Data Privacy Policy

1. Introduction

PixelTech Phils. Inc. ("we," "us," or "our") operates Northstar, a digital platform designed for maritime higher education institutions (MHEIs), students, and cadets. We are committed to protecting the privacy and security of your personal data. This Data Privacy Policy outlines how we collect, use, store, share, and protect personal and sensitive personal information in compliance with the Philippine Data Privacy Act of 2012 (RA 10173), its Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR), and other relevant data protection standards.

2. Information We Collect

To provide a comprehensive maritime school portal and onboard training monitoring system, we process several categories of information:

A. Academic & Enrollment Data (Students & Cadets)

• Full name, date of birth, nationality, gender, and contact details.
• Student Identification Number, enrollment history, grades, and academic standing.
• Enrolled course programs, training tranches, and curriculum progress.

B. Onboard Training (OBT) & Shipboard Monitoring Data

• Vessel Details: Name of vessel, IMO number, vessel type, and shipping agency/crewing company details.
• Training Progress: Sea projects, daily journal entries, task completions, and sea-time logs.
• Performance Metrics: Assessments from Shipboard Training Officers and MHEI's Onboard Training supervisors.

C. Health Radar Check-In Logs (Sensitive Personal Information)

• Well-being Logs: Self-reported mood, condition, stress levels, and qualitative feedback notes regarding life onboard or on campus submitted voluntarily by students and cadets through the Health Radar feature.
• Support Logs: Logs of wellness entries and documented manual response actions or support interventions provided by the MHEI's OBT Office.

D. Sea Expert Mentoring, Board Exam Preparation & Financial Data

• Mentorship Engagement Logs: Attendance, schedules, and interaction history between students/cadets and seasoned maritime mentors (Captains, Deck Officers, and Marine Engineers).
• Performance Progress: Feedback, evaluation scores, mock exam results, and study progress data generated during MARINA licensure board examination prep sessions.
• Transaction & Financial Data: Session pricing, payment statuses, and system-generated transaction identifiers. For Sea Experts onboarding to receive payouts, we collect bank account details or e-wallet information.

E. Career Development & Statutory Clearances

• Deployment Status: Current rank, deployment history, vessel assignments, contract durations, shipping companies, and affiliated manning agencies.
• Academic-to-Regulatory Clearance Tracking: Processing status, verification milestones, and formal release updates of the Bachelor of Science Diploma as mandated by joint MARINA monitoring guidelines. Submission logs of required post-sea service documents (such as the Seafarer's Record Book, Certificate of Sea Service, and Training Record Book) necessary to clear institutional hurdles for diploma release.

F. Technical & System Data

• Login credentials (encrypted passwords) and institutional email addresses.
• IP addresses, device identifiers, and system logs to prevent unauthorized access and verify system transactions.

3. How We Collect Data

We collect information through three primary channels:

• Institutional Integration: Direct secure data uploads or API integrations provided by your enrolled Maritime Higher Education Institution (MHEI).
• User & Specialist Input: Information directly encoded by students/cadets (including voluntary Health Radar logs and session bookings), MHEI administrative teams, or designated Sea Experts documenting coaching sessions.
• Automated Systems: System-generated logs recording task completions, mentorship session logs, and booking confirmation timestamps.

4. Purpose and Legal Basis for Processing

We process your data strictly to fulfill our contractual, institutional, and professional development obligations. The legal bases and purposes include:

• Academic Administration: Managing enrollment, tracking task progress, daily journals, and facilitating graduation requirements.
• Mandatory Training Compliance: Monitoring and validating onboard training as required by MARINA and the STCW Convention.
• Cadet Welfare and Safety Tracking: Processing Health Radar Check-In logs to allow your MHEI's OBT Office to monitor wellness trends and offer timely support interventions proactively.
• Board Exam Readiness & Mentorship: Connecting users with seasoned maritime professionals for motivation, professional coaching, and targeted preparation to pass their MARINA licensure board examinations.
• Payment Processing and Expert Payouts: Handling monetary transactions, generating invoices, and distributing payouts to Sea Experts via designated third-party financial systems.
• Data Integrity & Security: Utilizing secure system verification parameters to issue stable digital certificates, transcripts, and access-controlled school records.

5. Data Disclosure and Sharing

Northstar does not sell, rent, or trade your personal data. Your data is shared strictly under controlled, legal, and institutional frameworks:

• Your School (MHEI): Your designated maritime institution has administrative access to monitor your academic, training, and exam preparation records.
• Assigned Sea Experts & Mentors: Authorized industry mentors (Captains, Deck Officers, and Marine Engineers) are given localized access to your exam readiness logs and progress metrics to provide effective, tailored coaching.
• Regulatory Authorities: Compliance data may be shared with MARINA through your MHEI's official reporting workflows.
• Third-Party Service Providers & Sub-processors: We partner with essential cloud infrastructure and operations providers operating under strict Data Sharing Agreements (DSAs) that meet National Privacy Commission (NPC) standards:
  • Supabase: Used to manage secure authentication protocols and system user states.
  • Resend: Utilized for routing transactional platform email notifications and updates.
  • Xendit: Operates as our secure payment gateway to handle session fees, invoicing, and expert bank/e-wallet payout disbursements.
  • AWS / Google Cloud: Provides the core encrypted cloud database and application hosting infrastructure.

6. Data Security Measures

We implement rigorous physical, technical, and organizational security measures to protect your data:

• Data Protection Standards: All data in transit is encrypted using Secure Sockets Layer (SSL/TLS) technology, and data at rest is secured via AES-256 encryption.
• Access Control: Role-based access control (RBAC) ensures users (cadets, mentors, instructors, administrators) only see data necessary for their specific domain. All information is housed securely within our unified Postgres database environment, protected by application-layer permissions.
• Immutability: Key academic milestones, training validation markers, and critical exam logs are restricted via system permissions to prevent unauthorized record alteration.
• Anonymization: Data used for high-level institutional analytics, performance trends, and employment reporting is strictly anonymized.

7. Data Retention

We retain your personal data for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes outlined in this policy, or as mandated by Philippine education and maritime laws:

• Active Student Records: Retained throughout your academic tenure.
• OBT & STCW Logs: Retained in accordance with MARINA compliance periods for institutional audits.
• Health Radar Logs: Retained for the duration of your academic stay and onboard training cycle to manage institutional student support.
• Mentorship & Board Exam Logs: Retained through your graduation and the duration of your board examination preparation cycle to optimize review outcome metrics.
• Verification & Graduation Records: Crucial data points required for verifying your credentials, graduation dates, and historical sea-time validations are maintained permanently within the system database to facilitate permanent, lifelong institutional verification for your MHEI.

8. Your Rights Under the Philippine Data Privacy Act

As a data subject, you possess the following rights under RA 10173:

• Right to be Informed: Knowing whether your data is being processed.
• Right to Access: Requesting a copy of your personal data stored in Northstar.
• Right to Rectification: Requesting corrections to inaccurate or outdated records.
• Right to Erasure or Blocking: Requesting the suspension, withdrawal, or removal of your personal data under legitimate grounds.
• Right to Data Portability: Obtaining an electronic copy of your data for your personal use.
• Right to File a Complaint: Lodging a complaint before the National Privacy Commission (NPC) if your privacy rights are violated.

9. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We reserve the right to update this Data Privacy Policy to reflect system upgrades, changing legal frameworks, or evolving regulatory mandates from MARINA. Users will be notified of major updates through the Northstar dashboard or registered institutional emails.

10. Contact Information

For any inquiries, requests for data access, or privacy concerns, please contact our Data Protection Officer (DPO):

Data Protection Officer
PixelTech Phils. Inc.
Email: dpo@pixeltechph.com
Address: Las Piñas, Metro Manila, Philippines