Privacy Policy & Data Protection (DPDP Act 2023)

1. Introduction & Statutory Applicability

Mahiti Loka (“Platform”, “we”, “us”), operated by Tech SathyA (Bengaluru, Karnataka, India), is committed to safeguarding the digital privacy of its users, contributors, and directory subjects. This Privacy Policy is structured in strict conformity with the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 (DPDP Act), the Information Technology Act, 2000, and the Information Technology (Reasonable Security Practices and Procedures and Sensitive Personal Data or Information) Rules, 2011.

2. Personal Data We Collect

We process personal data only to the minimum extent necessary for the specified purposes of directory publication, user authentication, and trust verification:

• Account & Contributor Information: Full Name, Email Address, City/Town, Contributor Profile Bio, and Social Links.
• Entity Contribution Records: Contact numbers, business addresses, historical information, and digital media contributed to public listings.
• Technical & Telemetry Data: IP address, browser user-agent, and local audit timestamps collected strictly for rate limiting, spam prevention, and security logging.

3. Purpose Limitation & Lawful Grounds

Personal data is processed solely under the lawful grounds of explicit user consent (at registration) and legitimate uses under Section 7 of the DPDP Act 2023, for:

• Operating and maintaining the public community directory for Places, People, Organisations, Businesses, and Events.
• Facilitating the 72-hour autonomous creator editing and deletion workflow.
• Preventing duplicate submissions, harassment, and abuse through the Mahiti Security Shield.
• Fulfilling legal obligations under Indian statutory regulations.

4. Rights of Data Principals (Under DPDP Act 2023)

Every Indian Data Principal retains enforceable statutory rights under Chapter III of the DPDP Act:

• Right to Access: You may request a summary of personal data processed by the Platform.
• Right to Correction & Updating: You may correct inaccurate or incomplete data at any time via your My Mahiti Workspace.
• Right to Erasure (72-Hour Creator Window): For 72 hours from creation, contributors have an autonomous one-click right to permanently erase their submissions. After 72 hours, erasure requests may be lodged via our Editorial Review queue to balance personal privacy with public archival continuity.
• Right to Grievance Redressal: Rapid redressal through our designated Grievance Officer within statutory timelines.
• Right to Nominate: The right to nominate an individual to exercise rights in the event of death or incapacity.

5. Third-Party Advertising & Cookie Disclosures

Mahiti Loka operates a decoupled two-channel advertising architecture:

• Channel A (Direct Community Sponsors): First-party sponsored cards hosted locally on Mahiti Loka servers. No third-party ad networks, behavioural tracking pixels, or cross-site tracking cookies are deployed.
• Channel B (Google AdSense - Standby): Prepared for future activation. When dormant, no external scripts or advertising cookies are loaded. When activated, prior statutory consent notices and compliance with DPDP consent mechanisms will be strictly enforced.

6. Designated Grievance Officer