Overview & Scope
Welcome to SciEtech (“SciEtech Engineering Hub”, “we”, “us”, or “our”), accessible online via www.scietechng.org (the “Site” or “Platform”). SciEtech is dedicated to fostering science, engineering, and technology development by connecting ambitious students, graduates, and young innovators with experienced engineering mentors and industry leaders across Africa.
This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard your personal information when you visit our website, apply as a Mentor, register as a Mentee, participate in university outreach initiatives, or book virtual mentorship sessions.
Our Privacy Pledge
We respect your privacy. SciEtech does not sell, rent, or trade your personal information to third-party advertisers. All information collected is strictly utilized to operate and enhance the engineering mentorship experience.
Information We Collect
We collect information that you directly provide to us, as well as limited technical information collected automatically when navigating the platform.
| User Category | Information Collected | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Mentor Profile | Full name, email address, phone number, grouped engineering discipline, graduation year, summary of work experience, professional certifications (COREN, NSE, SPE, IEEE, SWE, others), mentorship motivation (why you want to be a mentor), and optional profile photo. | Mentor vetting, public profile display, and mentee pairing. |
| Mentee Profile | Full name, email address, phone number, school/institution, academic status (Student or Graduate), grouped engineering discipline, area of specialization, and mentorship goals (why you need a mentor). | Mentorship allocation, goal tracking, and session scheduling. |
| Appointments | Selected appointment date, time slot, session notes, calendar event tokens, and Google Meet video conference links. | Coordinating and managing 1-on-1 virtual mentorship sessions. |
| Forum & Community | Discussion topics, replies, forum comments, newsletter subscription preferences, and inquiry messages. | Enabling engineering peer learning and community interaction. |
How We Use Your Information
We process your personal information strictly for legitimate platform purposes, including:
- Account Management: Authenticating your login credentials, maintaining your user session, and preventing unauthorized account access.
- Mentorship Facilitation: Matching students and graduates with relevant mentors based on shared engineering disciplines (Petroleum, Mechanical, Civil, Electrical, Marine, and Software Engineering).
- Appointment Scheduling: Generating booking confirmations, sending calendar invites, and dispatching automated Google Meet links for scheduled mentorship calls.
- Communications & Notifications: Delivering critical transaction emails, application status confirmations, appointment updates, and newsletters.
- Platform Security & Compliance: Protecting against malicious activity, verifying professional credentials (e.g., COREN/NSE registrations), and complying with applicable Nigerian and international laws.
Mentorship Sessions & Calendar Integrations
SciEtech offers seamless calendar synchronization for mentors and mentees:
- Google Calendar & Meet: When mentors connect their Google Calendar, we utilize authorized OAuth tokens solely to create and update mentorship events and generate secure Google Meet video conference links for confirmed sessions.
- Session Confidentiality: Virtual 1-on-1 mentorship discussions are private between the mentor and mentee. SciEtech does not record audio or video of private sessions unless explicitly consented to for recorded workshops or webinars.
Calendar Data Limitation
Our Google API integration complies with the Google API Services User Data Policy. We never access your personal emails, unrelated calendar entries, or non-mentorship Google Drive files.
Data Sharing & Disclosure
We do not sell, rent, or lease your personal information. We only share information under the following limited circumstances:
- Between Mentors and Mentees: Upon an appointment confirmation or official pairing, relevant contact and academic background details are shared to facilitate effective communication.
- Trusted Service Providers: We engage reputable infrastructure providers for secure web hosting, database management, and email dispatch (e.g. transactional SMTP servers) under strict confidentiality agreements.
- Legal & Regulatory Obligations: We may disclose information if required by law, court order, or governmental regulation, or in good faith to protect the safety, rights, and property of SciEtech, our users, or the general public.
Cookies & Tracking Technologies
Our website utilizes standard HTTP cookies to enhance your browsing experience:
- Essential Session Cookies: Required to maintain your logged-in state and route you securely to your personalized profile dashboard.
- Preference Cookies: Retain UI preferences and filter selections when browsing engineering disciplines and mentors.
You can configure your browser to reject cookies or alert you when cookies are being sent. Please note that disabling essential cookies may prevent you from logging into your account or booking sessions.
Data Security & Storage
We implement robust technical and organizational security measures to protect your information against unauthorized access, loss, misuse, or alteration:
- Cryptographic Password Hashing: All user passwords are encrypted using modern one-way cryptographic algorithms (
bcrypt). Passwords are never stored in plaintext. - HTTPS Encryption: All data transmitted between your browser and our servers is secured using SSL/TLS 256-bit encryption.
- Access Controls: Database and server access is restricted to authorized personnel with strict multi-factor authentication.
Your Rights & Choices
Under the Nigeria Data Protection Regulation (NDPR) and international privacy laws, you possess the following rights regarding your personal data:
- Right to Access & Rectification: You can review and update your profile details at any time by logging into your dashboard and editing your profile form.
- Right to Erasure (Right to be Forgotten): You may request the deletion of your account and associated personal data by emailing our support desk.
- Right to Opt-Out: You can unsubscribe from non-essential newsletters and marketing emails at any time using the “Unsubscribe” link in each email footer.
Student & Youth Privacy
SciEtech is committed to protecting the privacy of university undergraduates and secondary school participants engaged in our outreach programs. Users under the age of 18 must participate in university mentorship with appropriate institutional or parental knowledge. We do not knowingly collect sensitive personal data from minors without authorized educational context.
Policy Updates & Contact Us
We may update this Privacy Policy periodically to reflect enhancements to our platform features or regulatory changes. Updated versions will be posted on this page with an updated “Last Updated” date.
If you have any questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or your personal information, please reach out to us:
Physical Address
57 Abidjan Street, Wuse Zone 3, Abuja, Nigeria.