Privacy Policy
Development Agency for Poor and Tribal Awakening (DAPTA) is committed to the lawful, fair, and transparent handling of personal data. This policy details how personal data is collected, used, protected, and retained across our digital portals in accordance with India's Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 (DPDP Act 2023) and applicable legal frameworks.
1. Introduction & Scope
The Development Agency for Poor and Tribal Awakening (DAPTA) is a non-governmental, non-political, non-profit voluntary organisation established in 1992 in Kalahandi District, Odisha. DAPTA works for the holistic upliftment of tribal, rural, and economically marginalized communities through participatory natural resource management, sustainable agriculture, drinking water and borewell infrastructure, community healthcare, child development, and women's self-help groups.
This Privacy Policy applies to personal data collected via our website (www.dapta.org), contact inquiries, online certificate verification mechanisms (/verify/:token), and offline donation forms.
2. Personal Data We Collect
In strict compliance with data minimization principles, DAPTA collects only the minimal personal data necessary to respond to your queries, process community inquiries, and issue institutional receipts:
- Contact Information: Full name, email address, phone number, and inquiry messages submitted voluntarily through our Contact Us form.
- Donation & Remittance Records: Donor name, bank transaction reference numbers, postal address, and PAN (if provided on offline donation declaration forms for Section 80G tax receipts under the Indian Income Tax Act).
- Credential Verification Tokens: Unique alphanumeric certificate identifiers submitted to verify training, volunteering, or fellowship credentials issued by DAPTA.
- Technical Access Logs: Standard web server logs including IP address, browser type, timestamp, and referring URL, collected solely for server diagnostics and cybersecurity defense.
3. Purpose & Legal Basis for Processing
We process your data strictly under lawful grounds recognised by Section 4 and Section 7 of the DPDP Act 2023:
Specified Consent
To respond to your voluntary messages, feedback, and partnership requests submitted via our web forms.
Statutory Compliance
To maintain accounting logs, financial audits, and donation receipts pursuant to Indian tax and NGO laws.
Public Verification
To validate legitimate certificates and volunteer recognitions through authorized token lookups.
Security & Integrity
To safeguard our IT infrastructure against malicious traffic, abuse, and unauthorized access.
4. Child Data Protection (DPDP Act, 2023)
In compliance with Section 9 of the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023:
- Verifiable Parental Consent: DAPTA does not collect personal data from individuals under 18 years of age through our website without verifiable parental or lawful guardian consent.
- No Profiling or Targeted Advertising: We never engage in behavioral tracking, profiling, or targeted outreach directed at children.
- No Detrimental Processing: We do not process child personal data in any manner that could adversely impact the well-being of a child.
- Beneficiary Identity Protection: Case studies, nutrition camp reports, and educational photo galleries featuring rural or tribal children are published solely with prior institutional and community consent, and identifying personal data is withheld to protect children's dignity and safety.
5. Storage, Access Controls & Security
We implement practical, reasonable administrative and technical security measures appropriate to the nature of data handled:
- Restricted Access: Inquiries and communication logs are restricted strictly to authorized administrative officers and program coordinators on a strict need-to-know basis.
- Encrypted In-Transit Transmission: Website traffic is served over standard HTTPS (Transport Layer Security) to safeguard communications between your browser and our servers.
- Physical & Administrative Security: Physical donation forms and paper registers are stored in secure archives at our Bhawanipatna office with locked access.
7. Data Retention Schedule
In compliance with Section 8(7) of the DPDP Act 2023, personal data is retained only as long as necessary for the purpose it was collected, or as required by Indian statutory law:
| Data Category | Retention Period | Disposal Protocol |
|---|---|---|
| Contact Inquiries | Up to 24 months after inquiry resolution | Secure electronic deletion |
| Donation & Tax Logs | 7 years (mandated by Indian Income Tax Act) | Archived securely for statutory audit |
| Credential Verification | Retained while the issued credential remains valid | Maintained in master register |
| Server Diagnostics Logs | 90 to 180 days | Automated log rotation purge |
8. Data Principal Rights (DPDP Act, 2023)
As a Data Principal under the DPDP Act 2023, you are entitled to exercise the following legal rights regarding your personal data processed by DAPTA:
Right to Access
Obtain a summary of personal data being processed and third parties with whom it was shared.
Right to Correction
Request rectification of inaccurate, incomplete, or outdated personal information.
Right to Erasure
Request deletion of personal data when the original processing purpose is complete.
Right of Grievance Redressal
Submit concerns to DAPTA's Grievance Officer and escalate to the Data Protection Board of India if unresolved.
9. Grievance Redressal & Contact Information
To exercise any of your data principal rights, request data correction or deletion, or lodge a privacy concern, please contact our designated Grievance Officer:
We acknowledge all formal privacy and data correction requests within 7 working days and aim to provide complete resolution within 30 days as prescribed under the DPDP Act 2023.