Applicant Privacy Notice

Who we are

This notice explains how Vedicsiddhanta ("we"), the operator of vedicsiddhanta.in and its research wing, Vedicsiddhanta: Centre for Scientific Research on Vedic Science, handles personal data when you apply to become a research author, scholar or astrologer of the Centre. For this purpose we are the Data Fiduciary under the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 ("DPDP Act").

Address: Jammu, Jammu & Kashmir, India.

What we collect

• Account and contact details: your name, email address and mobile number, and whether each has been confirmed with a one-time code.
• Your application: legal and public name, country and city, biography, interests or specialisations, qualifications, training and teachers, experience, publications, links, references you choose to give, your proposed contribution, the designation you request, and your declarations.
• Documents you upload: CV, certificates, publications, samples, reference letters, a profile photograph and — only if you choose or your designation requires it — identity evidence.
• Review records: reviewers' assessments, decisions, and messages sent to you.
• Security records: the date and time of actions on your application and a shortened, one-way code derived from your internet address, used only to detect misuse.
• We do not collect Aadhaar numbers, biometric data, or your date of birth for this application. If you use an Aadhaar card as identity evidence, mask all but the last four digits before uploading.

Why we use it

• To confirm that you control the email address and mobile number you give us.
• To assess your application, credentials and, where applicable, identity, and to decide whether to grant an institutional designation.
• If you are approved: to issue your institutional ID and certificate, publish the profile you approve, show the badges the Centre has authorised, and let anyone check whether your designation and certificate are currently valid.
• To keep you informed about your application by email, by notifications in your account and, if you agree, on WhatsApp.
• To keep an accountable record of who decided what and when, to protect the site against misuse, and to meet legal obligations.
• We do not sell your data, use it for advertising, or make automated decisions about you. Every designation is decided by a person — the Founding Author.

Our basis for using it

We rely on your consent, which you give when you submit the application after reading this notice. You may withdraw consent at any time (see "Your rights"); withdrawal does not affect processing already carried out, and we may then be unable to continue with your application or maintain your designation.

Some records are kept because the law requires it or for the legitimate uses the DPDP Act permits.

Who can see it

• Your application and documents are private. They can be seen only by you, by reviewers assigned to your application, by website administrators who need to, and by the Founding Author. Every time staff open a document it is recorded.
• Public information appears only if you are approved, and only what is shown on your approved profile: your public name, designation, institutional ID, biography and the details you agreed to publish. The public certificate check shows only your name, designation, ID, certificate number, dates and current status.
• Service providers who process data for us: our web host; our email delivery service; SMS providers (such as MSG91 or Twilio) for one-time codes; and Meta (WhatsApp) for WhatsApp messages if you agree to them. Some of these providers may process data outside India, as the DPDP Act permits.
• We disclose data to authorities only where the law requires it.

How long we keep it

• Unfinished applications: deleted 180 days after your last change.
• Applications that are declined or withdrawn: application details and documents deleted 365 days after the decision.
• Identity evidence: deleted 90 days after the decision. We keep only the outcome of the check.
• Astrologer certificates are valid for 2 years and can be renewed.
• If you are approved: your institutional ID, designation history, certificates and decision records are kept for as long as the Centre exists, so that anyone can check a designation's status and so that IDs are never reused. If your designation ends, your profile stops showing it.
• Security and audit records are kept to show how decisions were made; they never contain one-time codes or document contents.

How we protect it

One-time codes are stored only in scrambled (hashed) form, expire quickly and can be used once. Documents are stored in a private folder under random names and can be downloaded only by authorised people. Files are checked on upload. Access is limited by role, and only the Founding Author can grant or change a designation.

If a personal data breach occurs, we will inform you and the Data Protection Board of India as the DPDP Act requires.

Your rights

• You may ask for a summary of the personal data we hold about you and how it is used; ask us to correct, complete or update it; ask us to erase it (subject to the records we must keep, explained above); withdraw your consent; and nominate another person to exercise these rights if you die or become incapable.
• You can correct most details yourself while your application is a draft or when we ask you for more information. For anything else, write to the contact below.
• You must be 18 or older to apply.

Questions and complaints

Contact for privacy questions and grievances: Rocky Jamwal, krishndhaam@gmail.com. We aim to respond within 30 days.

If you are not satisfied with our response, you may complain to the Data Protection Board of India.

Changes to this notice

Version 2026-10. If we change this notice in a way that affects you, we will tell you before the change applies to your data.