This Privacy Policy explains how the PSOTS Chhath Puja handles your personal information when you use chhath.psots.in. This Site is built exclusively for the residents of Prestige Song of the South (PSOTS), Bengaluru — it is non-commercial, community-run, and carries no advertising of any kind.

chhath.psots.in is a service of The Kishores, provided to and run on behalf of the PSOTS Chhath Puja at no profit. The Kishores builds and operates the Site's technology, hosting, and messaging (including the WhatsApp helpline); it does not change who the Site is for, who decides how contributions are used, or the non-commercial nature of the event described above.

We respect the trust you place in us when you share your details. Everything collected here serves one purpose: organising a beautiful Chhath Puja celebration for our community.

1. Information You Provide

1.1 Registration & Profile

• Name — to identify your contribution and display it on the public contributors list (shown for every online contribution).
• Flat Number — to confirm you are a PSOTS resident.
• Mobile Number — to send a WhatsApp receipt and to reconcile your payment.
• Email Address — for sign-in (Google or OTP) and committee communication.

1.2 Contribution Details

• Amount contributed — recorded for community financial transparency.
• Payment reconciliation data — for online payments through our Payment Partner (TicVento), we store only what is needed to reconcile the payment: the PSOTS payment reference, TicVento order/session/ticket references where available, the payment status, and the confirmation timestamp.
• Transaction reference — only for contributions recorded by the committee through other channels (for example cash or bank transfer), where you or the committee note a reference.

We do not collect or store your card number, CVV, UPI PIN or credentials, or net-banking details. Those are entered only on the hosted checkout.

1.3 Volunteer Sign-up

If you register as a volunteer, we additionally collect your availability and preferred tasks — used solely for assigning duties on the day of the event.

1.4 Prasad Registration

If you register for Prasad (Kharna/Thekua), we collect the names and headcount of family members collecting, and generate a QR pass tied to your flat — used solely to track and coordinate distribution on event days.

1.5 Support Tickets & Messages

If you raise a complaint or query — via the portal, WhatsApp, or email — we collect your name, phone/email, and the issue description, used solely to resolve it and keep you updated on its status.

2. How Your Data Is Stored

2.1 On Your Device (Browser Cache)

When you sign in, your profile details (name, flat number, photo) are saved locally in your browser so pages load instantly between visits. This local copy is a cache only — the authoritative record lives in our database. It is cleared when you sign out.

When you start an online contribution, your browser also keeps the PSOTS payment reference for that attempt so the status page can show you the result when you return from checkout. No advertising cookies are used. This Site does use Google Analytics (see Section 4), which sets its own analytics cookies.

2.2 In Our Secure Database

Details you submit — contributions, volunteer registrations, Prasad registrations, support tickets, WhatsApp opt-ins — are stored in a Cloudflare D1 database accessible only to authorised committee members. Payment receipt images and event gallery photos are stored in Cloudflare R2, under the same access controls. Cloudflare's infrastructure is ISO 27001 certified and SOC 2 compliant. Data is encrypted at rest and in transit.

3. How We Use Your Information

• To record and verify your contribution to the Chhath Puja 2026 fund.
• To display your name on the public contributors list (shown for every online contribution).
• To send a WhatsApp payment receipt, Prasad pass, and ticket updates (via the WhatsApp Business Platform, through our provider SMS4Power) — sent based on your contribution/registration, not a separate opt-in.
• To send your receipt on Telegram, if you have linked your Telegram account with the PSOTS bot.
• To send general WhatsApp broadcasts (announcements, event reminders) if you've subscribed via the Subscribe page.
• To send a email receipt and contribution confirmation (via ZeptoMail from noreply@chhath.psots.in) when your payment is confirmed.
• To coordinate volunteer duties during the event.
• To maintain transparent financial records for the community.
• To keep you signed in across visits using your browser cache.

4. No Advertising. No Data Sharing.

The only parties who can access your submitted information or related technical data are:

• Authorised committee members — for managing contributions, volunteers, Prasad, and tickets.
• Google — if you sign in via Google OAuth, your basic profile (name, email, photo) passes through Google's systems as per their policy. We do not store your Google credentials.
• Twilio — if you sign in or verify via SMS OTP, your phone number is used solely to deliver the one-time code, via Twilio Verify.
• Cloudflare — as our infrastructure provider, your data resides in their D1 database and R2 storage. Cloudflare cannot read or use your data for their own purposes.
• ZeptoMail — your email address is used solely to deliver transactional receipts. No marketing.
• SMS4Power / WhatsApp Business Platform (Meta) — your WhatsApp number is used solely to deliver one-time codes, payment confirmations and receipts, Prasad passes, and event updates if you have opted in, and to operate our WhatsApp helpline bot. SMS4Power is our business messaging provider on top of Meta's WhatsApp Business Platform.
• Telegram — if you link your Telegram account with the PSOTS bot, receipts and updates are delivered to you through Telegram's systems.
• TicVento (Payment Partner) — when you choose to make an online contribution, the information necessary to create and reconcile your checkout, such as name, mobile number, email address, contribution amount and PSOTS payment reference, is securely transmitted to TicVento. Sensitive payment credentials entered on the hosted checkout are handled by the payment platform and are not stored by PSOTS. TicVento's handling of that information is described in its Privacy Policy (ticvento.com).
• Google Analytics — we use Google Analytics (GA4) on some pages to understand aggregate site usage. Analytics events we send do not include your name, email, phone number, flat number or payment reference. Google may set cookies and process technical data such as IP address as described in its policy.
• Sentry — technical error reports (for example, which page failed and the browser used) are sent to Sentry so we can fix problems.
• Short.io — receipt download links may be shortened through Short.io, which sees the link being shortened.
• QR image service — in some cases, a QR code image for a Prasad pass is generated by an external QR image service, which receives the pass code to draw the image.
• Google Fonts — pages load fonts from Google Fonts, so your browser contacts Google's font servers.
• Anthropic (Claude AI) — if you send our WhatsApp helpline bot a question outside its standard menu, that message's text may be sent to Anthropic's Claude model to generate a reply. The bot is restricted to answering questions about this event only, and every AI-generated reply is labelled as automated.

5. Payments & Refunds

Online contributions are paid on the hosted checkout of our Payment Partner, TicVento. We do not collect or store any card numbers, bank account details, net-banking credentials, UPI credentials, or CVV. Payment details entered on the hosted checkout are handled by the payment platform and are subject to its privacy policy.

PSOTS keeps only the payment metadata needed for reconciliation and for issuing your receipt — contribution amount, PSOTS reference, TicVento references where available, payment status and confirmation time.

5.1 Refund of Contributions

If a resident needs to withdraw their contribution, a refund can be considered — provided the corresponding payment can be verified in our records. A refund request is only actionable when there is a confirmed, traceable payment to match it against.

To request a refund, contact the committee on WhatsApp with your name, flat number, and your PSOTS payment reference or receipt number. The committee will verify the payment and process the refund at the earliest. See the Refund & Cancellation Policy.

6. Your Rights

As a PSOTS resident, you are always welcome to:

• Ask us what information we hold about you.
• Request a correction if anything is inaccurate.
• Ask us to correct anything inaccurate that appears on the public contributors list.
• Delete your name, email, and phone from your profile, RSVP, volunteer sign-up, and tickets at any time via My Profile → Delete My Data in the portal — contribution amounts are kept for accounting, with your name removed.
• Remove yourself from the committee's general WhatsApp broadcast list (announcements, event reminders) at any time via the Subscribe page — note this doesn't affect transactional messages like payment confirmations, Prasad passes, or ticket replies, which go out based on your contribution/registration.
• Sign out to clear your local session from this device.

For any of the above, reach us on WhatsApp: 9482088904 or 9902837002.

7. Children

This Site is intended for adult residents of PSOTS. We do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 18 without a parent or guardian's involvement.

8. Updates to This Policy

If we ever need to update this policy, changes will be posted here with a revised date. We will not make changes that reduce your privacy without informing the community first.

9. Contact

For any privacy-related questions or requests:

• Committee: PSOTS Chhath Puja
• Site operated by: The Kishores — on behalf of the committee, at no profit
• Address: Prestige Song of the South, Bangalore — 560083, Karnataka, India
• Email: hello@chhath.psots.in
• WhatsApp: 9482088904 / 9902837002
• Website: chhath.psots.in