GhumSaathiPrivacy Policy
GhumSaathi helps you find verified people to travel with. This policy explains what information we collect, why, who can see it, and the choices you have. We wrote it in plain language. If anything is unclear, write to privacy@ghumsaathi.in.
- We collect what the app needs to work: your phone number, your profile, and the trips, passes and chats you create.
- Your selfie check runs on your phone. We never receive your selfie images or video.
- We don't sell your data, we don't show ads, and we don't use advertising or analytics trackers.
- You can delete your account at any time from the app.
1. Who we are
GhumSaathi (“we”, “us”) is an app and service based in India. For India's Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023, we are the Data Fiduciary for the personal data described here. Contact details are in section 12.
2. Information we collect
You give us
| What | Why |
|---|---|
| Mobile number | To sign you in with a one-time code, and to keep one account per person. It is never shown to other users. |
| First name, date of birth, gender, home city | To build your profile. Other users see your age, not your birthday. We use your date of birth to make sure you are 18 or older, and gender for trips that are women-only or men-only. |
| Photos | Your profile photos, shown to other signed-in users. |
| Bio, travel style, interests, languages, what you're looking for (travel buddies, open to dating, either), profile prompts | So hosts and travellers can decide if you'd travel well together. |
| Trips and “I'm free” posts: destination, stops, dates, starting city, meeting point, departure time, travel mode, budget, plan, who can join | To show your trip in Explore and let people ask to join. |
| Boarding Passes: the trip, a plan (coffee, sunset…), a note, and whether you'll join from the start or at the destination | So the host can accept or decline. |
| Group chat messages and meetup suggestions | To let each trip's members talk and plan. |
| Vouches, reports and blocks | To build trust and keep people safe. |
Created when you use GhumSaathi
| What | Why |
|---|---|
| Selfie check result: whether it passed, which challenges you were asked (for example smile, blink, turn your head) and how long it took | To give you the verified tick and to stop fake accounts. The camera check runs on your device using Google ML Kit. The camera images stay on your phone and are not sent to us or to Google. |
| Push notification token for your device | To send you notifications about passes, invites and messages. |
| Technical logs: IP address, device and app requests, times, error details | To keep the service secure, stop abuse, enforce limits and fix problems. |
| Usage limits, for example how many Boarding Passes you sent today | To apply the daily limits fairly. |
We don't collect your precise location, contacts, call logs, SMS messages or payment information. The app reads a verification SMS only when your phone offers it to fill in the sign-in code automatically.
3. How we use your information
- To create and run your account, and to sign you in.
- To show your profile, trips and passes to the right people, and to run group chats.
- To keep GhumSaathi safe: verifying people, reviewing reports, blocking, enforcing limits, and preventing fraud and abuse.
- To send you notifications you'd expect, such as “your pass was accepted” or “new message”. You can turn notifications off in your phone's settings.
- To fix problems and improve the service.
- To follow the law and respond to lawful requests.
We process your data because you agreed to it when you signed up (consent), and where needed to provide the service you asked for, to keep users safe, or to meet legal duties. You can withdraw consent at any time by deleting your account. Some features won't work without the data they need.
4. Who can see what
- Other signed-in users can see your profile: first name, age, city, photos, bio, interests, languages, travel style, what you're looking for, prompts, verified tick, trips completed and vouches. They can also see trips you host and “I'm free” posts.
- A trip's host sees the Boarding Passes sent to that trip, including your note and where you'll join.
- Members of a trip see that trip's group chat and who's going.
- People you block can't see your profile or your trips, and you won't see theirs.
- Your phone number and date of birth are never shown to other users.
5. Who we share it with
We don't sell or rent your personal data. We share it only with companies that help us run GhumSaathi, only as much as they need, and under contracts that protect it:
| Provider | What for | Data involved |
|---|---|---|
| Google Firebase (Google LLC) | Sending and checking sign-in codes; delivering push notifications | Mobile number, device push token, notification text |
| Google ML Kit (on your device) | The selfie check, which runs on your phone | No camera images leave your phone. Google may receive technical information about how the ML Kit library performs. |
| Contabo GmbH | Hosting our servers and database | All data stored by the service |
We may also share information if the law requires it, to respond to valid requests from authorities, to protect someone's safety, or as part of a merger or sale of GhumSaathi (you'd be told, and this policy would still apply).
6. Where your data is stored
Our servers are in Germany (European Union), hosted by Contabo GmbH. Firebase may process sign-in and notification data in other countries where Google operates. By using GhumSaathi you agree to your data being processed outside India, which Indian law allows unless the government restricts a country.
7. How long we keep it
- While your account is open, we keep your profile and activity.
- When you delete your account, we immediately remove your name, date of birth, gender, city, bio, interests, prompts and photos, free up your phone number and sign you out everywhere. Trips you host are closed.
- What stays after deletion: messages you already sent in group chats stay visible to that trip's members, labelled “Deleted user”, so other people's conversations make sense. Vouches you gave others stay on their profiles without your name. Reports about safety are kept as long as needed to protect users.
- Backups are overwritten within 14 days. Server logs are kept for a short time, usually no more than 30 days, unless we need them to investigate abuse.
8. How we protect it
All connections use encryption (HTTPS). The database is not reachable from the internet, servers accept logins only with security keys, and access is limited to the people who run GhumSaathi. No system is perfectly secure. If a breach affects you, we'll tell you and the Data Protection Board of India as the law requires.
9. Your rights and choices
Under the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023, you can:
- Access a summary of the personal data we hold about you.
- Correct or update it. Most of it you can edit in the app.
- Erase it by deleting your account in the app (Profile → Settings → Delete account), or see how to delete your account.
- Withdraw consent at any time, by deleting your account.
- Nominate someone to exercise these rights if you die or can't act yourself.
- Complain to our Grievance Officer (below), and if you're not satisfied, to the Data Protection Board of India.
You can also block or report people from their profile or a chat, and turn off notifications in your phone's settings.
10. Age limit
GhumSaathi is only for people aged 18 or older. We ask for your date of birth at sign-up and don't allow younger users. If you believe someone under 18 is using GhumSaathi, tell us and we'll remove the account.
11. Changes to this policy
If we change this policy, we'll update the date at the top. For important changes, we'll tell you in the app before they apply.
12. Contact and Grievance Officer
Privacy questions and requests: privacy@ghumsaathi.in
Grievance Officer: grievance@ghumsaathi.in
We acknowledge complaints within 24 hours and aim to resolve them within 15 days.
Website: ghumsaathi.in