This Privacy Policy explains what we collect, why, and what we do with it.
1. What we collect
- Account: name, email, mobile, password (hashed), role.
- Profile: photos, DOB, religion, caste / sub-caste, gotram, rasi, nakshatram, family details, education, income range, location.
- Activity: interests sent, profiles viewed, messages, payments, login device + IP.
2. How we use it
- To run matchmaking — suggest compatible profiles, gate paid features, prevent abuse.
- To send transactional emails (verification, payments, support) and — if you opt in — marketing email/SMS.
- To comply with legal obligations under Indian law.
3. Who sees your profile
Only logged-in members see your profile. Contact details (email, phone) are hidden until you choose to share them, or until a Premium / Ultra member requests them under their daily limit.
4. Photos & horoscope files
Photos are stored on AWS S3 in our region. Horoscope URLs are stored as-is — if you upload a personal PDF make sure no Aadhaar / PAN / bank details are on it.
5. Who we share data with (sub-processors)
We don't sell your data. We rely on a small set of trusted service providers ("sub-processors"), each under a data-processing agreement and only for the purpose listed:
- Amazon Web Services (AWS) — hosting, photo storage (S3), and the optional face-liveness check (Rekognition).
- Razorpay — payment processing for customers paying in Indian Rupees.
- Stripe — payment processing for international / non-₹ customers.
- Amazon SES & SNS — transactional email and SMS (OTP, alerts).
- Google Firebase — push notifications on mobile and web.
- OpenAI and Google Cloud — power our optional AI features (see "How we use AI" below); they process only the data you choose to run those features on.
- Lawful authorities — only when we are legally required to disclose.
6. Your rights
If you are a California resident, the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) as amended by the CPRA grants you the following rights. Similar rights apply under Virginia, Colorado, Connecticut, Utah, and Texas state-specific privacy laws.
- Right to know — request a list of the categories of personal information we collect, use, disclose, and sell (we do not sell).
- Right to delete — request deletion of personal information we hold. Self-serve from Settings → Request deletion; 14-day grace window.
- Right to correct — request correction of inaccurate personal information.
- Right to data portability — receive a copy of your personal information in a portable format (Settings → Download my data; JSON).
- Right to opt out of sale or sharing of personal information — we do not sell or share personal information for cross-context behavioural advertising. If our practice ever changes, a "Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information" link will be added to the site footer.
- Right to limit use of sensitive personal information — we use sensitive PI only for the purposes you provided it (account creation, matchmaking, payment).
- Non-discrimination — we will not deny service, charge different prices, or provide different quality of service if you exercise these rights.
To exercise any of these rights, email privacy@pellichupulu.co. We respond within 45 days (extendable by 45 days for complex requests). You may also designate an authorised agent to act on your behalf — please include a written authorisation.
We retain support-chat history for 30 days and financial records for the period required by applicable state laws (typically 7 years).
7. Security
Passwords are BCrypt-hashed. Refresh tokens are SHA-256-hashed in DB. JWT access tokens live in memory only. Cookies are HttpOnly. All traffic in production is TLS only.
8. How we use AI
Our premium (Ultra) plan includes optional AI helpers — an "About me" writer, "why you two match" insights, conversation ice-breakers, a spoken profile reader, and natural-language search. When you choose to use one:
- We send only the relevant, already-visible profile fields to OpenAI (to generate text) and Google Cloud (to turn text into a spoken voice). We never send your full date of birth, family members' names, or contact details.
- The AI is instructed to use only the facts provided and to invent nothing. Its output is advisory — a helpful summary or suggestion, never an automated decision about you.
- These features are entirely optional. You can simply not use them; nothing on Pellichupulu requires AI.
9. Identity & biometric verification
The optional "Verify it's you" face scan uses Amazon Rekognition Face Liveness. With your explicit consent (asked each time, before the camera starts), it confirms a real, live person and compares the captured frame once to your profile photo. We do not store your face image or any biometric template — only a pass/fail result and a short-lived session id, which we delete within 90 days. You can decline at any time, and deleting your account removes this data.