Privacy Policy

1. Introduction

At Social Diverse, we are committed to protecting your privacy and ensuring the security of your personal information. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard your data when you use our platform and services.

By using Social Diverse, you consent to the data practices described in this policy. If you do not agree with this policy, please do not use our services.

2. Information We Collect

2.1 Information You Provide

We collect information that you voluntarily provide when you:

• Create an account (name, email address, phone number, username, password)
• Complete your profile (bio, profile picture, timeline picture, personal details)
• Post content (articles, comments, posts, media files)
• Participate in forums and discussions
• Use messaging and chat features
• Track developmental milestones for children
• Submit forms or contact us for support

2.2 Automatically Collected Information

We automatically collect certain information when you use Social Diverse, including:

• Device information (IP address, browser type, operating system, device identifiers)
• Usage data (pages visited, time spent, clickstream data, search queries)
• Location data (approximate location based on IP address, if enabled)
• Cookies and similar tracking technologies (see Section 8)

2.3 Information from Third Parties

If you sign in using third-party authentication (e.g., Google), we may receive information from those services, such as your name, email address, and profile picture, in accordance with their privacy policies.

3. How We Use Your Information

We use your information for the following purposes:

• Provide and improve services: Operate the platform, deliver features, and enhance user experience
• Communication: Send account notifications, updates, newsletters, and respond to inquiries
• Personalization: Customize content, recommendations, and therapy resources based on your preferences
• Security and fraud prevention: Protect against unauthorized access, abuse, and malicious activity
• Analytics: Analyze usage patterns to improve platform performance and user engagement
• Legal compliance: Comply with applicable laws, regulations, and legal requests
• Community moderation: Monitor content to ensure compliance with community guidelines

4. How We Share Your Information

We do not sell your personal information. We may share your information in the following limited circumstances:

4.1 With Your Consent

We may share your information with third parties when you explicitly consent or direct us to do so.

4.2 Service Providers

We work with trusted third-party service providers who assist us in operating the platform, including:

• Cloud hosting and storage providers (e.g., AWS S3)
• Email delivery services
• SMS and notification services
• Analytics and monitoring tools
• Payment processors (if applicable)
• AI service providers. Our assistant, Kittu, is powered by a third-party AI provider (OpenAI). When you send Kittu a message, the text of that conversation is transmitted to OpenAI in order to generate a reply. Please do not share information with Kittu that you would not want processed by a third party. Kittu is optional — if you do not use it, nothing is sent.

These providers are contractually obligated to protect your data and use it only for the purposes we specify.

4.3 Legal Requirements

We may disclose your information if required by law, court order, or governmental request, or to protect the rights, property, or safety of Social Diverse, our users, or the public.

4.4 Business Transfers

In the event of a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets, your information may be transferred to the acquiring entity. We will notify you of any such change and provide options regarding your data.

4.5 Public Content

Information you post publicly on Social Diverse (such as posts, articles, and comments) may be visible to other users and search engines. Exercise caution when sharing personal information publicly.

5. Data Security

We implement industry-standard security measures to protect your information, including:

• Encryption of data in transit (HTTPS/TLS) and at rest
• Secure authentication and password hashing
• Access controls and role-based permissions
• Regular security audits and vulnerability assessments
• Monitoring for unauthorized access and suspicious activity

Despite our efforts, no system is completely secure. We encourage you to use strong passwords and enable two-factor authentication (if available).

6. Your Rights and Choices

You have the following rights regarding your personal information:

6.1 Access and Correction

You can access and update your account information at any time through your profile settings.

6.2 Data Deletion

You can close your account yourself at any time from Settings → Account Management → Close Account, in the app or on the website. You do not need to contact us to do it.

Closing your account signs you out immediately and hides your profile, posts and messages from other members. Your account then enters a 30-day recovery period: if you sign in again within those 30 days, it is restored exactly as it was. After 30 days the account and its data — including your profile, posts, messages and any child profiles — are permanently deleted and cannot be recovered.

You can also request deletion by emailing [email protected]. A limited amount of information may be retained beyond this period only where the law requires it, or where it is needed to resolve a dispute or prevent fraud. Backups are deleted on their own rolling schedule, so a copy may persist in an encrypted backup for a short period after deletion.

6.3 Opt-Out of Communications

You can unsubscribe from promotional emails by clicking the "unsubscribe" link in any email or by adjusting your notification preferences in your account settings.

6.4 Data Portability

You may request a copy of your data in a structured, machine-readable format. Contact us at [email protected] to make a request.

6.5 Cookies and Tracking

You can control cookies through your browser settings. Note that disabling cookies may affect your ability to use certain features of Social Diverse.

7. Children's Privacy

Social Diverse accounts are for adults. Children do not have accounts and cannot sign in. We do not knowingly allow anyone under 18 to register, and we do not knowingly collect personal information directly from children.

Parents and caregivers may create a child profile inside their own account to record developmental information — for example a child's name, date of birth, diagnosis and therapy history. This is information entered by the parent and stored under the parent's account. It does not create an account for the child, and a child cannot access the platform.

A child profile may contain health-related information. We treat it as sensitive personal data and protect it with the same measures described in section 5. It is never used for advertising or profiling, and it is not shared except as described in section 4.

Voice practice recordings. Some speech activities can use your device's microphone so a child can practise saying words aloud. Speech is recognised on your device by your browser; we do not receive or store transcripts of what a child says. Separately, and only with the parent's explicit permission — asked when the microphone feature is first enabled, and changeable at any time in the activity's settings — we store short audio clips of the child's practice attempts to help tune matching to that child's voice. We keep only the most recent 12 clips per child; older clips are deleted automatically as new ones are saved. These clips are stored privately, are treated as sensitive personal data under section 5, are never used for advertising or profiling, and are never shared. If permission is declined, no audio is ever stored. Withdrawing permission deletes all stored clips immediately, and deleting the child profile or the parent account also removes them.

A parent may delete a child profile at any time, and closing a parent's account deletes the child profiles it contains. If we become aware that someone under 18 has created an account, we will close it and delete the associated information.

8. Cookies and Tracking Technologies

We use cookies and similar technologies to enhance your experience on Social Diverse. Cookies are small text files stored on your device that help us:

• Remember your login session and preferences
• Analyze site traffic and user behavior
• Personalize content and recommendations
• Improve security and prevent fraud

You can manage cookie preferences through your browser settings. For more information about cookies, visit www.allaboutcookies.org.

9. Data Retention

We retain your personal information for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes outlined in this Privacy Policy, unless a longer retention period is required or permitted by law.

When you close your account it is retained for 30 days so that you can recover it, and is then permanently deleted — see section 6.2. Information may be kept beyond that only where retention is required for legal or regulatory reasons, or is necessary to resolve a dispute or prevent fraud.

We keep encrypted backups of our database for a bounded period and delete them on a rolling schedule, so a copy of deleted information may persist in a backup for a short time after it has been removed from the live service.

10. International Data Transfers

Social Diverse is operated from India. Your data is stored on servers hosted in India (AWS ap-south-1, Mumbai region). We do not routinely transfer your personal data outside India.

In limited cases, certain third-party services we use (such as email delivery or analytics) may process data outside India. When this occurs, we ensure appropriate safeguards are in place and that such providers comply with applicable data protection standards.

If you are located outside India, by using Social Diverse you acknowledge that your data is processed in India under Indian data protection law (DPDP Act 2023).

11. Third-Party Links and Services

Social Diverse may contain links to third-party websites, services, or resources. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of these external sites. We encourage you to review their privacy policies before providing any personal information.

12. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, legal requirements, or service offerings. We will notify you of significant changes via email or platform notifications.

Continued use of Social Diverse after changes constitutes acceptance of the updated Privacy Policy. We encourage you to review this policy periodically.

13. Contact Us

14. Acknowledgment

By using Social Diverse, you acknowledge that you have read, understood, and agree to this Privacy Policy and our Terms of Service.