JayamHari Foundation ("JayamHari Foundation", "we", "us") is committed to protecting the privacy and dignity of every person who interacts with us — donors, volunteers, visitors, partners, and the children, women and families in our programmes.

This Privacy Policy explains what information we collect, how we use it, who we share it with, and the rights you have. It applies to the website https://jayamharifoundation.org and to information we collect offline in the course of our work.

01 Who this policy covers

This policy applies to personal information of:

• Donors — individuals and organisations that contribute to our programmes.
• Volunteers, interns & field ambassadors — people who give time or skill.
• Partners & corporate sponsors — organisations that work with us.
• Website visitors — anyone who browses our Website or fills a form.
• Beneficiaries — children, women and families in our programmes, with additional protections described below.

02 What we collect

Information you give us directly

• Contact details: name, email, phone number, postal address.
• Donation details: amount, date, payment reference, PAN (for 80G receipts).
• Volunteer details: areas of interest, availability, relevant skills or qualifications, emergency contact, and (where applicable) ID proof required for child-safety screening.
• Communications: messages you send us via email, forms, or social media.
• Photos, testimonials, stories you choose to share with us.

Information we collect automatically

• Technical: IP address, browser type, device type, operating system.
• Usage: pages visited, time on site, referrer URL, approximate location based on IP.
• Cookies and similar technologies (see Section 11).

Beneficiary information (collected through programmes)

• Identification: name, age, gender, village/area, family context.
• Programme-specific: school enrolment, health screening results (for health camps), livelihood status (for women's programmes).
• Supporting documents required for programme enrolment or government scheme linkage.

03 How we collect it

• When you fill in a form on our Website (contact, volunteer, newsletter, donation).
• When you donate through a payment gateway or by bank transfer.
• When you email, call, or message us on social media.
• When you visit us in person at a field site or event.
• When you register for a programme as a beneficiary (with appropriate consent).
• Automatically through cookies and server logs when you use our Website.

04 How we use your information

We use your information for the following purposes, based on the lawful grounds noted:

• To run our charitable programmes — including linking children to schools, scheduling health camps, and delivering livelihood support (legitimate purpose of a charitable organisation).
• To process donations, issue 80G receipts, and maintain statutory records (compliance with law).
• To onboard and manage volunteers, including child-safety screening (consent + legitimate interest).
• To communicate with you — send receipts, impact updates, our monthly letter (you can unsubscribe any time), and respond to queries.
• To improve our Website and services — aggregated, non-identifying analytics.
• To comply with audit, tax, FCRA or regulatory requirements.
• To prevent fraud, abuse, or safeguarding risks.

We will not sell your personal information. We will not share your personal information with third parties for their marketing purposes.

05 Who we share it with

We share personal information only when necessary, and only with:

• Payment processors — to complete donation transactions.
• Banks and tax authorities — as required to process receipts and file compliance reports.
• Auditors — for statutory audits, subject to confidentiality.
• Government agencies — when required by law, court order, or to enable linkage with a government scheme that benefits a programme participant.
• Technology providers — email delivery, cloud hosting, analytics — who process data on our behalf under written data-protection terms.
• Programme partners — when a collaborative programme requires it, with appropriate consent.

06 Photo & story consent

• We obtain verbal or written consent before photographing or filming a beneficiary, and we explain where the content may be used.
• Names may be changed, faces blurred, or details generalised — especially for children and health-sensitive stories.
• We do not use identifying photographs of children in public fundraising communications without specific guardian consent.
• If you are featured in a story or photograph and would like it removed from our active communications, please write to us; we will stop using it in future material.

07 Beneficiary data protection

Personal information about the children, women and families we serve is held with extra care:

• Access is limited to the minimum number of team members required.
• Digital records are stored on access-controlled systems; paper records are kept in locked storage.
• Health data is treated as sensitive personal data and handled with additional safeguards.
• Beneficiary data is not shared with donors, corporate partners, or the public without explicit, informed consent.

08 Children's privacy

Much of our work involves children. We collect personal information about children only with the consent of a parent or legal guardian, and only to the extent needed to run our programmes, link children to schools, or respond to a health need.

Children's personal information is never used for fundraising in a way that identifies them individually without parent/guardian consent.

Our Website is not specifically directed at children under 18. If you believe a child has provided us information through our Website without guardian consent, please contact us and we will delete it.

09 How long we keep data

We retain personal information only as long as needed for the purposes above:

• Donation & financial records: at least 8 years, to comply with tax, audit and FCRA record-keeping obligations.
• Volunteer records: while you are active, and for up to 365 days thereafter unless a longer period is required.
• Beneficiary records: for the duration of the programme and a reasonable period afterward, to enable follow-up support.
• Website analytics: aggregated and anonymised; retained for analysis but not linked to individuals beyond typical log rotation windows.
• Enquiries & email conversations: typically retained for 24 months unless needed longer.

Where legally permitted and operationally reasonable, we delete or anonymise data once it is no longer needed.

10 Your rights

Subject to applicable law (including the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023, once in force), you have the right to:

• Access — ask what information we hold about you.
• Correction — ask us to correct inaccurate or outdated information.
• Erasure — ask us to delete your personal information, subject to legal retention requirements (e.g. audit and tax).
• Withdraw consent — for future processing where consent is our lawful basis.
• Opt out of communications — unsubscribe from our newsletter and promotional emails at any time.
• Nominate — appoint a nominee to exercise your rights in the event of death or incapacity (under the DPDP Act).
• Complain — raise a grievance with our Grievance Officer (see Section 15) or with the Data Protection Board of India once notified.

To exercise any of these rights, email us at info@jayamharifoundation.org. We aim to respond within 30 days.

11 Cookies & analytics

Our Website uses cookies and similar technologies for:

• Strictly necessary — session management, CSRF protection, preferences (these cannot be disabled).
• Analytics — to understand how the Website is used, in aggregate. We use privacy-respecting analytics where possible.
• Third-party embeds — e.g. YouTube video embeds may set cookies on your browser if you play a video.

You can disable cookies in your browser settings. Some parts of the Website may not work correctly if you do.

12 Security

We use reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect personal information — including access controls, encryption in transit (HTTPS), and staff training. No system is perfectly secure; if you have reason to believe your interaction with us is no longer secure, please contact us immediately.

13 International transfers

Some of our technology providers may process data on servers located outside India. Where this happens, we rely on appropriate safeguards (contractual commitments, reputable service providers) to protect your information. We will comply with any additional requirements under Indian law, including the DPDP Act, regarding cross-border transfers once in force.

14 Changes to this policy

We may update this policy periodically to reflect changes in our practices or in applicable law. The updated policy will be posted on this page with a revised "last updated" date. Significant changes will be highlighted on our homepage or via email to donors and volunteers where appropriate.

15 Grievance officer & contact

If you have questions, concerns or wish to exercise any of your rights, please contact our Grievance Officer:

For general enquiries:

Note for internal review: This draft follows generally accepted Indian practice and reflects the direction of the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 (DPDP Act). Before publication, please: (1) have a qualified Indian lawyer review it; (2) assign a named Grievance Officer and complete the contact block; (3) confirm our actual retention periods, analytics tooling, and any cross-border transfers; and (4) align with any donor/funder-mandated privacy clauses.