Privacy Policy

1. About this policy

This Privacy Policy explains how Akhanda Bharatha Viswa Hindu Parirakshana Samiti (Registration No. 20/2023), a registered charitable trust, referred to as “ABVHPS”, “we”, “us”, handles personal data of people who use abvhps.org, the ABVHPS mobile app and the forms and services offered through them (together, the “Services”).

For the purposes of the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 (“DPDP Act”) and the Information Technology Act, 2000 with its rules, ABVHPS is the Data Fiduciary and you are the Data Principal. By using the Services or submitting a form you confirm that you have read this policy. Where the law requires your specific consent, we ask for it separately (for example, the tick-boxes on our application forms).

2. Personal data we collect

What we collect depends on what you do. We ask only for information that the activity genuinely needs.

We do not collect your card number, CVV, UPI PIN, net-banking credentials, precise location, contacts, microphone or camera data, and we do not collect biometric data.

3. Data collected automatically

• Server logs and security records — IP address, date and time, pages requested, browser / device type and error information, used to run, secure and troubleshoot the Services.
• Session and preference cookies — see section 12.
• Audit trail — actions taken by office-bearers on member and volunteer records (who changed what and when) are logged to prevent misuse.

4. Aadhaar and other identity documents

Membership needs a reliable identity check so that every member is a real, unique person. To do this:

• When you choose Aadhaar verification, you are redirected to the DigiLocker consent flow run through our verification partner Cashfree Secure ID. The Aadhaar number you type is held only in an encrypted session while this happens.
• Alternatively you may verify with PAN, Voter ID, Driving Licence or Passport. The number is sent to the same partner for verification.
• We keep the verification outcome, the provider’s reference, the name returned, the last four digits of the document and the time of verification, and we keep the Aadhaar number you entered in your membership record for the purposes of preventing duplicate or fake memberships and completing your verification.
• We never print your Aadhaar number on membership cards or show it on public pages, and we do not use it for any purpose other than the ones stated here.
• You provide Aadhaar or any other document voluntarily and only for the stated purpose. If you do not wish to use Aadhaar, use one of the other identity options offered on the membership page.

5. Why we use your data

We process personal data only for lawful purposes, on the basis of your consent or other uses that the law permits (for example, complying with tax and accounting laws or responding to a court order):

• to create, verify and administer memberships, volunteer enrolments, wing registrations and ID cards;
• to run exams — applications, hall tickets, results, prizes and certificates;
• to receive donations and fees, confirm payments, issue receipts (including for tax exemption) and keep financial records;
• to send OTPs, confirmations, receipts, status updates and important notices by e-mail, SMS or in the app;
• to answer your enquiries, requests and complaints;
• to assign volunteers to their area of work and let authorised office-bearers coordinate within their own area;
• to keep the Services safe — preventing fraud, duplicate or fake applications, spam and misuse;
• to meet legal, regulatory and audit obligations, and to establish or defend legal claims.

We do not use your data for advertising, we do not build behavioural profiles, and we do not make decisions about you solely by automated means.

6. Who we share your data with

We do not sell or rent personal data. We share it only as needed to provide the Services:

These providers act on our instructions or under their own regulated terms. When they process data as independent regulated entities (for example, payment gateways and banks), their own privacy policies also apply.

7. Information that is visible to the public

Some information is shown publicly by design, to give the public confidence that our people and programmes are genuine:

• Public verification pages (opened when a membership or volunteer QR code or ID is checked) show only the name, ID number, status, cadre and general location.
• Our Team page lists approved volunteers and office-bearers with the details they have agreed to display (name, role, area and photograph).
• Exam results and winners — results are looked up by the applicant’s own details. Names, ranks, prizes and photographs of winners may be featured on the winners wall, with the consent given by the applicant or the parent / guardian in the exam application.
• Donations are never published with your name unless you ask us to.

If you want something removed from a public page, write to us (see Account & Data Deletion) and we will act on it promptly.

8. How long we keep your data

We keep personal data only as long as it is needed for the purpose it was collected for, or as the law requires.

When data is no longer needed we delete it or irreversibly anonymise it. Records that the law obliges us to keep (such as donation accounts) are retained for the required period even if you ask for deletion, and are used only for that purpose.

9. How we protect your data

We use reasonable security safeguards appropriate to the data we hold, including:

• encrypted connections (HTTPS) between your device and our servers;
• OTP verification for mobile and e-mail, and hashed (never plain-text) passwords;
• role-based access, so office-bearers see only what their role needs, plus an audit log of changes to records;
• signature checks on payment-gateway notifications so that a payment cannot be forged;
• security headers and protection against common web attacks, and limiting of repeated requests.

No system is completely secure, so we cannot promise absolute security. Please protect your own login details, do not share OTPs with anyone — ABVHPS staff will never ask for your OTP, PIN or password — and tell us immediately if you suspect misuse.

10. Children and students

Exam applicants are often under 18. For them, the application must be made by, or with the knowledge and consent of, a parent or legal guardian, whose details we collect on the form. By submitting a child’s application, the parent / guardian confirms this consent, including the publication of a winner’s name, rank and photograph if the child wins.

We do not track or monitor the behaviour of children, do not show them advertising, and do not process their data in a way likely to harm them. A parent or guardian can ask us at any time to correct or delete a child’s data or to withdraw the consent. The Services are not directed at children for any purpose other than exams and youth programmes run with guardian involvement.

11. Your rights

Under the DPDP Act and other applicable law you have the right to:

• know what personal data we hold about you, why, and with whom we have shared it, and obtain a summary;
• correct, complete or update inaccurate or incomplete data;
• erase your data when it is no longer needed for the purpose or you withdraw consent (subject to the legal-retention exceptions in section 8);
• withdraw consent at any time, as easily as you gave it. This does not affect what we did lawfully before, and may mean we can no longer provide the related service (for example, a membership that needs verified identity);
• grievance redressal — contact our Grievance Officer first; and
• nominate another person to exercise your rights if you die or become unable to do so.

How to use these rights: use the form on Account & Data Deletion or write to info@abvhps.org. We may ask you to confirm your identity so that nobody else can obtain or delete your data. We acknowledge requests within 3 working days and complete them within 30 days.

If you are not satisfied with our response, you may complain to the Data Protection Board of India as provided in the DPDP Act, after first raising it with us.

12. Cookies and similar technologies

We use only the cookies the Services need to work. We do not use advertising cookies or third-party analytics or tracking pixels.

You can block or delete cookies in your browser, but forms, sign-in and payments will then not work properly. If we later add analytics or other optional cookies, we will update this policy and ask for your consent where the law requires.

13. The ABVHPS mobile app

• The app requests only the Internet permission. It does not access your contacts, SMS, call log, location, camera, microphone, photos or files.
• Your session token and language preference are stored on your device (the token in the platform’s secure storage) and are removed when you sign out or uninstall the app.
• The app shows the same information and uses the same servers as the website, so this policy applies equally to it. It contains no advertising and no third-party analytics.
• You can delete your account and data from within our Account & Data Deletion page, which the app links to.

14. Links to other websites

The Services link to other sites, such as our Janavedika page and social-media pages (Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, X, WhatsApp and others) and payment gateways. We do not control them and are not responsible for their privacy practices. Please read their policies.

15. Storage and transfers

Our cloud providers may store or process data on servers in the region we configure. Where personal data is transferred outside India, it is done only to the extent permitted by the DPDP Act and not to any country that the Government of India has restricted.

16. If something goes wrong

If a personal-data breach occurs, we will take immediate steps to contain it, and will inform the Data Protection Board of India and the people affected in the manner and time required by law.

17. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy when our practices or the law change. The version and dates at the top show when it last changed. For material changes we will give clear notice on the website or the app, and seek fresh consent where the law requires it. This English version is the governing version.

Contact us & Grievance Officer

If you have a question, a complaint or a request about this document, or about your data, please write to us:

Grievance Officer, ABVHPS. Write to info@abvhps.org. We acknowledge every complaint within 3 working days and aim to resolve it within 30 days.