RouteKatha – Privacy Policy

Last updated: August 2026

This Privacy Policy describes how RouteKatha ("the App") collects, uses, stores, and protects your information. We comply with the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 ("DPDP Act") of India.

1. What Data We Collect

Account information:

• A unique anonymous identifier generated automatically on first launch
• Your phone number, if you choose to sign in with phone OTP
• Your email address, if you choose to sign in with email

Vehicle information you enter:

• Make, model, variant, and year of your electric vehicle
• Optional details: purchase date, purchase value, insurance details, service history, battery replacement records, odometer readings

Trip information you log:

• Start and end locations (city-level)
• Trip date, time, duration, and distance
• Charging stops including network, charging speed, battery levels, cost, and any notes you add
• Non-charging stops including type and any notes you add
• Toll information you record

Location data:

• Your approximate GPS location during a live trip, used only while a trip is actively being recorded
• Location data is captured only after you grant permission and start a live trip
• You can skip GPS entirely and log trips manually

Device information:

• Device identifier used to lock a live trip to a single device
• Your device's region (detected from SIM card or OS locale) to set default units and currency

2. What We Do Not Collect

• We do not collect your real name unless you explicitly choose to share it on the community feed
• We do not collect contacts, photos, calendar, or any other personal data
• We do not track you outside the App
• We do not use advertising trackers or third-party analytics that profile users

3. How Your Data Is Stored

Your data is stored in two places:

• Locally on your device in a SQLite database
• In the cloud, on Google Firebase / Firestore servers, only if you have given consent

By default, all data is written first to your device. Cloud backup only happens after you accept these Terms and this Privacy Policy at sign-up.

We use Google Firebase (operated by Google LLC) for authentication and cloud storage. Firebase's own privacy practices apply to data stored on their servers. We have configured Firebase access controls to ensure only you can read your own private data.

4. How We Use Your Data

We use your data to:

• Provide the core functionality of the App (logging trips, showing analytics, calculating costs)
• Back up your data to the cloud so you can restore it on a new device
• Show you content you have chosen to share with the community
• Send you reminders (such as insurance renewal) if you have configured them
• Fix bugs and improve the App

We do not sell your data. We do not share your data with advertisers. We do not use your data to build advertising profiles.

5. Community Feed Sharing

You can choose to share individual trips with the RouteKatha community. When you do:

• Only charging stop data is shared (network, charging speed, cost, battery levels, amenities, any issues reported)
• Non-charging stops, personal notes, and exact stop locations are never shared
• Your real name is never shared unless you explicitly opt in to using your first name as your community alias
• Exact trip dates are not shown publicly
• Your home address, phone number, email, and vehicle ownership details are never shared

Sharing is off by default for each trip. You can change a trip's sharing status at any time from the Trips list.

6. Your Rights Under the DPDP Act

Right to access: You can view all data we hold about you within the App.

Right to correction: You can edit or update your profile, vehicles, and trip data at any time within the App.

Right to erasure: You can delete your account and all associated data from within the App. This removes your data from both your device and our cloud servers.

Right to withdraw consent: You can withdraw consent for cloud backup at any time. After withdrawal, no new data will sync to the cloud. Previously synced data remains until you delete your account.

Right to grievance redressal: You can raise complaints by contacting us at routekatha@gmail.com. We will respond within the timelines required by the DPDP Act.

Right to nominate: You can nominate another person to exercise your rights in the event of death or incapacity by contacting us at routekatha@gmail.com.

7. Data Retention

We retain your data for as long as your account is active. When you delete your account:

• Your local data on the device is removed when you uninstall the App or delete the account from within
• Your cloud data is permanently deleted from our Firebase servers, except for the limited records described below

After your account is deleted we retain the following limited records:

• Legal-compliance records. We may retain minimal records as required by applicable law.
• Abuse reports. If you reported another user's content, we keep the report as evidence that a moderation decision was made. Your user identifier is removed from it, so it can no longer be linked to you.
• Vehicle catalogue submissions. If you submitted a vehicle that was not already in our catalogue, we keep the vehicle details to improve the catalogue for other users. Your user identifier is removed from it, so it can no longer be linked to you.

Full details of what is deleted and what is kept, including how to remove individual records without deleting your account, are on our Account & Data Deletion page.

8. Security

• Phone numbers are hashed before storage
• Cloud data is protected by Firebase security rules that limit access to your own data
• Communication with Firebase uses encrypted connections
• We do not store passwords; email sign-in uses passwordless email links

No system is completely secure. While we work to protect your data, we cannot guarantee absolute security.

9. Children

RouteKatha is not intended for children under 18. We do not knowingly collect data from children. If you believe we have collected data from a child, contact us at routekatha@gmail.com and we will delete it.

10. Data Transfers

Your data is stored on Google Firebase servers, which may be located outside India. By using the App, you consent to your data being transferred to and processed in these locations. We rely on Firebase's contractual safeguards for data protection during such transfers.

11. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we do, we will update the "Last updated" date at the top. We will notify you of significant changes within the App.

12. Contact and Grievance

For any questions, data requests, or complaints regarding your personal data under the DPDP Act, contact us at: routekatha@gmail.com

We will respond within the timelines required by the DPDP Act.