Sri Akal Takht Sahib Symbol

Privacy Policy for the Shiromani Akali Dal Bharti committee's Membership Drive

Effective Date: May 19,2025

Version: 1.0

This Privacy Policy explains how we collects, uses, discloses, and protects your personal data when you participate in our Membership Drive through our website at https://akalidalbharti.com/.

We are committed to protecting the privacy and security of your personal data in accordance with applicable laws, and principles of international data protection standards.

By using the Website and participating in the Membership Drive, you agree to the collection and use of your information in accordance with this policy.

1. Who We Are

Bharti Committee formed under the guidance of Sri Akal Takht Sahib, in strict accordance with the directives of the hukamnama dated 2 dec,2024 aiming to connect with and enroll members for the Shiromani Akali Dal from the Punjabi community residing across India and internationally.

2. Personal Data We Collect

We collect personal data that you voluntarily provide to us when you register for membership through the Website. The types of personal data collected directly correspond to the fields on our membership registration form:

  • Identity Information: * Your Full Name
  • Your Father's or Husband's Name
  • Your Gender
  • Your Age
  • Contact Information: * Your Mobile Number
  • Your Email Address (Optional)
  • Geographic/Location Information: * Your Country of Residence
  • Your State or Province
  • Your City, Town, or Village
  • Your selected MLA Area (where you belong to in Punjab if applicable) (Optional)

  • Identity Document Information: * Your selected Identity Document Type

  • Your Identity Document Number

  • Membership Preferences / Contributions: * Your preferred area(s) of service or impact within the party.This indicates how you would like to contribute to party activities and goals.

    • Any suggestions you provide.
  • Consent Records: * Your confirmation of agreement to our Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions (data_consent).
  • Your Declaration that the information provided is true and accurate (declaration_consent).
  • Technical Data: * Your IP Address (registration_ip) when you submit the registration form.
  • Application timestamps (application_date).

3. How We Use Your Personal Data

We use the personal data collected for the following purposes:

  • Processing and Managing Your Membership Application: To review, verify , and process your application for membership in the Shiromani Akali Dal.
  • Membership Administration: If your application is successful, to maintain your membership record, assign a membership number, and manage your status.
  • Communication: To communicate with you regarding your application status, OTP verification, important party updates, events, and activities relevant to members.
  • Organizing Party Activities & Member Engagement: To facilitate the organization of party activities, events, and chapter structures, based on members' geographic location. Information about your preferred areas of service is used to potentially connect you with relevant party activities, teams, or initiatives that align with your interests (e.g., contacting members interested in 'Social Media' for social media campaigns).
  • Understanding Member Profile: To analyze demographic information (age, gender, location) and preferred areas of service in an aggregated and anonymized form to better understand the profile and interests of our global member base.
  • Security and Compliance: To maintain the security and integrity of our membership database, prevent fraudulent registrations, log system activities (including IP addresses), and comply with legal, regulatory, or party internal audit requirements.
  • Improving the Drive: To analyze data about the drive's reach and effectiveness (in an aggregated form).

4. Legal Basis for Processing

We process your personal data based on:

  • Consent: Primarily based on your explicit consent provided during the registration process (through the data_consent and declaration_consent checkboxes). You have the right to withdraw your consent at any time (see Section 9).
  • Legitimate Interests: For certain processing activities, such as maintaining the security of the Website, preventing fraud, internal administration, and analytics (where privacy-preserving techniques are used).
  • Legal Obligation: To comply with any legal or regulatory obligations that may apply to the membership drive.

5. How We Share Your Personal Data

We may share your personal data with:

  • Authorized Party Personnel and Volunteers: Relevant staff, office bearers, and authorized volunteers within Party who require access to your data for processing applications, membership administration, communication, and organizing party activities.Access is strictly limited based on roles and responsibilities.
  • Service Providers: Third-party vendors, consultants, and other service providers who perform services on our behalf, such as website hosting, data storage, SMS/WhatsApp gateway providers , and potentially analytics providers. These service providers are contractually obligated to protect your data and use it only for the purposes for which we disclose it to them.
  • Legal and Regulatory Authorities: If required by law, court order, or regulatory authority.
  • Successors: In the event of a merger, acquisition, or restructuring of the party, your personal data may be transferred to the successor entity.

We DO NOT sell, rent, or trade your personal data to third parties for their marketing purposes.

6. International Data Transfers

As an international membership drive, your personal data will be collected, stored, and processed in India and potentially in other countries where our service providers operate. These countries may have different data protection laws than your country of residence.

  • By providing your data, you consent to the transfer, storage, and processing of your data outside your country of residence, including to India.
  • When we transfer data to service providers outside India or countries with adequate data protection laws, we strive to implement appropriate safeguards, such as standard contractual clauses or other legally recognized mechanisms, where required.

7. How We Protect Your Personal Data

We implement reasonable technical, administrative, and physical security measures designed to protect your personal data from unauthorized access, disclosure, use, alteration, or destruction. These measures include:

  • Access controls to limit who can view your personal data.
  • Use of secure connections (HTTPS) for data transmission.
  • Secure storage of data.
  • Hashing or encryption where appropriate.
  • Regular review of our security practices.

However, please be aware that no security system is impenetrable, and we cannot guarantee the absolute security of your data.

8. Data Retention

We retain your personal data only for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes for which it was collected, including for the duration of your membership and for a reasonable period thereafter to meet legal, accounting, or reporting requirements, or for internal party record-keeping.

  • Membership application data for successful applicants will be retained as part of the membership record.
  • Membership application data for unsuccessful or withdrawn applications may be retained for a limited period for audit and record-keeping purposes.
  • Verification attempt records (including OTPs and timestamps) are retained for audit, security, and troubleshooting purposes for a limited period.
  • Technical data like IP addresses is retained for security and logging purposes for a limited duration.

When your personal data is no longer required, we will securely delete or anonymize it.

9. Your Rights

Under applicable data protection laws, including the DPDP Bill, you have certain rights regarding your personal data. These rights may include:

  • Right to Access Information: You have the right to obtain information about your personal data that we hold, including the categories of data, the purposes of processing, and recipients of the data.
  • Right to Correction (Rectification): You have the right to request that we correct or update any inaccurate, incomplete, or misleading personal data we hold about you.
  • Right to Erasure (Deletion): You have the right to request the deletion of your personal data under certain circumstances. Please note that we may not be able to delete data if we have a legal obligation to retain it or a compelling legitimate interest.
  • Right to Withdraw Consent: You have the right to withdraw your consent for processing your personal data at any time, where processing is based on your consent. Withdrawing consent may affect your ability to maintain your membership or participate in certain activities.
  • Right to Grievance Redressal: You have the right to approach our designated Grievance Officer to resolve any grievances you may have regarding the processing of your personal data.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us using the details provided in Section 10. We will respond to your request in accordance with applicable law. We may need to verify your identity before processing your request.

10. How to Exercise Your Rights and Contact Us (Grievance Redressal)

If you have any questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy, the processing of your personal data, or to exercise your rights, please contact us:

11. Cookies and Other Technologies

Our Website may use cookies and similar technologies to improve your browsing experience, analyze website traffic, and for security purposes (e.g., for the Captcha). You can manage your cookie preferences through your browser settings.

12. 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 party activities. When we make material changes, we will notify you by posting the updated policy on the Website with a new "Effective Date" and version number. We encourage you to review this policy periodically.