What we collect, why we collect it, who can see it, and how long we keep it. Written to describe what the app actually does.
What we collect
Account: your mobile number, a password, and a username.
Profile: your name, age, gender, languages, what you do, budget, dates, lifestyle answers (including food preference, which we ask only to match you with a compatible kitchen, not for any other purpose), interests and anything you write about yourself. Every profile field beyond your name, age and gender is optional — filling it in is how you consent to us using it to match you.
Place: if you list one — type, size, rent, amenities and photos.
Location: the pin you set, as coordinates, plus the localities you tag.
Photos: profile and place photos, stored on our file storage provider.
Usage: when you last opened the app, and basic events such as a request being sent, so we can tell whether the product works.
Device: a push notification token, if you allow notifications.
Payments: the amount, date and status of any pass you buy. Card and UPI credentials go directly to our payment partner and never reach us.
Why we use it, and on what basis
To match you with people and places, which is the entire point of the service.
To show your profile to other members while your pass is active.
To work out distances between you and a place.
To send you notifications you asked for — requests, acceptances, and pass reminders.
To take payment for a pass.
To investigate reports, keep members safe, and meet legal obligations.
For everything above except the last, we rely on your consent — given when you accept these terms, and again each time you choose to fill in an optional field or turn on an optional setting. For investigating reports and meeting legal obligations, we rely on our legitimate interest in keeping the platform safe and on our legal obligations, which do not require your consent.
Who can see what
Members without a pass see limited previews.
Members with an active pass see your profile as you filled it in, plus a locality and an approximate distance.
Your exact coordinates are never shown to anyone automatically. They are shared only with a specific connection, and only when you tap to share.
Your phone number is revealed when you accept a connection request — or, if you turn on Open profile, to members with an active pass. Turning Open profile on is itself the consent for that — you can turn it off at any time, which stops any further reveal but does not undo one that already happened.
Your last name is shown only after you connect.
Children using Habitate
If you are 16 or 17, we process your personal data on the basis of your parent or legal guardian's consent, given when they agree to the Terms on your behalf as described there.
We do not run targeted advertising, and do not build a behavioural or tracking profile of any user under 18.
A parent or legal guardian of an account holder aged 16 or 17 can write to us at support.habitate@gmail.com to review, correct or delete that account's data, or to withdraw consent, at any time.
Who else processes it
Our cloud hosting and database provider, our file storage provider (Amazon Web Services S3), our payment partner (Razorpay), and the push notification service that delivers alerts to your phone (Firebase Cloud Messaging, Google). They act on our instructions and are not permitted to use your data for their own purposes.
Some of these providers process data outside India. We only use providers who contractually commit to appropriate safeguards for that transfer, consistent with the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023.
We do not sell your personal data, and we do not share it for advertising.
We record what happens in the app — an account created, a pass taken, a request sent — so we can see how well the product works. This is deleted with the rest of your data, and in any case not kept longer than 90 days.
How long we keep it
We delete your data 30 days after your pass expires without renewal; 30 days after you create a profile if you never take a pass at all; seven days after you tell us you have found a place; or straight away when you delete your account.
A free pass is a pass. Claiming one activates your subscription at ₹0, and nothing is deleted while it is running.
Deleting your account removes everything: your profile, your photos, your connections and requests, your notifications, and the record of what you did in the app. Your phone number is released, so you or anyone else can sign up with it again. It cannot be undone.
If your pass simply lapsed, or you found a place, your login stays so you can come back and start a fresh profile.
We keep aggregate statistics — counts of how many people signed up, went live or made a connection in a given month. These are totals only. They contain no names, numbers or identifiers and cannot be traced back to you, which is why we are able to keep them after your data is gone.
We keep transaction records for as long as the Income Tax Act, 1961 and other applicable tax and accounting law requires. When an account with payments is deleted, the payment record survives but is detached from you: the phone number, username and password are removed from it.
If a data breach happens that is likely to risk your rights or interests, we will notify you and the relevant authority as required by law.
Your rights
You can see and correct your information at any time by editing your profile.
You can delete your account, and everything in it, from Settings. This is immediate and permanent.
You can withdraw your consent at any time by deleting your account — because withdrawing consent means we can no longer provide you the service, this is the same action, with the same effect on any unused pass time as described in the Terms.
You can nominate another individual to exercise these rights on your behalf in the event of your death or incapacity. Write to us to register or change a nomination.
You can turn notifications off on your device or in Settings.
To ask what we hold about you, or to complain about how we have handled it, write to our Grievance Officer and data-protection contact, Habitate Labs LLP, at support.habitate@gmail.com. We acknowledge within 24 hours and aim to resolve every request within 15 days; if we need longer we will tell you why. If you are not satisfied with how we have handled your complaint, you may complain to the Data Protection Board of India.