Privacy Policy

1. Who we are

The Indian Archive helps families living overseas complete traditions that remain in India after a bereavement. We establish and coordinate appropriate rites or observances and relevant family-register work with priests, representatives and traditional custodians. Historic cases and research orders continue to be administered under the service originally purchased. The website is indianarchive.com. You can contact us at namaste@indianarchive.com.

The Indian Archive is an independent heritage service. It is not a government service and is not affiliated with the Government of India or any government body.

The service is operated by Archive Heritage Group Ltd, a company registered in England and Wales under company number 17322145.

Registered office: Archive Heritage Group Ltd, Office 4, Acorn Business Centre, Ablewell Street, Walsall, WS1 2EG, United Kingdom.

2. Information we collect

We may collect the following information:

• Account details: name, email address, login method, country/location and contact preferences.
• Contact details: email, phone number and WhatsApp number where provided.
• Case details: the bereavement, questionnaire progress, tradition, coordination route, price, order status and—after payment—case reference.
• Family and ancestral information: names, relationships, dates and places of birth, marriage and death, places of origin, community and gotra details, family stories, family tree entries, and information about living or deceased relatives.
• Questionnaire answers.
• Uploaded documents, photographs, screenshots, certificates, letters, identity or context documents, audio recordings and other materials provided by the customer.
• Audio interview content and transcripts if the customer uses audio features.
• Case outputs: coordination notes, the outcome of the register update, any supporting confirmation or completion information received, and—for Family History Research cases—research notes, transcriptions, translations and family tree summaries.
• Payment and order information: payment status, amount, currency, service selected, refund status and payment provider references. We do not store full card details; card payments are handled by payment providers such as Stripe.
• Referral information if a referral code is used.
• Technical information: IP address, browser and device information, cookies, analytics events, security logs and usage data.

This includes information provided during the saved intake, questionnaire progress, audio and transcripts, supporting documents, coordination notes, quotes, orders and, after payment, the associated case. Information supplied before payment carries into the case after payment is confirmed, so customers are not asked to provide it again.

3. Sensitive family information

Traditional family-register work may involve information that is personal or sensitive, including details about family relationships, religion, community, caste or social background, births, deaths, marriages, locations, migration, and ancestral records. Customers should only provide information they are authorised to share or are comfortable sharing for the purpose of continuing or researching their family record.

4. How we use information

• Create and administer the customer’s account and case.
• Understand the family event being recorded.
• Review family and ancestral information provided for the case.
• Identify or locate the appropriate traditional family priest where required.
• Communicate and coordinate with researchers, representatives, priests, Pandas, Pandits, Purohits and traditional record custodians in India where required to fulfil the service.
• Request additional family information where necessary.
• Coordinate the traditional family-register update.
• Record the outcome of the case.
• Provide the customer with available completion information and supporting confirmation.
• Process payments and administer the customer relationship.
• For Family History Research cases: carry out historic family-register research at relevant record centres and, where relevant, transcribe, translate and summarise available records.
• Communicate about the case and handle support, clarification requests, feedback and complaints.
• Prevent fraud, abuse, unauthorised access and security issues.
• Improve the service and website.

5. Lawful basis

• Contract: to provide the service the customer orders.
• Legitimate interests: to run, improve and protect the service, manage cases, support customers and prevent misuse.
• Consent: where customers choose to provide optional information, audio, documents or marketing and referral permissions.
• Legal obligation: where we need to keep records for tax, accounting, fraud prevention, regulatory or dispute purposes.

6. Who we share information with

We do not sell personal information. We may share relevant information with:

• Researchers and representatives in India.
• Priests, Pandas, Pandits, Purohits and traditional record custodians where necessary to coordinate a family-register update or to locate relevant registers.
• Field workers assisting with a case.
• Translators, transcribers and administrative reviewers.
• Payment processors such as Stripe.
• Transcription providers for audio recordings.
• Hosting, storage, authentication, email, analytics, support and security providers.
• Professional advisers where required.
• Authorities where legally required.

Only the information reasonably required for the case should be shared with the people involved in fulfilling it.

7. Supporting material

Traditional registers remain in the possession of the traditional custodian. Photographs, audio, written messages and other supporting evidence are provided where the custodian permits and where they are available; availability varies according to the custodian and the individual case, and no particular photograph or register image is guaranteed. Any supporting material we do receive is handled in line with this policy.

8. International processing

Because the service is fulfilled in India, relevant case information may be processed by researchers, representatives, priests, traditional record custodians or service providers located in India and other countries. We take reasonable steps to protect information and limit access to what is needed for the case.

9. How long we keep information

• Account and order records are kept while the account or case is active and as needed for legal, accounting or dispute purposes.
• Case materials, outcome records and any completion or research materials may be kept to preserve customer access unless deletion is requested and there is no overriding reason to retain them.
• Support messages and logs may be kept for operational and security reasons.
• Customers can request deletion, but some records may need to be retained for legal, accounting, security or dispute reasons.

10. Security

We use reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect information, including controlled access, role-based permissions, secure storage and limited sharing. No online service can be guaranteed completely secure.

11. Cookies and analytics

We may use necessary cookies for login, checkout, security and site operation. We may also use analytics or similar tools to understand site usage and improve the service. Where a cookie banner or cookie settings are available on the site, please refer to those for current choices.

12. Customer rights

Depending on applicable law, customers may request access, correction, deletion, restriction, objection, portability, or withdrawal of consent where consent is the basis. To exercise these rights, contact namaste@indianarchive.com.

13. Complaints

Customers can contact us first at namaste@indianarchive.com. UK customers may also complain to the UK Information Commissioner’s Office at ico.org.uk.

14. Children

The service is intended for adults. We do not knowingly allow children to create accounts or place orders. Family information about children should only be provided by someone with appropriate authority.

15. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time and will update the last updated date above.

See also our Terms of Service.