Welcome to Hobbynes and www.hobbynes.com (our “Platform”). This Privacy Policy is published in compliance with India’s Privacy Rules and in particular, Section 43A of the Information Technology Act, 2000 (“IT Act”); Rule 4 of the Information Technology (Reasonable Security Practices and Procedures and Sensitive Personal Data or Information) Rules, 2011 (“SPDI Rules”); and Rule 3(1) of the Information Technology (Intermediaries Guidelines) Rules, 2011.

This Privacy Policy provides you with information on how we collect, use, share and protect your Personal Data when you use our Platform and explains how you can access and update this information and how we process, share and protect your information.

If you are a Citizen of the European Union or the United Kingdom, please also refer to our GDPR Compliance Statement for supplemental information and our Data Processing Addendum.

1)    General

a)    The Platform is owned and operated by Hobbynes Tech LLP of 601 Bestech Park View Sanskruti Sector 92, Gurgaon, Gurgaon, Haryana, India, 122001(“Hobbynes”, “we”, “our”, “us”) and applies to all current and former users accessing or using our Platform, or otherwise engaging with us through email or other means (collectively, “you” or “your”).
b)    The collection and processing of information in the course of our delivery of Services, or other contractual or commercial engagements that we may enter into, will be done in accordance with the specific terms applicable thereto, and not by this Privacy Policy.
c)    By accessing or using our Platform or by otherwise giving us your information, you confirm that you have read, understood the practices and policies outlined in this Privacy Policy. 
d)    You hereby consent to our collection, use, sharing, and disclosure of your information as described in this Privacy Policy.

2)    Types of Information

a)    Personal Information
The IT Act and the SPDI Rules regulate the collection, usage, retention and disclosure of personal information, which is defined under the SPDI Rules as any information that relates to a natural person, which, either directly or indirectly, in combination with other information available or likely to be available to a body corporate, is capable of identifying such person (“Personal Information”).

b)    Sensitive Personal Data or Information
The SPDI Rules further define “Sensitive Personal Data or Information” (“SPDI”) of a person as Personal Information about that person relating to: 
i)    passwords; financial information such as details of bank accounts, credit cards, debit cards or other payment instruments; physical, physiological and mental health condition; sexual orientation; medical records and history; biometric information;
ii)    any detail relating to the above categories, as specified in this paragraph, as provided to the body corporate for providing services; and any of the information received under the above categories, as specified in this paragraph, by a body corporate for processing, stored or processed under lawful contract or otherwise.

c)    User Information
In order to access our Platform, you may be required to provide us with information in the nature of your name, email address, username, your country of residence (collectively, “User Information”). Further, we may collect User Information that you provide us with voluntarily which may include SPDI. You acknowledge that such information is only collected temporarily for the aforesaid limited purposes and consent to our collection.

d)    Demographic Information
We may collect from you, information which is not unique to you and refers to selected population characteristics (“Demographic Information”) including age, gender and current location details.

e)    Behavioural Information
We may also collect information about how you use the Platform and information about your mobile device and software including usage statistics, your IP address, browser and operating system type, domain names, access times, locations, and details regarding the parts of the Platform that you access (“Behavioural Information”).

f)    Indirect Information
Your use of certain third-party services on the Platform also requires us to collect such information as is considered necessary for that purpose (“Indirect Information”). While we may collect Demographic Information, Behavioural Information and Indirect Information when you access or use our Platform, we collect User Information only from you with your prior consent unless there are other legal grounds for doing so. Where you provide us with User Information of third parties, we understand that you have obtained consent of such third parties, and have sufficient rights, approvals and licences to provide such information to us.

3)    Consent

a)    We understand that all Personal Information provided by you to us is voluntarily. 
b)    Collection, use and disclosure of Personal Information requires your express consent, unless there are other legal grounds available to us to collect such information as further specified in this Privacy Policy. 
c)    By using or accessing the Platform or otherwise providing us with your Personal Information, where applicable, you are providing us with your consent to our use, collection, retention, transfer and disclosure of the Personal Information in accordance with the terms of this Privacy Policy.
d)    In the event of a change in the law applicable to data protection in India, you hereby expressly consent to our continued use, storage, collection and disclosure of your Information including Personal Information to the fullest extent permitted under such applicable law.  We may also reach out to you for obtaining additional consents and approvals as required under the amended law and you
e)    will be required to comply with such requests. Should you choose to not provide us with such additional consents and approvals, We may have to discontinue your access to the Platform.
f)    You may choose to not provide us with or withdraw any or all information included under Personal Information, but in the event that you do so, we may be unable to allow you to access the Platform or otherwise avail services for the provision of which your information is being collected or processed.

4)    Use of Information

a)    We use your Information for the following purposes:
i)    to operate and improve the Platform in order to foster a positive user experience and to improve our business as a whole;
ii)    analysing data, tracking trends, building algorithms, creating databases for rating systems, recommendations engines, etc.;
iii)    research;
iv)    for non-targeting reasons such as frequency capping, compliance, information reporting or delivery, market research or development purposes;
v)    to conduct audits and quality assessment procedures; and
vi)    to analyse the use of our resources and troubleshooting problems in relation to our Platform.
b)    In addition to the above, we also use your Information, including Personal Information, for the following purposes:
i)    for our internal operational purpose such as record keeping, accounting and compliance with applicable laws;
ii)    for the purposes of recording information including dates, times and locations at which our Platform has been accessed by using various tracking technologies and thereby improve our Platform and your experience by providing you with relevant information based on the above. 
iii)    for providing you with updates which we believe are relevant for you;
iv)    to comply with applicable law;
v)    to investigate, prevent, or take action regarding illegal activities, suspected fraud, situations involving potential threats to the safety of any person, or as otherwise required by law;
vi)    to respond to any queries that you may have, and to communicate information to you, including notifications of any alerts, any updates to the Platform; and
vii)    to contact you from time to time to record your valuable feedback on our Platform, as they currently stand, and/or any potential services that may be offered in the future;

5)    Opt Out 

If you wish to opt out of receiving communications such as information regarding the Platform and/or any regulatory updates provided by us, you may do so by emailing us at [email protected] or WhatsApp +91 92895 54438 or call at +91 92895 54439.

6)    Social Media and Communications 

Further, we may use social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, WhatsApp. If you connect with us through any of these services, then such engagement will be subject to the terms of service and privacy policy of the relevant social media platform and you should review the same before connecting with us on such a social media platform.

7)    Disclosure of the Information

a)    We disclose your Information including Personal Information, as the case may be to third parties in the manner specified below:
i)    disclosing your Information including Personal Information to companies and individuals who are acting as our counterparties, consultants and advisors in relation to the Platform;
ii)    disclosing your Information including Personal Information to companies and individuals who are authorised by us to perform certain functions in relation to the Platform and/or our business, including Tutors, third party service providers, consultants and professional advisors and insurers;
iii)    We also share aggregated information about you with partners, other Platform users, and other third parties for the purpose of improving our Platform;
iv)    we may transfer Information including Personal Information to third parties, including persons outside India, in furtherance of the above; and
v)    we may disclose your Information, including Personal Information, if legally required to do so, pursuant to an order from a governmental entity or in good faith. we will disclose the Information to:
vi)    conform to legal requirements or comply with legal process;
vii)    protect our rights or property;
viii)    prevent a crime or protect national security; or
ix)    protect the personal safety of users or the public.
b)    Such third parties may include:
i)    Any of our agents, contractors or third-party service providers that process or will be processing your Information, on our behalf, including but not limited to those which provide administrative or other services to us such as mailing houses, telecommunication companies, information technology companies and data centres; and 
ii)    Third parties, such as service providers, to whom disclosure by us is for one or more of the Purposes and such third parties would in turn be collecting and processing your Information including Personal Information for one or more of the purposes mentioned above.

8)    Third Party Links

a)    Our Platform may contain links to third party websites and services (“Third Party Services”). we have no control over such Third-Party Services, which are provided by persons or companies other than us. We are not responsible for any collection or disclosure of your information by such companies or persons thereof.
b)    Further, we are not liable for any loss or damage which may be incurred by you as a result of the collection and/or disclosure of your information via Third Party Services. we shall not be liable for any disputes arising from or in connection with such transactions between you and the aforementioned third parties.
c)    Such third-party websites, and external applications or resources, accessible via the Platform may have their own privacy policies governing the collection, storage, transfer, retention and/or disclosure of your information that you may be subject to.
d)    We recommend that you exercise reasonable diligence, as you would in traditional channels and practice judgment and common sense before committing to any transaction or exchange of information, including but not limited to reviewing the third-party website or application’s privacy policy.

9)    Security of your Information

a)    We endeavour to maintain physical, technical and procedural safeguards that are appropriate to protect your Information against loss, misuse, copying, damage or modification and unauthorised access or disclosure. Some of the security measures adopted by us are:
b)    We review our information collection, storage and processing practices, including physical security measures, to guard against unauthorised access to systems; and
c)    We restrict access to Personal Information, to our employees, agents and service providers who need to know that information in order to process it for us, and who are subject to strict contractual confidentiality obligations, and who may be disciplined or whose relationship with us may terminate, if they fail to meet these obligations.
d)    Further, we shall not be responsible for any breach of security or for any actions of any third parties or events that are beyond our reasonable control including but not limited to acts of government, computer hacking, unauthorised access to computer data and storage device, computer crashes, breach of security and encryption, etc.

10)    Retention of Information

a)    We will put in place measures such that your Personal Information, which is in our possession or under our control, is destroyed and/or anonymized as soon as and in any case, within 5 (five) years of it being reasonable to assume that (i) the Purpose for which that Personal Information was collected is no longer being served by the retention of such Personal Information; and (ii) retention is no longer necessary for any other reason including applicable law.
b)    If you wish that we no longer use your Personal Information, contact us at [email protected] or call +91 92895 54439.
c)    We reserve the right to retain, store and use your Information including Personal Information for our business purposes, whether such Information has been deleted or not. After a period of time, your data may be anonymized and aggregated, and then may be held by us as long as necessary for us to provide our Services effectively.
d)    Please note that your withdrawal of consent to use your Personal Information may result in us not being able to provide you with access to the Platform, or terminate any existing relationship that we may have with you.

11)    Disclaimer

We cannot ensure that all of your Information including Personal Information will never be disclosed in ways not otherwise described in this Privacy Policy. Therefore, although we are committed to protecting your privacy, we do not promise, and you should not expect, that your Information or private communications will always remain private. As a user of the Platform, you assume all responsibility and risk for your use of the Platform, the internet generally, and the information you post or access and for your conduct on and off the Platform.

12)    Changes to your Information

a)    You may review, correct, update, or change your Personal Information on the Platform by emailing us at [email protected] or call +91 92895 54439.
b)    You may also request us to delete your Personal Information, and we will comply with such requests within a reasonable time, unless we are required to keep certain information for legal purposes.
c)    Should you choose to delete your Personal Information, or modify it in a way that is not verifiable by us, or leads to such Personal Information being incorrect, we will be unable to provide you with access to our Platform, and such a deletion or modification may be regarded as the user seeking to discontinue access to our Platform.
d)    We reserve the right to verify and authenticate your identity and your Personal Information in order to ensure accurate delivery of services through the Platform.
e)    Access to, or correction, updating or deletion of your Personal Information may be denied or limited by us if it would violate another person’s rights and/or is not otherwise permitted by applicable law.

13)    Grievance Officer and Contact Information

In accordance with the IT Act and rules made there under, the name and contact details of the Grievance Officer are provided below:

K Singh
601 Bestech Park View Sanskruti Sector 92, Gurgaon, Gurgaon, Haryana, India, 122001
or Email [email protected]

This Privacy Policy was last updated on Monday, 02nd October 2023.