Privacy Policy

Who processes your data

Bhavano is owned and operated by Finfolia Technologies LLP, a limited liability partnership registered in India. Finfolia Technologies LLPis the data fiduciary responsible for the personal data described in this policy. It applies to the Bhavano website (bhavano.com) and the Bhavano apps for Android and iOS (together, the "Platform").

Privacy and grievance queries: support@bhavano.com.

1. Information we collect

We collect the following information:

• Account information:your phone number (verified by a one-time code), and/or the name and email address from your Google or Apple account if you sign in with one. If you use Sign in with Apple and choose to hide your email, we receive Apple's private relay address instead.
• Profile information: your name, city, and a verified email address or phone number, which we ask for after you first log in. You can review and change these on your profile.
• Listing content:anything you include in an ad you post, such as title, price, description, location, category-specific details, and the photos and videos you upload. In the app, we only access the photos or videos you pick from your device's library. We do not browse the rest of your library.
• Activity on the Platform:the listings you view or favourite, messages you send and receive through Bhavano's messaging feature, contact details you unlock, saved searches, and property requirements you post (including whether you agreed to let us share your number with matching owners).
• Purchases: what you bought (for example a Boost, Instant Alerts, contact-unlock credits or a subscription), the amount, and whether the payment succeeded. Card, UPI and bank details are entered directly with our payment processor, Razorpay. We never receive or store them.
• Device and notification data: if you allow notifications in the app, a push notification token for your device, so we can alert you about new messages and activity on your listings. We also record whether you are using a desktop, mobile browser, tablet or the app.
• Technical data: your IP address, the page you first arrived on, and the pages or screens you visit during that session, to investigate abuse and understand how people use the Platform. We derive an approximate city, region and country from your IP address using a local lookup database. This is a coarse estimate used only for our own internal reporting, never to choose what you see.
• Advertising attribution: if you reach Bhavano by clicking one of our Google ads, we store the ad click identifier and the campaign source with your account, so we can tell which ads lead to sign-ups, listings and purchases.
• Location data:precise location is only collected if you tap "Auto-detect my current location", or drop a pin on the map while posting an ad. Your device asks your permission first. If you agree, your coordinates are sent to our servers and from there to Google's mapping services, solely to work out the city and area (and, for an ad, to show its location). We do not track your location in the background.

2. How we use this information

We use the information above to:

• create your account, authenticate you and keep your account secure;
• show you listings relevant to your city;
• display your listings to other users and let them contact you about them;
• deliver messages between users, and maintain your favourites, saved searches and history;
• send you notifications (in-app, push, SMS, WhatsApp or email) about your account, your listings, messages, matching properties, and purchases;
• process payments and keep records of them, including for tax and accounting;
• occasionally tell you about paid features for your own listings, such as Boost. To stop these, contact us;
• understand how the Platform is used and measure how well our advertising works;
• moderate content, prevent fraud and abuse, and enforce our Terms of Service.

3. Who we share it with

We do not sell your personal information. We share it only as follows:

• Other users:your listings are public. Your name and the contact details you choose to share become visible to another user once you message each other about a listing, or once they unlock your listing's contact details.
• Service providers that run parts of the Platform for us, only for that purpose:
  • cloud hosting and database (Amazon Web Services, India);
  • photo and video storage and delivery (Cloudflare);
  • payments (Razorpay);
  • sign-in (Google, Apple);
  • one-time codes, SMS and WhatsApp messages (MSG91, Meta's WhatsApp Business Platform);
  • email (Zoho Mail);
  • push notifications (Expo, which delivers through Google Firebase Cloud Messaging and Apple Push Notification service);
  • maps and location lookup (Google Maps Platform).
• Advertising and analytics (Google): when you sign up, post an ad or make a purchase after clicking one of our Google ads, we send Google Ads the ad click identifier together with your email address and/or phone number in hashed (one-way encrypted) form, so Google can attribute that result to the ad. On iOS we only do this if you allow tracking when the app asks. See also section 4.
• Legal and safety: where required by law, court order or a government authority, or to protect the rights and safety of our users and the Platform.

Some of these providers may process data outside India. When they do, it is under their own security and privacy commitments.

4. Cookies, analytics and advertising

On the website, we use a session cookie to keep you signed in and a cookie that remembers the city you last browsed. The website also loads Google Tag Manager, which runs Google's analytics and advertising measurement tags (Google Analytics and Google Ads). These may set cookies that measure visits and link a sign-up or purchase back to the ad that led to it. You can block or delete cookies in your browser settings. The Platform keeps working without them, although you will need to sign in again.

In the apps, your session is stored securely on your device instead of in a cookie. The apps do not use your device's advertising ID.

5. Listings from public business information

Some PG and coworking listings are created from publicly available business information, such as business listings on Google Maps. We may contact that business on its public phone number (for example on WhatsApp) so the owner can claim, correct or remove the listing. To have such a listing removed, contact us.

6. Data retention

We keep your account and listing data for as long as your account is active. Listings expire automatically after their posting period, and you can deactivate a listing yourself at any time from My listings. When you delete your account, we remove your personal details as described in section 7. Payment records are kept for as long as tax and accounting law requires.

8. Your rights

You can review and update your name, city and contact details at any time from your profile page, and turn off push notifications in your device settings. To ask for a copy of your data, correct it, or raise a grievance, contact us using the details below. We will respond within the time required by applicable law, including India's Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023.

9. Security

All data sent between your device and our servers is encrypted in transit (HTTPS). We take reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect your information, but no method of transmission or storage is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

10. Children's privacy

Bhavano is not directed at children under 18, and we do not knowingly collect their data.

11. Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We'll update the "Last updated" date above when we do.

12. Contact

Questions about this policy, or a request about your data? Email support@bhavano.com or use our contact page.