Privacy Policy & Terms of Service for Japale
Last Updated: May 2026
Thank you for choosing Japale ("we", "our", or "us"). Japale is a sacred "Devotees Social Network". Our core goal is to maintain a positive and spiritual ecosystem. This document explains how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard your information when you use our mobile application Japale (the "App"), available on Google Play Store (Package: com.japale.app), along with our strict terms of conduct.
Please read this privacy policy and terms carefully. If you do not agree with the terms, please do not access the App.
1. Pavitra (Sacred) Ecosystem & User Conduct (Zero-Tolerance Policy)
Japale is a platform dedicated for Devotees. Any form of negative, abusive, controversial, hate speech (including religious intolerance), sexually explicit material, or inappropriate data/content is strictly not allowed here—whether it is a Post, Comment, Profile Information, Chat, or any other part of the app.
The Action: If any user violates this rule, Japale holds the full right to immediately terminate their account without any warning. Furthermore, to protect our genuine devotees, we employ strict platform security enforcement via security tokens and device integrity attestation. If your account is terminated for severe violations, our security systems will restrict re-entry from the offending environment. You will not be able to bypass this restriction by using a different email address. All enforcement decisions are final and non-reversible.
Additionally, any form of unauthorized financial solicitations, requesting fake donations (Chanda), or commercial spamming is strictly prohibited and will lead to an immediate permanent ban.
2. Information We Collect
When you create an account and build your profile on Japale, we collect the following personal information to provide the app's features:
- Sign-Up Data — First Name, Last Name, Email Address, securely hashed Password, and a unique Username.
- Profile Data — Information you voluntarily provide to complete your profile, such as Date of Birth (DOB), generalized Location, and custom Profile Avatar. We do not use device GPS to automatically track your location; this is strictly user-provided text data.
- Device Security Data — To maintain the purity, safety, and operational integrity of our ecosystem, we securely collect your device hardware identifiers and system metadata in the background, including Android Device ID (SSAID), Device Model, Brand, Manufacturer, OS Version, and SDK Version. In strict compliance with Google Play Data Safety policies, we DO NOT use your Android Device ID or hardware metadata for behavioral tracking, third-party advertising, marketing, or cross-app profiling. This information is processed and stored strictly in an isolated security environment for the legitimate statutory purpose of Security, Fraud Prevention, and Sybil Attack Mitigation (preventing automated bot farms and multiple fake accounts), and to enforce permanent device-level restrictions against rogue actors who violate our Pavitra Zero-Tolerance Policy.
3. Database and Storage Information
We take your data security very seriously. All user data (including Posts, Chats, Profiles, and other app data) is stored highly securely in a PostgreSQL Database via Supabase.
4. Data Disclosure (Government & Law Enforcement)
We strive to keep our users' data highly private and secure. In strict accordance with Rule 3(1)(j) of the Information Technology Rules, 2021 and Section 8 of the DPDP Act, 2023, we will disclose your personal information and data (including IP address, registration details, and logs) to Government Officers, Police, or Law Enforcement Agencies without your prior permission only upon receiving a valid, lawful written order, subpoena, warrant, or notice issued under applicable law (such as Section 91 CrPC/BNSS or Rule 3(1)(j)) clearly stating the statutory purpose of investigation, cyber incident response, or prevention of offenses. We do not make arbitrary disclosures without lawful process.
5. Grievance Redressal & Statutory Dispute Resolution
In accordance with the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act, 2023 and the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, Japale maintains a dedicated grievance redressal mechanism to protect user rights and data privacy.
1. Internal Grievance Officer: For any data deletion requests, account disputes, content
complaints, or privacy concerns, you must first contact our designated Grievance Officer:
Name: Mohan Das Vaishnav
Address: Karagi Road, Kota, Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh - 495113
Email: contact@sewakcommunity.in
We are statutorily committed to acknowledging your complaint within 24 hours and
resolving the grievance within 15 days of receipt.
2. Right to Statutory Escalation (DPBI): If your grievance regarding personal data processing is not satisfactorily resolved by our internal team within the mandated 15-day timeframe, you have the explicit legal right under Section 13 read with Section 27 of the DPDP Act, 2023 to escalate your complaint directly to the Data Protection Board of India (DPBI).
3. Jurisdiction & Arbitration: For any civil disputes or contractual disagreements outside the purview of the DPBI, parties agree to first attempt resolution through mutual good-faith negotiation. Under exceptional circumstances where formal legal proceedings occur, they shall be strictly subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the competent courts in Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh, India.
6. Intermediary Status (Safe Harbor)
Japale is declared and acts strictly as an "Intermediary" under Section 2(1)(w) and Section 79 of the Information Technology Act, 2000. As a platform provider, the legal responsibility for any user-generated content (UGC), posts, or direct messages lies solely with the user who created or transmitted the content.
Statutory Compliance & 36-Hour Takedown Mandate: Japale complies strictly with statutory guidelines under Section 79 of the IT Act and Rule 3(1)(d) of the Intermediary Rules. We enforce a robust, structured community reporting and administrative review infrastructure capable of removing or disabling access to unlawful, illicit, or infringing content within the mandated 36-hour window upon receiving actual knowledge or a court order, and within 24 hours for non-consensual explicit content.
In the event of any legal claim, liability, or damages arising from a user's unlawful actions or content, Japale reserves the right to seek full legal indemnity and recover all associated costs from the responsible user.
7. Third-Party Services & Direct Monetization
The App uses the following external services and direct sponsorship structures to support operational continuity:
- Direct Business Sponsorships & Curated Advertisements: To maintain the operational continuity of Japale without compromising user privacy, we do not utilize third-party programmatic ad networks or behavioral tracking SDKs (such as Google AdMob). Instead, we display curated promotional banners and video advertisements via direct business partnerships. All ad delivery functions strictly via static asset rendering from our secure infrastructure. We DO NOT share, lease, sell, or disclose your personal data, tracking metrics, or profiles with any of our direct sponsors or advertisers.
- Google Firebase: We utilize Google Firebase Core and Cloud Messaging SDKs strictly for application stability, telemetry error logging, and delivering critical devotional push notifications. Google Privacy Policy
- Supabase Cloud Infrastructure: Our primary database, real-time WebSocket messaging, and secure authentication are hosted via Supabase Cloud in Southeast Asia (Singapore) with end-to-end TLS encryption. Supabase Privacy Policy
- Vosk Offline Speech Engine: For our G3 Voice Chanting feature, we integrate the Vosk offline speech recognition library. The acoustic recognition model runs 100% locally on your hardware; zero voice audio leaves your device.
- Google Fonts: We use Google Fonts (Poppins) for typography rendering. Google Fonts Privacy Policy
8. Age Restriction (18+) & Children's Privacy
Japale is intended solely for users who are 18 years of age or older. Age verification is strictly enforced via a mandatory Date of Birth declaration at the time of account creation. We do not rely on implied consent and do not knowingly process personal data of minors. If our administration verifies that an account belongs to an individual under 18 without verifiable parental consent, that profile and all associated data will be terminated and purged immediately. Parental Erasure Notice: If you are a parent or legal guardian and discover that an underage child has created an account, please contact our Grievance Officer at contact@sewakcommunity.in with the subject line "Minor Data Erasure Request". We will verify and permanently erase the minor's account and all associated personal data within a legally reasonable timeframe (not exceeding 72 hours).
9. Reporting Abuse and Blocking (UGC Policy)
To keep the Japale ecosystem sacred and safe, users have the ability to explicitly "Report" any objectionable content (posts, comments, or chats) or "Block" abusive users directly within the app. Our team reviews reported content promptly and takes immediate action, including permanent account termination, for any violations of our guidelines.
10. Copyright & Intellectual Property
As a social network, users must only post content (images, texts, audio) that they have the right to share. Japale respects intellectual property rights. If any copyrighted material is posted without authorization, we will remove the content immediately upon receiving a valid takedown notice. As an Intermediary, Japale holds no legal liability for user-uploaded copyrighted materials.
11. Device Permissions & Microphone Usage
Japale operates with strict respect for your device privacy. We request access to your device's hardware (e.g., Microphone, Camera, or Storage) strictly on an "as-needed" basis when you actively choose to use a specific interactive feature.
- Microphone (G3 Voice Chanting): When you use the Voice Chanting mode, we require microphone access. This access is active only during the chanting session. All voice data is processed 100% locally on your device. We NEVER record, store, or transmit your voice data to our servers.
- No Background Access: We never access your microphone or camera in the background. Explicit user permission is always required before any access is granted, and access is immediately released when the feature is closed.
12. User Data Deletion & Account Removal (In-App & Web Routes)
We respect your privacy and give you full control over your personal data. You can request permanent account and data deletion by visiting our dedicated Data Deletion Policy Page, or initiate the process instantly and directly by using the 'Delete Account' option located under the 'Settings' menu inside the Japale Application.
When you request account deletion, your public data—including posts, profile, comments, chats, and chanting records—will be removed from the platform within 90 days of your request. In addition, in compliance with Rule 3(1)(h) of the IT Rules, 2021, your basic registration data and activity logs are retained for a mandatory statutory period of 180 days for law enforcement and investigation purposes, after which all residual data is permanently purged. However, to enforce our Zero-Tolerance Policy and prevent permanently banned or abusive users from recreating accounts to harm the community, we reserve the legitimate security right under Section 8(1)(f) of the DPDP Act, 2023 and Google Play Security Guidelines to retain necessary anonymized security records and platform integrity attestation logs within our restricted database tables. These security records cannot be used to expose your personal identity and are used exclusively by our administration and platform security rules to prevent banned offenders from re-accessing the ecosystem.
Granular Data Retention Schedule (Active vs. Deleted Accounts):
- Active Profile & Social Data (Posts, Chants, Avatar): Retained actively while your account remains open to provide devotional social features. You can modify or delete individual posts anytime in-app.
- Chat History & Direct Messages: Stored securely in our encrypted database until deleted by participants or upon account deletion.
- Client Telemetry & Error Logs: Retained for a maximum of 90 days for technical debugging and crash resolution, after which they are automatically rotated and deleted.
- Post-Deletion Residual Logs: Exactly 180 days from the date of account deletion/withdrawal, as mandated by Rule 3(1)(h) of Indian Cyber Law, after which complete server erasure is executed.
13. User Content License
While you retain full ownership of the content (posts, images, comments) you create and share on Japale, by posting it, you grant us a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free license to host, store, display, and distribute your content solely for the purpose of operating and providing the App's social features. You can revoke this license by deleting your content or account.
14. Limitation of Liability, Disclaimers & User Disputes
The Japale App is provided on an "AS-IS" and "AS-AVAILABLE" basis. To the maximum extent permitted by law, Japale and its founders shall not be liable for any indirect, incidental, server crashes, data loss, or emotional damages arising out of your use of the App or any user-generated content. We do not guarantee that the app will always be error-free or uninterrupted.
User Disputes: You are solely responsible for your interactions with other users. Japale reserves the right, but has no obligation, to monitor disputes between you and other users. We take no responsibility for any personal conflicts that arise on the platform.
Data Hosting & Cross-Border Transfers: Japale is founded and operated out of India, and our administrative operations are based in India. However, to ensure high-availability cloud infrastructure, our primary database servers are securely hosted via Supabase in the Southeast Asia (Singapore) region. Consent for data processing and cross-border transfer is obtained through explicit, affirmative action (such as ticking an unticked checkbox) during the account registration process, in strict compliance with the DPDP Act, 2023. We ensure that all cross-border data flows comply strictly with the security safeguards and data principal rights mandated under the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act, 2023 of India.
15. Severability
If any provision of this Privacy Policy and Terms of Service (such as specific dispute resolution clauses) is found to be unenforceable or invalid under any applicable law by a competent court, such unenforceability or invalidity shall not render the entire document invalid. The remaining provisions will continue in full force and effect.
16. Client Diagnostic & Telemetry Logs
As a native Flutter mobile application, Japale does not use or rely on web browser cookies. Whenever you use our App, in the event of an error or application crash, we collect standard technical diagnostic logs (through secure client telemetry) strictly to improve app stability and resolve technical bugs. This diagnostic data may include your device Internet Protocol (“IP”) address, operating system version, app configuration timestamp, and crash stack traces. This data is processed exclusively for technical troubleshooting and is never shared with advertisers or third parties.
17. Security Disclaimer
We value your trust in providing us your Personal Information, thus we are striving to use commercially acceptable means of protecting it. But remember that no method of transmission over the internet, or method of electronic storage is 100% secure and reliable, and we cannot guarantee its absolute security.
18. Links to Other Sites
This Service may contain links to other sites. If you click on a third-party link, you will be directed to that site. Note that these external sites are not operated by us. Therefore, we strongly advise you to review the Privacy Policy of these websites. We have no control over and assume no responsibility for the content, privacy policies, or practices of any third-party sites or services.
19. Business Transfers
If Japale or Sewak Community is involved in a merger, acquisition, structural reorganization, or asset transfer, your personal information may be transferred as part of that continuity of service. We do not and will never sell your personal data.
Any transfer of user data during such business transactions will comply strictly with the purpose-limitation and fresh notice guidelines of the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act, 2023. We will provide prior transparent notification of any ownership change, ensuring your rights as a Data Principal remain fully protected under law.
20. Changes to This Privacy Policy
We may update our Privacy Policy from time to time. Thus, you are advised to review this page periodically for any changes. We will notify you of any changes by posting the new Privacy Policy on this page. Consent for data processing and cross-border transfer is obtained through explicit, affirmative action (such as ticking an unticked checkbox) during the account registration process, in strict compliance with the DPDP Act, 2023.
21. Contact Us
If you have any questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or our data practices, please contact us at:
Email: contact@sewakcommunity.in