Privacy Policy

We collect the following information as and when you access and use the Services as set out below:

Information you provide when you sign up for our Services: Registration information you provide when you apply for our help, including your first name and surname, country of residence, gender, age, email address;

Information you provide when you use our Services: Location information (either provided by a mobile device through which you utilise our Services or associated with your IP address) when you use our Services, usage, viewing and technical data, including your device identifier or IP address, when you use our Services on third-party sites or platforms or open emails we send, and information you provide in public forums while using our Services;

Information you provide when you contact us for support: Information sent either one-to-one or within a limited group using our message, chat, post or similar functionality, where we are permitted by law to collect this information.

How and why we collect your information

We collect information through technology, such as cookies and web beacons when you use our Services. The information we learn from customers helps us personalise and continually improve your experience of the Services as set out below:

• Respond to your request for information and provide you with more effective and efficient customer service
• Provide you with service notifications via email and within the Services based on your notification selections
• Contact you by email, postal mail, push notifications or phone, regarding services, surveys, research studies, promotions, special events and other subjects that we think may be of interest to you
• Help us better understand your interests and needs, and improve the Services
• Synthesise and derive insights from your use of different products and services provided by us
• Engage in analysis, research, and reports regarding use of our Services
• Provide, manage, and improve the Services
• Protect our Services and our users
• We acquire information from other trusted sources to update or supplement either the information you have provided to us, or that which is collected automatically
• We also use this information to improve our platform, prevent or detect fraud or abuses of our Services, for market research purposes and to enable third parties to carry out technical, logistical or other functions on our behalf
• In addition to the above, we process your Personal Information to prevent, detect and investigate potential prohibited or illegal activities, including fraud, and to enforce our terms of use, or for any other offer or marketing campaign as the case may be

Sharing with third-party

• We share non-personally identifiable information with Google Analytics to improve our website’s load time, conversion rate and to check browser type, language preference, referring site and time of visit
• When you subscribe for our marketing activities, we share personal identifiable information (Name, email, account name, IP address) with Google Analytics so that we can learn how you use the Services, provide you support, and communicate with you. We use Hepta as our helpdesk and customer relationship and messaging system
• System Communication & Transactional Emails – We use Searce Inc. as our transactional email provider. The emails we send from the Services use Google Analytics infrastructure, and we share your name and email address with them to send out the emails

Information that cannot be uploaded

While using the Services, you shall not host, display, upload, modify, publish, transmit, update or share any information with the Services that:

• Belongs to another person and to which you do not have any right to
• Is grossly harmful, harassing, blasphemous, defamatory, obscene, pornographic, paedophilic, libellous, invasive of another's privacy, hateful, or racially or ethnically objectionable, disparaging, relating to or encouraging money laundering or gambling, or otherwise unlawful in any manner whatsoever
• Harms minors in any way
• Infringes any patent, trademark, copyright or other proprietary rights
• Violates any law for the time being in force
• Deceives or misleads the addressee about the origin of such messages or communicates any information which is grossly offensive or menacing in nature
• Impersonates another person
• Contains software viruses or any other computer code, files or programs designed to interrupt, destroy or limit the functionality of any computer resource
• Threatens the unity, integrity, defence, security or sovereignty of India, friendly relations with foreign states, or public order, or causes incitement to the commission of any cognisable offence, or prevents investigation of any offence or is insulting to any other nation

Your controls and choices

You can control your choices regarding our collection, use and sharing of your information. In accordance with local law, your controls and choices may include:

• You may correct, update, and delete any information provided to the Meer Foundation
• You may change your choices for subscriptions, newsletters, emails, and alerts
• You may request access to the Personal Information we hold about you and that we shall amend or delete it, and we shall request third parties with whom we have shared the information to do the same. Once you place a request to delete the personal information, we shall take all reasonable steps taking into account available technology and the means available to us, including technical measures, to erase the personal information

In case you have any questions regarding how we process your Personal Information, want to exercise any of your rights, or want to know more about the rights, you may contact us as indicated below.
E-mail address:info@meerfoundation.org
Address: Backstage, Plot No 612, 15th Road, Junction of Ramkrishna Mission Road, Santacruz (W), Mumbai – 400054, Maharashtra.

If you do not want us to process your Personal Information for direct marketing, you can give written notice thereof to us. In each newsletter, you will also be informed that you can opt out of receiving further newsletters.

You are also entitled to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority if you consider that your Personal Information has been processed in contradiction with applicable data protection legislation.

You may exercise your controls and choices, or request access to your Personal Information, by contacting info@meerfoundation.org, or following instructions provided in communications sent to you. Please be aware that, if you do not allow us to collect Personal Information from you, we may not be able to deliver certain services to you, and some of our services may not be able to take into account your interests and preferences. If you have questions regarding the specific personal information about you that we process or retain, please contact our grievance office mentioned herein.

How long is the data kept?

We will keep Personal Information regarding you only as long as it is necessary, with regards to the purpose of the processing. This means that Personal Information collected and processed will be stored for as long as required to render the Services deleted, unless you have given us your voluntary consent to continue to process such data.

Data security and integrity

The security, integrity, and confidentiality of your Personal Information are extremely important to us. We have implemented technical, administrative, and physical security measures that are designed to protect guest information from unauthorised access, disclosure, use, and modification. From time to time, we review our security procedures to consider appropriate new technology and methods. Please be aware though, that despite our best efforts, no security measures are perfect or impenetrable. We limit access to personal information about you to employees who we believe reasonably need to come into contact with that information to provide services to you or in order to do their jobs.

However, we may be required to share the aforesaid Personal Information with government authorities and agencies for the purposes of verification of identity or for prevention, detection, investigation including cyber incidents, prosecution, and punishment of offences. By providing us with Personal Information, you consent to us disclosing your information, if so required under the applicable law.

Data transfers, storage, and processing globally

We operate globally and may transfer your Personal Information and Sensitive Personal Information to third parties in locations around the world for the purposes described in this privacy policy. Wherever your personal information is transferred, stored, or processed by us, we will take reasonable steps to safeguard the privacy of your personal information. By accepting this Privacy Policy, you hereby explicitly provide your consent, and grant us the right to transfer your Personal Information and Sensitive Personal Information to third parties.

Changes to this privacy policy

From time to time, we may change this privacy policy to accommodate new technologies, industry practices, regulatory requirements, or for other purposes. We shall provide notice to you through the contact details provided to us by you. Please note that in the event you fail to accept our revised Privacy Policy within 7 days of us intimating the revisions to the privacy policy, your access to the Services shall be suspended until you accept the revisions of the privacy policy.

Contact in case of grievances

HEPTA is the data controller for the processing of your Personal Information handled by us. If you have any concerns about privacy, or grievances regarding the Services, please contact us with a thorough description, and we will try to resolve the issue for you.

Contact Information
HEPTA 001, Nadia Apartments, 10th Road, Santacruz East, Mumbai - 400055.
faraz@hepta.me

Comments and questions

If you have a comment or question about this privacy policy, please contact us at info@meerfoundation.org. Our Services may contain links to other sites not owned or controlled by us, and we are not responsible for the privacy practices of those sites. We encourage you to be aware when you leave our Services, and to read the privacy policies of other sites that may collect your personal information.

Definitions

Anonymous Information. Anonymous information means information that does not directly or indirectly identify, and cannot reasonably be used to identify, and individual guest.

IP address. An IP address is associated with the access point through which you enter the Internet, and is typically controlled by your Internet Service Provider (ISP), your company, or your university. We may use IP addresses to collect information regarding the frequency with which our guests visit various parts of our products hosting our Services, and we may combine IP addresses with personal information.

Notice. Notice may be by email to you at the last email address you provided us, by posting notice of such changes in our Services, or by other means, consistent with applicable law.

Personal information. Personal information means and includes information that identifies (whether directly or indirectly), and Sensitive Personal Information of a person by reference to an identifier to one or more factors specific to the physical, physiological, genetic, mental, economic, cultural, or social identity of such person. When anonymous information is directly or indirectly associated with personal information, this anonymous information is also treated as personal information.

Public Forums. Our Services may offer message boards, conversation pages, blogs, chat rooms, social community environments, profile pages, and other forums that do not have a restricted audience. If you provide personal information when you use any of these features, that personal information may be publicly posted and otherwise disclosed without limitation to its use by us or by a third party.

Sensitive Personal Information. Sensitive Personal Information shall have the meaning ascribed to it under the applicable law, and is presently defined to mean such personal information which consists of information relating to

• Passwords
• Financial information such as bank accounts or credit card or debit card or other payment instrument details
• Physical, physiological, and mental health conditions
• Sexual orientation
• Medical records and history
• Biometric information
• Any detail relating to the above clauses as provided to body corporate for providing service
• Any of the information received under the above clauses by body corporate for processing, stored or processed under lawful contact or otherwise; provided that any information that is freely available or accessible in public domain or furnished under the Right to Information Act, 2000, or any other law for the time being in force shall not be regarded as sensitive personal information..

If you are permitting us to collect your Personal Information and agree to be bound by this Privacy Policy and the Terms of Use, then please click on the checkbox provided below, and then on the “Continue” button to confirm your acceptance.