Privacy Policy

2. Scope

This Policy applies to personal information processed through the Platform, including information submitted by:

• A person creating their own matrimonial profile.
• A parent, guardian, sibling or authorised family member managing a profile.
• A visitor who contacts support or submits feedback.
• A SAK Volunteer or authorised representative who assists with profile creation.

3. Information we collect

3.1 Account and contact information

• Name, date of birth and gender.
• Mobile number and email address.
• Login, verification and account-status information.
• Profile reference number and registration date.

3.2 Matrimonial profile information

• Education, occupation, income and organisation.
• Religion, community and family information.
• Location, lifestyle and personal-preference information.
• Photographs and profile descriptions.
• Partner preferences and matchmaking criteria.

3.3 Verification and safety information

Where necessary and lawfully permitted, we may collect information used to validate profile authenticity, investigate abuse, respond to grievances or protect members.

3.4 Usage and technical information

• IP address, browser and device information.
• Login dates, session data and security events.
• Pages viewed and Platform interactions.
• Error, performance and diagnostic information.

3.5 Communications

We may process support enquiries, complaints, feedback, consent records and communications sent through Platform features.

Private member communications should be accessed only where necessary for safety, support, fraud prevention, legal compliance or enforcement of our Terms.

4. How information is collected

We collect information:

• Directly from you or your authorised family representative.
• When you create, edit or verify a profile.
• When you upload photographs or use Platform features.
• Automatically through security logs, cookies and similar technologies.
• From authorised SAK Volunteers or service providers assisting with registration.
• From another member when they submit a genuine safety or grievance report.

5. How we use information

Personal information may be used to:

• Create, verify and maintain member accounts.
• Display matrimonial profiles according to selected visibility settings.
• Generate matches and recommendations.
• Enable interests, messages and notifications.
• Moderate photographs and profile content.
• Prevent impersonation, fraud, abuse and unauthorised access.
• Provide member support and resolve grievances.
• Process subscriptions and payments.
• Improve security, performance and user experience.
• Meet legal, regulatory and record-keeping obligations.

6. Consent and lawful processing

We process personal information with your consent, for purposes connected with the service you request, and where processing is otherwise permitted or required under applicable law.

You may withdraw consent for consent-based processing by contacting us or using an available account control. Withdrawal does not affect processing already lawfully completed and may limit our ability to continue providing features that require the information.

7. Who Can See What — and When

A matrimonial profile contains different types of information, and not every person who can discover a profile can see everything in that profile.

SikhanandKaraj applies different access rules to profile summaries, Full Profiles, photographs, contact information and Live Introductions. Access may depend on membership entitlement, Interest status, the member's photograph privacy choice, verification, blocking, moderation and other eligibility or safety requirements.

7.1 Being Discoverable Does Not Mean Everything Is Visible

Limited profile information may be shown to eligible members through search results, matches, recommendations, recently added profiles, Interest screens and other discovery features.

Being shown in these areas does not automatically make the member's Full Profile, additional photographs, contact information or Live Introduction available to the viewing member.

Certain identifying information may also be partially masked where the Platform applies additional privacy protection.

7.2 Full Profile Access Is More Restricted

Full Profile information is disclosed only through authorised Paid access and remains subject to verification, eligibility, blocking, moderation and applicable usage rules.

• An eligible male Full Profile may be available to a female member with eligible Paid access without requiring an accepted Interest.
• An eligible female Full Profile may be available to a male member with eligible Paid access only after an Interest between the two members has been accepted.
• The accepted Interest for male-to-female Full Profile access may have originally been sent by either member.

An accepted Interest does not by itself provide a Free member with access to a Paid Full Profile feature.

7.3 Your Photos Follow Your Photo Privacy Choice

Approved photographs are displayed according to the photograph visibility selected by the member and the applicable Platform access rules.

Depending on that selection, an approved photograph may be available to eligible members generally or may be restricted to members with whom an Interest relationship exists.

Access to additional photographs may also depend on the viewing member's membership entitlement. A Paid membership does not override the photograph privacy choice made by the member whose photograph is being viewed.

7.4 Female Contact Details Receive Additional Protection

Contact information is disclosed only through authorised Platform flows and is not made available merely because another member can discover or view a profile summary.

A female member's full personal mobile number is not displayed to another member. Where a parent contact number is available, that number may be displayed as the contact number through an authorised profile-access flow while the female member's personal mobile number remains masked.

Where a parent contact number is unavailable, the Platform does not fall back to displaying the female member's full personal mobile number.

7.5 Live Introduction Is Controlled Separately

An approved Live Introduction is disclosed only to an authorised viewer according to the video owner's selected visibility and the applicable membership, profile-access, eligibility, blocking, moderation and usage rules.

Where the video owner selects visibility after an accepted Interest, the viewing member must have originally sent the Interest and the video owner must have accepted it. An Interest originally sent by the video owner and accepted by the viewer does not satisfy this particular Live Introduction visibility setting.

7.6 Paid Membership Does Not Override Privacy

Purchasing a Paid membership does not give a member unrestricted access to another person's information. Photograph privacy choices, Interest requirements, verification rules, blocking, moderation and other Platform safety controls continue to apply.

7.7 Blocking and Safety Can Remove Access

Blocking, account suspension, moderation restrictions, loss of required verification, membership expiry or another applicable safety restriction may prevent further disclosure of information even where that information was previously available to another member.

7.8 Administrative Access Is Different

Authorised SikhanandKaraj administrators may access information where reasonably necessary for profile review, moderation, member support, fraud prevention, security, grievance handling, legal compliance or enforcement of the Platform's Terms and Conditions.

Information treated as private or restricted by the Platform will not be intentionally made publicly available except where disclosure is required by law or reasonably necessary to protect the Platform, its members or the rights of another person.

8. Information sharing

We do not sell member personal information.

Information may be shared with:

• Other eligible members according to profile visibility and matchmaking functionality.
• Cloud hosting, storage, CDN, email, SMS, payment, security and support providers.
• Professional advisers and auditors under confidentiality obligations.
• Government, regulatory, law-enforcement or judicial authorities where disclosure is legally required.
• A successor organisation during a lawful restructuring, merger or transfer, subject to appropriate protection.

Service providers should receive only the information reasonably necessary to perform their contracted function.

9. Storage and international processing

Information may be stored or processed using infrastructure operated by Sikhanandkaraj and its authorised service providers.

Where information is processed outside your state or country, reasonable contractual, technical and organisational safeguards will be applied as required by applicable law.

10. Data retention

We retain personal information only for as long as reasonably necessary to:

• Operate the member account and provide requested services.
• Maintain security, fraud-prevention and consent records.
• Resolve disputes and grievances.
• Comply with legal, tax, accounting and regulatory requirements.

Following account closure, information will be deleted or anonymised when it is no longer required, unless continued retention is permitted or required by law.

11. Information security

We use reasonable technical and organisational safeguards designed to protect information against unauthorised access, misuse, alteration, disclosure or loss.

Measures may include:

• Access controls and role-based authorisation.
• Password hashing and OTP-based verification.
• Private media storage and controlled delivery.
• Security logging and monitoring.
• Data backup and recovery procedures.
• Administrative review of sensitive operations.

No internet service can guarantee absolute security. Members should use strong credentials and immediately report suspected account misuse.

12. Your privacy choices and rights

Subject to applicable law and verification of the request, you may ask us to:

• Provide information about personal data being processed.
• Correct inaccurate or incomplete information.
• Update outdated information.
• Delete information that is no longer required.
• Withdraw consent for consent-based processing.
• Close your account.
• Address a complaint or grievance.

Certain requests may be limited where retention or processing is necessary for legal compliance, security, fraud prevention, dispute resolution or the rights of another person.

13. Cookies and similar technologies

The Platform may use cookies and similar technologies for:

• Authentication and session management.
• Security and fraud prevention.
• Remembering user preferences.
• Measuring reliability and performance.

Disabling essential cookies may prevent login or other Platform functions from operating correctly.

14. Children

The Platform is not intended for children or for creating matrimonial profiles of persons who have not attained the legally permitted age for marriage.

If we learn that an ineligible minor’s information has been submitted, we may restrict the profile and take appropriate steps to delete or otherwise lawfully handle the information.

15. Third-party links

The Platform may contain links to independently operated websites or services. Their privacy practices are governed by their own policies, and Sikhanandkaraj is not responsible for their independent processing.

16. Policy updates

We may revise this Policy to reflect changes in law, technology, security practices or Platform functionality.

The current version will display its effective date. Material changes will be communicated through an appropriate notice or consent mechanism where required.