Privacy Policy

1. Who We Are

CivicGuard is a civic reporting platform operated by Sahil Ramteke, Mumbai, India. Contact: privacy@civicguard.in

2. What Data We Collect

• Phone number (for authentication via OTP)
• GPS location (attached to each report)
• Photos you upload as evidence
• Device and browser information
• Usage analytics (only if you consent)

3. Why We Collect It

• Report submission and moderation
• Ward routing to appropriate municipal body
• Civic Credits tracking
• Platform improvement (analytics, only with consent)

4. How Long We Keep It

Reports are kept indefinitely as a public civic record. Account data is retained until you request deletion.

5. Who We Share It With

We share anonymised ward-level data with relevant municipal bodies (BMC, TMC, NMMC) for action. We never sell your personal data to third parties.

5a. Payment Data (Razorpay)

Paid subscriptions are processed by Razorpay Software Pvt. Ltd. We do not store card numbers, UPI VPAs, or bank account details on our servers. Razorpay collects and processes payment information under its own Privacy Policy. We store only the Razorpay subscription ID, subscription status, and billing period dates required to manage your plan. Razorpay is PCI-DSS Level 1 certified and RBI-authorised.

6. Your Rights (DPDP Act 2023)

Under India's Digital Personal Data Protection Act 2023, you have the right to: access your data, correct inaccuracies, request erasure, and withdraw consent. Contact privacy@civicguard.in to exercise these rights.

7. EXIF Stripping

All photos are stripped of EXIF metadata (GPS coordinates, device info) on your device before upload. We never store photo metadata.

8. Anonymous Submissions

Anonymous reports are not linked to any user identity. No credits are earned for anonymous submissions.

9. Data Breach Notification

In the event of a personal data breach, we will notify the Data Protection Board of India within 72 hours of becoming aware of the breach, as required under the Digital Personal Data Protection Act 2023. Affected users will be notified by email or SMS without undue delay where the breach is likely to result in high risk to their rights.

10. Grievance Officer

In accordance with the Information Technology Act 2000 and the DPDP Act 2023, you may contact our designated Grievance Officer for any privacy-related complaints or requests:

Sahil Ramteke
Grievance Officer, CivicGuard
privacy@civicguard.in
Response time: 30 days from receipt of complaint.