Legal
Privacy Policy
Effective 4 August 2026 · Applies to https://kochidirectory.com
This policy describes what Kochi Directory collects, why, how long it is kept, and what you can ask us to do about it. It is written against India’s Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023. It is deliberately specific: every item below corresponds to something the site actually does, not to a template.
Who we are
Kochi Directory is an independently operated information service covering Kochi and the Ernakulam district of Kerala. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by or authorised by any government body. All privacy correspondence goes to admin.kochidirectory@gmail.com, which is monitored by the operator personally.
Browsing the site
You do not need an account to browse, search or read any listing. We do not use advertising cookies, we do not run third-party trackers, and we do not build a profile of what you look at. Our host records standard server logs (IP address, time, page requested) for security and abuse prevention; those are not linked to any identity and are not used for marketing.
What we collect, and why
We only collect personal data when you actively give it to us. There are four cases.
Business listing submissions
- What:
- Business name, category, locality, address, phone, WhatsApp number, email, website, Instagram, Facebook, opening hours and a description.
- Why:
- To review the submission and, if verified, publish the listing.
- Basis:
- You provide it voluntarily so that we publish it. Business contact details are published; they are the point of a directory listing.
- Kept:
- Until the listing is removed, plus 12 months.
Problem reports about a listing
- What:
- The reason selected, your description of the problem, and an optional email address.
- Why:
- To investigate and correct or remove the listing.
- Basis:
- You provide it voluntarily to have something corrected.
- Kept:
- 24 months, so repeat problems on a listing can be seen together.
Provider accounts
- What:
- Email address and password (stored hashed by our authentication provider, never in plain text and never visible to us).
- Why:
- To let a business claim and manage its own listing.
- Basis:
- Necessary to provide the account you asked for.
- Kept:
- Until you ask us to delete the account.
Verification documents
- What:
- Business registration (GSTIN, Udyam or Shops & Establishment), owner identity proof, business address proof, and category licences where the category is regulated — food, healthcare, real estate.
- Why:
- To confirm a claimed listing genuinely belongs to the person claiming it.
- Basis:
- Necessary to grant the verified status you requested.
- Kept:
- Stored in a private bucket, visible only to the reviewing administrator, and DELETED after the decision is made. Identity numbers are never displayed publicly.
Public institution listings
Most entries on this site are public bodies — government offices, hospitals, transport hubs, utilities and colleges. Those listings are compiled from publicly available official sources and describe organisations, not private individuals. They carry office contact details, never the personal contact details of a named officer. If a listing does show information you consider personal to you, tell us and we will remove it — see the section below.
What we never do
- We do not sell your data, and we do not sell or rent contact details to anyone.
- We do not pass an enquiry to competitors of the business you contacted. There is no enquiry middleman — a call, email or WhatsApp message from a listing goes directly to that business.
- We do not cold-call businesses because they appear in the directory.
- We do not publish identity numbers. Verification documents are stored in a private bucket, seen only by the reviewing administrator, and deleted after the decision.
- We do not use your data to train any machine-learning model.
Who else processes it
We use a small number of infrastructure providers, and only for the purpose of running the site: Vercel for hosting and delivery, and Supabase for the database, authentication and private document storage. They process data on our instructions. We do not share personal data with anyone else.
Your rights
Under the DPDP Act you can ask us to:
- Access — tell you what personal data of yours we hold.
- Correct — fix anything inaccurate, incomplete or out of date.
- Erase — delete it, where we are not required to keep it.
- Withdraw consent — as easily as it was given.
- Nominate — name someone to exercise these rights if you die or become incapacitated.
Every listing page also carries a Report a problem link with a “Remove my details” option, which is the fastest route for a takedown. Or write to admin.kochidirectory@gmail.com. We aim to respond within 7 days and to resolve within 30.
Grievances
If you are unhappy with how we have handled a privacy request, reply to our response or write to admin.kochidirectory@gmail.com with “Grievance” in the subject. Complaints are handled by the operator directly. If you remain unsatisfied you may escalate to the Data Protection Board of India.
Children
This is a business directory and is not directed at children. We do not knowingly collect personal data from anyone under 18.
Changes
If this policy changes materially we will update the effective date above and, where the change affects data you have already given us, tell you by email.
See also our Terms of Use and verification policy.