Privacy Policy

1. Introduction

At Dalwadi Samaj, developed and operated by hardikkanajariya.in ("we", "us", or "our"), we are committed to protecting your privacy. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard your information when you use our mobile application ("App"), distributed via the Amazon Appstore and direct download from dalwadisamaj.online/download, and our website (collectively, the "Service"). The App is not distributed through Google Play Store. By using the Service, you consent to the practices described in this policy.

2. Information We Collect

2.1 Personal Information (Provided by You)

When you register and use the Service, we collect:

• Identity: First name, last name, surname (sakh), gender, date of birth
• Contact: Phone number (required for authentication), email address (optional)
• Location (text-based only): Native village (gam), maternal grandfather's village (mosal gam), current city, pincode, district, and state. We do NOT collect GPS or device location data.
• Profile: Profile photograph, blood group, education, occupation
• Family data: Marital status, parent relationships (father, mother), birth parent relationships, spouse relationships, marriage history (dates, status), children, and deceased status/date
• Authentication: 6-digit PIN or OTP for login

2.2 Content You Create

• Posts: Text content and optional images shared in the community feed
• Comments and likes: Interactions on community posts
• Stories: Ephemeral photo/video content visible for 24 hours, including view tracking
• Direct messages: Text, images, files, audio, and video sent to other users
• Venue bookings: Contact name, phone, booking dates, and notes

2.3 Blood Donor Information

If you opt in to the blood donor feature, we collect:

• Willingness to donate (opt-in flag)
• Last donation date and next eligible date
• Donor note (optional free text)
• Emergency contact phone number

2.4 Gamification and Virtual Currency

• Reward coins balance and lifetime earnings
• Game session data: scores, duration, and coin earnings
• Digital store purchases: product orders, equipped badges/frames, and shipping address
• Referral code and referral tracking
• Daily ad watch count and reset date

2.5 Automatically Collected Information

When you use the App, we automatically collect:

• Device telemetry: A generated device identifier (not your hardware ID), device model, operating system version, app version, and runtime version. This is collected once per app session in production only.
• Push notification token: Firebase Cloud Messaging (FCM) token for delivering push notifications, stored server-side
• App usage: Launch count, first seen date, and last seen date per device

When you submit an account deletion request (via web or app), we additionally capture your IP address and user-agent for fraud prevention and audit purposes.

2.6 Information We Do NOT Collect

• GPS or precise device location
• Contacts or address book
• Call logs or SMS
• Biometric data
• Financial or payment card information

3. How We Use Your Information

We use the collected information for:

• Providing, maintaining, and improving our Service
• Creating and managing your account and authenticating your identity
• Building and displaying family tree connections and relationship calculations
• Processing venue bookings and reservation management
• Delivering push notifications for community updates, messages, bookings, and birthdays
• Facilitating member search, directory, and community networking
• Enabling direct messaging between users (with chat request approval)
• Operating the rewards/coins system, games, leaderboards, and digital store
• Matching blood donors with those in need (opt-in only)
• Delivering advertisements through Google AdMob
• Monitoring app performance and tracking app version adoption via telemetry
• Delivering over-the-air (OTA) app updates
• Ensuring security, preventing fraud, and enforcing our Terms

4. Information Sharing and Disclosure

We may share your information in the following circumstances:

• With Community Members: Your profile information (name, village, profile photo, surname) is visible to other registered members for community networking. You can control visibility of optional fields.
• With Family Members: Family tree information including relationships, marriage history, and lineage is shared with connected family members and visible to the community.
• With Message Recipients: Messages, files, and media you send are delivered to the recipient. Message delivery and read status is tracked.
• With Blood Donation Seekers: If you opt in as a donor, your name, blood group, location, and contact details are visible to users searching for donors.
• With Venue Owners: Booking contact information and notes are shared with venue owners for reservation purposes.
• With Google AdMob: The Google Mobile Ads SDK may collect device identifiers and ad interaction data to serve personalized or non-personalized advertisements. See Section 5.
• With Firebase Cloud Messaging: Your FCM push token is transmitted to Google's Firebase service to deliver push notifications to your device.
• For Legal Requirements: When required by law, court order, or governmental authority, or to protect our rights, safety, or property.

We do not sell your personal information to third parties.

5. Third-Party Services and SDKs

Our Service integrates the following third-party services:

Each third-party service has its own privacy policy. We encourage you to review:

• Google Privacy Policy (covers AdMob and Firebase)
• Google AdMob & Data Collection

Note: We do not use Google Analytics, Firebase Analytics, Crashlytics, or any other third-party analytics or crash-reporting services.

6. Local Data Storage

The mobile App stores the following data locally on your device using AsyncStorage:

• JWT access token and refresh token (for authentication)
• Token expiry timestamp
• Cached user profile data
• Generated device ID (for telemetry)
• App settings and language preferences

This data is stored in the app's sandboxed storage and is removed when you uninstall the App or clear app data.

7. Data Security

We implement appropriate technical and organizational security measures to protect your personal information, including:

• All API communication is encrypted via HTTPS/TLS
• Passwords and PINs are cryptographically hashed (bcrypt) before storage
• JWT-based authentication with short-lived access tokens and refresh token rotation
• Role-based access controls for administrative functions
• OTP verification for sensitive operations (account claims, data deletion)

8. Your Rights

You have the right to:

• Access: View your personal information through your profile in the App
• Correction: Update inaccurate or incomplete data via the profile edit screen
• Deletion: Request deletion of your account and data via the App (Profile → Privacy & Data) or our web-based deletion form. A 30-day grace period applies, during which you may cancel the request.
• Opt-out of notifications: Manage push notification categories in notification settings
• Opt-out of blood donor: Toggle off blood donor visibility at any time
• Withdraw consent: Stop using the Service at any time; you may request data deletion

9. Data Retention

• Active accounts: Data is retained for as long as your account is active.
• Deleted accounts: After you request deletion, your data is retained for a 30-day grace period, then permanently deleted. However, an audit record (phone number, email, username, IP address, user-agent) is retained permanently for fraud prevention and legal compliance.
• Stories: Automatically expire and are deleted after 24 hours.
• Telemetry: Device usage data is retained indefinitely in aggregate form for app performance monitoring.

10. Children's Privacy

Our Service is not intended for children under 13 years of age. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. Family members may add children's basic information (name, date of birth) to the family tree, but those profiles cannot independently log in. If you are a parent or guardian and believe your child has independently registered with personal information, please contact us and we will promptly delete such data.

11. Advertising

We display advertisements through Google AdMob in the following formats:

• Banner ads: Displayed on certain screens
• Interstitial ads: Full-screen ads shown after certain actions (e.g., creating a post, completing a booking), with a minimum 60-second cooldown between displays
• Rewarded ads: Optional video ads you can watch to earn virtual coins

Google AdMob may use device advertising identifiers and ad interaction data to serve ads. You can manage ad personalization through your device settings (Settings → Google → Ads on Android, or Settings → Privacy → Apple Advertising on iOS).

12. Cookies and Web Storage

Our website uses cookies for admin dashboard authentication (via NextAuth.js session cookies). For complete details, please see our Cookie Policy.

13. Over-the-Air Updates

The App may receive over-the-air (OTA) updates via our self-hosted Expo Updates server. These updates deliver bug fixes and improvements without requiring an app store update. During this process, your app version, runtime version, and platform are transmitted to determine update compatibility.

14. Android Permissions

The App requests the following Android permissions:

• Internet: Required for all network communication
• Camera: For taking profile photos and post images (requested at runtime)
• Media/Storage: For selecting photos from your gallery (requested at runtime)
• Microphone: For recording audio messages in direct messaging (requested at runtime)
• Vibrate: For haptic feedback and notification alerts
• Push Notifications: For receiving community updates, messages, and booking alerts

All sensitive permissions are requested at runtime with clear context. You can revoke permissions at any time through your device settings.

15. App Distribution

The Dalwadi Samaj App is distributed through:

• Amazon Appstore — available for Android devices
• Direct download from dalwadisamaj.online/download

The App is not available on Google Play Store. Please only download the App from the official sources listed above.

16. International Data Transfers

Your information is primarily stored and processed in India. Some data may be transmitted to Google's servers (for FCM push notifications and AdMob) which may be located in other countries. Google maintains appropriate safeguards for such transfers under its privacy policies.

17. Governing Law

This Privacy Policy is governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of India, including the Information Technology Act, 2000 and the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023. Any disputes arising under this policy shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts in Gujarat, India.

18. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of any significant changes by posting the new policy on this page, updating the "Last updated" date, and where appropriate, sending a push notification through the App.

19. Contact Us

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or wish to exercise your data rights, please contact us: