Privacy Policy

1. Information We Collect

1.1 Information You Provide Directly

When you interact with the Platform, you may provide the following categories of personal information:

• Identity Data: First name, last name, title or honorific.
• Contact Data: Email address, mobile phone number (including WhatsApp number), postal address, and state or territory of residence.
• Demographic Data: Role or occupation (e.g., farmer, student, professional, religious leader), preferred language, and Indian state of residence.
• Civic Participation Data: Petition signature, voluntary message or personal statement submitted alongside a petition signature, volunteer skills and availability, and event registration details.
• Communication Data: Content of messages you send to us via the contact form, email, WhatsApp, or any other channel, and records of our correspondence with you.
• Consent and Preference Data: Your opt-in or opt-out preferences for WhatsApp communications, email newsletters, SMS updates, and marketing messages.

1.2 Information Collected Automatically

When you access the Platform, our servers and third-party analytics tools automatically collect certain technical information, including:

• Log Data: Internet Protocol (IP) address, browser type and version, operating system, referring URL, pages viewed, time and date of your visit, and time spent on each page.
• Device Data: Device type, device identifiers, and screen resolution.
• Cookie and Tracking Data: Cookie identifiers, session tokens, and similar technologies as described in Section 7 of this Policy.
• Location Data: Approximate geographic location derived from your IP address (country and region level only).

1.3 Information from Third Parties

We may receive information about you from third-party sources, including social media platforms if you share our content or interact with our social media accounts, email delivery service providers (such as SendGrid), WhatsApp Business API, SMS providers (such as Twilio), and payment processors if applicable. We handle all such information in accordance with this Privacy Policy.

2. How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect for the following purposes, each grounded in a lawful basis:

We do not use your personal information for automated decision-making or profiling in a manner that produces legal or similarly significant effects.

3. Disclosure of Your Information

We do not sell, rent, trade, or otherwise commercially exploit your personal information. We may share your information only in the following circumstances:

3.1 Service Providers

We engage carefully selected third-party service providers to perform functions on our behalf, including email delivery (SendGrid), SMS delivery (Twilio), WhatsApp Business messaging (Meta), website hosting and infrastructure, and analytics. These providers are contractually bound to process your information only on our documented instructions and to maintain appropriate security measures.

3.2 Affiliated Movement Partners

Where you have explicitly consented or where it is necessary for the purposes of civil advocacy, we may share your contact details with verified state-level or district-level campaign coordinators of the Gau Samman movement strictly for the purpose of facilitating your participation in campaign activities. Such coordinators are bound by equivalent confidentiality obligations.

3.3 Legal and Regulatory Disclosure

We may disclose your information where required by law, court order, government regulation, or regulatory authority, or where we believe in good faith that disclosure is necessary to protect our legal rights, prevent fraud, or protect the safety of any person.

3.4 Business Transfers

In the event of a reorganisation, merger, or transfer of assets of the Gau Samman Abhiyaan, personal information may be transferred as part of that transaction, provided that the receiving party agrees to honour this Privacy Policy.

4. Retention of Your Information

We retain your personal information for as long as is necessary to fulfil the purposes described in this Privacy Policy, unless a longer retention period is required or permitted by law. The following general retention schedules apply:

• Petition Signatures: Retained for the duration of the campaign and for a minimum of seven (7) years thereafter as a civic record, given the legislative advocacy purpose.
• Registration and Volunteer Data: Retained for the duration of your active participation and for three (3) years following the last interaction, after which data is anonymised or deleted.
• Communication Records: Retained for three (3) years from the date of last communication.
• Technical Log Data: Retained for twelve (12) months and then deleted or anonymised.
• Cookie Data: As specified in Section 7.

When your information is no longer required, we will securely delete or irreversibly anonymise it.

5. Your Rights

Subject to applicable law, including the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 (India) and any other applicable data protection legislation, you have the following rights with respect to your personal information:

• Right of Access: To request a copy of the personal information we hold about you.
• Right of Correction: To request correction of any inaccurate or incomplete personal information.
• Right of Erasure: To request deletion of your personal information, subject to our legitimate interests and legal obligations (for example, petition signatures that form part of a civic record may be retained in anonymised form).
• Right to Withdraw Consent: Where processing is based on your consent, you may withdraw that consent at any time without affecting the lawfulness of prior processing. You may unsubscribe from communications at any time using the unsubscribe link in any email, by replying STOP to any SMS, or by contacting us directly.
• Right to Object: To object to processing based on legitimate interests or for direct communications.
• Right to Grievance Redressal: To raise a complaint or grievance with us or with the Data Protection Board of India.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact our Data Protection Officer at privacy@gausamman.org or call +91 82397 11008. We will respond within thirty (30) days. We may need to verify your identity before processing your request.

6. Data Security

We implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal information against unauthorised access, accidental loss, destruction, or disclosure. These measures include:

• Encryption of data in transit using TLS/SSL protocols.
• Access controls limiting access to personal information to authorised personnel on a need-to-know basis.
• Regular security reviews and vulnerability assessments of our Platform.
• Contractual data security obligations imposed on all service providers.
• Secure credential management and two-factor authentication for administrative access.

No method of transmission over the internet or electronic storage is completely secure. While we strive to protect your information, we cannot guarantee absolute security. In the event of a data breach that is likely to result in high risk to your rights, we will notify you and the relevant authorities as required by applicable law.

7. Cookies and Tracking Technologies

We use cookies and similar tracking technologies on our Platform. A cookie is a small text file placed on your device. We use the following categories of cookies:

• Strictly Necessary Cookies: Essential for the Platform to function and cannot be switched off. They include session management cookies, language preference cookies (gs_locale), and security tokens. These do not require your consent.
• Analytics Cookies: Help us understand how visitors interact with the Platform by collecting aggregated, anonymised data on page visits, navigation paths, and device types. We use these to improve the user experience.
• Functionality Cookies: Allow us to remember your preferences, such as your selected language, to personalise your experience.

You may control cookies through your browser settings. Blocking certain cookies may affect functionality. We do not use advertising or behavioural tracking cookies, and we do not permit third-party advertisers to place cookies on our Platform. For full details, please see our Cookie Policy.

8. Children's Privacy

The Platform is not directed to children under the age of eighteen (18). We do not knowingly collect personal information from minors. If you believe that a child has provided us with personal information, please contact us immediately at privacy@gausamman.org and we will take prompt steps to delete that information.

9. Third-Party Links

Our Platform may contain links to third-party websites, including social media platforms (YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Twitter/X) and external news sources. This Privacy Policy applies only to our Platform. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of any third-party website and encourage you to review their respective privacy policies before providing any personal information.

10. International Data Transfers

Our Platform is operated primarily in India. However, some of our service providers (including SendGrid, Twilio, and Meta) may process your data on servers located outside India. Where such transfers occur, we ensure appropriate safeguards are in place, including contractual data protection clauses, to protect your information in accordance with applicable law.

11. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in law, our data practices, or our Platform. When we make material changes, we will update the Effective Date at the top of this Policy and, where appropriate, notify you by email or via a notice on the Platform. Your continued use of the Platform after the updated Policy takes effect constitutes your acceptance of the revised Policy.

12. Contact and Grievance Redressal

If you have any questions, concerns, or complaints about this Privacy Policy or our data practices, please contact our designated Grievance Officer: