1. Who We Are
Bizzcross is a hyperlocal discovery platform that helps people find local businesses, experiences, and the best of their town. It is currently operated by its founding team based in Kerala, India. Business address is available upon verified legal request.
In this Privacy Policy, "personal data" means information that identifies or relates to an identifiable individual.
We take your privacy seriously. This policy explains — plainly — what data we collect, why we collect it, and how you can control it. If something is unclear, here is where to reach us:
- Privacy & data rights: [email protected]
- Account & platform support: [email protected]
- Legal & IP matters: [email protected]
2. What We Collect
Account Information
You can create an account in one of three ways: Google Sign-In, an email address and password, or a one-time code sent to your email (Email OTP).
If you sign in with Google, we receive your name, email address, and profile photo from your Google account. If you sign up with an email and password, we collect your name and email address; your password is securely hashed by our authentication provider before storage, and we do not have access to its plain-text value. If you use a one-time email code, we simply verify your email address.
We do not collect phone numbers or government identifiers, and we aim to keep account data minimal.
Device Permissions
Some features require access to your device. We always ask before accessing anything, and you can revoke these through your browser or device settings at any time.
- Location — Used to surface nearby businesses, experiences, and discovery content. We do not continuously track or permanently store your precise real-time location beyond what is reasonably necessary for discovery features.
- Camera — Used when you choose to capture and upload photos directly within the app, for example when sharing a Pulse or a review.
- Storage / File Access — Used when you upload images or files from your device.
None of these permissions are required to browse the platform. Revoking any permission at any time will not affect your account.
Usage & Analytics
We use PostHog, a privacy-conscious product analytics platform, to understand how people use Bizzcross. PostHog may collect pages visited and features used, interaction events, session duration, and device and browser type. We configure PostHog to use anonymised or pseudonymised identifiers where possible. We do not use analytics data for advertising profiling or cross-site tracking.
User-Generated Content
Content you create on the platform — including Pulse posts, reviews, experience submissions, and profile activity — may be stored and processed by us. You retain ownership of the content you post. By submitting content to Bizzcross, you grant us a limited, non-exclusive, royalty-free licence to display, distribute, and use that content to operate and improve the platform. We do not claim ownership of your content.
3. How We Use Your Information
We use your data only for the following purposes:
- Authentication — To verify your identity and maintain your session.
- Platform Features — To enable search, discovery, Pulse, reviews, and other core functionality.
- Personalisation — Interaction signals, search history, and preferences may be used to improve recommendations and surface relevant local content. This is handled on-platform and is not shared externally for advertising purposes.
- Product Improvement — Anonymised usage analytics (via PostHog) help us understand what works and what to build next.
- Communications — To send OTP codes, account notifications, and, with your consent, product updates.
- Legal Obligations — Where required by applicable law.
We do not sell your personal information, and we do not use it for cross-platform behavioural advertising.
Legal Basis for Processing
We process your personal data:
- With your consent — for example, for optional features such as location or product updates.
- To provide the services you request — such as authentication, discovery, and managing your account.
- To comply with legal obligations — where applicable law requires it.
- To protect the security and integrity of the platform — including preventing abuse and keeping accounts safe.
4. Public Visibility & Your Profile
Parts of your activity on Bizzcross may be visible to other users. This includes your display name and profile photo, Pulse posts you share publicly, reviews and ratings you submit, and experience submissions or contributions to local discovery.
We do not expose your email address or personal account details to other users. If you wish to limit visibility, check your profile settings.
5. Moderation & Platform Safety
To keep Bizzcross a trustworthy and useful space, we may review, moderate, restrict, hide, or remove content or accounts that violate our policies, harm platform integrity, infringe on others' rights, or negatively affect the experience for other users.
Moderation may be automated or carried out by our team. If your content is removed or your account is restricted, you may contact us at [email protected] to understand the reason and seek a resolution.
6. Cookies, Local Storage & Tracking
Bizzcross uses cookies and browser-based storage to keep the platform functional and useful:
- Authentication — Session tokens and login state are stored locally to keep you signed in.
- Preferences — Settings and display preferences may be stored in your browser.
- Recent Interactions — Recent searches or interactions may be stored locally to improve your experience.
- Analytics — We use PostHog for product analytics in a cookieless mode: it does not set analytics cookies and does not persist identifiers on your device between sessions. Usage events are anonymised or pseudonymised.
- Platform Stability — Error tracking and performance data (via Sentry) may be stored temporarily to help us detect and fix problems.
You can manage or clear cookies through your browser settings at any time. Disabling non-essential cookies will not prevent you from using the platform.
7. Data Sharing & Third-Party Processors
We do not sell or rent your data. We share it only with the service providers that help us operate Bizzcross, and only to the extent necessary:
- Supabase — Database and authentication infrastructure. Your account data and content are stored on Supabase-managed servers.
- Vercel — Web hosting and deployment. Vercel processes standard request metadata as part of platform delivery.
- Google — If you use Google Sign-In, Google processes your authentication request and shares your name, email, and photo with us. We do not receive any further Google account data.
- PostHog — Product analytics using anonymised or pseudonymised usage data.
- Sentry — Error monitoring and diagnostics. Sentry receives technical error data such as stack traces and device or browser context so we can detect, understand, and fix bugs. We do not use it to track you for advertising.
- Razorpay — Online payment processing for business subscriptions. Online payments are not yet live; when they are activated, Razorpay will handle the transaction and Bizzcross will not receive or store your card or banking details. Until then, any business subscriptions are arranged directly with our team.
All third-party processors are expected to handle your data responsibly and only as reasonably necessary to operate the platform.
8. Media & File Storage
Images and media files you upload to Bizzcross — including profile photos, Pulse images, and review attachments — are stored using Supabase Storage. These files are used to display your content on the platform and are retained for as long as your account is active or until you delete them.
9. Data Retention
We hold your data for as long as your account is active or as needed to provide our services:
- Account data — Retained while your account is active. When you request account deletion, we remove or anonymise your personal data from our active systems, except where we are legally required to retain certain information.
- Analytics data — Usage data processed by PostHog is retained in anonymised or aggregated form in accordance with PostHog's data retention settings.
- Location data — We do not continuously track or permanently store your precise real-time location. Location is processed in the moment to support discovery features.
- Uploaded media — Stored until you delete it or request account deletion.
When information is deleted, residual copies may remain in our secure, encrypted backups for a limited period before they are automatically overwritten in the normal course of backup rotation.
10. Your Rights
Under India's Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 and applicable law, you have the right to:
- Access the personal data we hold about you
- Request corrections to inaccurate or incomplete data
- Request deletion of your account and personal data
- Withdraw consent for optional data collection (location, analytics cookies, etc.) at any time
- Raise a grievance with our Grievance Officers
- Escalate unresolved concerns to the Data Protection Board of India
To exercise any of these rights, contact us at [email protected]. We aim to acknowledge grievances within 72 hours and resolve them as promptly as reasonably practicable.
11. Minimum Age
Bizzcross is intended for users aged 18 and above. We do not knowingly collect personal data from anyone under 18. If you are a parent or guardian and believe that a child has provided us with personal information — or if you otherwise believe a minor has created an account — please contact us at [email protected] and we will take appropriate action promptly.
12. Security
We take reasonable steps to protect your data, including:
- Encryption in transit — data is transmitted over HTTPS / TLS.
- Authentication safeguards — sign-in via Google OAuth 2.0, Email OTP, and email-and-password, with passwords securely hashed by our authentication provider.
- Role-based access controls — access to personal data is restricted to authorised team members based on their role.
- Ongoing security improvements — we review and improve our security practices as the platform grows.
No system is completely secure. In the event of a breach that materially affects your data, we will notify you in accordance with applicable law.
13. Data Minimisation
We try to collect only what is genuinely necessary to run the platform. We avoid storing sensitive personal information we do not need, and configure our analytics and personalisation tools to use anonymised or pseudonymised data where practical.
14. International Data Transfers
Bizzcross operates from India. Some of our third-party providers (Supabase, Vercel, PostHog) may process data on servers located outside India. Where this occurs, we take reasonable steps to ensure these international transfers are protected through contractual, technical, or organisational safeguards implemented by our service providers.
15. AI & Automated Systems
Bizzcross may use artificial intelligence and machine-learning technologies to power and improve platform features such as search, recommendations, content discovery, moderation, and other product improvements. The specific technologies we use may evolve as the platform develops.
AI-generated results — such as recommendations, rankings, and discovery suggestions — are intended to assist you and should not be treated as professional advice.
We may also use automated systems to rank businesses, personalise recommendations, and detect spam or abuse. Where a significant action affects your account, it may be subject to human review where appropriate.
16. Contests & Promotions
From time to time, Bizzcross may run campaigns, contests, or promotional activities. Participation in these may be subject to additional terms that will be clearly communicated at the time.
17. Changes to This Policy
We may update this policy as the platform evolves. When we make material changes, we will notify you through the platform or by email. The "Last Updated" date at the top of this document reflects the most recent revision. Continued use of Bizzcross after changes are posted constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.
18. Terms of Service
This Privacy Policy should be read alongside our Terms of Service, which govern your use of the Bizzcross platform. Where this policy and the Terms of Service overlap on privacy-related matters, this Privacy Policy takes precedence.
19. Contact & Grievance Officers
In accordance with the Information Technology Act, 2000 and the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023, we have designated Grievance Officers to address concerns about your personal data.
Grievance Officers: Cyril P Saju & Karthikeyan K A
Email: [email protected]
Response Time: Within 72 hours
If your concern is not resolved to your satisfaction, you may escalate it to the Data Protection Board of India.