Privacy Policy

1. Introduction

This Privacy Policy ("Policy") sets out the manner in which Handmade.World ("Platform", "we", "us" or "our"), acting as a Data Fiduciary under the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 ("DPDP Act") and the rules framed thereunder, facilitates the exercise of rights available to users in relation to their personal data.

This Policy is issued in compliance with the DPDP Act, the Digital Personal Data Protection Rules, 2025, and the Information Technology Act, 2002 ("IT Act") and the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 ("IT Rules").

2. Applicability

This Policy applies to all users who access, register on, or otherwise use the Platform, including individuals whose personal data is processed through the Platform's website, mobile application, or any associated services.

3. Categories of Personal Data Collected

Handmade.World is a community-driven platform that enables users to discover, showcase, and interact around handmade and artisanal products. Depending on how you engage with the Platform, we may collect and process different categories of personal data, including the following:

  • Account and profile information, such as your name, username, date of birth, profile photograph, biography, and preferences, which you provide when creating or updating your account;
  • Contact information, including your email address and mobile number, which are used for account verification, service-related communications, security alerts, and customer support;
  • Authentication and security data, such as encrypted passwords, one-time passwords, login credentials, login timestamps, and records of successful or failed login attempts;
  • User-generated content, including posts, comments, messages, images, videos, listings, reviews, ratings, and any other information or material that you choose to upload, publish, share, or transmit through the Platform;
  • Interaction and engagement data, such as likes, follows, shares, messages exchanged with other users, reports submitted, content saved, and other interactions carried out on the Platform;
  • Transaction-related and marketplace interactions, where applicable, such as information relating to listings viewed, products bookmarked, communications between buyers and sellers, and dispute-related correspondence;
  • Technical, device, and usage information, including IP address, browser type, device identifiers, operating system, language preferences, log files, timestamps, and approximate location data derived from IP address;
  • Support, grievance, and compliance-related information, including details shared when you contact our support team, submit a grievance, report content, or exercise your rights under applicable law; and
  • Any other personal data, that you voluntarily provide or that is required to be collected or processed to comply with applicable laws, court orders, or lawful government directions.

For example, when you create an account, we collect basic account and contact details; when you upload a product image or post content, we process that content to make it visible to other users; when you report a listing or user, we process the information you provide to investigate and resolve the issue; and when you contact us for support, we process your communications to assist you.

In addition, you and other users may post content on the Platform that includes information about you, such as mentions in articles, posts, comments, images, or videos shared by other users. Such information forms part of the user-generated content available on the Platform.

We may also receive certain personal data about you when you use other services offered by us or by our affiliates or partners, where such services are linked to Handmade World.

4. Purposes of Processing

We process your data only for purposes that are connected with the operation, safety, and improvement of the Platform. These purposes include:

  • Account creation and administration, including registering users, verifying accounts, enabling login and logout, maintaining profiles, and managing user preferences;
  • Facilitating platform features and interactions, such as enabling users to post content, showcase handmade products, communicate with other users, follow creators, comment on posts, and engage with the community;
  • Marketplace and community functionality, including enabling interactions between buyers and sellers, managing listings, facilitating communications, addressing disputes, and maintaining the integrity of the handmade ecosystem;
  • Safety, trust, and content moderation, including monitoring, detecting, preventing, and addressing fraud, impersonation, spam, harmful or unlawful content, misuse of the Platform, and violations of applicable laws or platform policies;
  • User support and grievance redressal, including responding to queries, complaints, takedown requests, reports of abuse, and requests for exercise of rights under the DPDP Act;
  • Legal and regulatory compliance, including complying with obligations under the DPDP Act, the IT Act and rules, court orders, governmental directions, law enforcement requests, and requirements relating to investigation, prosecution, or cyber security incidents;
  • Security and system integrity, such as protecting the Platform, users, and data against unauthorised access, data breaches, malware, and other security threats;
  • Internal analytics and improvement, including analysing usage patterns, troubleshooting technical issues, improving features, enhancing user experience, and developing new services; and
  • Any additional purpose disclosed to you at the time of collection, where processing is carried out based on your consent.

By way of illustration, your account information allows us to create and manage your profile, your content enables community interaction, your reports help us take action against harmful material, and your technical data assists us in keeping the Platform secure and improving performance.

5. Sharing of Personal Data with Third-Parties

We may share your personal data with third parties only when it is necessary to operate, improve, or protect Handmade World, and always in accordance with applicable law.

We work with trusted third-party service providers who help us run the Platform and support our services. These include providers for hosting and cloud services, payments, analytics, fraud prevention, customer support, communications, marketing, and technical development. These service providers may access your information only to the extent needed to perform their tasks for us and are required to keep your information secure and confidential. They are not permitted to use your data for their own purposes.

We do not sell your personal data to third parties. Any sharing of your information is limited to what is necessary and is done with appropriate safeguards in place.

6. Rights to Access and Control your Personal Data

We believe you should have clear control over your personal data. Under the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023, you have certain rights that help you understand how your information is used on the Platform and allow you to manage it in a transparent and straightforward way.

  • Access your Personal Data: You have the right to request information about how your personal data is being processed by us. This includes:
    • a summary of the personal data we hold about you;
    • the purposes for which your data is being processed; and
    • details of any other Data Fiduciaries or service providers with whom your personal data has been shared, along with a description of the data shared.
  • Change/Correct/Update your Personal Data: You can edit some of your personal data through your account. You can also ask us to change, update or fix your data in certain cases, particularly if it's inaccurate.
  • Delete your Data: You can ask us to erase or delete all or some of your personal data. You can delete your account by clicking on the "Delete Account" button accessible through the user dashboard. We shall also ensure erasure of your personal data where you have withdrawn your consent. Please note that some data may need to be retained for limited periods to comply with any legal or regulatory obligations.
  • Withdraw your Consent: Where we process your personal data based on your consent, you have the right to withdraw that consent at any time. You may do so either entirely or for specific purposes, without affecting the processing that took place before your withdrawal.

You have the right to nominate one or more individuals who may exercise your rights on your behalf in the event of your death or incapacity, in accordance with applicable law. You can exercise any of the above rights by submitting a request through the designated forms made available here or through writing to us on the designated email id given hereinbelow.

7. Processing your Personal Data Without Consent

We may process your personal data without obtaining consent where such processing is necessary to comply with a statutory obligation under any law for the time being in force in India, including lawful disclosures to the State or its instrumentalities, or to comply with any judgment, decree, or order issued under Indian law, or with judicial or quasi-judicial orders relating to contractual or civil claims under foreign law. We only rely on this legal basis when it is strictly necessary and permitted by law, and we do not use it as a substitute for obtaining your consent wherever consent is required.

8. Retention of Personal Data

Handmade World keeps your personal data only for as long as it is needed to operate the Platform, provide our services to you, and meet legal requirements. As a platform that allows users to create accounts, post content, and interact with others, we may retain certain data even after content is removed or an account is deactivated for a minimum period of 1 year or for a longer period where required by law, court orders, or lawful requests from government authorities for investigation or compliance purposes.

9. Processing of Personal Data belonging to Children or Persons with Disability

We are committed to protecting the privacy and well-being of children and persons with disabilities. Where our Platform is used by a child, or where personal data of a person with a disability is processed through a lawful guardian, we require verifiable consent from such person's parent or the lawful guardian before collecting or using any personal data. We use age-gating and other verification measures during account creation to identify such users and ensure that consent is obtained from an identifiable adult parent or guardian.

We do not process children's personal data in ways that may be harmful to their well-being, and we do not engage in tracking, behavioural monitoring, or targeted advertising directed at children. Where applicable, we may verify parental or guardian identity and authority using reliable information already available on our Platform or through authorised records or digital verification tools that are voluntarily provided. We also maintain appropriate records of such verification to meet our legal obligations.

10. Grievance Redressal

Handmade World is committed to addressing your concerns in a timely and transparent manner. If you have any questions, complaints, or requests relating to the processing of your personal data, the exercise of your rights, or content available on the Platform, you may contact our Grievance Redressal Officer using the contact details published as below:

Name: Tithi Kundu
Email: support@handmade.world

We also provide clear and accessible reporting mechanisms (forms) on the Platform for submitting different types of complaints, including those relating to unlawful or harmful content, intellectual property infringement, impersonation, privacy violations, or other policy or legal concerns. We encourage users to first submit their concerns through the relevant complaint forms available on the Platform. If you do not receive a response within the prescribed time, you may then contact us via the email address provided.

We acknowledge all grievances within 24 hours of receipt and aim to resolve them within 15 days. Complaints relating to content that is unlawful, harmful to children, privacy-invasive, misleading, infringing, or otherwise prohibited under applicable law or our policies are reviewed on a priority basis and, where appropriate, acted upon expeditiously, including within 72 hours of reporting. We implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to ensure the effectiveness of our grievance redressal process and regularly review our systems to improve response times and outcomes.

To know how to make such complaints or access the available complaint forms, click here or write to us at support@handmade.world.

11. Protection of your Personal Data

We implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data in our possession or under our control and to ensure compliance with applicable data protection laws. These measures include, at a minimum, the use of encryption or other suitable data security techniques, access controls to restrict unauthorised use of our systems, monitoring and logging of access to personal data, and periodic review of such activity. We maintain reasonable safeguards such as data backups and continuity measures to ensure the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of personal data in the event of accidental loss, destruction, or unauthorised access. Where personal data is processed on our behalf by third-party service providers, we ensure that appropriate contractual obligations are in place requiring them to implement comparable security safeguards.

12. Handling of Personal Data Breach

In the event of a personal data breach, we will take prompt steps to assess the impact and mitigate any potential harm. Where required under applicable law, we will notify the Data Protection Board of India, the affected Users and the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) without undue delay and in the manner prescribed. Such communication to affected users will be made through their user account or any registered mode of communication and will include a description of the breach, its nature and extent, the likely consequences, measures taken or proposed to mitigate risks, recommended safety steps that users may take to protect their interests and contact details for raising queries. Our goal is to keep you informed and help you stay safe.

13. Contact Us

In case of any questions about the information provided here or wish to contact us for any grievance, contact us at:

Name: Tithi Kundu
Email: support@handmade.world
Address: Joseph Chemmanur Memorial Hall, 1st Cross, Indira Nagar 1st Stage, Bengaluru, Karnataka, 560038, India