Privacy Policy

1. Who we are

MyNeighbourhood (myneighbourhood.co.in) is a neighbourhood network for colonies, societies and localities in India. It is created and maintained by Elamugil Software Solutions (“we”, “us”). For the purposes of India's Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 (“DPDP Act”), we are the Data Fiduciary for the personal data you share on MyNeighbourhood.

This policy explains what personal data we collect, why, who can see it, and the choices you have. By creating an account you give your consent to us processing your data as described here. You can withdraw that consent at any time (see Your rights).

2. What we collect

Information you give us

Information collected automatically

• Technical logs. Like almost every website, our hosting and database providers record basic technical information such as your IP address, browser type and the time of each request. These logs help keep the service secure and working.
• Login session. When you're signed in, a secure session token is kept in your browser (see Storage on your device).

We do not collect sensitive information such as financial details, Aadhaar or other government ID numbers. Please don't post such details, or anyone else's, on MyNeighbourhood.

3. How we use it

• To create and run your account and sign you in.
• To place you in the right neighbourhood, show you nearby neighbours, posts, places and events, and show distances and maps.
• To deliver your posts, comments and messages to the right people.
• To send account emails, such as confirming your email address or resetting your password.
• To keep the community safe: reviewing reports, removing content that breaks our Terms, and preventing spam, fraud and abuse.
• To fix problems and improve the service.
• To meet legal obligations, for example responding to a lawful request from a government authority or court.

We do not sell your personal data, use it for advertising, or build advertising profiles about you.

4. Who can see what

The site also shows, for each PIN code, which neighbourhood names already exist and how many members each has. This list contains only area names and counts, never names or addresses.

Our team can access stored data when it is needed to run the service, investigate a report, keep people safe, or comply with the law. Remember that anything you share with neighbours can be seen, copied or screenshotted by them, so please share thoughtfully.

5. Services we use

We use trusted service providers (“Data Processors”) to run MyNeighbourhood. They process data only to provide their service to us:

When you tap Directions or Share, you leave MyNeighbourhood for Google Maps or WhatsApp, and their own privacy policies apply.

Some of these providers may store or process data outside India. Where we can choose, we keep our database in India. We will share personal data with others only when required by law, to protect someone's safety, or with your consent.

5a. Photos

• Before a photo is uploaded, the site shrinks it and removes its hidden data (EXIF), including any GPS location and camera details.
• Photos are stored with our database provider under random, hard-to-guess web addresses so they can load quickly. Anyone who is given a photo's exact address could open it, so please don't post private documents or anything you wouldn't want shared.
• When you remove a photo or delete a post, the photo files are deleted too.
• Please don't post photos of other people, especially children, without their permission.

6. Location

• Your home location comes from the address and map pin you choose. You can move the pin at any time in My profile.
• Your device's GPS location is used only when you press “Use my location” or “I'm here now”, and only to place that pin. Your browser asks for permission first.
• We do not track your location in the background.
• Neighbours see your location rounded to about 100 metres, never your exact pin.

7. Storage on your device

We don't use advertising cookies or tracking cookies. The site keeps a small amount of information in your browser's storage so it works properly:

• your sign-in session, so you stay logged in;
• your language (English / हिंदी) and light / dark mode choice;
• in demo mode only, the sample data you play with.

You can clear this at any time by logging out or clearing your browser's site data.

8. How long we keep data

• We keep your account and content while your account is active.
• If you delete a post, listing, place or other item, it is removed from the site right away.
• If you ask us to delete your account, we delete your profile, private location and content within 30 days, unless the law requires us to keep something longer (for example, information about a reported crime).
• Copies in our backups are overwritten automatically over time.
• Technical logs are kept only as long as our providers need them for security and operations.

9. How we protect it

• All traffic to the site is encrypted (HTTPS).
• The database enforces access rules on every request, so members can only read their own neighbourhood's data, and only you can read your exact home pin.
• Neighbours see an approximate location, never your exact home pin.
• We don't store passwords ourselves; sign-in is handled by our authentication provider.

No system is perfectly secure. If a personal data breach happens that affects you, we will inform you and the authorities as required by law.

10. Your rights

Under the DPDP Act and other applicable law, you can:

• Access a summary of the personal data we hold about you and how we use it.
• Correct or update your data. Most of it you can edit yourself in My profile.
• Delete your data, or your whole account.
• Withdraw consent at any time. Withdrawing doesn't affect what was done before, but we may no longer be able to provide the service to you.
• Nominate someone to exercise these rights for you if you die or become unable to do so.
• Raise a grievance with us (see below). If you are not satisfied with our response, you may complain to the Data Protection Board of India.

To use any of these rights, email us at mailforsaravana@gmail.com from the email address linked to your account, so we can confirm it's you.

11. Children

MyNeighbourhood is for people aged 18 and over. We don't knowingly collect personal data from anyone under 18. If you believe a child has created an account, please contact us and we will delete it.

12. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy as the service changes or the law requires. We will change the “Last updated” date above, and for important changes we will tell you on the site or by email before they take effect.

13. Contact & grievances

For questions, privacy requests or complaints, contact our Grievance Officer:

We acknowledge complaints within 24 hours and aim to resolve them within 15 days, in line with the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021.

In an emergency, always call 112 first. We can't respond to emergencies by email.