Who we are
EmbroBuddy is a mobile app and website (embrobuddy.com) that connects embroidery designers with the companies that hire them and with embroidery training institutes. It is run by [[Legal entity name]], [[Registered office address]], India (“EmbroBuddy”, “we”, “us”).
This policy explains what personal data we collect, why, who can see it, and the choices you have. We are the Data Fiduciary for this data under India's Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 (“DPDP Act”). It applies to the EmbroBuddy apps for Android and iOS, this website, and the emails we send.
Please also read our Terms & Conditions.
Information we collect
When you create an account
- Your name and email address.
- Your password. We never store it as you typed it, only as a one-way scrambled value (a hash) that cannot be turned back into the password.
- Whether and when you confirmed your email address.
Designer profile
- Mobile number, location, years of experience.
- Salary type (monthly, hourly or per design), current salary (optional) and expected salary.
- Skills, specialities and the design software you know.
- Portfolio images and a profile photo (optional).
- Availability, preferred job type, and whether you show the “Open to work” badge.
Company profile
- Company name, GST number (optional), address and logo (optional).
- Contact person, mobile number and email.
- The types of embroidery machines you use.
Institute profile
- Institute name, owner name, registration number, GST number, address and logo (optional).
- Contact person, mobile number and email.
- Courses offered, services provided (training, placement) and the number of designers available.
What you do on EmbroBuddy
- Jobs a company posts, including any job image.
- Applications, and each stage a company moves them through (shortlisted, interview, offer, hired, joined, rejected).
- Jobs a designer saves.
- Profile views and job views: who opened which profile or job, and when.
- Notifications we send you inside the app, and whether you have read them.
Technical records
- Your IP address, the platform you use (Android or iOS) and the app version, recorded when you sign in, when the app checks for updates, and with sign-in sessions.
- Sign-in session records for the app. We store these only in scrambled (hashed) form.
- One-time codes for resetting your password, stored in scrambled form and valid for a few minutes.
Device permissions
The app asks for access to your photos or camera only when you choose an image to upload. On Android it may also ask to read the phone number of your SIM card, to fill in or confirm your mobile number. You can refuse either permission and type or choose things yourself.
What we don't collect
We don't collect your precise location, your contacts list or payment card details.
How we use your information
| Purpose | Information used |
|---|---|
| Create and run your account, and keep you signed in | Account details, session records |
| Confirm your email address, and help you reset a forgotten password | Email address, one-time codes |
| Show your profile to the right people on EmbroBuddy (see section 4) | Profile details |
| Search, and suggest matching jobs and designers by skills, location and salary | Profile details, job details |
| Run applications from “applied” to “joined”, and notify both sides of changes | Applications, notifications |
| Show dashboards: profile views, job views, applicants and matches | Activity records |
| Keep EmbroBuddy secure: prevent misuse, limit repeated sign-in attempts, investigate abuse | Technical records, activity records |
| Tell you when your app needs an update | Platform, app version |
| Answer your questions and complaints | What you send us |
| Meet our legal obligations | Whatever the law requires |
We process your data because you consent to it when you create your account and fill in your profile, and for the other uses the DPDP Act allows, such as meeting a legal obligation. Search results are ordered automatically (for example, designers showing “Open to work” appear first), but we make no automated decision that has a legal or similarly significant effect on you: hiring decisions are made by the companies themselves.
Who can see your information
| Information | Who can see it |
|---|---|
| A designer's profile: name, photo, location, experience, salary type, current and expected salary, skills, specialities, software, portfolio, availability, preferred job type, “Open to work” | Companies and training institutes signed in to EmbroBuddy. Other designers cannot search designers. |
| A designer's mobile number and email | Only a company that has moved one of that designer's applications to shortlisted, interview, offer, hired or joined. |
| A company's profile, including contact person, mobile number, email, address and GST number | Designers and training institutes signed in to EmbroBuddy. |
| An institute's profile | Not shown in search to anyone. |
| Job posts | Designers signed in to EmbroBuddy, and institutes on their dashboard. |
| An application and its stage | The designer who applied and the company that posted the job. |
| That you viewed a profile | The owner of that profile sees your name, photo and account type in their list of profile visitors. |
| That you viewed a job | The company sees how many people viewed each job, not who they were. |
A designer can hide their profile from search at any time in the app. Anyone who has seen your details on EmbroBuddy may have noted them down, so please share only what you are comfortable sharing.
Where your data is stored
Your data is stored in India: uploaded images on Amazon Web Services in Mumbai, and everything else on [[Hosting provider and region]]. If we ever transfer personal data outside India, we will do so only as the DPDP Act and the rules made under it allow.
How long we keep it
- While your account exists, we keep your account, profile and activity so EmbroBuddy works for you.
- Hiding a profile removes it from search but keeps it, so you can show it again later.
- Deleting your account in the app deactivates it immediately: you can no longer sign in and your profile disappears from search. To have your data permanently erased, see section 8.
- Technical records such as IP addresses and sign-in sessions are kept for up to 12 months.
- Password reset codes expire after a few minutes.
- Images you upload but never save to a profile or job are deleted automatically within about a day.
- We keep some records longer when the law requires it, or to resolve a dispute or deal with abuse.
Your rights and how to delete your data
Under the DPDP Act you have the right to:
- Get a summary of the personal data we hold about you, and the people we have shared it with.
- Correct and update your data. You can edit your profile in the app at any time.
- Have your data erased.
- Withdraw your consent. Withdrawing consent means we stop using your data; as EmbroBuddy can't work without it, this means closing your account.
- Nominate a person to exercise these rights for you if you die or become unable to do so.
- Complain to our Grievance Officer (section 13), and then to the Data Protection Board of India.
Deleting your account and data
You can delete your account from the app. To have your account and data permanently erased, including your profile, uploaded images, applications and job posts, email [[privacy email, e.g. privacy@embrobuddy.com]] from the email address on your account with the subject “Delete my account”. You don't need the app to do this. We will confirm the request and erase your data within 30 days, except records we must keep by law.
For any other request, write to the same address. We may ask you to confirm your identity first, and we respond within 30 days.
How we protect your data
- Connections to the app and website are encrypted (HTTPS).
- Passwords, sign-in sessions and reset codes are stored only in scrambled (hashed) form; passwords use Argon2.
- New accounts must confirm their email address before they can be used.
- Repeated sign-in attempts are limited, and a stolen sign-in session is cut off when it is reused.
- Access to the data by our team is limited to administrators, and administrator changes are logged.
No system is perfectly secure. If a personal data breach affects you, we will inform you and the Data Protection Board of India as the law requires. Keep your password private, and tell us straight away if you think someone else is using your account.
Children
EmbroBuddy is for people aged 18 and over. We don't knowingly collect personal data from anyone under 18. If you believe a child has created an account, tell us and we will delete it.
Changes to this policy
When we change this policy we update the date and version at the top of this page. If a change significantly affects how we use your data, we will tell you in the app or by email before it takes effect, and where the law requires it we will ask for your consent again.
Contact and Grievance Officer
For questions about this policy or your data, write to [[privacy email, e.g. privacy@embrobuddy.com]].
For complaints, contact our Grievance Officer. We acknowledge every complaint within 24 hours and resolve it within 15 days.
[[Grievance Officer name]], Grievance Officer
[[Legal entity name]]
[[Registered office address]]
Email: [[grievance email]]
Phone: [[phone, optional]]