Privacy Policy — Literating India Foundation

Civic Commitment: Literating India Foundation is a dedicated grassroots non-profit organization. We do not sell, rent, monetize, or broker personal information. We do not engage in behavioral profiling or commercial advertising. All educational programs and community workshops are 100% free of charge.

1. Data Fiduciary Identity

This Privacy Policy applies to the website, digital portals, event check-in systems, and offline workshop forms operated by Literating India Foundation (“Foundation”, “we”, “us”, or “our”), acting as the Data Fiduciary under the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023:

Registered Entity: Literating India Foundation
Legal Status: Non-Profit Civic Initiative (Unregistered Community Organization)
Head Office: House no 114, Diamond Estate, Near Sultanwind Link Road, Amritsar, Punjab 143001, India
Official Contact: literatingindia@gmail.com | +91 89684-13993

2. Personal Data We Collect

In compliance with the principle of Data Minimization, we only collect personal data strictly necessary to fulfill the specific civic or educational purpose you engage us for:

Inquiries & Helpdesk Requests: Name, email address, phone/WhatsApp number, inquiry classification, and the narrative message you provide.
Volunteer Applications: Full name, email address, phone number, city/tehsil/district, preferred volunteer capacity, availability, and brief educational or language background.
Event & Workshop Registrations: Attendee name, mobile/WhatsApp number (used for sending digital QR entry tickets), optional email address, locality/school affiliation, and attendee count.
Technical Diagnostics & Security Logs: Standard web server connection metadata (IP address, browser user-agent, timestamps, error codes) collected automatically to prevent cyber-attacks, distributed denial-of-service (DDoS), and unauthorized system access.

Data We DO NOT Collect: We never collect, store, or process citizen Aadhaar OTPs, bank passwords, PINs, debit/credit card numbers, biometric credentials, or credit history. In our community camps, volunteers assist citizens by looking at screens alongside them; volunteers are strictly prohibited from logging citizen passwords or credentials.

3. Lawful Grounds & Purpose of Processing

Under Section 4 and Section 6 of the DPDP Act 2023, we process personal data solely on the basis of your freely given, specific, informed, unconditional, and unambiguous consent, or for legitimate civic uses:

Delivering requested digital literacy training and cyber fraud awareness materials.
Generating and verifying QR event passes and certifying workshop attendance.
Matching volunteers with local neighborhood teaching schedules.
Maintaining operational security and responding to authorized requests under Indian law.

4. Special Provisions Concerning Minors (Children under 18)

As an organization conducting cyber hygiene and digital safety workshops in schools and colleges, we place the highest priority on the safety of children. In strict accordance with Section 9 of the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023:

Zero Behavioral Tracking: We strictly prohibit any tracking, behavioral monitoring, or profiling of children.
No Targeted Advertising: No advertisements or sponsored promotions are directed at children.
Verifiable Parental / Guardian Consent: For any workshop registration, attendance system, or form submitted by or on behalf of a minor under 18 years of age, verifiable consent of a parent or lawful guardian is required before processing.
School Collaborations: Where events are organized jointly with recognized schools (such as our campus drives), student enrollment is coordinated through the educational institution acting in loco parentis under institutional administrative agreement.

5. Data Retention & Erasure

Personal data is retained only for the duration necessary to satisfy the stated operational purpose, or as required by Indian legal compliance:

General Inquiries: Retained for up to 12 months following resolution, after which records are purged.
Event Attendance Records: Maintained for the program duration for attendance verification and certificate validation, or erased immediately upon the participant’s verified request.
Volunteer Records: Retained for the active duration of the volunteer’s engagement plus 3 years for issuing civic service verification letters.
Security Server Logs: Automated rolling deletion every 90 days.

6. Third-Party Service Providers (Data Processors)

We engage carefully audited technical service providers (“Data Processors”) who operate under strict confidentiality and data protection obligations:

Supabase: Cloud database infrastructure with AES-256 encryption at rest and TLS in transit.
Vercel: Secure global web hosting and CDN infrastructure.
Resend / Google Workspace: Transactional email dispatch for event pass delivery and contact routing.

We do not sell, license, or exchange your personal information with any commercial advertiser or data broker. Data will only be disclosed to government authorities when strictly compelled by valid judicial order or summons under Indian law.

7. Your Rights as a Data Principal

Under Chapter III of the DPDP Act 2023 and Rule 5 of the IT (SPDI) Rules 2011, you have comprehensive rights over your personal data:

Right to Access: Request a summary of the personal data we hold about you and the processing activities undertaken.
Right to Correction & Completion: Request the correction of inaccurate, misleading, or outdated personal information.
Right to Erasure (“Right to be Forgotten”): Request the permanent deletion of your personal data when it is no longer required for the purpose for which it was collected.
Right to Withdraw Consent: You may withdraw your consent to data processing at any time with prospective effect by contacting our Grievance Officer.
Right of Grievance Redressal: The right to readily available grievance redressal through our designated Grievance Officer.
Right to Nominate: The right to nominate another individual who shall, in the event of your death or incapacity, exercise your rights as a Data Principal.

8. Security Safeguards

We implement industry-standard technical and organizational safeguards to protect your personal data against unauthorized access, loss, alteration, or disclosure. All data transmissions are encrypted using Transport Layer Security (TLS 1.3). Database access is restricted to authorized administrative personnel on a strict need-to-know basis protected by Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA).

9. Grievance Redressal Officer

In compliance with Rule 5(9) of the Information Technology (Reasonable Security Practices and Procedures and Sensitive Personal Data or Information) Rules, 2011 and Section 12 of the DPDP Act, 2023, our designated Grievance Officer is:

Grievance & Data Protection Officer

Name: Gurasis Singh

Designation: Designated Grievance Officer

Organization: Literating India Foundation (Non-Profit Civic Initiative)

Address: House no 114, Diamond Estate, Near Sultanwind Link Road, Amritsar, Punjab 143001, India

Email: grievance@literatingindia.divjotsingh.com / literatingindia@gmail.com

Phone: +91 89684-13993

Response Timelines: We acknowledge all grievances within 24 to 48 business hours and resolve inquiries within thirty (30) days from the date of receipt.

10. Right to Approach the Data Protection Board of India

If a grievance raised with our Grievance Officer remains unresolved or if you are dissatisfied with our resolution, you have the statutory right under the DPDP Act 2023 to file a complaint before the Data Protection Board of India.

11. Updates to this Policy

We may periodically revise this Privacy Policy to reflect updates in our civic programs or evolving Indian regulations. When updates occur, the revision date at the top of this document will be revised. Material changes will be accompanied by a prominent notice on our website.