Privacy Policy

1. Introduction

IEC is a nonprofit organization (registered as a 501(c)(3) in the United States) that helps learners build careers in emerging technologies. The Portal is our placement platform. It connects job seekers (IEC graduates and candidates), hiring organizations, and Skills Bridge administrators so that jobs can be posted, applications submitted, interviews scheduled, and placements managed.

By creating an account or using the Portal, you acknowledge this Privacy Policy. If you do not agree, please do not use the Portal. Related rules for using the Portal are in our Terms of Service.

This policy applies to the Skills Bridge website and related services operated by Skills Bridge, including interview scheduling and Google Calendar integration. It does not cover third-party websites that we do not control, even if they are linked from the Portal.

2. Google API Services — Limited Use disclosure

In plain language, that means:

• We use Google user data only to provide or improve user-facing interview scheduling features that are visible in the Portal (availability, calendar events, and Google Meet links).
• We do not use Google user data for advertising, including personalized or retargeted ads.
• We do not sell Google user data.
• We do not transfer Google user data to third parties except as needed to operate the Calendar integration and the Portal infrastructure that hosts it (for example, our cloud hosting providers), to comply with law, or with your consent. Google user data is not transferred to payment processors, advertising providers, or data brokers.
• We do not allow humans to read Google user data unless you give us permission, it is necessary for security or abuse investigation, it is required by law, or the data is aggregated and no longer identifies you.
• We do not use Google user data to train generalized artificial intelligence or machine learning models.

3. Information we collect

The information we collect depends on your role (job seeker, organization member, or administrator) and how you use the Portal.

3.1 Account and identity information

• Name, email address, and password (stored in hashed form).
• Role on the Portal (job seeker, organization member, or super administrator).
• Invitation details when an organization invites a teammate (email, designation, company).
• Profile photo or company logo, if you upload one.

3.2 Job seeker profile information

• Professional profile details such as education, work experience, skills, tech stack, projects, portfolio links, and social profiles (for example LinkedIn or GitHub).
• Résumés and other documents you upload when applying for jobs or maintaining your profile.
• Location, work availability, and similar placement-related preferences.
• Assessment or skills-wallet information generated or stored through the Portal.

3.3 Organization information

• Company name, description, branding, location, and hiring contacts used to operate the company account.
• Job postings, applicant pipeline status, interview notes that organizations add in the Portal, and related hiring records.
• Billing and subscription information for paid organization access.

3.4 Interview and scheduling information

• Interview type, mode (Google Meet, phone, or in person), date, time, timezone, duration, and status.
• Names and Portal identifiers of the interviewer and candidate associated with an interview.
• Messages or reasons submitted when a party accepts, declines, cancels, or requests a reschedule.
• Google Meet links created for online interviews.
• Audit history of interview actions (created, confirmed, rescheduled, cancelled, and similar events).

3.5 Google Calendar information

If a company member connects Google Calendar (Settings → Calendar), Skills Bridge receives the following Google user data. Connecting a calendar is optional, but it is required to schedule interviews through the Portal’s calendar-synced flow. Full detail is in Section 5.

• Google account email of the connected calendar.
• Calendar availability / busy periods, used only to offer open interview slots. Free/busy results are used to evaluate available interview slots and are not stored as a copy of the user's calendar or retained as a history of personal calendar activity.
• OAuth authorization credentials, including a short-lived access token received during API authorization and a refresh token used to maintain the connection. Refresh tokens are encrypted before being stored; access tokens are used transiently for API requests and are not persistently stored by the Portal.
• Calendar events that Skills Bridge creates, updates, or cancels as part of interview scheduling — not the member’s unrelated personal events.

3.6 Payment information

Organization subscriptions may be processed by Stripe and/or PayFast. Skills Bridge does not store full payment card numbers on the Portal. Those processors collect and process payment details under their own privacy policies. We may store subscription status, invoices, and limited payment metadata needed for billing support. Skills Bridge may also keep program-related payment records (for example LEC or installment records) that administrators manage in the Portal.

3.7 Technical and usage information

• Log data such as IP address, browser type, device information, pages viewed, and timestamps.
• Session information needed to keep you signed in.
• Approximate location derived from IP address, used for security and service operation.

3.8 Communications

We collect information you send us (support requests, emails) and may send transactional messages about your account, invitations, interviews, and password resets.

4. How we use information

We use personal information to:

• Create and manage accounts, authenticate users, and enforce role-based access.
• Operate placement features: job posting, applications, candidate profiles, hiring pipelines, and interviews.
• Schedule interviews, check interviewer availability, and sync interview events with Google Calendar when a user has connected their calendar.
• Generate Google Meet links for online interviews and share interview details with the relevant parties through the Portal.
• Process organization subscriptions and program-related payments.
• Send service emails (invitations, interview updates, password resets).
• Protect the Portal, prevent fraud and abuse, and comply with legal obligations.
• Improve reliability, support, and user-facing features of the Portal.

We do not sell personal information. We do not use Google user data for advertising.

5. How we access, use, store, and share Google Calendar data

This section is the product-specific disclosure of how the Portal accesses, uses, stores, and shares Google user data. It is written to meet Google’s OAuth verification requirement that the Privacy Policy be explicit about Google Calendar data. Company members connect Google Calendar from Settings → Calendar. The connection is personal to that member; teammates connect their own calendars independently.

5.1 What Skills Bridge receives when a company member connects Google Calendar

When a company member completes Google’s consent screen, Skills Bridge’s servers receive:

• Google account email of the connected calendar, so we can show which account is linked and diagnose sync issues.
• Calendar availability / busy periods (free/busy times), so the Portal can offer open interview slots. We use this to know when the interviewer is busy — we do not import the titles or details of unrelated personal events. Free/busy results are used to evaluate available interview slots and are not stored as a copy of the user's calendar or retained as a history of personal calendar activity.
• OAuth authorization credentials, including a short-lived access token received during API authorization and a refresh token used to maintain the connection. Refresh tokens are encrypted before being stored; access tokens are used transiently for API requests and are not persistently stored by the Portal.
• Calendar events that Skills Bridge creates, updates, or cancels as part of interview scheduling (time, duration, interview title, conferencing/Meet details, and similar event fields required to run that interview).

We also use the granted permission to create a Google Meet video-conference link when the interview is online. We request only the Google permissions needed for interview scheduling. We do not request access to Gmail, Google Drive, Google Contacts as a standalone product, or other unrelated Google services.

5.2 How we use this data

• Display available time slots when an organization member schedules or reschedules an interview.
• Create an interview event on the connected calendar when an interview is scheduled or confirmed.
• Update that event if the interview is rescheduled.
• Cancel or delete that event if the interview is cancelled or declined, as applicable.
• Attach or refresh a Google Meet link for interviews held online.
• Show connection status in Settings (connected account email, last sync time, and whether re-authorization is needed).

We do not use your Google Calendar data to build advertising profiles, to contact people outside the interview workflow, or for any purpose unrelated to interview scheduling in the Portal.

5.3 What is written into calendar events — and what is never included

Interview events that Skills Bridge writes to Google Calendar contain only what is needed to hold the meeting (for example: interview type or title, date and time, duration, timezone, location or Google Meet link, and interviewer-facing context).

5.4 How we store this data — including Fernet encryption of refresh tokens

• Google OAuth refresh tokens are encrypted with Fernet (symmetric authenticated encryption) before they are stored on Skills Bridge’s servers. Tokens are decrypted only in memory when Skills Bridge needs to call Google Calendar APIs (for example, to read free/busy times or to create, update, or cancel an interview event). They are not stored in plaintext.
• Access tokens are short-lived credentials used to make authorized Google Calendar API requests. The Portal does not persistently store Google access tokens. The Portal does not persistently store Google access tokens. They are used transiently for authorized API requests.
• We store the connected Google account email, calendar identifier, and sync status so we can show connection state and diagnose sync issues.
• Interview records (time, participants, Meet link, status) are stored as Portal records independently of Google, so placement history remains available if you later disconnect your calendar.
• We do not store a copy of your entire Google Calendar. We do not keep unrelated personal events from your calendar. Free/busy results are used to evaluate available interview slots and are not retained as a history of personal calendar activity.

5.5 How we share this data

• Interview time, mode, and Meet link are shown in the Portal to the interviewer, the candidate, and (where needed for placement operations) authorized Skills Bridge administrators.
• Candidate contact details such as email, phone, and LinkedIn are not displayed to organization users on interview screens, and they are never written into Google Calendar events.
• We do not share your Google OAuth tokens — including Fernet-encrypted refresh tokens — with hiring companies, candidates, or other Portal users.
• Google receives the OAuth request and calendar API calls required to provide the integration. Google handles that data under Google’s own policies.

Google Calendar data is not shared with payment processors, advertising providers, data brokers, or other third parties unrelated to the Calendar integration. Google Calendar data may be processed by infrastructure and service providers only where necessary to securely operate the Portal and provide the Calendar functionality, subject to appropriate confidentiality and data-protection obligations.

5.6 How to disconnect and delete Google access

• In the Portal: go to Settings → Calendar and choose Disconnect. New interviews will stop syncing.
• In your Google Account: visit Google Account → Third-party apps & services and revoke access for the Skills Bridge.
• When you disconnect or request deletion, we delete Google connection data: the encrypted refresh token, connected-account credentials, and calendar connection metadata that is no longer needed.
• Placement records remain in the Portal: interview date and time, interview status, the candidate/interviewer relationship, and Portal-side interview history. Existing Skills Bridge interview records are preserved.
• To request deletion of stored calendar tokens and related connection data, email ask@Skills Bridge.org.pk. We will delete or anonymize that data unless we must retain it for security or legal reasons.

Disconnecting or revoking Google Calendar access prevents the Portal from obtaining new Google Calendar data through that authorization.

6. How we share information

We share personal information only as described below:

• With the other party to a placement workflow — for example, an organization sees candidate profile information made available through the Portal; a candidate sees interview time, interviewer name/designation, and meeting details.
• With Skills Bridge administrators who operate the placement program, including interview oversight and support.
• With service providers that host or operate the Portal on our behalf, such as cloud hosting, file storage, and email delivery providers. Payment processors such as Stripe and PayFast process payment information as described in Section 3.6. Google Calendar data is not provided to payment processors or used for advertising, analytics unrelated to the Calendar feature, or other unrelated services.
• With Google, if you connect Google Calendar, solely to provide that integration.
• If required by law, regulation, legal process, or to protect the rights, safety, or property of Skills Bridge, our users, or others.
• In connection with a reorganization, merger, or transfer of nonprofit operations, with appropriate safeguards and, for Google user data, in line with Limited Use and user consent requirements.

Service providers are permitted to process personal information only to perform services for Skills Bridge and must protect it appropriately. They are not authorized to use Google user data for their own advertising or unrelated products.

7. How long we keep information

We keep personal information for as long as needed to operate the Portal, fulfill placement program purposes, resolve disputes, and meet legal, accounting, or reporting requirements.

• Account and profile data: retained while the account is active and for a reasonable period afterward so that placement records remain complete.
• Interview records: retained as part of the hiring and placement history even if a Google Calendar connection is later disconnected. These Portal-side records include interview date and time, interview status, the candidate/interviewer relationship, and related placement history — not a copy of the user's Google Calendar.
• Google connection data (Fernet-encrypted refresh tokens, connected-account credentials, and calendar connection metadata): retained only while the calendar remains connected, then deleted when you disconnect or when you request deletion. Disconnecting or revoking Google Calendar access prevents the Portal from obtaining new Google Calendar data through that authorization.
• Server logs: retained for a limited period for security and diagnostics.

Disconnecting Google Calendar does not delete Portal interview records because those records are part of the Portal’s independent placement and hiring workflow rather than a copy of the user’s personal Google Calendar.

When information is no longer needed, we delete it or irreversibly anonymize it, unless a longer retention period is required by law.

8. Security

We use administrative, technical, and organizational measures designed to protect personal information, including encrypted transport (HTTPS), hashed passwords, Fernet encryption of Google OAuth refresh tokens before storage, and role-based access controls so that users only see data appropriate to their role.

No method of transmission or storage is 100% secure. If we become aware of a security incident that affects your personal information, we will take steps required by applicable law, which may include notifying you and relevant authorities.

9. Your rights and choices

Depending on where you live and applicable law, you may have the right to access, correct, update, or delete personal information, to object to or restrict certain processing, and to withdraw consent where processing is based on consent (for example, Google Calendar access).

• You can review and update much of your profile and account information while signed in.
• You can disconnect Google Calendar at any time as described in Section 5.6.
• You can request access to or deletion of your Portal account and associated personal data by emailing ask@iec.org.pk. We may need to verify your identity before fulfilling the request.
• We may decline or limit a request where we are legally required to keep information, where it would adversely affect the rights of others, or where the request is unfounded or excessive.

10. Cookies and similar technologies

The Portal uses cookies and similar technologies that are necessary to sign you in, keep your session secure, and remember essential preferences. These include authentication cookies used by our sign-in system. We do not use Google user data to place advertising cookies, and we do not sell cookie data.

You can control cookies through your browser settings. Blocking required cookies may prevent you from signing in or using parts of the Portal.

11. Children’s privacy

The Portal is intended for adults participating in education, employment, and hiring. It is not directed to children under 18, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 18. If you believe we have collected such information, contact ask@iec.org.pk and we will take appropriate steps to delete it.

12. International data transfers

Skills Bridge operates in Pakistan and is registered as a nonprofit in the United States. Personal information may be processed and stored in Pakistan, the United States, or other countries where Skills Bridge or its service providers operate (including cloud infrastructure). Those countries may have data-protection laws different from the laws in your country. We take steps designed to protect your information in line with this Privacy Policy regardless of where it is processed.

13. Changes to this Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. The “Last updated” date at the top will change when we do. For material changes, we may also provide an additional notice (for example, a notice in the Portal or by email). Continued use of the Portal after an update means you acknowledge the revised policy.

14. Contact us

For privacy questions, Google data requests, or to exercise your rights, contact us via the Contact Us page or email:

Please include “Privacy request — Skills Bridge” in the subject line so we can route your message quickly.