Policy

Privacy Policy

Effective Date: October 7, 2026

Version: 1.2

Website: www.paribhaasha.com

Owned and operated by: ParibhaAsha HeritEdge Lab Private Limited

ParibhaAsha HeritEdge Lab Private Limited values the privacy of its users, readers, contributors, subscribers, participants, patrons, and visitors. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store, process, and protect your personal information when you use our website and our native mobile app, subscribe to our publications, register for events, purchase products or services, submit content, or interact with any of our digital platforms.

This policy is intended to align with applicable Indian laws, including the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023, and relevant consumer protection principles. The National Consumer Helpline, operated by the Department of Consumer Affairs, also provides official assistance for consumer grievances in India.

1. Information We Collect

We collect the following types of information, through our website and our native mobile app.

Account Information

When you create an account we collect your name, email address, phone number, and a password (stored only as a salted hash) or your Google account identifier if you sign in with Google. We also keep your preferred language and your privacy choices.

Personal Information You Provide

This may include your billing address, shipping address, organisation name, designation, and any other information you voluntarily provide while filling forms, making purchases, registering for events, subscribing, or contacting us.

Payment and Transaction Information

When you purchase a publication, subscription, event ticket, product, or service, or make a contribution, payment is processed by our payment gateway, PhonePe. We do not store full card details, UPI credentials, net banking passwords, or other sensitive financial credentials. We keep order, invoice, payment reference and refund records, and, for the reader membership, the membership period and payment and tax invoice records, which we keep for tax and accounting purposes.

Communication Information

If you contact us through email, forms, WhatsApp links, social media, or customer support channels, we may retain the communication for response, service improvement, legal, accounting, and administrative purposes. If you leave your email address, and optionally your first name, on our coming soon page to be told when the app launches, we use it only to email you once at launch (and a short confirmation now), you can unsubscribe from any of those emails, and we delete it on request.

Content Submission Information

If you submit articles, artwork, photographs, proposals, research material, event details, festival contributions, contributor profiles, or any other content, we may collect your name, bio, contact details, social media handles, institutional affiliation, and the submitted material.

Device Identifiers and Push Tokens

In the native app we store a push notification token for your device so we can send notifications you have allowed, along with the device platform (Android or iOS). To enforce the device limits of your e-book licence we also store a device identifier, device name or type, and, for the web reader, your browser type. The app also generates a random install identifier, used for usage analytics and to record your privacy choices, that is not derived from your hardware and is not an advertising identifier.

Usage and Behaviour Events (on by default)

Basic usage analytics is on by default, from the first time you open the app or the website, with no prompt. We record events such as screens viewed, taps on home cards, books and chapters opened, reading time, searches (only the length of the query, the number of results and whether there were none, never the words you typed), cart and checkout steps, and preference changes. Each event carries your install identifier, the app version, operating system version, device model, language and a timestamp, and, if you are signed in, your account identifier. We never store your IP address or browser user agent with these events. You can turn analytics off at any time under privacy choices in your profile, and collection stops straight away. We do not sell this data.

Purchase and Reading Data

When you read an e-book, a free classic or a magazine issue in our reader, we collect reading progress, bookmarks, highlights, notes, ratings, and licence and device identifiers associated with your account. We also apply session controls to limit simultaneous use, and the reading copy may carry a watermark that embeds identifying information about the buyer, to deter unauthorised sharing. We use this information to provide the reader, to compute seller royalties, and to protect titles from misuse. We use it to personalise your experience only if you have agreed to personalisation. Sellers receive only aggregate, de-identified data.

Crash and Performance Data

The native app uses Google Firebase Crashlytics and Firebase Performance Monitoring to find crashes and slow screens. These send technical information such as the app version, device model, operating system version and the state of the app when it failed. This collection is on by default and stops as soon as you turn analytics off under privacy choices in your profile, at which point reports not yet sent are deleted from your device. Firebase Analytics is switched off, and we do not send your account identifier to Firebase.

Aggregate Content View Counts

For Parbāṇī content (festivals, deities, pujas, bhajans, stutis and books) we keep only a daily count of how many times each item was viewed, so that we can show popular items. These counts are not linked to you, your device or your IP address, and we do not keep a history of which Parbāṇī items any person viewed. When you listen to a recording in Parbāṇī, listening is counted in aggregate by recording, country and platform, without identifying you.

Content Access Log and IP Address

Each time a chapter of a protected e-book is delivered to you we record your account, the chapter, your device identifier, a watermark identifier and your IP address. We keep your IP address in this log for licensing enforcement and abuse prevention (for example, detecting account sharing or scraping), and we keep these log entries for thirteen (13) months. We keep your IP address in agreement acceptance records for as long as that agreement record is kept.

Marketplace Seller Information

If you list e-books for sale as a publisher or rights holder through our marketplace, we collect your PAN with bank verification, other KYC details required for verification, your bank account or UPI payout details, tax records, grievance contact details, and payout and sales records. For publishers, we also collect the publishing house's registration number, GSTIN, registered office, and the authorised signatory's name, designation, email, and phone to verify the business before approval, and we keep payment records of the fees for tax. We use this information to verify your identity and rights, to pay you, to meet tax and legal obligations, and, for your name and imprint only, to show your public page. We also keep a record of your acceptance of our agreements: your name, email, the time, the version accepted, and your IP address and browser details.

2. How We Use Your Information

To create and secure your account, and to sign you in.
To process orders, subscriptions, bookings, registrations, purchases, payments, and refunds.
To deliver publications, products, digital access, event updates, and other services, and to send you messages about your orders and account.
To provide the reader, remember your place, and enforce licence and device limits.
To understand how the app and website are used, to fix problems, and to detect crashes and slow screens, through basic usage analytics that is on by default and that you can turn off.
To personalise suggestions, only if you have agreed to personalisation.
To show popular Parbāṇī content using aggregate counts.
To publish selected contributor names, bios, credits, artwork details, article information, or event-related acknowledgements where applicable.
To prevent fraud, misuse, unauthorised access, or illegal activity.
To comply with applicable legal, tax, accounting, regulatory, and contractual obligations.
To verify sellers, pay royalties, deduct and report tax, and display seller and publisher public pages.

3. Consent and Your Choices

Basic usage analytics, crash reporting and page speed measurement are on by default. We do not show a consent screen or banner before they start. They collect only what Section 1 describes, and you can turn them off at any time with the analytics switch under privacy choices in your profile, in the app and on the website. Turning analytics off stops collection straight away. In the app it also deletes crash reports not yet sent, and you can ask us to delete the events already recorded for your account. If you turned analytics off on an earlier version of this policy, it stays off.

Personalisation is off until you switch it on under privacy choices, and nothing in the app uses it yet. We do not send marketing messages and we do not collect a marketing consent. Notifications that are part of the service, such as order updates and festival reminders you have allowed, are separate from analytics and are not affected by these choices.

Processing that is necessary to run your account, fulfil your orders, secure the service and meet legal duties (for example, orders, invoices and security logs) does not depend on your analytics choice.

Each change to your analytics or personalisation choice is recorded in a consent log together with the policy version, so that we can show what you chose and when. The first-time default is recorded in the same log.

We ask for your clear, affirmative consent when you create an account, whether as a reader or as a seller, and you can only create an account after agreeing to this Privacy Policy and the Terms & Conditions.

Where required, we may seek specific consent for publication credits, third-party sharing, photographs, testimonials, or other specific uses.

4. Cookies and Analytics

On the website we use a small number of essential cookies, for example to keep you signed in, remember your language, and remember your analytics choice. These are needed for the site to work.

We use Vercel Web Analytics and Vercel Speed Insights to measure page views and page speed. They load by default. If you turn analytics off under privacy choices in your profile, they stop loading on that browser. The choice is stored in a first-party cookie named consent for twelve (12) months.

In the native app, behaviour events are sent to our own servers (not to an advertising or analytics company) unless you have turned analytics off. We do not use advertising identifiers and we do not track you across other companies' apps and websites.

You may also disable cookies through your browser settings. Some parts of the website may not function properly if cookies are disabled.

5. Sharing of Information and Third Parties

We do not sell your personal information. Sellers receive only aggregate, de-identified sales and reading data about their titles, never information that identifies a buyer. We share information with the following service providers, only as needed for the purpose shown:

Google Firebase (Crashlytics, Performance Monitoring and push notification delivery): crash and performance data, and your push token.
Google Sign-In: if you choose to sign in with Google, Google tells us your name, email address and account identifier.
Vercel: hosting of the website and API, and, unless you turn analytics off, web analytics and page speed measurement.
Supabase: hosting of our database, which holds your account and the data described in this policy.
PhonePe: payment processing. We receive the payment status and reference, not your card or UPI credentials.
Resend: sending of transactional email such as sign-in, order and ticket messages.
Shipping, logistics, courier, or delivery partners, for physical orders.
Payout and tax service providers, for paying sellers and meeting tax obligations.
Event partners, only where required for participation or coordination.
Professional advisors, auditors, legal consultants, or regulatory authorities where required.
Government, law enforcement, or statutory authorities when legally obligated.
All such sharing is limited to what is reasonably necessary for the relevant purpose.

6. Data Storage, Security and International Transfers

We take reasonable technical, organisational, and administrative measures to protect your information from unauthorised access, misuse, loss, alteration, or disclosure. Data is encrypted in transit, and sensitive data such as seller KYC details and protected book text is encrypted at rest.

Some of our service providers named in Section 5 operate servers outside India, so your information may be stored or processed outside India. Where this happens, we transfer information only as permitted by the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 and only to providers that are bound to protect it.

However, no method of internet transmission, digital storage, or online communication is completely secure.

7. Data Retention

We keep personal information only for as long as needed for the purposes in this policy. In particular:

Raw analytics events: 90 days. After that they are deleted. Daily totals that do not identify you may be kept longer.
Consent log and account deletion log: 3 years.
Chapter access log (including IP address): 13 months.
Orders, invoices, payments, refunds and tickets: for the period required by tax and accounting law. When you delete your account, we keep these records but remove your name, email, phone number and address from them.
Seller KYC records and tax records: for the period required by the applicable tax and company laws, and for as long as needed to resolve any dispute or audit, after which they are deleted or anonymised.
Reading progress, bookmarks, highlights, ratings, saves and similar account data: until you delete your account.
Push tokens: until you sign out, the token is no longer valid, or you delete your account.
Aggregate Parbāṇī view and listening counts: kept as counts only, as they do not identify anyone.

8. Your Rights

Under the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 you have the right to:

Access the personal data we hold about you and a summary of how it is used. In the app and on the website, choose download my data in your profile to receive a copy.
Correct inaccurate or incomplete information. You can edit your name in your profile, or write to us.
Erase your personal data. In the app and on the website, choose delete my account in your profile. Records we must keep by law are kept with your personal details removed, as described in Section 7.
Withdraw consent at any time, under privacy choices in your profile.
Have your grievance heard and resolved, as set out in Section 12.
Nominate another person to exercise your rights if you die or become unable to do so, by writing to us with the nominee's details.
You can also exercise any of these rights by writing to hello@paribhaasha.com.

9. Third-Party Links

Our website and app may contain links to third-party websites, payment gateways, social media platforms, partner websites, ticketing platforms, video platforms, or external resources, including the Paricharchā website.

We are not responsible for the privacy practices, terms, content, policies, or security of third-party websites.

10. Children

ParibhaAsha is not directed at children. A child, under the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023, is anyone under eighteen (18) years of age. We do not ask for your age and we do not verify it.

If we learn that personal information of a child has been collected without the verifiable consent of a parent or lawful guardian, we will delete it. A parent or guardian who believes this has happened can write to hello@paribhaasha.com.

Parents, guardians, and institutions are encouraged to supervise children's use of our website and app.

11. Updates to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. The updated version will be posted on this page with a revised effective date and version number. If a change affects what we collect, we will tell you in the app or on the website.

Continued use of the website after other updates constitutes acceptance of the revised policy.

12. Grievance Officer

In accordance with the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 and the Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) Rules, 2020, privacy concerns that remain unresolved through standard support may be escalated to ParibhaAsha's Grievance Officer.

Name and designation: To be named

Organisation: ParibhaAsha HeritEdge Lab Private Limited

Email: hello@paribhaasha.com

ParibhaAsha shall ordinarily acknowledge an escalation within forty-eight (48) hours and endeavour to resolve it within thirty (30) days.

13. Governing Law and Jurisdiction

This Privacy Policy shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of India.

Subject to applicable law, disputes arising out of or in connection with this Privacy Policy shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts at Bhubaneswar, Odisha.

14. Contact Us

For privacy-related queries, requests, or concerns, contact ParibhaAsha HeritEdge Lab Private Limited.

Email: hello@paribhaasha.com

Phone: (+91) 933-754-2077

Website: www.paribhaasha.com

Registered Office: Plot No. 310, Bada Bazar, Main Road, Jagatsinghpur, Odisha - 754103