Privacy Policy

1. Who we are

Dhishuum is an independent online platform with a team working from different parts of the world. For any privacy question or request, contact rafinsight@gmail.com.

Grievance Officer: Grievance Officer, Dhishuum, rafinsight@gmail.com. Complaints are acknowledged within 24 hours and resolved within 15 days.

2. What we collect

• Account details: your email address or phone number, username, display name, and a password (stored in hashed form by our authentication provider) or the sign-in method you chose. Optionally: profile photo, country, region and city.
• What you create: polls, options, descriptions, tags, comments, likes, shares, and any photos, documents, videos or links you upload or attach.
• Your votes: which option you chose on a poll. This is stored against your account to enforce one vote per poll, but it is never shown to other users.
• Optional vote details: if you choose “make your vote count”, the age bracket, gender, country and place you select. You can vote anonymously instead; nothing extra is stored then.
• If you support us: the amount, and any name, email, contact number or message you choose to give. Payment details (card, UPI, bank) are collected by Razorpay, not by us.
• Messages to us: what you write in the Help form or an email, and the email address you give.
• Technical and usage data: IP address, approximate location derived from it, browser and device type, pages requested and timestamps, and a record of outbound link clicks (which poll and comment, and your account if you are logged in) so we can keep the service secure and understand how it is used.
• Cookies and similar technologies: see our Cookie Policy.

3. How we use it

• To run the service: create your account, record votes, show polls and results, and enforce one vote per poll.
• To produce combined statistics, for example “40% of voters aged 25–34 chose X” or the map of which countries votes came from. These are shown only in aggregated form.
• To keep the platform safe: prevent spam, fraud and abuse, enforce our rules and respond to reports.
• To respond to your messages and requests.
• To improve and secure the service, and to show advertising that supports it.
• To meet legal obligations.

We rely on your consent (for example, when you choose to share optional details), our legitimate interest in running and protecting the service, and legal obligations.

4. Confidentiality and anonymised data

• We never publish your email address or phone number.
• Other users cannot see how you voted.
• Demographic details you choose to add to a vote are used only in aggregated, anonymised form and are not displayed next to your name.
• We may share or license aggregated, anonymised statistics (for example opinion trends by country or age group) that cannot reasonably be used to identify you. We do not sell your personal information.

5. Who we share information with

We use trusted service providers who process information on our behalf, only as needed to run Dhishuum:

• Supabase — database, authentication and file storage.
• Vercel — website hosting and delivery.
• Razorpay — processing contributions from supporters.
• Google AdSense (when enabled) — advertising; Google and its partners may use cookies to show and measure ads. See the Cookie Policy.
• Email delivery provider — to deliver messages you send us through the Help form.
• Sign-in providers (for example Google) — if you choose to sign in with them.

Content you post publicly (polls, comments, uploads, tags and links) is visible to anyone who visits the site. We may also disclose information when required by law, court order or a competent authority, or to protect the rights, safety and security of users, the public or the service.

6. International processing

Dhishuum is available worldwide and our providers may process data on servers outside India or your own country. We choose providers that apply appropriate security safeguards.

7. How long we keep it

We keep account information and content for as long as your account exists. If you ask us to delete your account, we remove your profile and the polls, votes, likes and comments tied to it, except where we must keep limited records for legal, safety or fraud-prevention reasons. Backups and server logs are deleted on a regular cycle.

8. Your rights and choices

Depending on where you live (including under India’s Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023, and laws such as the GDPR), you can:

• ask what personal data we hold about you and get a copy;
• ask us to correct or complete it;
• ask us to delete it, or close your account;
• withdraw consent you gave (for example for optional vote details or personalised ads);
• object to or limit certain processing, and complain to your local data-protection authority.

To use any of these rights, write to rafinsight@gmail.com or use the Help form and choose “Privacy request”. We aim to respond within 30 days.

9. Children

Dhishuum is a general-audience service. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children without the involvement of a parent or guardian. If you believe a child has given us personal data without that consent, contact us and we will delete it.

10. Security

We protect information with encrypted connections (HTTPS), access controls on the database, and restrictions on who can read or change each type of data. No system is perfectly secure, so we cannot guarantee absolute security; please use a strong, unique password.

11. Links to other sites

Polls, comments and related-news items may link to other websites. We do not control their privacy practices. Outbound link clicks may be recorded and may pass through an affiliate or tracking redirect.

12. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy; the date at the top shows the latest version. We will highlight significant changes on the site.