Minors & Student Data Policy

Students under 18 who apply for fee support, are nominated by a teacher, or enter the scholarship challenge — and their parents or guardians. Students aged 18 and over act for themselves, but the publication limits below still apply.

• A parent or guardian must sign the consent form covering participation, verification, and — separately — publication of the student's story or likeness.
• Teacher nominations do not replace parental consent; the family must still consent before a profile goes live.
• Challenge entrants under 18 need consent for participation and a publicity release before any finalist material is displayed.
• Consent may be withdrawn at any time. We then unpublish the profile or entry and, where the student is mid-cycle, explain the effect on any pending funding.

Name, date of birth, contact details, school and enrollment record, fee amount and payout school, the student's written story, proof of enrollment, a government ID, need documentation, and — for minors — the signed consent form. We ask for the minimum needed to verify need and pay a school safely.

May be published with consent: first name, story in the student's own words, school city or state, general grade level, fee goal, and funding progress. Challenge finalists may additionally have their video, blueprint, and infographic shown.

Never published: home address, full date of birth, email address, phone number, government ID, financial documents, consent forms, school payout details, and — for challenge entrants — email and full school record.

• Foundation administrators, for verification, disbursement, and support.
• Judges, limited to what is needed to score an entry fairly. Judges score under aliases; when a judge reveals identifying details or a consent form, that access is written to an audit log.
• The student's payout school, limited to what is needed to apply funds to the right account.
• Donors see only the public profile — never documents, contact details, or exact location.

• Donors cannot contact a student directly. Optional messages pass through the foundation.
• Donations to a named student require a signed-in, verified donor.
• Funds are paid to schools, never to a student or family in cash.
• We remove content and suspend accounts where a student's safety may be at risk, and report to authorities where required.

Identity and need documents are stored privately, opened only through short-lived links by authorised reviewers, and deleted once verification is decided — only the decision, timestamp, and reviewer note are kept. Consent forms are retained while the student participates and for the period our records require, then deleted. A parent or guardian may request earlier deletion, subject to funds already disbursed.

A parent or guardian may request a copy of their child's record, correct it, ask us to unpublish or delete it, withdraw consent, or object to a particular use. Email hello@hariomhelps.com — we may verify your relationship to the student before acting.

We ask schools for confirmation of enrollment and fee balances. Schools remain responsible for their own obligations under FERPA and equivalent state or national law, including obtaining any consent required before releasing an education record to us. We use what a school sends only to verify need and to pay fees.

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