Privacy Policy.
What we collect, why, how long we keep it, and the rights you have under India's Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023. The short version is first; the detail follows.
The short version
We collect only what a feature needs: an anonymous visitor ID for chat identity, a salted hash of your IP for rate limiting, the details you type into the join, newsletter, and supporter forms, and the messages you post. Google Analytics and Google Ads tags measure traffic and set cookies (we show a cookie notice for this). Payments happen inside your own UPI app or PayPal — we never see or store bank, card, or UPI credentials. We never sell personal data. You can ask for a copy, correction, or deletion of your data at any time at contact@thecockroachjantaparty.org.in.
Who is responsible for your data
This website is operated by Sourabh Bhanwala, an independent developer, as an independent satirical and civic-commentary project (see Legal & Transparency). For the purposes of India's Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 (“DPDP Act”), the operator is the Data Fiduciary for personal data processed on this site. Contact for all privacy matters: contact@thecockroachjantaparty.org.in.
What we collect, and why
1. Visitor ID (anonymous identifier)
On your first visit we set a first-party httpOnly cookie (tcjp_vid) containing a random UUID, kept for one year. It gives you a consistent chat identity without an account. It contains nothing about who you are, and deleting it simply issues a new one.
2. IP address (salted hash, for abuse prevention)
On form submissions and chat, we compute a salted SHA-256 hash of your IP address and use it for rate limiting and spam defence. The salt is rotatable, and the stored value cannot practically be reversed to your IP. Your raw IP is momentarily visible to the server while handling a request (that is how the internet works) and is passed to Cloudflare Turnstile for bot verification, but we do not persist it. Records created before 18 July 2026 may contain raw IPs collected under the previous design; we treat those as deletable on request like everything else.
3. Analytics and advertising tags (Google)
We use Google Analytics 4 (traffic and performance measurement) and a Google Adstag (conversion measurement and remarketing). These load Google scripts that set cookies and process usage data — pages viewed, approximate location, device/browser information — under Google's own policies, potentially on servers outside India. This is why the site shows a cookie notice. You can opt out with Google's Analytics opt-out browser add-on, limit ad personalisation in your Google settings, or block these cookies in your browser; the site works fine without them. Details are in the Cookie Policy.
4. Membership data (join form or Google sign-in)
If you join, we collect what you submit: name, email address, and optionally phone number, city, state, a short bio, and a social handle. Joining with Google instead sends us your Google account's email, display name, and profile photo — never your password. We use this data to create and display your membership (your name, bio, and city may appear in the public member directory), to verify your email, and to run member features (friends, direct messages, groups) via a signed httpOnly session cookie.
5. Supporter and payment-claim data
Payments to support the developer happen entirely inside your own UPI app or PayPal — this website never sees or stores bank account numbers, card numbers, UPI PINs, or wallet credentials. What we store is the claim you submit afterwards for the supporter wall: display name, amount, payment reference (UPI UTR or PayPal transaction ID), an optional message, and an optional email, plus your privacy choices (anonymous display, hide message). We use the reference only to verify the payment against the receiving account's statement. Verified names and messages appear publicly on the supporter wall with your consent, given on the form; amounts are never shown publicly. See the Support Policy and Refund Policy.
6. Newsletter
Subscribing stores your email address and the page you subscribed from, protected by a double opt-in where email delivery is configured. Every email includes an unsubscribe link; unsubscribing stops the mailings.
7. Chat, private messages, and community posts
Messages in the public chat, direct messages, group chats, and posts on the Voice board are stored with their timestamp and your visitor or member identity. Private conversations are visible to their participants and may be reviewed for safety as described under Moderation.
8. Emails you send us
If you email us, the email sits in a standard mailbox, is read by a human, and is treated as private correspondence. We do not publish it or pass it to third parties.
What we do not do
- No selling, renting, or trading of personal data — to anyone, ever.
- No storing of bank, card, or UPI credentials; payment happens in your own payment app.
- No browser fingerprinting, session recording, or replay scripts.
- No data brokers, no third-party ad networks beyond the Google tags disclosed above.
- No reading of private messages for advertising or profiling.
Who processes data on our behalf
Like almost every website, we rely on infrastructure providers. Each receives only what its function requires, and some process data on servers outside India:
- Vercel — hosting and content delivery.
- Turso — the site database (members, messages, supporter claims).
- Google — Sign-in with Google, Analytics, Ads measurement.
- Cloudflare Turnstile — bot/captcha verification on forms.
- Pusher — realtime delivery of chat messages.
- Cloudinary — video hosting for the gallery.
- YouTube — embedded videos (privacy-enhanced mode).
- Email provider (SMTP) — verification and newsletter delivery.
Moderation of content
To keep members safe and enforce the community guidelines, administrators may review and moderate messages — including private direct messages and group chats — and may hide content or restrict members. This is done only for safety, abuse prevention, and legal compliance. Every moderation action is recorded in an internal audit log, so the power stays accountable.
How long we keep things
- Membership: until you ask us to delete it. Deletion removes your directory entry and profile.
- Chat, DMs, and posts: stored until removed by moderation or deleted at your request (within 30 days of a verified request).
- Supporter claims: verified entries stay on the wall until you ask for removal; payment references are kept as the verification record of the payment.
- Newsletter: until you unsubscribe or ask for deletion.
- IP hashes: functionally relevant only within the rate-limit window; rotatable salt bounds long-term correlation.
- Emails: retained as ordinary correspondence; deleted on request within 30 days.
- Google analytics data: retained by Google per its own policy and our analytics settings.
Your rights under the DPDP Act
Where we process your personal data on the basis of your consent, you may withdraw that consent at any time. Under the DPDP Act you also have the right to:
- Access: a summary of the personal data we hold about you and how it has been used.
- Correction and erasure: correction of inaccurate data and deletion of data that is no longer needed for the purpose it was collected for.
- Grievance redressal: a working complaint channel — see below.
- Nomination: you may nominate another person to exercise these rights for you in the event of death or incapacity.
To exercise any of these, email contact@thecockroachjantaparty.org.in with PRIVACY or DPDP in the subject line. We will verify the request is really yours (for example, by matching the email or membership involved) and respond. If we refuse a request, we will say why. If you are unsatisfied, you may complain to the Data Protection Board of India as provided by the Act.
Grievance redressal
Grievance contact: Sourabh Bhanwala (operator), contact@thecockroachjantaparty.org.in — put GRIEVANCE in the subject line. We aim to acknowledge within 48 hours and resolve within 15 days. This channel covers privacy requests, content complaints, and takedown requests alike; see also Grievance Redressal on the Legal & Transparency page.
Children
This site's membership, chat, and payment-claim features are intended for people aged eighteen and above, and we do not knowingly collect personal data of children. If you believe a minor's data has been submitted, write to contact@thecockroachjantaparty.org.in and we will delete it.
If something goes wrong
In the event of a personal data breach, we will notify the Data Protection Board of India and affected users as required by the DPDP Act and its rules, and will publish what happened, what was affected, and what we changed.
Changes to this policy
Material changes move the Last updateddate at the top and are flagged in our public channels. Earlier versions remain in the site's public git history.
Contact
contact@thecockroachjantaparty.org.in — with PRIVACY, DPDP, or GRIEVANCE in the subject line so it routes correctly.