गोपनीयता धोरण | Privacy Policy

1. Introduction & Overview

Aaple Gaav ("Our Village") is an official digital civic platform designed to provide rural citizens with local village administration services, online property and water tax payments, village announcements, community civic forums, and emergency directory services.

This Privacy Policy applies to the Aaple Gaav mobile application and the web portal hosted at https://apalegav.in. We are committed to protecting user privacy and ensuring full compliance with the Google Play Developer Distribution Agreement and User Data Policy.

2. Information We Collect

We only collect information strictly necessary to provide village civic services:

• Personal Identity Information: Full name, gender, mobile phone number (verified via OTP), blood group, house address, and ward/lane (galli) for resident identification and civic verification.
• Civic & Financial Transaction Data: Assessment numbers, house and water tax due amounts, payment amounts, payment modes (UPI apps such as GPay, PhonePe, Paytm), transaction reference numbers (UTR), and receipt details. We never store bank credentials, debit/credit card numbers, or UPI PINs.
• User-Generated Media: Profile avatar photos, business storefront photos, and civic complaint photos voluntarily uploaded by citizens via camera or gallery.
• Device & Technical Diagnostics: Device model, operating system version, and network status to ensure reliable app operation and offline caching.

3. Device Permissions & Purpose of Use

• CAMERA (android.permission.CAMERA): Required solely when the user chooses to take a profile photograph or capture a live photo of a village issue/complaint.
• STORAGE / MEDIA (READ_MEDIA_IMAGES / READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE): Required to select existing photos from the device gallery for posts or profile updates.
• INTERNET (android.permission.INTERNET): Required to communicate with the village portal server, fetch notices, and process tax records.
• DOWNLOAD_WITHOUT_NOTIFICATION / WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE: Required to download official tax payment receipts and village certificates in PDF format.

4. How We Use Collected Information

• To verify resident identity and allocate official village tax receipts upon administrative confirmation.
• To broadcast critical village notices, water supply schedules, and government welfare scheme announcements.
• To maintain voluntary emergency donor registries (blood donors, emergency services) accessible by fellow villagers during medical crises.
• To operate the community citizen feed allowing residents to discuss local developments and report sanitation or infrastructure issues.

5. Data Sharing & Third-Party Disclosure

We do NOT sell, rent, monetize, or trade any user personal information to commercial advertising networks, marketing firms, or unrelated third parties.

Data is shared strictly with:

• Village Gram Panchayat Administration: For official tax verification, civic services, and public notices.
• Secure UPI Payment Gateways: When the user initiates a tax payment via installed UPI apps on their device.

6. Data Security & Storage

All communications between the Aaple Gaav application and our servers are encrypted using standard Transport Layer Security (HTTPS/TLS 256-bit encryption). Data is stored on secure, access-controlled databases with strict role-based administrative permissions.

7. Account & Data Deletion (Google Play Data Safety Compliance)

In full compliance with Google Play's Account Deletion Policy, users have the absolute right to request the deletion of their account and all associated personal data.

8. Children's Privacy Protection

Our service is designed for village adult residents and family heads. We do not knowingly collect personal identifiable information from children under 13 years of age. If we discover that a child under 13 has provided us with personal information, we will immediately delete such data.

9. Contact Us

For any inquiries, privacy concerns, or data protection questions, please contact our Data Governance Desk: