Privacy Policy | Kalinga Matrimony

1. About this Privacy Policy

Kalinga Matrimony helps adult members of the worldwide Kalinga community discover and connect with potential marriage partners, independently or with the assistance of authorised family members.

Kalinga Matrimony is operated by Kalinga Matrimony Welfare Society, with its registered address at 003-775/GOVINDA NAGAR, BALAGA (RURAL), Srikakulam, Andhra Pradesh, India, 532001 ("Kalinga Matrimony", "we", "us" or "our"). This entity is responsible for the personal information processed through our services and acts as the data fiduciary or data controller where applicable.

This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, retain and protect personal information when you visit Kalingamatrimony.org, create or manage a profile, use our matching and shortlisting features, interact with our AI assistant, purchase a subscription or contact us.

It applies to visitors, registered members, prospective members, authorised family representatives and individuals whose information is submitted to us.

This Policy explains our practices. It does not replace any separate consent required for a particular activity. Simply visiting our website does not constitute consent to optional marketing, non-essential tracking or unrelated use of your information.

2. Who may use our services

Our services are intended only for individuals aged 18 or above. Every person represented in a matrimonial profile must also be at least 18.

Members must separately satisfy the marriage eligibility requirements that apply to them. Meeting our minimum account age does not establish legal eligibility to marry in every jurisdiction.

Parents and family members may assist an adult member only with that person's knowledge and authorisation. Parental involvement does not permit the creation of a profile for a minor.

If we discover that a profile represents a person under 18, we will restrict access and take steps to delete the associated information, except for limited records that must lawfully be retained to address misuse or meet legal obligations.

You can report an underage or unauthorised profile using the contact details in Section 20.

3. Personal information we collect

The information we collect depends on the features you use. Required fields are identified when information is requested. Optional information can be omitted, although this may affect the relevant feature or the detail available for matching.

Account and contact information

This may include your name, email address, mobile number, account identifier, authentication details, preferred language, country of residence and account preferences.

If you manage a profile for someone else, we also collect your name, contact details, relationship to that person and information needed to establish your authority.

Matrimonial profile information

Depending on what you provide, this may include:

Name, age or date of birth, gender, marital status and photographs.
Country, state, city, nationality and residency information.
Education, occupation, professional background and income range.
Languages, interests, lifestyle preferences and personal introduction.
Religious beliefs, community, sub-community, caste, gotra and cultural preferences.
Birth time, birthplace, horoscope or other astrological details.
Family background and information about family involvement.
Partner preferences, including age range, location, education and other matching criteria.

Only provide information that you are comfortable sharing for the purposes explained when it is collected. Avoid placing identification numbers, full residential addresses, financial credentials or other unnecessary private information in your profile.

Information requiring additional care

Some profile details, including religious beliefs, ethnic origin and any voluntarily disclosed health or disability information, may receive special protection under applicable law.

Where required, we obtain separate, explicit consent before processing such information. Its collection, use for matching and visibility to other members are explained through the relevant forms and privacy choices. You may withdraw the relevant consent by contacting us or using the available settings.

Verification information

Where verification is offered, we may collect the information needed for the particular check, such as contact verification results, identity documents, photographs or confirmation from a verification provider.

The verification process will explain what is required, why it is required, who performs the check and how long the submitted material is retained. Any facial matching or biometric processing requires a separate explanation and any legally required consent before it takes place.

Verification documents are not displayed on member profiles. A verification badge describes a completed check; it is not a guarantee of a person's intentions, background or suitability.

Do not send identity documents through ordinary profile messages or the AI chatbot. Use only the designated verification process.

Interactions and communications

We collect information about activity within our services, which may include searches, shortlists, interests sent or received, profile interactions, messages, attachments, reports, blocks and support requests.

When you contact support or report another user, we collect the information and supporting material you provide to investigate and respond.

AI assistant interactions

When you use our AI assistant, we process your questions, information you submit, generated responses, feedback and relevant session information. Depending on the feature you request, the assistant may also process relevant profile information and matching preferences.

Section 8 explains this processing in more detail.

Payment and subscription information

For paid services, we collect subscription details, billing information, transaction references, payment status, invoices, renewal information and refund records.

Payments are handled through the payment provider identified at checkout. We do not ask you to disclose your card PIN, CVV, banking password or payment OTP to our staff or chatbot. Payment credentials submitted directly to a payment provider are processed under that provider's privacy and security terms.

Device and usage information

We may collect IP addresses, browser and device characteristics, operating system information, access times, referring pages, session identifiers, error reports and information about how features are used.

IP addresses may indicate an approximate location. Any feature that requests precise device location will explain its purpose and request permission before access.

Information from other sources

We may receive information from an authorised family representative, a verification provider, a payment provider, another member reporting a concern or a third-party sign-in service you choose to use.

If you use third-party sign-in, we receive the information authorised through that service, such as your name, email address and account identifier.

4. Profiles managed by parents or family members

If you create or manage a profile for another adult, you must:

Obtain their informed authorisation before submitting their information.
Give them access to this Privacy Policy.
Ensure they understand what will appear on their profile and who may access it.
Obtain any additional consent required for sensitive information.
Keep their information accurate and respect their privacy choices.
Stop managing the profile if they withdraw your authority.

Family representatives' own contact information is also covered by this Policy.

The person represented in a profile may contact us directly to request access, correction, restriction, removal or a change in profile management. We may verify their identity and the representative's authority before acting.

If authority is disputed, we may temporarily restrict the profile while we investigate. An ordinary family relationship does not override the adult member's privacy rights. Any legally recognised guardianship arrangement will be assessed under applicable law.

5. How and why we use personal information

We use personal information for the following purposes:

Account administration: creating accounts, authenticating access, maintaining preferences and providing account support.
Profile presentation: creating and displaying matrimonial profiles according to the member's permissions and visibility settings.
Matching and discovery: using profile details, preferences and relevant activity to generate search results and recommendations.
Member communication: enabling interests, introductions, messages and authorised contact sharing.
Family assistance: supporting profile management and collaboration authorised by the person represented.
Verification and safety: checking information, investigating reports, detecting impersonation, preventing fraud and enforcing platform rules.
AI assistance: responding to questions, explaining features and providing the assistance you request.
Payments: administering subscriptions, payments, invoices, renewals and refunds.
Service communications: sending verification messages, security alerts, account notices and updates related to your use of the service.
Optional marketing: sending offers or promotional communications where permitted and in accordance with your preferences.
Service improvement: understanding feature usage, resolving errors and improving reliability and usability.
Legal obligations: maintaining required records, responding to valid legal requests and establishing or defending legal claims.

We limit processing to information reasonably needed for the relevant purpose. If we intend to use your information for a materially different purpose, we will provide further notice and obtain consent where required.

6. Legal grounds and consent

We process personal information on the grounds permitted by the law applicable to the activity.

In India, this includes consent and any other processing grounds specifically permitted by applicable law. Where European, UK or similar laws apply, processing may be based on consent, steps requested before entering a contract, performance of a contract, legal obligations or legitimate interests where permitted.

Legitimate interests may include protecting members against fraud, securing our systems and improving service reliability. Where we rely on this ground, we assess the impact on your rights and interests.

We obtain additional consent for sensitive information, optional marketing, tracking or other activities where required.

You may withdraw consent using the relevant controls or by contacting us. Withdrawal does not affect processing that was lawful before withdrawal. We will explain if withdrawing consent prevents us from providing a feature that depends on the information.

Accepting our Terms of Use does not automatically constitute consent to every optional use of personal information.

7. Profile visibility and information shared with members

Information selected for your matrimonial profile is intended to be viewed by other eligible members for matchmaking, subject to the visibility options available and your selected permissions.

Our standard matrimonial profiles are intended for access within the member service. We do not intentionally publish them as publicly searchable web pages without separate permission.

Your selected visibility settings determine which profile details and photographs other members can access. Contact details are shared through the permissions and contact-sharing process explained in the service. Purchasing a premium plan does not override another member's privacy choices.

Messages are made available to their intended recipients. Authorised profile managers may also access information and communications within the permissions assigned to them.

Authorised personnel or service providers may access relevant account information, messages or reports when necessary for support, safety investigations, service operation or legal obligations. Access is restricted according to the task.

Other members may save, copy, photograph or share information they have already viewed. We prohibit misuse, but cannot guarantee that recipients will never retain or redistribute information. Changing visibility or deleting an account cannot automatically retrieve copies already held outside our systems.

If someone misuses your information, report the incident promptly.

8. AI assistance and automated recommendations

Our AI assistant supports activities such as understanding the service, navigating registration, explaining membership features and helping you express preferences.

Where relevant to your request, we may send your prompt and the minimum necessary supporting information to an AI service provider.

AI provider and processing details: [insert provider name, information transmitted, processing locations, conversation retention period, any provider human-review arrangements, and link to its applicable privacy information].

Chatbot conversations may be retained and reviewed by authorised personnel for support, safety, troubleshooting and quality assessment as described in the retention information above.

We do not use private messages, verification documents or identifiable chatbot conversations to train general-purpose AI models, or permit our AI providers to do so. Any proposed use outside this commitment would require a separate explanation and an appropriate legal basis, including separate consent where required.

Do not submit passwords, payment credentials, full identity-document numbers, unnecessary medical information or another person's private information to the chatbot.

Matching tools may rank or recommend profiles using factors such as stated preferences, profile details, location and relevant interactions. These recommendations can influence which profiles you see first. They are suggestions and do not establish compatibility or determine whom you should marry.

AI responses can be incomplete or inaccurate. You can contact support to question a recommendation, correct relevant information or request human review of an account restriction or other decision affecting you.

Where applicable law gives you rights concerning decisions made solely through automated processing, we will honour those rights.

9. When we disclose personal information

We disclose personal information only for the purposes described in this Policy and where permitted by law.

Other members and authorised representatives

We disclose profile information, communications and approved contact information as described in Section 7.

Service providers

We use providers for functions such as hosting, storage, authentication, communications, payments, verification, customer support, analytics, security and AI assistance.

Providers acting on our behalf receive access appropriate to their role and are subject to contractual confidentiality, security and processing restrictions. Where a provider acts independently, such as for certain payment or identity services, its own privacy policy also applies.

Details of the providers relevant to your use of the service are available at [service-provider information page URL].

Professional advisers

We may disclose necessary information to legal, accounting, audit and other professional advisers subject to appropriate confidentiality obligations.

Legal and safety disclosures

We may disclose information when required by applicable law, a valid legal process or a lawful government request, or where otherwise legally permitted to address fraud, threats, serious misuse or the protection of rights and safety.

We assess requests and limit disclosures to information appropriate to the circumstances.

Business transactions

If the business is involved in a merger, acquisition, restructuring or transfer, relevant information may be disclosed to advisers and prospective or actual counterparties under appropriate safeguards.

If responsibility for your information changes, we will provide notice where required. A business transaction does not remove your statutory rights.

Disclosures you authorise

We may share information for a specific additional purpose that you request or separately authorise.

We do not sell or rent personal information. We do not disclose member information for third parties' own direct marketing or cross-context behavioural advertising.

10. Cookies and similar technologies

We use cookies, local storage and similar technologies to support website operation.

These technologies may be used for:

Essential functions: authentication, security, session management and payment continuity.
Preferences: remembering selected language, display settings or other choices.
Analytics: understanding feature usage and identifying errors, subject to applicable consent requirements.

Where consent is required, non-essential technologies will not operate before you make the relevant choice. You can change your choice through the website's cookie controls or contact us for assistance.

Our cookie information, including the technologies used, their providers, purposes and durations, is available at [cookie notice or preferences URL].

You can also control cookies through your browser. Blocking essential cookies may prevent some features from working.

If we introduce advertising technologies or materially change tracking practices, we will update the relevant notices and obtain consent where required.

11. Communications and marketing preferences

We may contact you through the channels you provide or enable, including email, SMS, telephone, messaging services or notifications.

Service communications may include authentication messages, security alerts, payment information, responses to support requests and notices about your account.

You can manage optional communications through available preferences, unsubscribe instructions or the contact details below. For optional communications through services such as WhatsApp, the relevant messaging provider also processes delivery information under its own terms.

Opting out of marketing does not prevent necessary account, security, legal or transaction-related messages.

We will not publish your profile, photographs, wedding information, testimonial or success story for publicity without separate permission covering that use.

12. International processing

Kalinga Matrimony serves members in different countries. Your information may be accessed by members you connect with abroad and processed by our personnel or providers outside your country of residence.

Our principal hosting and processing locations are [insert countries or link to an accurate location list].

Privacy laws in other countries may differ from those in your country. Where international-transfer rules apply, we use the safeguards or other lawful transfer arrangements required for the relevant transfer and comply with applicable restrictions.

Where legally required, these arrangements may include approved contractual protections. You may contact us for information about applicable safeguards and how to obtain a copy, subject to necessary redactions.

13. How long we retain information

We retain personal information for as long as reasonably necessary for the purpose for which it was collected, subject to applicable legal requirements.

Retention is determined by the type of information, account status, purpose of processing, sensitivity, safety requirements, unresolved disputes and any mandatory recordkeeping period.

In particular:

Account and profile information is retained while needed to provide the account and processed for deletion when the account is closed or the information is no longer needed.
Messages and interactions are retained as necessary to provide communications and address legitimate support, safety or dispute needs.
Verification material is retained for the period disclosed during verification. Where possible, a limited verification result is retained instead of the underlying document.
AI conversations are retained for the period disclosed in Section 8.
Billing and transaction records are retained for applicable accounting, tax, payment and dispute requirements.
Security logs and abuse reports are retained for justified security, investigation and legal purposes.
Consent and preference records are retained as necessary to demonstrate and respect your choices.
Backup copies are removed through the normal backup-expiry cycle and remain protected while retained.

Information retained following account deletion is restricted to the continuing purpose. It is not kept available as an active matrimonial profile.

We may retain statistics that have been irreversibly anonymised so they no longer identify you.

14. Account closure and deletion

You may request account closure and deletion through the available account controls or by contacting us.

Following appropriate verification, we will disable the profile and process deletion within the applicable legal timeframe. We will explain any information that must be retained, the reason for retention and any relevant limits on your request.

Hiding a profile, logging out or cancelling a subscription does not necessarily delete the account or associated information. Deletion also does not automatically determine any payment or refund entitlement, which is addressed separately in the applicable subscription terms.

Messages or information previously received by other members may remain in their possession or communication records where permitted by law. We cannot delete copies independently stored by other people.

Where providers process information on our behalf, we will communicate deletion requests as required, subject to lawful retention obligations.

15. Security and incident response

We maintain technical and organisational measures appropriate to the nature of the information and the risks of processing it. These include access restrictions, secure transmission, safeguards for authentication, monitoring and procedures for handling security incidents.

Access to personal information is limited to authorised people and providers who need it for an approved purpose.

No website, communication method or storage system can guarantee absolute security. You should protect your login credentials, avoid sharing OTPs and notify us promptly if you suspect unauthorised account access.

If a personal data breach occurs, we will investigate, take appropriate remedial steps and notify affected individuals and competent authorities when required by applicable law.

16. Your privacy rights

Depending on the law applicable to your information, you may have rights to:

Obtain information about how your personal information is processed.
Access personal information or receive an applicable summary of processing and disclosures.
Correct inaccurate information and complete incomplete information.
Request deletion of information.
Withdraw consent.
Object to or request restriction of certain processing.
Receive a portable copy of information where this right applies.
Opt out of applicable marketing or certain advertising-related processing.
Request safeguards or human review for qualifying automated decisions.
Raise a grievance or complain to a competent authority.
Nominate another person to exercise applicable rights in the event of death or incapacity, where provided by law.

These rights may be subject to legal conditions and exceptions. Rights under legislation with phased commencement apply when the relevant provisions are in force.

You can make a request using the details in Section 20. A paid subscription is not required to submit a privacy request.

We may request proportionate information to verify your identity or an authorised representative's authority. We will not request more information than reasonably needed for that purpose.

We will respond within the timeframe required by applicable law. If we cannot fulfil a request, we will explain the reason and any available complaint or appeal process, unless legally prohibited.

17. Additional information for international users

Where European Economic Area or UK data protection law applies, you may exercise the applicable access, correction, deletion, restriction, objection and portability rights described above. You may object to direct marketing and withdraw consent at any time. You may also complain to your competent supervisory authority.

Where California or another US state privacy law applies to our processing, eligible residents may exercise the rights provided by that law, including applicable access, correction, deletion and opt-out rights. We will not unlawfully discriminate against you for exercising them.

We do not sell personal information or share it for cross-context behavioural advertising. If our practices change, we will provide the required notice and choices before commencing the relevant activity.

Where recognised by applicable law, you may use an authorised agent, submit an appeal or use a recognised opt-out preference signal for the processing to which that signal applies.

Any additional jurisdiction-specific notice or legally required representative details are available at [regional privacy notice URL, including EU/UK representative details if required].

18. External services and links

Our website may link to third-party websites, payment services, sign-in providers, communication tools or other external services.

Those services may independently collect information when you use them. Their own privacy notices govern that processing.

This Policy does not govern information you share directly with another person outside Kalinga Matrimony, including through telephone calls, email, social media or external messaging services.

19. Changes to this Policy

We may update this Policy to reflect changes to our services, processing practices or legal obligations.

The current version will be available on this page with its effective and last-updated dates. For material changes, we will provide additional notice through an appropriate channel where required.

Where a change requires new consent, we will request it before carrying out the relevant processing. Continued use of the service will not substitute for consent where an affirmative choice is legally required.

20. Contact us

For privacy requests, questions about this Policy, or to report an underage, unauthorised or misused profile, contact:

Operating entity: Kalinga Matrimony Welfare Society
Website: kalingamatrimony.org
Registered address: 003-775/GOVINDA NAGAR, BALAGA (RURAL), Srikakulam, Andhra Pradesh, India, 532001
Customer support email: Kalingamatrimonyorg@gmail.com
Contact number: +91 7337497949

Please include your account identifier (such as your Unique Member ID) and a description of your request. Do not include passwords, OTPs, full payment credentials or unnecessary identity documents.