Privacy Policy

1. Introduction

Priyadarshini Rural Development Society (hereinafter referred to as "PDRDS", "we", "us", or "our") is committed to protecting the privacy of every individual who uses the PawTrack AI mobile application and the associated web platform (collectively referred to as the "Application").

This Privacy Policy explains what information we collect, how we use it, with whom we share it, how we protect it, and the rights available to you as a user of the Application. By downloading, installing, registering on, or otherwise using the Application, you consent to the practices described in this Privacy Policy.

2. About Us

Priyadarshini Rural Development Society is a registered organisation working in the areas of rural welfare, animal protection, public-health awareness and technology-enabled community development. The PawTrack AI Application has been developed and is operated by PDRDS in furtherance of its charitable objectives, with a specific focus on the humane, verifiable and transparent management of stray-dog welfare programmes in collaboration with municipal authorities, veterinary professionals and citizens.

3. Scope of this Policy

This Privacy Policy applies to all users of the Application, categorised as follows:

• Citizen Users: Members of the public who download the free citizen application to photograph and check the vaccination/sterilization status of stray dogs, or to report unregistered or aggressive animals.
• Field Users: Authorised veterinary doctors, paramedical staff and partner-NGO field teams who use the Application to register, vaccinate and sterilize dogs under Animal Birth Control (ABC) programmes.
• Administrative Users: Officers of the District Administration, Municipal Corporation and authorised welfare bodies who access the administrative dashboard.

4. Information We Collect

4.1 Information You Provide Directly

• Account Information: Name, mobile number, email address, role (citizen / field user / administrator), and, for field users, professional identification details such as veterinary registration number and organisation.
• Authentication Data: Password (stored in encrypted form), OTP verification history, and account-recovery information.
• User-Submitted Content: Photographs of stray dogs, textual reports of aggressive or injured animals, and any feedback, ratings, or comments you voluntarily submit.
• Communication Preferences: Choice of language, notification preferences and consent selections.

4.2 Information Collected Automatically

• Location Data: Precise GPS coordinates are collected only at the moment a photograph is captured or a report is submitted, to enable the accurate tagging of the location where the animal was sighted, captured or released. The Application does not track your location in the background.
• Photographs: Images of stray dogs captured through the Application's camera interface. The AI engine analyses these photographs to generate a unique biometric identifier for each animal.
• Device & Technical Information: Device model, operating system version, unique device identifiers, application version, IP address, mobile network operator, and general performance and crash-log data.
• Usage Data: Pages visited, features used, timestamps of actions taken, and interaction patterns within the Application.

4.3 Information We Do NOT Collect

• We do not access your personal photo gallery, contacts, SMS messages, call logs, or microphone.
• We do not collect financial information, bank details, or payment credentials.
• We do not collect biometric data of any human user (facial recognition applies only to animal identification).
• We do not track your location in the background or when the Application is not in use.

5. Device Permissions

The Application will request the following permissions on your device. Each permission is used only for the purpose stated below.

You may revoke any of these permissions at any time through your device settings. Please note that revoking required permissions may limit or prevent the use of certain features of the Application.

6. How We Use Your Information

We use the information collected for the following lawful, specified and legitimate purposes:

• To create and manage your user account and enable authentication.
• To operate the AI-based dog-identification engine and maintain a permanent digital record of every registered animal.
• To enable citizens to verify the vaccination and sterilization status of any stray dog captured through the Application.
• To facilitate Animal Birth Control (ABC) programme workflows for veterinary teams and partner NGOs.
• To provide administrative dashboards, ward-wise analytics and compliance reports to authorised municipal and district officers.
• To receive, process and act upon citizen reports of unregistered, injured or aggressive animals.
• To improve the accuracy of our AI models, using only anonymised and aggregated data.
• To ensure the security, integrity and reliability of the Application and to detect and prevent fraud, abuse or misuse.
• To communicate with you regarding service updates, safety notices, and material changes to this Privacy Policy.
• To comply with applicable laws, court orders, and directions of statutory or regulatory authorities.

7. How We Share Your Information

PDRDS does not sell, rent or trade your personal information. Your information may be shared only in the following limited circumstances:

• With Municipal & District Authorities: Data relating to registered animals, sterilization/vaccination records, GPS tags and citizen reports is shared with the authorised District Administration, Municipal Corporation and Veterinary Department for the operation of the ABC programme and for statutory compliance.
• With Authorised Partner NGOs: Field-level data may be shared with authorised animal-welfare NGOs strictly engaged in the ABC programme, under confidentiality obligations.
• With Service Providers: We engage trusted third-party service providers (cloud hosting, analytics, crash reporting, notification services) who process data on our behalf under strict contractual safeguards.
• For Legal Compliance: When required by a court of law, a regulatory authority, or in response to a lawful request from Government agencies.
• Aggregated & Anonymised Data: We may share aggregated, non-personally-identifiable statistics with research institutions, media and the public for awareness and academic purposes.

8. Data Storage & Location

All personal data collected through the Application is stored on secure servers located within India, in compliance with applicable data-localisation requirements under the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 and other applicable Indian laws. We employ industry-standard cloud infrastructure with encryption at rest and in transit.

9. Data Retention

We retain your personal data only for as long as it is necessary to fulfil the purposes described in this Privacy Policy, or as required by applicable law. Specifically:

• Account Information: Retained for the duration of your active use of the Application, and for up to twenty-four (24) months after account deletion, for audit and legal purposes.
• Animal Records: Retained permanently in the interest of ongoing welfare, since these records form the institutional database of registered animals.
• Photographs Uploaded by Citizens: Retained until the associated record is verified or the report is resolved.
• Technical Logs: Retained for a period not exceeding twelve (12) months.

You may request the deletion of your personal data at any time by contacting our Grievance Officer (see Section 16).

10. Data Security

We implement reasonable technical, organisational and administrative measures to safeguard your information against unauthorised access, disclosure, alteration or destruction. These measures include:

• Encryption of data in transit (HTTPS/TLS) and at rest.
• Role-based access controls with the principle of least privilege.
• Regular security audits and vulnerability assessments.
• Secure authentication mechanisms including OTP verification.
• Access logs and monitoring to detect and respond to security incidents.

11. Children's Privacy

The Application is intended for use by individuals aged eighteen (18) years and above. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under the age of eighteen. If we become aware that a child has provided us with personal information, we will take immediate steps to delete such information. If you are a parent or guardian and believe your child has submitted information, please contact us at info@pdrds.org.

12. Your Rights under the DPDP Act, 2023

As a Data Principal under the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023, you are entitled to the following rights:

• Right to Access: The right to obtain a summary of the personal data that we process about you.
• Right to Correction: The right to have inaccurate or incomplete personal data corrected or updated.
• Right to Erasure: The right to request the deletion of your personal data, subject to lawful retention requirements.
• Right to Withdraw Consent: The right to withdraw any consent previously provided, at any time, with future effect.
• Right to Grievance Redressal: The right to a readily available grievance-redressal mechanism (see Section 16).
• Right to Nominate: The right to nominate any other individual to exercise your rights in the event of your death or incapacity.

To exercise any of the above rights, please contact us at info@pdrds.org. We shall respond to your request within the time frames prescribed under applicable law.

13. Third-Party Services

The Application may integrate with the following categories of third-party services, each governed by its own privacy policy:

• Cloud Hosting Provider (for secure storage and processing).
• Analytics Services (for anonymised usage insights).
• Crash-Reporting Services (for identifying and resolving technical issues).
• Push-Notification Services (for delivering timely alerts).
• Map & Geocoding Services (for location tagging and display).

We select these providers with due diligence and enter into data-processing agreements that require them to protect your data.

14. International Users

The Application is designed for and operated primarily for users located within the Republic of India. If you are accessing the Application from outside India, you acknowledge that your data will be transferred to, stored and processed in India, and you consent to such transfer, storage and processing.

15. Changes to this Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, technology, legal requirements or other factors. Any material change will be notified to you through the Application and by updating the "Last Updated" date at the top of this Policy. We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy periodically.

16. Grievance Officer

In accordance with the Information Technology Act, 2000, the rules made thereunder, and the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023, the name and contact details of the Grievance Officer are set out below:

• Designation: Grievance Officer, Priyadarshini Rural Development Society
• Email: support@pdrds.org
• Phone: +91 91541 60948
• Address: Gachibowli, Hyderabad, Telangana – 500032, India

Any grievance received will be acknowledged within forty-eight (48) hours and resolved within the time frame prescribed under applicable law.