GuideMe is a digital career guidance platform that helps Sri Lankan students discover NVQ (National Vocational Qualification) training courses offered by TVEC-registered institutions across all 25 districts of Sri Lanka.
GuideMe is operated by the Tertiary and Vocational Education Commission (TVEC) of Sri Lanka — the national authority for tertiary and vocational education established under Act No. 20 of 1990.
Together with TVEC, the GIZ Vocational Training Project in Sri Lanka supported the development and deployment of the GuideMe platform. The Vocational Training in Sri Lanka (VTSL) project, implemented by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), is supported by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA).
Data Controller: Tertiary and Vocational Education Commission (TVEC)
14 Wijerama Road, Colombo 07, Sri Lanka
Contact: info@tvec.gov.lk · tvec.gov.lk
Data Protection Officer: Director General, TVEC (dg@tvec.gov.lk)
This Privacy Policy is prepared in compliance with:
We process your personal data on the following lawful bases:
| Processing Activity | Lawful Basis |
|---|---|
| Account registration and authentication | Consent (PDPA s.5, GDPR Art.6(1)(a)) |
| Course recommendations based on your profile | Consent + Legitimate interest |
| Saving your course shortlist | Performance of service |
| Aggregate analytics (no personal data) | Legitimate interest |
| Data Field | Why We Collect It | Required? |
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Personalise your dashboard | Yes |
| Email address | Account authentication and communication | Yes |
| District of residence | Match you to nearby training centres | Yes |
| Phone number | Optional contact for follow-up support | No |
| Date of birth | Age verification and eligibility | No |
| Education level | Match NVQ level eligibility | Via quiz |
| Career interests and goals | Personalised course recommendations | Via quiz |
| Preferred study mode and language | Filter relevant courses | Via quiz |
| Saved courses (up to 5) | Maintain your shortlist | Your choice |
We do not use cookies, tracking pixels or behavioural analytics. GuideMe is hosted on Cloudflare Pages — Cloudflare may collect standard server logs (IP address, browser type, access times) as part of infrastructure operation, governed by Cloudflare's Privacy Policy.
We do not collect: National Identity Card (NIC) numbers, financial information, biometric data, health data, or any special categories of personal data under PDPA/GDPR.
We do not: sell your data, share it with training providers, use it for advertising, or process it for any purpose beyond the above.
Your data is stored in Google Firebase Realtime Database, hosted in the Asia Southeast 1 (Singapore) region. Firebase provides:
Admin access to aggregated student records is restricted to authorised TVEC administrators, protected by Firebase Authentication and a whitelist system. Admin sessions automatically expire after 30 minutes of inactivity.
Data Transfer: Your data is transferred to and stored in Singapore. Google's Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) govern this transfer in compliance with GDPR Chapter V requirements.
| Data Type | Retention Period | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| Account and profile data | Until you delete your account | Service provision |
| Quiz responses | Until you retake the quiz or delete your account | Recommendation accuracy |
| Saved courses | Until you remove them or delete your account | User preference |
| Server access logs (Cloudflare) | Up to 30 days | Security and infrastructure |
When the GuideMe service concludes, all student personal data will be deleted within 30 days, and you will be notified by email in advance.
Under both the Sri Lanka PDPA and EU GDPR, you have the following rights:
Request a copy of all personal data we hold about you.
Correct inaccurate or incomplete personal data in your profile.
Delete your account and all associated data permanently. Use the "Delete Account" button in the portal.
Request that we limit how we process your data in certain circumstances.
Receive your personal data in a structured, machine-readable format.
Object to processing based on legitimate interests at any time.
Withdraw your consent at any time. This does not affect processing already done.
Lodge a complaint with the Sri Lanka Data Protection Authority or a EU supervisory authority.
To exercise any of these rights, email us at info@tvec.gov.lk. We will respond within 30 days as required by PDPA and GDPR.
GuideMe is intended for students aged 15 and above who are eligible for NVQ training. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children under 15. If you believe a child under 15 has registered, contact us immediately at info@tvec.gov.lk and we will delete the account.
| Service | Purpose | Data Shared | Privacy Policy |
|---|---|---|---|
| Google Firebase | Authentication and database | Email, profile data | firebase.google.com |
| Cloudflare Pages | Web hosting | IP, browser info (logs only) | cloudflare.com |
| Google Fonts | Typography | IP address (font requests) | policies.google.com |
Course data is sourced from nvq.gov.lk (TVEC Sri Lanka public database). No personal data is shared with TVEC or training providers.
In the event of a personal data breach, we will:
We may update this Privacy Policy periodically. When we make material changes, we will notify registered users by email and update the "Last Updated" date at the top of this page. Continued use of GuideMe after changes constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.
Data Controller: Tertiary and Vocational Education Commission (TVEC)
Email: info@tvec.gov.lk
Address: 14 Wijerama Road, Colombo 07, Sri Lanka
Response time: Within 30 days of receipt
Sri Lanka: Data Protection Authority of Sri Lanka
Website: dpa.gov.lk
EU (GDPR): Federal Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information (BfDI), Germany
Website: bfdi.bund.de