Privacy Policy

Hope Lives Foundation (“Hope Lives”, “we”, “us”) is a registered charitable trust based in Jaipur, Rajasthan, India. We run community kitchens and relief work for children, elders, families in distress and animals. This Privacy Policy explains, in plain language, what personal information we collect through hopelivesfoundation.in (the “Website”), why we collect it, who we share it with, how long we keep it, and what choices you have.

By using the Website, donating, or submitting a form, you agree to the practices described here. If you do not agree, please do not use the Website. We handle personal data in line with applicable Indian law, including the Information Technology Act, 2000 and the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023.

1. Information we collect

Information you give us

• Donation details: your name, mobile number, email address, the amount, the campaign or cause you chose, any items you selected, an optional dedication or message, and the payment status and reference number.
• Help-request and volunteer forms: name, phone, email, city and the message you write. If you ask for help on behalf of someone else, please make sure they are comfortable with you sharing their details with us.
• Messages to us: anything you send by email, phone or WhatsApp when you contact us.

Information collected automatically

• Technical data: IP address, browser and device type, and the pages you visit. We use this to keep the Website secure, to prevent abuse (for example by limiting repeated requests) and to fix errors.
• Source of your visit: if you arrive from an ad, a WhatsApp share or an email, we note where you came from (for example the campaign tags in the link, such as utm_source or fbclid) and attach it to your donation. This helps us understand which appeal reached you.
• Meta browser identifiers: the Meta (Facebook) cookies _fbp and _fbc, where present. See section 5.

We do not collect or store your card number, CVV, UPI PIN, net-banking credentials or bank password. These are entered on the payment gateway’s secure screen and never pass through our servers.

2. How we use your information

• To process your donation, confirm the payment and send you a receipt or a payment-failed notice.
• To carry out the campaign you chose and to report on how funds are used.
• To respond to help requests, volunteer applications and your questions.
• To send you a reminder if you started a donation but did not complete it (see section 6).
• To show donations on our public transparency list (see section 3).
• To measure and improve our fundraising ads and campaign pages (see section 5).
• To keep the Website secure, and to detect and prevent fraud, abuse and duplicate or fake payments.
• To meet legal, accounting, audit and tax obligations, including donation records for the Foundation’s accounts.

We use your information only for these purposes. We do not sell your personal information, and we do not rent it to anyone.

3. What is shown publicly

We believe donors should be able to see that their gift was received. After a successful donation, your name, the campaign or cause, and the amount may appear on our public donation list and live ticker, and your first name or full name may appear on campaign pages.

Your mobile number and email address are never shown publicly. If you prefer not to appear by name, email us with your donation reference and we will hide the entry from the public list or show it as anonymous. Campaign pages also show a running total of money raised and, for some campaigns, how many people have contributed.

4. Payments

Payments are processed by a licensed third-party payment gateway. When you pay, you are handed over to the gateway’s secure checkout, which collects your card, UPI or net-banking details under its own privacy policy and security standards. We receive only the outcome of the payment (paid, pending or failed), the payment reference and the amount, so that we can record your donation and send your receipt.

If a payment is debited but not confirmed, we may check its status with the gateway so that your donation is recorded correctly. Please see our Refund Policy for duplicate or failed payments.

5. Our ads, Meta Pixel and measurement

We raise funds partly through online ads on Meta platforms (Facebook and Instagram). To understand which ads work and to avoid wasting donors’ money on ads that do not, we use the following tools.

• Meta Pixel (in your browser). On public pages, the Pixel records that a page was viewed and the steps of a donation, including the amount of a completed donation. It is not loaded on our admin pages.
• Meta Conversions API (from our server). Some browsers and apps block the Pixel, so when a donation is confirmed our server also sends a record of it to Meta. To help Meta match the event to an ad, this record can include your email address, phone number and name in hashed (one-way encrypted) form, your IP address and browser details, the Meta identifiers described above, and the amount and campaign. Meta uses this to measure ad results and to improve ad delivery, under its own privacy policy.
• Source tags. The campaign tags in the link you clicked are stored with your donation so we can see which ad produced it.

We use these tools to measure results and to show our appeals to people who may care about them. We do not use your donation details to build profiles for any other purpose, and we do not sell this data.

Your choices: you can limit ad personalisation in your Facebook and Instagram Ad preferences, use your browser’s or phone’s tracking and cookie controls, or install an ad-blocker. You can also ask us not to send your details to Meta (see section 13); the Pixel in your browser can still be blocked by you at any time.

6. Emails, calls and WhatsApp

• Transactional emails: receipts and payment-status emails after you donate.
• Reminder: every checkout creates a pending record before the payment screen opens. If a donation is still incomplete after a while, we may send one friendly email with a link back to the campaign, and our team may contact you by phone or WhatsApp to help you finish or to check that you did not face a problem.
• Replies: we reply to your messages and forms using the contact details you gave.

We do not send bulk promotional messages without a way for you to stop them. To stop any follow-up, tell us by email or reply “stop”, and we will not contact you again about that donation.

7. Who we share information with

We share personal information only where needed to run the Website and our work:

• Payment gateway partners, to take and confirm your payment.
• Hosting and database providers (for example Vercel for hosting and Neon for our database), which store and serve the Website and its data.
• Email delivery provider (for example Resend), to send receipts and reminders.
• Image hosting provider (Bunny CDN), for photos that we upload to campaign pages.
• Meta Platforms, for ad measurement as described in section 5.
• Authorities, auditors and professional advisers, where the law requires it, or to protect our rights and prevent fraud.

These providers may process data on servers located outside India. We choose established providers and share only what each needs for its task. We do not otherwise share your information, and we will never publish your phone number or email address.

8. Cookies and browser storage

A cookie is a small file stored by your browser; browser storage works similarly. We use them as follows.

• Essential: a secure session cookie for our administrators’ login, and short-lived storage that keeps a form or donation working while you move between steps (for example saving your selection in a donation cart, or keeping details you entered while the payment screen is open).
• Attribution: a small record in your browser of the campaign tags from the link you used, so we can credit the right ad.
• Interface: a flag that stops a pop-up from appearing repeatedly in the same visit.
• Meta cookies (_fbp, _fbc) set by the Meta Pixel, for ad measurement.

You can delete cookies and site data in your browser settings at any time. Blocking essential storage may stop parts of the Website, such as donation checkout, from working properly.

9. Photos, videos and the people we help

Our Website, ads and social posts use photos and videos to show the work we do and the need we respond to. We take particular care with the dignity and safety of the people we help, especially children and elders. We avoid publishing personal details such as full names, addresses or phone numbers of beneficiaries.

If you appear in a photo or video on our Website or ads, or your child or family member does, and you want it removed or changed, email us with the page link and we will act on it promptly. This also applies if you believe that any content on the Website is yours and was used without your permission.

10. Social media and third-party links

Our appeals appear on Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and similar services, and our pages may link to other websites. Those services and sites have their own privacy policies and practices, which we do not control. Please read them before sharing information there.

11. Data security

We use reasonable technical and organisational safeguards: encrypted connections (HTTPS), restricted and logged administrator access protected by a password and a one-time code sent to the administrator, hashed storage for sensitive codes, limits on repeated requests, and security settings on the Website. No online system is completely risk-free. If we become aware of a breach that affects your personal data, we will act to contain it and will notify affected people and authorities as the law requires.

12. Data retention

• Donation records are kept for as long as accounting, audit and tax law requires, and for dispute handling.
• Incomplete (pending or failed) donations are kept only as long as needed to help you complete them and to prevent fraud and duplicates.
• Form submissions are kept for as long as needed to respond and to carry out any help or volunteering that follows.
• Technical logs are kept for a short period for security and troubleshooting.

When data is no longer needed, we delete it or remove the details that identify you.

13. Your rights and choices

You may ask us to:

• tell you what personal information we hold about you and give you a copy;
• correct information that is wrong or incomplete;
• delete your information, or hide your name from the public list (we must keep some donation records where the law requires it);
• stop sending reminders or other messages;
• withdraw consent you have given, for example for ad measurement, going forward.

To make a request, email [email protected] from the address you used, and include your name, phone number and, if relevant, the donation reference so we can find your records. We may need to verify your identity first. We aim to reply within 2 working days and to complete requests within a reasonable time, generally 30 days. If you are not satisfied with our response, you may approach the Data Protection Board of India or other competent authority, once the relevant provisions of the law are in force.

Grievance contact: Hope Lives Foundation, Working all over India · [email protected].

14. Children

The Website is not meant for children under 18 to donate or submit forms without a parent or guardian’s involvement. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe a child has given us personal information, please contact us and we will delete it.

15. Changes and contact

We may update this policy from time to time, for example when we add a new service or when the law changes. The date at the top shows when it was last updated, and significant changes will be posted on this page. Continuing to use the Website after a change means you accept the updated policy.