Skip to main content
shield Legal

Privacy Policy

calendar_today Effective Date: 21 March 2026 update Last updated: 26 March 2026
explore

"Vote from Within. Not from Noise."

KeralaCompass is a neutral, non-partisan educational platform designed to help first time voters in Kerala discover their own values and make an informed choice among India's political system - with a special focus on Kerala's three major fronts (LDF, UDF, NDA), their constituent parties (as of 2026), and their manifestos.

This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store, and protect your personal data in full compliance with the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 (DPDP Act), the Information Technology Act, 2000, its rules, and applicable advertising regulations including the Representation of the People Act, 1951 and ECI digital advertising guidelines.

By using KeralaCompass.in (web + PWA), you consent to the practices described below. You can withdraw consent anytime.

1 Information We Collect

We collect only the minimum data necessary:

person Personal Data (identified)

  • Phone number (hashed) - for OTP login, volunteer registration, and optional voting-day reminders.
  • Email address (hashed) - optional fallback for account recovery and reminders.
  • District / Constituency (optional) - used only for anonymous leaderboards.

bar_chart Quiz Data

  • Anonymous quiz answers (default) - if you are not signed in, or if you decline the save prompt, your answers are never stored against any identity. Only per-question aggregate distributions are updated in our analytics database.
  • Saved quiz responses (optional, logged-in users only) - if you are signed in and explicitly consent at the end of the quiz, your answers and computed compass position are stored linked to your account.
    Purpose: (1) to let you revisit your compass result from your dashboard at any time, and (2) to automatically recompute your result if axis scoring weights are recalibrated in future.
    Retention: deleted immediately when you delete your account. You can also delete them at any time from Settings.
  • Pledge signature - hashed.
  • Invite referral codes and counts - for leaderboards.

cookie Automatically Collected (Cookies & Tracking)

  • Device & browser data, IP address (anonymised after district detection).
  • Meta Pixel and Google Analytics cookies (with your explicit consent).
  • Behavioural signals (anonymised) - page visits, quiz topic areas, and session engagement patterns - used in aggregate to serve contextual and interest-based advertisements. These signals are never linked to your identified profile and require separate advertising consent.

block We do not collect

  • close Your actual voting choice
  • close Caste, religion, financial details, or any sensitive personal data
  • close Location beyond district level
  • close Quiz answers without your explicit, separate consent at submission time

2 How We Use Your Information

All processing is for specific, legitimate purposes only:

  • explore To provide the Political Compass quiz and show your value-based match with Kerala's political fronts and manifestos.
  • how_to_reg To let you register as a "Democracy Volunteer", take the Voter Pledge, and invite friends.
  • leaderboard To maintain anonymous leaderboards (individuals, districts, constituencies).
  • notifications To send public-interest reminders (e.g., "Election day is approaching - don't forget your pledge") via SMS/push only if you opt-in.
  • analytics To improve the platform through anonymised analytics.
  • ads_click To display contextual and, with your separate advertising consent, interest-based advertisements (including ECI pre-certified political advertisements) to sustain the Platform's free availability.
ads_click

Advertising on KeralaCompass uses only anonymised, aggregate signals - never linked to your identified phone number or email. We never use caste, religion, health, financial data, your actual voting choice, or your individual quiz answers as targeting criteria. You may opt out of interest-based ads at any time in Settings → Privacy Controls.

3 Legal Basis & Consent (DPDP Act)

We process your data only after you give free, specific, informed, unconditional, and unambiguous consent via clear affirmative action (checkboxes + "Continue" buttons).

You can withdraw consent at any time from Settings → "Delete My Data". Withdrawal does not affect the lawfulness of processing done before withdrawal.

4 Sharing of Information

We do not sell your data. We share only anonymised or aggregated data with:

monitoring Meta and Google (for analytics and public-interest voting reminders) - strictly with your consent.
sms SMS gateway partners (MSG91 or equivalent) - only for OTP and opted-in reminders.
ads_click Advertising partners (Google AdSense/DV360, Meta Audience Network, and equivalent programmatic ad networks) - anonymised audience segments only, strictly with your separate advertising consent, governed by signed Data Processor Agreements under the DPDP Act, 2023.
how_to_vote Political advertisers - receive only aggregate, anonymised audience reach statistics. No personal data is shared with political parties or candidates at any time.

public No personal data is transferred outside India.

5 Advertising & Monetisation

KeralaCompass may display advertisements to sustain the Platform as a free civic-education service. We are committed to advertising practices that respect your autonomy, protect your data, and comply with all applicable Indian laws.

category Types of Advertisements

  • Contextual ads - based solely on the content category of the page you are viewing (e.g., civics education, voter registration). No personal data is required or used.
  • Interest-based ads - based on anonymised, aggregated engagement patterns (page categories visited, session frequency). Served only with your explicit, separate advertising consent.
  • Political advertisements - only from registered Indian political parties or candidates holding a valid pre-clearance certificate from the designated Media Certification and Monitoring Committee (MCMC) as required by ECI digital advertising guidelines. Political ads are served only outside ECI-mandated blackout periods and while the Model Code of Conduct is not in force in the relevant constituency.
  • Non-political commercial ads - lifestyle, civic technology, consumer products, and public-interest campaigns. Contextual and/or interest-based; never targeting sensitive personal characteristics.

block Prohibited targeting criteria - we will never use these for advertising

  • close Caste, religion, health status, or financial details
  • close Your individual quiz answers or political-compass score
  • close Your hashed phone number or email address as an advertising identifier
  • close Any sensitive personal data under Schedule I of the DPDP Act, 2023
  • close Data inferred about your actual voting choice

verified Political Advertisement Transparency (RPA 1951 & ECI Guidelines)

  • All political advertisements carry a visible "Paid Political Advertisement" label and the full name of the paying party or candidate, as required under ECI guidelines.
  • Political ads are published only after receipt of a valid MCMC pre-certification (applicable under ECI's directions on digital media advertising).
  • No political advertisements are served during the 48-hour silence period before polling day in any applicable constituency, or while the Model Code of Conduct is in force.
  • KeralaCompass does not endorse any political party, candidate, or ideology through advertising placement or any other means.
tune
Your advertising choices Interest-based advertising is opt-in only. By default, you see contextual ads only. You may grant or revoke advertising consent at any time in Settings → Privacy Controls. Opting out does not remove ads from the Platform; it restricts targeting to contextual signals only. Your preference is stored locally and respected across sessions.

6 Data Security

We use industry-best practices (Argon2id hashing, JWT tokens, HTTPS enforced, regular security audits). All personal data is stored in India on secure servers. Quiz answers are never stored against your identity.

7 Data Retention

phone_iphone Phone/email (hashed): retained only as long as your account is active + 30 days after deletion request.
bar_chart Quiz scores & leaderboards: anonymised and retained indefinitely for statistical purposes.
how_to_vote Pledge data: retained for the duration of the election cycle or until you delete it.
ads_click Advertising signals: anonymised behavioural signals used for ad targeting are retained for a maximum of 90 days, after which they are aggregated and de-identified. No advertising data is retained beyond this period in a form that can be linked to any individual session.

8 Your Rights under the DPDP Act, 2023

As a Data Principal, you have the right to:

folder_open Access and obtain a copy of your data
edit Correct or update inaccurate data
delete Erase your data ("Right to be Forgotten")
block Withdraw consent (including advertising consent)
group Nominate someone to exercise your rights

To exercise any right, go to Settings → Data & Privacy or email us at [email protected].

9 Cookies & Tracking Technologies

We use essential cookies for the app to function (session management, dark-mode preference).

Non-essential cookies require your explicit consent via the cookie consent banner:

analytics Analytics cookies (Meta Pixel, Google Analytics) - measure Platform usage and improve content. Loaded only with analytics consent.
ads_click Advertising cookies (Google AdSense, Meta Audience Network) - enable interest-based ad personalisation. Require separate advertising consent independent of analytics consent. You can opt out without affecting analytics.

You can manage or revoke any cookie consent anytime in Settings → Privacy Controls.

10 Children's Privacy

The platform is strictly for users 18 years and above. We do not knowingly collect data from children. Advertising served on the Platform is also restricted to audiences 18 years and above.

11 Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this policy to reflect legal changes or new features. The new Effective Date will be posted at the top. Continued use after changes constitutes acceptance.

12 Newsletter & Email Communications

When you create an account using your email address and OTP verification, KeralaCompass will, by default, subscribe you to our newsletter unless you uncheck the opt-out checkbox during registration. This is an opt-out model disclosed at the point of registration.

mail What We Send

Election updates, manifesto analysis, KeralaCompass feature announcements, and civic education content. We do not send promotional or advertising emails.

lock Email Storage

Subscriber email addresses are stored Fernet-encrypted in our database. A one-way SHA-256 hash is used for deduplication. No plaintext email is persisted. The encryption key is derived from our application secret.

unsubscribe Unsubscribing

Every newsletter email contains a one-click unsubscribe link that permanently removes you from the mailing list. You can also unsubscribe by writing to [email protected]. Unsubscribe requests are processed immediately and are irreversible.

gavel Legal Basis (DPDP Act 2023)

Subscription is based on consent given at registration (opt-out model with clear disclosure). You may withdraw consent at any time via unsubscribe. Processing complies with India's Digital Personal Data Protection Act 2023.

13 Contact Us

For any privacy queries:

mail [email protected]

KeralaCompass.in is operated by [Your Legal Entity Name], India.

favorite

Designed for clarity and control.

This Privacy Policy is designed to give you clarity and control - so you can focus on what truly matters: voting from within. Thank you for trusting KeralaCompass to strengthen India's democracy.