where a cohort is run in partnership with a government body or institutional partner, we share participant enrolment and progress data with that partner as part of the programme’s reporting requirements.

You will be informed of this at the point of enrolment.

4.2 With Service Providers

We use third-party service providers to operate, deliver, improve, and secure the Monsoon Academy platform, including website management, video conferencing, email delivery, learning management, forms, analytics and technical support.

Key providers may include AWS, Google Workspace, Zoom, Mailchimp, and Google Analytics, depending on the programme.

These providers process data on our behalf and are contractually required purposes. We require them to protect personal data through contracts, data processing terms, or equivalent arrangements covering confidentiality, security, retention, deletion, and restricted use.

4.3 When Required by Law

We may disclose information if required by applicable law, regulation, or a valid legal process.

5. Data Storage and Security

We store personal data on secure systems operated by us and our authorised service providers.

Depending on the tools used, data may be stored or processed in India and/or other jurisdictions.

Where personal data is transferred or processed outside India, we will comply with the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023, the DPDP Rules, and any applicable government notifications.

We take reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect personal data, including access controls, encryption or masking where appropriate, backups, monitoring, logs, and contractual safeguards with service providers.

We retain personal data only for as long as necessary for programme delivery, certification, reporting, audit, legal, contractual, or security purposes.

Indicative retention periods are:

Data Category	Retention Period
Enquiries and contact forms	Up to 2 years
Applications and nomination records	Up to 2 years
Programme participation, attendance, progress and completion records	Up to 5 years
Certificates and verification records	Up to 10 years
Assignments, assessments, feedback and surveys	Up to 2 years
Partner, donor, monitoring and evaluation records	5 years
Payment, tax and accounting records	5 financial years
Website analytics, cookies and technical logs	12 months
Security and processing logs	12 months

6. Your Rights

You have the right to:

• access information about the personal data we process about you;
• request correction, completion, updating, or deletion of your personal data, subject to legal, contractual, reporting, audit, certification, or security-related rentention requirements;
• withdraw consent where processing is based on consent;
• ppt out of non-essential communications at any time;
• raise a grievance about how your personal data is processed; and
• object to how we process your data in specific circumstances

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at hello@monsoon.academy

Privacy and Grievance contact details mention in Clause 10

We will acknowledge and respond to your request within a reasonable period, and in any case, within the timelines required under applicable law.

Grievances will be addressed within a reasonable period, not exceeding 90 days, in line with the DPDP Rules.

7. Cookies

We use a small number of cookies to make the platform work and to understand how it is being used:

• Essential cookies are required for login, session management, and core functionality. These cannot be disabled without breaking the site.
• Analytics cookies, where used, help us understand traffic and usage patterns so we can improve the experience. You can opt out of these via the cookie banner on first visit.

We do not use advertising cookies or share cookie data with ad networks.

8. Children’s Privacy

Monsoon Academy programmes are designed for working professionals and adult learners.

We do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under the age of 18. If you believe a minor has provided us with data, please contact us and we will delete it promptly.

9. Changes to This Policy

We may update this policy from time to time to reflect changes in how we operate or to meet new legal requirements.

We will note the date of any update at the top of this page. If changes are material, we will notify active programme participants by email.

10. Contact and Grievance Redressal

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy, or the processing of your personal data or want to exercise your rights, you may contact us at:

Organisation	Monsoon Academy / Transitions Research
Registered Office	362/B, Coimavaddo Quitla, Aldona, Bardez – 403508, Goa (INDIA)
CIN	U73200GA2021OPC014755
Email	hello@monsoon.academy
Website	monsoon.academy
Parent org	transitionsresearch.org

Contact person for queries and grievances

Contact point	Grievance Officer, Monsoon Academy
Email	hello@monsoon.academy