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Privacy Policy

Last updated: 3 November 2026

Your privacy matters to us. This page explains what information Gradup (thegradup.com) collects, why we collect it, who can see it and the choices you have. By using Gradup you agree to this policy.

1Who we are

Gradup is an online practice platform for students of Virtual University of Pakistan. We offer lecture-wise quizzes, exam mocks, progress tracking, leaderboards and a community board. Gradup is run independently and is not part of Virtual University.

2Information you give us

  • Account details: your first and last name, email address, password, gender and the avatar you pick. Passwords are stored in encrypted (hashed) form and we can never see them. Your gender is used to show the right avatars and to personalise your community feed, and it is never shown to other students.
  • Sign in with Google: if you use it, Google shares your name and email address with us. We never get your Google password.
  • Study details: the program, semester and campus you choose, and the courses you add to My courses.
  • Payments: when you pay for a plan, the payment method you used and the transaction ID you submit, so we can verify it. We do not receive or store your wallet PIN or card details.
  • Community posts: posts, comments and votes you make, and reports you send about other posts.
  • Messages: anything you send through our Contact Us form or the live chat, and your email if you subscribe to course news.

3Information collected when you use Gradup

  • Practice activity: the quizzes and mocks you take, your answers, scores, time taken, streaks and leaderboard points.
  • Community activity: how many times a post is viewed (only the student who wrote it can see this number).
  • Technical data: your IP address, browser and device type. We use this to keep the site secure, stop spam and fix problems.
  • Site usage: the pages you open, searches you make on Gradup and the website that sent you here. We use this only inside Gradup to see which courses and features are useful and what to improve. It is kept for 90 days and then only daily totals remain. We do not store your IP address for this and we do not share it with anyone.
  • Cookies and local storage: see the section on cookies below.

4How we use your information

  • To create and run your account, save your progress and show your dashboard.
  • To show leaderboards, ranks, badges and congratulations from other students.
  • To send you verification codes, password resets, notifications and important account notices.
  • To send course news and exam tips, only if you subscribed. You can unsubscribe any time.
  • To verify payments and extend your access.
  • To keep Gradup safe, stop cheating, spam and abuse, and to improve our questions using your reports.

5What other students can see

On leaderboards and in the community, other people can see your first name, your avatar and your campus code, along with your points, posts and comments. Your email address, last name, gender, semester, payments and full quiz history are never shown to other students.

6Cookies and similar technologies

Cookies are small files saved by your browser. Gradup uses:

  • Necessary cookies that keep you logged in and protect forms from misuse.
  • Local storage in your browser to remember small choices, such as the lectures you selected for a mock.
  • A usage cookie (grd_v) with a random number, so we can count visitors without knowing who they are. It holds no personal details.
  • Advertising cookies set by Google AdSense, explained below.

You can block or delete cookies in your browser settings. If you block necessary cookies, you will not be able to log in.

7Advertising and Google AdSense

Gradup shows ads from Google AdSense to keep the platform affordable.

  • Third-party vendors, including Google, use cookies to serve ads based on your previous visits to this website or other websites.
  • Google's use of advertising cookies enables it and its partners to serve ads to you based on your visits to Gradup and other sites on the internet.
  • You can opt out of personalised advertising by visiting Google Ads Settings. You can also opt out of some third-party vendors' cookies at aboutads.info.

Learn more about how Google uses data at How Google uses information from sites that use its services.

8Who we share information with

We never sell your personal information. We share it only with:

  • Service providers that help us run Gradup, such as our web hosting company and the email service that delivers our messages. They may only use the data to provide their service to us.
  • Google, for showing ads as described above, for Sign in with Google if you use it, and for our live chat assistant: messages you type in the live chat are processed by Google's Gemini AI service to write a reply. Please do not type passwords or payment details in the chat.
  • Authorities, if the law requires it or to protect the safety of our users.

9How we protect your information

We use secure connections (HTTPS), encrypted passwords and limited admin access. No online service can be completely secure, but we work hard to protect your data and fix any problem quickly.

10How long we keep it

We keep your account and practice history while your account exists, so your progress is not lost between semesters. Contact messages and reports are kept only as long as we need them. If you ask us to delete your account, we delete your personal information and practice history, except anything we must keep by law.

11Your choices and rights

  • See and change your name, avatar, program, semester and campus any time in Settings in your dashboard.
  • Delete your own community comments at any time.
  • Ask for a copy of your data, or ask us to correct or delete it.
  • Unsubscribe from course news using the link in any email.
  • Turn off personalised ads using Google Ads Settings.

To make a request, email us at support@thegradup.com or use our Contact Us page.

12Children

Gradup is made for university students. It is not meant for children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect information from them. If you think a child has given us information, please contact us and we will delete it.

13Changes to this policy

We may update this policy when Gradup changes. The date at the top shows the latest version. If a change is important, we will tell you on the site or by email.

14Contact us

Questions about your privacy? Please email us at support@thegradup.com or use our Contact Us page.