Privacy Policy

Apex-Global-Consulting ("Apex", "we", "us" or "our") helps students apply to universities abroad. We take your privacy seriously and this policy explains, in plain language, what personal information we collect, why we collect it, who we share it with and the choices you have.

This policy applies to our website (apex.lsa-now.com) and to any consulting, evaluation or application-support services we provide. By using our site or services you agree to the practices described here.

We only collect information that helps us help you. That includes:

• Account information — name, email address and password (stored as a secure hash) when you sign up.
• Profile information — academic history, standardised test scores, target countries and programs, work or extracurricular experience, and any documents you upload (passport pages, transcripts, SOP, LORs, financial documents).
• Communications — messages you send us, notes our counsellors add to your file, and email or WhatsApp exchanges.
• Application data — universities you shortlist, application status, deadlines and outcomes.
• Technical data — IP address, browser type, device information, referral URL and pages you visit. Collected automatically through cookies and standard server logs.
• Third-party sign-in data — if you sign in with Google, we receive your name, email address and profile picture from Google. We never receive your Google password.

We do not collect government identification numbers, payment card numbers or biometric data through this site.

We use your information to:

• Evaluate your profile and shortlist suitable universities and programs.
• Prepare and review application documents (SOP, essays, LORs, resume).
• Track application deadlines and statuses in your dashboard.
• Send transactional emails — sign-in confirmations, password resets, application updates and appointment reminders.
• Send optional newsletters about intake deadlines and scholarships (you can unsubscribe at any time).
• Respond to your enquiries and provide customer support.
• Improve our website, understand how it is used and prevent fraud or abuse.
• Comply with legal obligations and enforce our Terms of Service.

We do not sell your personal information and we do not use it for advertising outside of our own services.

We rely on a small set of trusted service providers ("processors") to run our platform. They only receive the data they need to perform a specific task and are contractually required to protect it:

• Google OAuth — optional social sign-in. Google receives sign-in requests; we receive your name, email and profile picture.
• Google Drive / Google Cloud Storage — used to store documents you upload (transcripts, SOPs, financial documents) inside our controlled workspace.
• Google Sheets — used internally as our student CRM to coordinate application progress.
• Supabase — our authentication, database and hosted backend provider.
• Cloudflare — CDN, DDoS protection and the Turnstile CAPTCHA that protects sign-up and sign-in forms.
• Analytics — privacy-respecting page-view analytics to understand traffic patterns. We do not build advertising profiles.
• Email delivery — a transactional email provider for account and application notifications.
• Universities and government authorities — with your explicit instruction we share application materials with the universities you apply to and, where required, with visa or consular authorities.

We may also disclose information if required by law, court order, or to protect the rights, property or safety of Apex, our users or others.

We use cookies and similar technologies (local storage, session storage) for the following purposes:

• Strictly necessary — keep you signed in, remember your theme preference and secure forms against automated abuse. These cannot be turned off.
• Analytics — aggregate page-view and performance metrics. No cross-site tracking.

You can block or delete cookies through your browser settings, but parts of the site (including sign-in) may stop working.

We keep your information only for as long as we need it for the purposes described above:

• Active accounts — retained while your account is open.
• Application documents — retained for up to 24 months after your final admission decision, so we can support deferrals, appeals or re-applications.
• Marketing preferences and unsubscribe records — retained indefinitely so we honour your choice.
• Server logs and analytics — retained for up to 12 months.
• Records required by law — retained for the period required by applicable law (typically 3-7 years for financial or tax records).

After these periods we delete or anonymise the data. You can ask us to delete your account and associated data at any time (see Section 8).

We use HTTPS everywhere, encrypt data in transit, hash passwords, enforce two-factor authentication for administrators, restrict document access to authenticated users and their assigned counsellors, and protect forms with Cloudflare Turnstile. No internet service is 100% secure, so we also ask you to keep your password strong and unique to Apex.

You have the right to:

• Access a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
• Correct inaccurate or incomplete information (you can do this yourself from your dashboard).
• Delete your account and associated personal data ("right to be forgotten").
• Export your data in a portable, machine-readable format.
• Object to or restrict certain processing, including direct marketing.
• Withdraw consent at any time, without affecting the lawfulness of previous processing.
• Lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority.

To exercise any of these rights, email us at privacy@lsa-now.com. We reply within 30 days.

If you are in the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom or Switzerland, the General Data Protection Regulation ("GDPR") and equivalent UK laws apply to our processing of your personal data.

Controller. Apex-Global-Consulting, 2329 Street Rd, Bensalem, PA 19020, United States, is the controller of your personal data.

Legal bases. We rely on: (a) your consent for optional marketing emails and non-essential cookies; (b) the performance of a contract to deliver our consulting services and your dashboard; (c) our legitimate interests in operating, securing and improving the service; and (d) compliance with legal obligations.

International transfers. Our servers and some processors (including Google and Supabase) are located in the United States. When we transfer personal data outside the EEA/UK we rely on Standard Contractual Clauses or equivalent safeguards approved by the European Commission and the UK ICO.

Your rights. You have every right listed in Section 8, plus the right to lodge a complaint with the data protection authority in your country.

If you are a California resident, the California Consumer Privacy Act (as amended by the CPRA) gives you additional rights:

• The right to know what personal information we collect, use, disclose and (if applicable) sell.
• The right to request deletion of your personal information.
• The right to correct inaccurate personal information.
• The right to limit the use of sensitive personal information.
• The right to non-discrimination for exercising your CCPA rights.

Sale or sharing of personal information. We do not sell your personal information and we do not share it for cross-context behavioural advertising.

To exercise your CCPA rights, email privacy@lsa-now.com from the address associated with your account. We may need to verify your identity before we can respond.

Our services are directed to prospective university students, who are generally 16 years or older. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe a child has provided us with personal information, contact us and we will delete it.

We may update this policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or the law. When we make material changes we will notify you by email or through a prominent notice on the site and update the "Last updated" date at the top of this page.

For any privacy-related question or request, contact us:

• Email: privacy@lsa-now.com
• Postal: Apex-Global-Consulting, 2329 Street Rd, Bensalem, PA 19020, USA