Privacy Policy

Last updated: 10 July 2026

RishtaConnects ("we", "us", "the app") is a family-first matchmaking platform for the Indian community worldwide. We respect your privacy and are committed to protecting your personal information. This policy explains what we collect, how we use it, who we share it with, and your rights.

What We Collect

We collect information you provide when using the app:

• Account details — username, email address, phone number, hashed password
• Profile information — family details, community, religion, location, preferences, photos, hobbies, lifestyle habits, education, profession
• Verification details — a LinkedIn profile, another social profile, or employer. These are optional. If you provide them, our team may review them to confirm you are a genuine person and, where confirmed, display an "Identity verified" status on your profile. The details themselves are never shown on your profile or to other members; only the verified status is.
• Messages — conversations between matched users
• Usage information — how you interact with the app (pages visited, features used), device type, app version
• Feedback — any messages you send us through the app

Photo Verification and Moderation

Every photo uploaded to the app passes through two automated checks before it is shown to other users. Neither check stores biometric templates or face geometry, and neither identifies you against any external database.

• Content moderation uses an AI vision service to check that uploaded photos are appropriate (a real person, suitable for a matchmaking context, not explicit, not violent). The image is sent to that provider only for this check and is not retained for training.
• Celebrity detection uses a third-party image recognition service to check whether the uploaded photo matches a well-known public figure. This guards against people uploading a celebrity's photo as their own. If the service is confident the photo is a public figure who is not you, the upload is rejected. The image is sent for this check only and is processed in the Asia Pacific (Singapore) region.
• Identity verification compares a live selfie against your profile photo, confirming you are the person in your photos. Your selfie is never stored. It is used only for the live comparison and discarded immediately. No face template or face geometry is kept.

How We Use Your Information

• To create and display your profile to potential matches
• To find and suggest compatible families based on your preferences
• To provide compatibility insights, profile suggestions, and conversation help through AI features (see "AI Features" below)
• To enable messaging between matched families and individuals
• To verify your phone number through an SMS one-time password
• To check uploaded photos for appropriateness and to reject photos of public figures
• To process subscription payments and manage your account tier
• To improve the app based on how people use it
• To respond to your feedback and support requests
• To send you account, family linking, and match updates on WhatsApp, only if you opt in. This is optional, never used for marketing, and you can withdraw consent anytime in Settings.
• To detect, prevent, and address fraud, abuse, or security issues

Who Can See Your Information

• Your family profile is visible to other families who match your preferences
• Your individual profile is visible to matched individuals
• Private messages between two individuals are not visible to parents
• If you privately pass on a match, only your linked family member is informed, never the other family
• Detailed lifestyle habits are only visible to your matched connections, not to parents
• Phone numbers are only shared when both parties agree and an admin approves

How We Protect Your Information

• Passwords are hashed with bcrypt. We cannot see your password.
• All data is transmitted over HTTPS with modern TLS.
• Photos are checked automatically to prevent inappropriate content.
• Contact information (phone, email, social media) is filtered in chat messages by default.
• We use trusted, industry-standard cloud services for storage and processing. These are described in "Third-Party Services" below.
• Access to production data is limited to authorised RishtaConnects staff and logged.

Third-Party Services

We use trusted third-party providers to operate the app. Each provider handles only a specific slice of your data, never all of it. We group them by the role they play:

• Infrastructure and hosting providers — database hosting, authenticated photo storage, application hosting, and content delivery (primarily in the Asia Pacific region)
• Communication providers — SMS one-time passwords for phone verification, and transactional email (verification, notifications, support replies)
• Payment provider — processing of subscriptions and one-time unlocks. Your payment card is held entirely by the payment provider; we never see or store it.
• AI providers — profile-building help, compatibility insights, conversation suggestions, natural-language search, and photo moderation. Profile text, search queries, and images are sent only to perform these features and are not used to train the providers' models by default.
• Image recognition providers — celebrity detection and live selfie comparison for identity verification (processed in the Singapore region)
• Analytics providers — anonymous product-usage measurement. Usage events are tied to anonymous identifiers, not your name.
• Error monitoring providers — diagnostic error reports, scrubbed of personal content (may include URL paths and account IDs)
• Advertising measurement partners — measuring the performance of our advertising on our website. Only limited event signals (for example, that a registration occurred) are shared for this purpose. No profile content, messages, photos, or contact details are shared.

We may add or replace providers of the same type as our tools evolve; we will notify you of any material change in how your data is handled.

Sharing Your Information

• We do not sell your personal information.
• We do not share your profile content, messages, photos, or contact details with advertisers. We use advertising measurement partners only to measure the performance of our own ads on our website, and only limited event signals (such as that a registration occurred) are shared for this.
• We use the providers described above strictly to operate the app on our behalf.
• We may share anonymised, aggregated data to improve the app or describe usage publicly.
• We may disclose information if required by law, court order, or to protect users from imminent harm.

AI Features

• We use a third-party AI provider to power AI features such as Mitra (the profile-building assistant), compatibility notes, natural-language search ("Thoughtful search"), and conversation suggestions.
• Your profile information and the prompts you type are sent to that provider to generate these results.
• Your prompts and AI outputs are processed by the provider and are not used to train its models.
• If we ever change this policy on training, we will notify you and update this page before any change takes effect.
• AI features that require a paid subscription are clearly marked in the app.

Subscriptions and Billing

When we launch paid plans on 1 July 2026, Stripe will process payments. Until then, all features are free.

Your Rights

You have the right to:

• View your information. Most of it is visible in the app; for the rest, request a copy and we will provide it within 30 days.
• Edit your profile at any time from inside the app.
• Export a machine-readable copy of your data on request to support@rishtaconnects.com.
• Delete your account and all your data from inside the app: Settings → Account → Delete Account. Deletion is permanent. Some anonymised, aggregated records may remain (for example, abuse signals or pilot metrics).
• Block any user you do not want to interact with.
• Report inappropriate behaviour from the user's profile.
• Withdraw consent by deleting your account.
• Object to specific processing (for example, opt out of AI features) by emailing support@rishtaconnects.com.

If you are a resident of California, the EU, the UK, or India, you also have rights under the CCPA, GDPR, UK GDPR, and India's Digital Personal Data Protection Act 2023, respectively. To exercise any of these rights, contact support@rishtaconnects.com. We respond within the timeframe set by the applicable law.

Data Storage and Retention

• Your data is kept as long as your account is active.
• When you delete your account, personal data is removed within 30 days. Backups are purged on our provider's standard backup cycle.
• Your selfie is never stored. It is used only for the live comparison and discarded immediately; only the pass or fail verification result is kept.
• Our payment provider retains payment records for as long as required by financial regulations.
• Your data may be stored on servers outside your country of residence (primarily in Asia Pacific). By using the app you consent to this transfer, subject to standard contractual protections with our providers.

Cookies and Tracking

We use a small number of cookies and similar technologies:

• Essential cookies — keep you signed in and secure your session. The app does not work without these.
• Analytics — anonymous product-usage measurement to help us improve the app. Tied to anonymous identifiers, not your name.
• Advertising measurement — on our public website, a measurement pixel helps us understand the performance of our own ads. It shares only limited event signals (for example, that a registration occurred) and no profile content.

You can control or clear cookies through your browser settings. Blocking essential cookies may stop you from signing in.

Account Rules

• One person, one account. Do not create multiple accounts for yourself.
• A parent may create separate accounts for each son or daughter who is looking for a match.
• Misuse of accounts may result in suspension.

Children's Privacy

RishtaConnects is for adults aged 18 and above. We do not knowingly collect information from anyone under 18. If you believe a minor has created an account, please contact us at support@rishtaconnects.com and we will remove it.

Changes to This Policy

We may update this policy from time to time. We will let you know about significant changes through the app and by email. The "Last updated" date at the top of this page reflects the most recent change. Continued use of the app after a change means you accept the updated policy.

Data Protection Officer

In accordance with the Singapore Personal Data Protection Act 2012, Rishtaconnects Pte LTD has appointed a Data Protection Officer (DPO) responsible for overseeing compliance with this privacy policy and applicable data protection law.

The DPO can be reached at:

• Email: support@rishtaconnects.com
• Subject line: Attn: Data Protection Officer

Grievance Officer (India)

In accordance with India's Digital Personal Data Protection Act 2023, users in India may contact our Grievance Officer for any data protection concerns or to exercise their rights under the Act:

• Email: support@rishtaconnects.com
• Subject line: Attn: Grievance Officer

We will acknowledge your grievance within 7 days and respond substantively within 30 days as required by the Act.

Contact Us

If you have questions about your privacy or this policy:

• Use the feedback form in the app
• Email: support@rishtaconnects.com
• Website: https://rishtaconnects.com

This policy is intended to comply with the Singapore Personal Data Protection Act 2012 (PDPA), the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the UK GDPR, the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), and India's Digital Personal Data Protection Act 2023.